Cătălin

Born on April 8th, 1982 in Bucharest.

Entry date in the program: March 2007 

... and after

 Catalin is a 26 year-old intern, meaning he came back to work in the program after completing the one-year requirement. He tells me, without pride, "I was the first addict into Teen Challenge Romania." Catalin is planning on finishing the one-year training to become a staff member. When says he needs this year "to grow up more," he says it matter-of-factly, without shame. The maturity he demonstrates manifests in a form of measured self-confidence. It is clear that Catalin is a leader.

      Both of his parents have retired. He has an older and a younger sister. When I asked him what he remembers from TV and movies as a child, he mentions a show many of my Romanian hosts already have: Dallas. "Everyone watched it. It was the story of life: rich people, love, hate. And it had a good message: what money can do in this life—'You can be a slave for me,' money says. Money can make you drink, do bad things. When you love money, you cheat friends, family. JR was shot for how be lived."

      Catalin also admired Jean-Claude Van Damme, for his style, his martial skills, the way he beat up the bad guys. He played soccer, swam, did body building. I ask him why the guys at the center are so fit. "When you are drug addicted, you have to live in the streets, and you need to be tough, make sport. When you come here, you change in your heart, but the purpose is now to keep a good body for the glory of God. It is healthy for you, something positive."

      When I asked about his drug history, Catalin said he was got sad the first time he saw someone do drugs. He was 17, and a some of his friends injected heroin. "I didn't understand what they were doing, but it made me feel wrong—I don't know. But they said it was great." Catalin holds up his hand and gestures—I see a large scar on his forearm that looks like a giant amoeba. A dragon tattoo on his other arm accompanies it. "I didn't want to do it, because I had bad examples. I saw them go to prison, picked up by the cops. What is good about heroin?"

      His first experience came from the fact that most of his friends did drugs. There was a group of about 12 guys, and most were using consistently. "I resisted for two or three months, by just hanging out, but not taking. Curiosity came. I smoked it first; I didn't like it." Catalin continued to smoke anyway, and the high was good for about six months, when the effect wore off. "I had to smoke more and more to get the same effect. I wasn't getting high. Injection goes straight to your brain in a second--" he slaps his hands together "—more powerful."

      Catalin financed his habit with the help of a friend, whose parents owned a supermarket. This friend was a constant source of cash, since he stole liberally from them. After two years, they got into a fight, so the cash flow ended. Catalin had to steal for himself: money, gold, jewelry. He started stealing on the streets, from magazine stands, supermarkets, from cars. He would move out and back into his parents' home various times.

      "I saw the warning signs in others. Most of my friends were in prison. Four or five dead from OD. When a friend went to prison or died, I thought about my future, but just for one day." Like most of the students here, Catalin was let down by the government detox program. "I tried detox four times. I went to other cities for months at a time. I even spent one day in the Army. I had to leave for my desire for the drug: my body won."

      In 2006, Catalin contracted a severe infection from a needle. His left arm was eaten way by the infection. He shows me the enormous scar, which I couldn't help but notice before. It is a couple inches wide, and several inches long, the result of plastic surgery, stitches for the skin graft. "I said that's it, I had to stop." Yet he went straight from the hospital to buy drugs.

      Problems with cops, a major fight with his family that left him on the street, losing his girlfriend and friends, all left him wondering why he was living. "I cheated my best friend out of $20. He caught me with a group of eight guys, beat me up, and took me to police station." There, Catalin told his story to the police captain, who listened patiently. Eventually, the captain told him he was free to go. "He should not have done that. They had four witnesses. I could have gone to prison for three years, everything, but I was free. This was not luck."

      Catalin returned to his family's home, which was the only place he had left to go. Standing in the kitchen, his mother said, "You are not my son. I am sorry I gave birth to you. I am sick because of you. Leave."

      Catalin looks at me directly with his typically intense gaze: "I was devastated. I asked my father to speak with her one more time, to stay for just two weeks. My father went into the living room to talk with her, and I stayed in the kitchen, looking down, out the window. We were seven stories up. I knew she couldn't forgive me. I don't know why I not jumped."

      While his father was pleading his case, Catalin looked upward and said, "If you exist, if you care, then take my life and do something with it. Take my life. I don't want it." His father returned from the living room, and took Catalin to detox, which was his fourth visit. After three days, Teen Challenge came and explained the center, which was brand new at that time. "I had already tried all I could. I quit." He let himself go, into whatever the program could do for him.

      But there were eight candidates, and only one open spot. The Teen Challenge representatives did two rounds of interviews. "I prayed every day to be selected. Then, two guys brought me here," and he touched our picnic table with both hands.

      When I ask Catalin about the image of God he had before his life turned around, he said, " I always believe God exists, but I wonder where He is when I had to beat someone for money. Why did He allow this to happen? Why can't He save me? I hated God, cursed Him. I didn't want to hear about him. I only prayed when I needed something." He looks at me and smiles slightly, perhaps not sure if I'll understand what he'll say next: "I am proud of God. I have my family back. My father, mother, sister, all received Jesus. And I have a girlfriend." I saw them together at church. She is attractive and looks like she has lived a peaceful life. A telling testimony to Catalin's transformation is that they don't look odd together. The scars and tattoos are not what stand out, but instead it's his smile, and the intentional, caring manner in which he regards those around him.

      "Many more things to talk about how I changed. I was violent person." He shows me his right hand in a fist, which is pricked with scars. "I used to punch windows. I fought everyone. Every little thing made me angry." This is surprising to hear, since these last few days I have only seen him be gentle and loving with the other guys. "God changed me in a powerful way. I heard same prophecy from different people, that God would use me in a powerful way. Teen Challenge is the way I'll do that."