Teen Challenge started in Brooklyn, New York in 1958 by Rev. David Wilkerson.

Wilkerson was a young country preacher pastoring a church in eastern Pennsylvania. One February afternoon, Wilkerson read an article in LIFE magazine about seven teenagers who were on trial for murder. During a gang fight in Manhattan, these teens beat a young man to death. Troubled by what he read in the article, and sensing God wanted him to do do something for the teens, Wilkerson made a trip from his hometown in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania to the urban area of New York City.

Some time after this, Rev. Wilkerson resigned his church in Pennsylvania and moved to the New York City area to work full time with teenage gang members. This new work was eventually called "Teen Challenge". Soon, Teen Challenge began to also offer help to those addicted to drugs and alcohol. Teen Challenge has grown into one of thelargest and most successful programs of its kind in the world, with more than 170 centers throughout the United States and over 150 centers in other countries.