Intimidated into Silence
A
friend on Facebook asked that I tell another group on FB my
experience of YWAM. I was happy to do so.
Recently,
a member of the recovery from YWAM abuse group I started said that
she is being intimidated in removing her blog exposing YWAM that she
wrote about. The person went to far as to call her parents to see if
they could persuade her to take the blog down. This woman is an an
adult, not a child. In the end, she would not take it down.
Here
is what I told the group:
"YWAM
is indeed a cult. Unfortunately, I know this from spending 12 years
with YWAM Honolulu. Mostly young people join YWAM wanting to serve
the Lord & put their leaders up on pedestals as spiritually
superior to themselves. The leaders feed into this notion by how they
usually act in public meetings & are often good at speaking on
evangelism.
There
is much manipulation at YWAM to imply something is God's will for
you. I often heard, "God told me to tell you..." I have a
direct line to the Throne of Grace, the Lord could easily tell me
himself. They have what they call "Principles for Effective
Intercession". http://www.prayerforallpeople.com/p4ei.html At
the end of going through these steps, sitting in a group, you wait on
God to "get a word from the Lord". Then, you go around the
group & people say, "What did you get?". People are
embarrassed to say, "nothing", so usually have something to
say. One person might get, "A red bicycle". Another may get
"Taiwan". This may lead the group to then pray for an
anonymous person in Taiwan on a bicycle that needs help. One time, a
person who'd immigrated from Russia to Australia was in the group.
Someone "got from the Lord" to pray for her relatives still
in Russia. She told him, "I don't have ANY left in Russia"-
but we prayed for them anyway! The steps to get to the throne of
Grace seemed more like an incantation & the whole thing New Age.
Intercession
was mandatory three times a week. One time the base leader said he
wanted to make it optional. The very next intercession time, only he
showed up for it so they were immediately made mandatory again.
There
was mandatory fasting the first Friday of the month & often on
those days you could see many other fellow YWAMers at the nearby
McDonald's. They sometimes had mandatory 24-hour prayer chains as
well. Your hour spot may have been from 3-4 am. I am ALL for prayer
but prayer because it is mandatory is not pleasing to the Lord. It
must come from the heart!
One of
the leaders told me, "It is your job to OBEY the leaders- even
if you think it is wrong! If it is, we are the ones who will be held
accountable!" Another leader would get in your face & say,
"Are YOU questioning MY authority?!!" We were often told we
needed to "give up our rights". In saying that though, it
was not to submit to God but to submit to the leaders.
There
were often prophetic words from the Lord in meetings that never came
true. Of course when the prophecies turned out to be false, it was
never mentioned.
My
entire 12 years in YWAM, I know of not ONE person who came to a
saving relationship with Jesus through me or anyone else (my job on
base was mostly graphics) that I can think of. Of course there may
have been some, but I know of none.
A few
years ago I started a group on Facebook for spiritually abused
victims of YWAM. There are now 193 members who experienced similar
stories of abuse all over the globe. Many are now atheist or
agnostic. Many left God behind when they mistakenly saw YWAM leaders
to be an example of God's character. One of the leaders at the
Honolulu base when I was there is even a militant atheist now. The
group has been very helpful in promoting healing & to let these
people know they are not alone. There is another group for people who
were in YWAM who are now atheist. Since I am not in that category, I
do not belong to that. I have grown in my relationship with the Lord
much more since leaving than I did the 12 years I was in YWAM &
left feeling emotionally & spiritually dead inside. Still, I
mistrust anyone in spiritual authority. I have healed a lot, but the
scars run deep.
Several
people in the group have written letters to Loren Cunningham to share
their abuse stories with no response. One even met with him
personally, but nothing changed.
People
who join YWAM (usually in their late teens or early 20's) after their
Discipleship Training School, which everyone must first take when
joining the group are then told they do not need to go off to college
or find a full-time secular job. They are encouraged to go on school
or base staff. There, most will be for years living in poverty &
not having the monies for basic needs, especially if from the third
world. The ones who are charismatic leaders, good at speaking &
writing books go on the YWAM speaking circuit & their traveling
expenses are paid to go speak all over the world as well as given
"love offerings" at every place they speak. There were
times when base staff asked to use a base car for a doctor's
appointment & were denied. The leadership's actions showed they
did not care for the sheep.
I was
close friends with the secretary of the base director at the time.
She told me she was so mad because she typed up his support letter
asking people for financial support & sounded in need when in
reality, she would take care of the monies that would come in from
his speaking & books & know how much he had. It wasn't long
before he & his wife bought a home in Honolulu where the average
price is about $800,000.
People
in the group I started, as well as myself have been verbally attacked
& accused of being of the devil & just bitter to try &
silence our voices of sharing first hand, the damage YWAM can do.
There
was mandatory fasting the first Friday of the month & often on
those days you could see many other fellow YWAMers at the nearby
McDonald's. They sometimes had mandatory 24-hour prayer chains as
well. Your hour spot may have been from 3-4 am. I am ALL for prayer
but prayer because it is mandatory is not pleasing to the Lord. It
must come from the heart! monies for basic needs, especially if from
the third world. The ones who are charismatic leaders, good at
speaking & writing books go on the YWAM speaking circuit &
their traveling expenses are paid to go speak all over the world as
well as given "love offerings" at every place they speak.
There were times when base staff asked to use a base car for a
doctor's appointment & were denied. The leadership's actions
showed they did not care for the sheep. I was close friends with the
secretary of the base director at the time. She told me she was so
mad because she typed up his support letter asking people for
financial support & sounded in need when in reality, she would
take care of the monies that would come in from his speaking &
books & know how much he had. It wasn't long before he & his
wife bought a home in Honolulu where the average price is about
$800,000.
People
in the group I started, as well as myself have been verbally attacked
& accused of being of the devil & just bitter to try &
silence our voices of sharing first hand, the damage YWAM can do."
