Laundry Ministry

I just came back from talking to my largest YWAM audience ever! I never talked to that many "heathens" whilst in YWAM. Anyway, I was doing laundry in Manoa where single staff & students have to do their laundry from YWAM Honolulu. I saw a group of 12-15 of them & knew instantly they were with YWAM. (When I was in YWAM one of the perks of the married families was to be able to do their laundry on base.) I saw two girls put at least 10 loads of laundry in a dryer designed for 2 & put in .25 cents, as if they would dry in 6 minutes! I then asked if they were with YWAM, which they confirmed they were. I was surprised that they didn't ask me how I knew or why I would ask. I then told them it would take hours for their laundry to dry with that much in there. 

I was about to leave & my heart started beating faster as I knew I could not miss this opportunity to "testify" to this large group from YWAM. They were sitting down on benches by the door. I walked up to them all and announced, "Have any of you ever googled YWAM abuse or YWAM cult"? It was suddenly very quiet. 2 in the group said that they had done that. One asked me if I had written the blog about abuse in YWAM. I responded, "Which one? There are many!" 

I then told them that I had been at YWAM Honolulu for 12 years and that I has started a FB group about spiritual abuse in YWAM and that there were now over 300 members. I told them that there were a lot of the same stories from bases around the world that experienced abuse. Most were committed by leaders whose heads got too big and would manipulate by saying things like, "God told me to tell you" and "Are you questioning my authority"? I said that the Bible says if someone makes even one prophecy that does not come true, they are not of God. 

One of the young women with blond & pink hair said, "There are abusive people in churches too!" I agreed with her. I told her that is why whenever someone tells you doctrine or makes demands that are not biblical, you are not to accept it. I also shared that there are a lot of young Christians in YWAM who equate God as having the same attributes as YWAM leaders & loose their faith in God as a result. 

I told them that I knew there were some good people in YWAM and there might even be some good bases, though there were none that I knew of for certain that were spiritually healthy. 

I said that in openess & brokeness they want you to confess publicly your past sins- even though they have already been forgiven and washed in the blood of Christ! I told them that often times, those you confess past sins to will hold it against you as if you are still involved in those sins. 

I mentioned how several times I had heard, "Are you questioning MY authority?!!" I told them they have every right to question someone's authority! I said that when I share the gospel with people, I tell them not to take my word for it but look up what I have said for themselves & see if it is true. I brought up the steps to intercession & how dead they were & often people would be shamed into "getting some kind of word from the Lord" and that often times the things there were brought up was just crazy talk. I told them I didn't expect anyone to admit to it, but I was sure there was someone there who hated intercession! 

I shared how I offered to lead a time of intercession once to pray for Russia but was told I couldn't, as the base was not called to Russia (even though they sent a team there about a year later). I also told them how I was involved in a ministry to Mormons on base but the other leaders told the leaders who headed the ministry that the base was not called to Mormon ministry so forbade them to continue it! 

I mentioned to them that there could be someone in their group right now who feels oppressed & abused & wonders what is wrong with them. I said I used to feel that way because I trusted "Christian" authority too much at the time but ended leaving YWAM spiritually & emotionally dead! 
 I also said I had healed a lot since then but still have nightmares of being back in YWAM. 

This whole time they listened intently and said nothing! I said that there may be people there who have a great YWAM experience & how I hoped that that would be the case. 

Though maybe none of them agreed with me, I know I still planted seeds & when it happens, they will remember the "crazy man" who insinuated that YWAM is a cult. 

Finally, I thanked them for hearing me out & for not stoning me & left to a, "Have a nice day"...

Loving a Lost Mormon

Woman in temple clothing inside a Mormon Temple

I had a pre-planned phone call with a friend I met whilst in YWAM on a ministry trip to the Mormons at the temple opening in Taipei, Taiwan. I went with a small group of others who had a heart for Mormons to pass out tracts in Mandarin Chinese at the temple open house to those who were attending so they could know exactly what happens in the temple that the guides & missionaries won't tell them. They will never know, even years after being members of the Mormon church what goes on in the temple unless they go themselves as they are not allowed to discuss it outside of the temple. This was before you could just google it & discover via video or word for word text what happens.

The one thing I did appreciate in my early years in YWAM was that one of the leadership couples were involved in a ministry to Mormons & the wife had come out of Mormonism to Christ. I moved to Hawaii from very Mormon Idaho, so already had a heart for Mormons when I met them. Unfortunately, the other leaders told this couple that a ministry to Mormons was NOT part of YWAM Honolulu's calling (as if we are not called to ALL unbelievers) so they were pushed out! After they left, the abuse in YWAM Honolulu intensified!

Anyway we met Amy, a young Mormon missionary from Salt Lake City, Utah who was inquisitive about what we had to share & our motive for being there. She was told not to talk to us as the Taiwanese might think that we could be Mormon missionaries as well. She did not do what she was told & we became friends. The next few years, she came (still a Mormon) to stay at the Honolulu YWAM base to spend time with me. She also visited me when I was in Oregon to visit my family & when I was in Idaho visiting friends. I visited her a few times in Salt Lake. Several of us from YWAM went to an Ex-Mormons for Jesus conference in Salt Lake & stayed with her devout Mormon family. The difference in our beliefs did not hurt our friendship. How many professing Christians would have open up their homes to people attending a conference that was anti-Christian?

So as often happens in life, we lost contact for at least a decade. She became a lawyer in LA but due to medical problems, had to quit working. I have prayed for Amy almost every day since we met that she would put her trust in Jesus alone.

I was a bit apprehensive about talking to her again after all this time. I didn't need to worry. The connection was instant. She told me she had gotten married, had gone on another Mormon mission with her husband to Germany & had settled in Salt Lake. She also shared that her marriage was not what she'd dreamed it would be. Most of our lives are not what we envisioned as youth.

I was transparent with her about YWAM and the spiritual & emotional abuse that I experienced there, mostly after we had met. She told me how hurt she was by some of the Christians (from YWAM) who she felt passed judgement on her for being Mormon. Not all showed her unconditional love. It was a great visit for close to two hours! Neither of us judged one another or came across as better than the other or came across as disappointed that we did not eventually come over to the other's side.

We discussed how we could both tell when we were talking with someone whether they were speaking out of love, pride, superiority or whatever. I shared how I do not discuss politics or religion, for the most part on my personal FB page as I have friends who are atheist, Christian, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu & others. I also have friends who are way left & way right in the political spectrum. I have never noticed in a political or religious argument where one side goes to the other. I have found instead that there are hurt feelings & lost relationships as well as feelings of superiority.

I told Amy that I still have a love for Mormons & belong to FB groups where both mainline Christians & Mormons are members & discuss theological issues. If there is bashing in them, the offending members are banned. Every now & then, someone will get on their high horse (from BOTH) sides and come across holier than though. That attitude NEVER gets any converts!

If you think you can intimidate people to believing a certain way, you are mistaken. Just because someone believes the total opposite of what you or I believe does not mean they are any less valuable as a person or that they are not worthy of love & respect. This does not mean you have to agree with their beliefs or values but should all be adult enough to treat one other with kindness & respect.

Each person's YWAM experience & story of abuse was real to them and personal. We are all individuals & if someone says they were abused, we need to accept that they are coming from an honest place, even if we can not get behind their skin & truly understand them. How many things in our own lives do we not understand? How can we think we can fully understand one another? We ALL want to be heard & understood. Often, we are thinking about our responses rather than trying to hear & understand what is being communicated in an argument or discussion.

We are ALL products of a series of events & people in our lives that make us who we are, believe & act the way we do, be it positive or negative.

We are ALL broken people. Some are just better at wearing masks than others.

PS: When a post looks strange, it is because I could not change the color of the font or background.