Is YWAM A Cult? Is YWAM Guilty of Spiritual Abuse?

Apologetics Index ^ | January 4, 1994 | Ex YWAMer

[Saundra Duffy]

I was on staff with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) for over five years. I have just finished reading articles from the website, "Apologetics Index". This particular letter summed it up for me. My family served 18 months at the YWAM base in Belize, Central America (yes, it's a jungle out there). I'm afraid the theme of spiritual abuse was evident there. The rest of our time with YWAM was spent on "outreaches" to Okinawa (Japan), Hong Kong, China and at the Kailua-Kona site, Hawaii. I don't really want to list all my grievances; just wanted to see if this would spark interest by other former YWAMers. (In Kailua-Kona - on the Big Island - the campus is also referred to as "University of the Nations".

[Saundra Duffy]

Any FReepers out there have experience with YWAM? I could tell some stories which would make you SICK!!!

[Saundra Duffy]

Bump for exposure.

[B-Chan]

A "spirit of anorexia"?

[Saundra Duffy]

When you're on one of these third-world YWAM bases in the jungle, you don't get enough to eat and you start feeling guilty if you eat anything of substance. Meanwhile, some of the leaders are living in better dwellings and eating good food. It's crazy!

[Saundra Duffy]

On the YWAM base in Belize, we would have beans and rice and sometimes rice and beans and sometimes rice and beans mixed together in the same bowl. Anyway, I told my husband at that time to "GET ME OUTTA HERE!" We moved in to the City of Belmopan and rented a little tiny house with no hot water. Compared with the YWAMers on the base, we were living in luxury and many of them resented the heck out of us. Our son was 8 yrs old at that time and he attended Belizean schools. Many good memories but these stories of spiritual abuse hit home for me.

[ladyinred]

Bump for a scary sounding religious group!

[B-Chan]

I can relate. I spent a lot of time as a youth being dragged from one Protestant quasi-cult to another (which is one of the reasons i became a Catholic as an adult). The outfit you guys are describing here sounds like a classic cult-of-personality/mind-control scam. I was wondering, though, why anorexia was referred to as a "spirit of anorexia". It's my understanding that anorexia is a psychological ailment, not a supernatural oppression.

[El Sordo]

A question, what exactly is "spiritual abuse" and how did this group manifest it? Perhaps I read too quickly, but I haven't figured out what exactly constituted "abuse"

Seems that living in a place like Guyana would be difficult for anyone used to the American lifestyle. Throw that together with the problems that always manifest themselves in human interaction and there will always be people with bad experiences in trying situations. I would imagine that if they had high expectation of what thing "should be" like then any experience that falls short of the ideal will have an exagerrated impact.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."-- Mat 20:26-28" (NIV)

[jimtorr]

I've never had anything to do with WYAM myself, but I know a fair number of people who did anything from a month to a year with them, all in central america.

They all give it mixed reviews. Good times with staff, and bad times. Good work done, as well as scaring people away from Christ. Some of the people scared away were the young missionaries themselves. At least all of the former-WYAM'ers I've known stayed with the Church.

I'd say that YWAM as an entity is not guilty of abuse. Some of the people involved, being people, are.

[AppyPappy]

Selling cults use the same tactics. They go around the country in groups selling magazines/cleaner/etc.

[cmsgop]

Kinda sounds like Primerica......LOL!

[Quix]

YWAM MAY BE particularly vulnerable for several inherent reasons:

1) Satan targets them because they do The Kingdom of God a lot of good and satan's a lot of damage.

2) Their goals, structures, settings, methods etc. are somewhat of a setup for strong striving people with unhealed personal junk multiplying and afflicting that on all at hand. I don't consider that the structures, goals or even many of the methods are that wrong--just that the people need more healing, deliverance, cleasnsing and monitoring on an ongoing, regular basis. Perhaps the whole organization does. I'll be sharing this with a Board member. I don't know what he'll do with it. He does care about such things.

3) The times we live in exacerbate all of the above.

4) Any Christian group seriously interested in doing great work for The Lord is likely to have similar problems. . . especially with performance oriented people.

[Frapster]

In the current mindset about humanity there's not much room for believing in the existance of spiritual beings capable of influencing us at some level. I and other Christians believe that not only does God exist, but so does the devil and his minions. He and his minions are able to attack us spiritually and this war plays out through sickness in the body, affliction of the mind, will and emotions (soul) and spirit (where the focus of the battle really is).

[Frapster]

4) Any Christian group seriously interested in doing great work for The Lord is likely to have similar problems. . . especially with performance oriented people.

I've found that performance oriented Christians have the hardest time understanding and allowing Grace to work in their lives. Particularly in the Bible Belt where you have religion and performance orientation mixed - what a recipe for dullness and legalism.

[Quix]

True, but I think the rot is rather epidemic world over.

[B-Chan]

I certainly do believe that demons exist and can harm people. That being said: not every bad thing that happens is the result of spiritual oppression. Since the Resurrection, when Christ detroyed the power of Hell, possession has become rare. (Besides, our Guardian Angels and St. Michael are always on duty protecting us!)

Christianity is neither a superstition nor a "science". Illnesses, physical or psychological, are almost always natural physical phenomena and not the result of spiritual or supernatural involvement. When somebody's kidney goes out, it's not the "spirit of nephritis" causing it -- it's some physical agent at fault. That's all I'm saying.

[mrjeff]

I did a YWAM DTS in Amsterdam, outreach in Greece. I also spent a few days at the Belize base mentioned, helping to fix the suspension bridge that crosses the river that runs past the base.

I saw some kooky stuff during my time in YWAM, but I would consider it par for my course through the many manifestations of evangelical Christianity. You have to remember that YWAM is a huge organization, with surprisingly little centralized control. Any given person's experience is going to be heavily dependent on the local leadership at the base where they serve. My overall impression is that YWAM grew a little too fast and brought some people into leadership who probably should not have been there.

Is it a cult? Not by a long shot. I have been involved in pentacostal/charistmatic ministries that I would consider borderline cultish, but not YWAM.

But my central point is that these bases scattered around the world can be rather idiosyncratic, based on local leadership.

[AppyPappy]

Cults live in fear of Grace because it takes away their power. They sell salvation. One of the larger Christian cults tells its members not to listen to any Christian music (besides their's) because it pushes the doctrine of a believer's direct line to God.