Betty Hutto Violette was born August 30, 1928 to a farm family in Mississippi. Her mother raised she and her ten siblings in an Assemblies of God church. Betty felt a call to Africa when when she was thirteen years old but ran from the call.

In disobedience to God she spent her late teens and early twenties in complete rebellion. She was addicted to drugs, associated with the mob and all the sinful activities related to that lifestyle.

In 1953 Betty was born again and began preaching in 1956. She shared her testimony throughout the US and in Europe. Her theme was “from the underworld to the upperworld.”

Betty spent three and a half years working at Chicago Teen Challenge and then in 1966 she started the Teen Challenge center in Indianapolis.

In 1982 Betty started a ministry called “Third Phase.” Third Phase is a recovery ministry similar to Teen Challenge. Betty spent the rest of her life at Third Phase, helping thousand of down-and-outers find their way to God.

She passed on February 4, 2019. She was 90 years young.