I am a former student. How has New Horizons helped me in my life? I believe this experience was a springboard into my adult life. My life at the time I entered New Horizons was very unsatisfying. I was very empty and alone on the inside. I often compare my life to a campfire that was burnt out, nothing but 1 or 2 hot coals were in the pit. God used New Horizons to come along and kick my coals around and the fire was restored. The fire burnt brighter, higher, and hotter than ever before.

In the summer of 1998, my parents sent me off to “the program” in Canada. I have found that what I thought would be the worst experience of life, was the best thing that has ever happened to me. My relationship with my parents now is unbelievable. We are able to get along, not just because we have to, but because we want to. My relationship with God improves more and more. Of course I mess up, like everyone, but I am now able to realize mistakes and work on them.This may sound weird, but a part of me misses Canada so much. My time there was well spent. I would like to say thank you for the time and energy that the staff has put in me. They truly are blessings from God!

Melissa Reents

I am a former student of Escuela Caribe and New Horizons Academy and am very grateful for the time I spent there and for the relationships that I made. Living in the Dominican Republic and attending Escuela Caribe was a great life changing experience for me. Of course I hated it in the beginning, but grew to love the people around me. While at Escuela Caribe I learned about self-control, the value of hard work & discipline, how to build strong relationships, the importance of relationships, how to trust others, treating others with respect, character building, and the value of integrity; my list could go on. I was able to regain control of my conscience that I had lost prior to Escuela Caribe. I am very thankful for the loving and caring people that surrounded me daily.

Dear NHA Staff and Students, Wazzup?! It’s cold in Georgia! I thought that it was warm year-round. Basic Training is fun. We started our third week of training yesterday. We have learned a lot of cool stuff so far, such as plotting grid coordinates, radio operation, several creeds to live by, among other things… I’ll be sure to send pictures of me in my uniform and of my graduation. I ask for your prayers, especially because I graduate in April and that is when the next switch is for troops deployed in Iraq. There’s a high chance that I will be in Iraq within a month of graduation from training. Thank you all and God bless.

Sincerely,
PVT Lawrence Lobdell III

Dear Phil,

I just received the latest newsletter from New Horizons and saw the article that said you were finally coming back to the states. When you took that first position at Escuela Caribe, I bet you never imagined that you would be there this long! Let alone touch so many lives. Good for you. New Horizons sure was blessed to find you and you them.

My name is Cinda, our daughter Alyssa was in the program from August of 2001 until April of 2003… I have enjoyed the occasional calls from parents who are in the same position we once were. What a blessing to be able to encourage them in this most difficult decision that they are facing. This is one way that we can give back to the program that helped our daughter so much.

Dear Phil and Tim,
We would love to give our kudos to New Horizons and we know Mom and Dad Johnson are looking down from heaven saying the same thing. We had the same heavy hearts that the parents do who are looking at NHM or have children in the program. Today our daughter LLindsey is an ER nurse with a BSN, starting on her Masters part time and all the crazy stuff of ADD has become a real asset when she is working hard to save someone’s life and she does save lives. Her reviews are fabulous and comments that she can “bounce 20 things in the air” and not get rattled are true. This is her passion and she can think on her feet and react without panic. She completed her degree, with Mom and Dad’s help, at age 28 but she did it. Rough along the way - you bet! Sometimes all you can do is pray, walk away and let them stumble. Oh, there are some paybacks going on with 9 yr. old daughter Aliyah! Deb says “Paybacks are good!”

I am writing this to encourage the staff at New Horizons. My child graduated from New Horizons in 2000. It took a lot of courage to bring my child to the Marion campus in the summer of 1999 to head for Canada. I prayed about this decision for a year, and knew clearly in my heart, that God was directing me to New Horizons. The courage was not needed just for the monetary amount needed for this program, but mostly for the trust that must be placed in the New Horizons staff. When I pulled into the parking lot that summer day, I will never forget the words that were spoken to me. They were, “We are aware of the situation.” That may sound like nothing to most of you, but for a mother that was painfully seeing her child head down the wrong road for a number of years, with no one to help, these words were the deepest comfort to my mother’s heart.