Grammy nominated singer songwriter Matthew West appeared at the NRB Convention on Monday to share the story behind his current single "Hello My Name Is" from his current album Into the Light. West's song was inspired by the real-life story of Jordan Jeffers, who also spoke at the convention to explain how he overcame drug addiction with the help of Teen Challenge.
According to a news release from Teen Challenge USA, "Hello My Name Is" illustrates the Biblical message of new life in Christ by depicting the tearing off of old labels and putting on new ones through the power of Jesus Christ. Jeffers' story was one of the 25,000 letters that to date have been submitted to West after he invited people to inspire his songs and albums with their stories.
Jeffers said that as a "good Christian kid" and seven-time All-American athlete, addiction wasn't something he struggled with until he began abusing prescription pain pills after a college football injury. "My senior year I failed a drug test. Immediately when I failed the drug test, my mum and dad, they entered me into a Teen Challenge. I said, 'Mum, there's no way you'll leave me here. You love me too much to leave me at this place.' She said, 'Son, I love you too much to take you home.'"
"Through the twelve months at Teen Challenge, God changed my life. He began to restore, he began to heal," Jeffers added. "The world tells us that we're drug addicts, and that we'll be drug addicts for the rest of our lives... But that's not what God says. Right? He says we've been set free, that we're a new creation... I no longer refer to myself as a drug addict. I refer to myself as Jordan, a child of the One True King."
Teen Challenge USA President Jack Smart was also on hand to share about the life-changing ministry of Teen Challenge. "The exciting thing about Jordan's story and Matthew's song is that that is repeated over and over again in Teen Challenge. The one thing that Jordan's testimony and Matthew's song is about, is hope. Hope that no matter how deep a person goes into the pit of sin and addiction, that God can bring them out, that Jesus Christ can set them free. And that's what Teen Challenge does and will continue to do, by God's grace and blessing. We're going to continue to see thousands of lives changed."
After receiving over 10,000 personal stories from all over the globe for his 2010 album, The Story of Your Life, West felt as though there was even more for others to say during this season of his music. The new studio album, Into The Light, was released last September featuring 12 tracks inspired by 10,000 new letters.
