Making A Faith-Integrated Impact

Matt Barbour (’06) has served as Director of the Atlantic Men’s Center of Teen Challenge since 2014.

Matthew Barbour graduated from Atlantic Baptist University in 2006 with a BA in Psychology and currently serves as the director of the Atlantic Men’s Center of Teen Challenge. Teen Challenge is a one year, faithbased, alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation program with locations across Canada. The Atlantic Centre’s 14 staff, as well as dedicated volunteers, support the recovery of up to 24 people at a time.

Barbour began working at Teen Challenge shortly after graduating and became director of the Atlantic Centre in 2014. He recalls significant growth in the organization over his years there, both in how they run and how they approach recovery, saying that “it has been awesome to be part of a growing organization and one with lots of potential.”

While reflecting on his time at Crandall, Barbour noted the impact of faith-integrated education and how this prepared him for his role at Teen Challenge. He shared the impact that Crandall’s focus on community service had on him, from serving as a student at Harvest House and prison ministry to volunteering at local churches. “Those opportunities open you up to the fact that walking out your faith goes beyond serving within the four walls of the church,” he stated. “These impact your worldview and open you up at a young age to some of things in our community that need be dealt with.” He noted that these were opportunities not just to serve, but to live out faith as well. This left a lasting impression on him as a student that he would carry with him long after graduating.

Community service has been a longstanding value of Crandall University. It is an integral element of preparing students as they go through their education and as they go into the workforce. CU Serves is a new initiative led by Tim Carruthers (’09), Crandall’s manager of undergraduate student life and transformation. Carruthers describes CU Serves as “Crandall’s volunteer mobilization platform to encourage students to put their faith into action by serving in their community, on and off campus.”

CU Serves is partnering with Teen Challenge to get students involved in various service projects. Barbour is excited to keep Crandall students connected to Teen Challenge, having seen several students not only serve while attending Crandall, but also continue to volunteer long after graduating. Matt noted that several Crandall alumni have worked at Teen Challenge over the years, with seven alums currently serving on staff, including himself.

Thinking about how Crandall prepares students not just academically, but in every aspect, Matt noted that it is one thing to say that faith and service should be lived out, but it is another thing to create opportunities for students to put this into action: “We do not get educated to get smarter; we get educated so we can do.” Programs like CU Serves make it that much easier for students to have those opportunities.

Matt’s Crandall experience highlights the impact that faith-based education integrated with service has on Crandall students as they go out into their community. CU Serves hopes to send out more grads like Matt who are not only prepared academically, but are well-rounded and have a heart for impacting their communities.

Seven Crandall alumni currently serve on staff at the Atlantic Men’s Center of Teen Challenge. From left to right: Josh Adams (’19), Kent Carter (’19), Matthew Barbour (’06), Melissa (Ingalls) Martin (’10), Caelan Myra (’20), Cole Edwards (’22). Not pictured: Terry Branscombe (’84)