Bad individuals and dangerous policies

Those who report abuse in the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) organization are often told that the blame lies in a few individuals, not the system of YWAM as a whole. This is my response to that statement.

At first, I thought that we had encountered a few “bad individuals” at a few “bad bases”. Over time I met more people with similar stories from bases all over the world. A couple of stories of abuse can be rationally regarded as a “few bad apples”. Once there starts to be a growing amount of reports, people should take notice. We have a constant stream of new reports in our "Spiritual Abuse in YWAM" facebook group on a daily basis from bases all over the world. Refusing to look into such a steady stream of abuse reports is actually one of the hallmarks of having a cult mindset like a Jehovah’s Witness or a Mormon who cannot question their own organization. This made me start to consider what sort of situations were created by typical ywam policies.

Ywam encourages complete submission of students to staff. It also encourages staff to submit to their own leadership. This sounds ok and normal at face value, but this principle is taken to extreme levels when combined with confession of sins, private one-on-one meetings, and the assumption that every person in authority hears God better than those underneath them.

A further dynamic is added when reports of problems with leadership or staff are dismissed as “disrupting unity” or “giving the devil a foothold”. This removes accountability from those who are wielding uncomfortable amounts of power. It is also typical to dismiss accusations with the response “do not touch the Lord’s anointed”.

Ywam encourages confession of sins, which also is a biblical principle. What is not biblical is forcing people to confess by threatening to fail them from the school that they have just paid thousands of dollars for. These confessions are often of a sexual nature and done in front of a group of their peers, sometimes even including the sins of the parents. Forced confessions of this nature being done to teenagers is just plain wrong. This is some of the most personal information someone can share. Forcing the confession robs the person of control over their own life. It creates a standard of submission on the level of slavery. True confession should be caused by the Holy Spirit, not some religious organization staff member. This is standard ywam practice that needs to be changed.

Ywam also teaches the principle of “give up your rights”. On face value, this sounds great too. We should surrender everything to Jesus, right? The problem with this teaching is that in YWAM Jesus is replaced by YWAM and YWAM staff. The practical implication of this "give up your rights" teaching is that students and those under any leadership have been taught to submit to their leaders commands and teachings WITH NO LIMITATIONS ON THESE COMMANDS AT ALL!  The students have "given up their rights", remember?

I have heard multiple accounts of YWAM students being taught to obey their leadership even if their leader were to ask them to do something wrong.  Obeying unrighteous or unethical commands is supposed to be justified because the leadership has been established by God and the students only have the duty of obeying commands.  Supposedly God will reward the student for their obedience.

I had to learn from an ex-military person that even soldiers are expected to disobey orders that are unethical and wrong.  YWAM places a stricter standard of obedience on a bunch of teenagers than the United States military does for soldiers making life and death decisions!

This is not biblical at all. We are to deny our sin natures, not our own God-given and Holy Spirit-led common sense. We are NOT to give up our rights to “test all things” 1 Thes 5:21. We are NOT to give up our rights to “search the scriptures daily to see if things are true” Acts 17:11. We are NOT to give up our rights to even test those who call themselves apostles (Rev 2:2). In regards to these rights, how should we test those who claim leadership in a para-church organization?

Will everyone take advantage of such a set-up? No, definitely not. There are many good men and women of God who will work very hard to keep their integrity even with this amount of power.

However, many people become YWAM staff who are very young and inexperienced with life. They have done maybe one DTS school and could still be only nineteen or twenty years old. The lack of accountability for such youth is a recipe for trouble.

At the other end of the spectrum there are legitimate narcissists who look for communities to operate in. I recently took “youth protection training” for Boy Scouts of America, which is a several hour long training created by law enforcement and child protection services. One of the points they hammer home is that abusers intentionally search for churches and other organizations where they can build a spotless record and establish themselves as trusted leaders. Abusers deliberately investigate if there are policies in place that would prevent their abusive behaviors. Even if preventative policies are in place, the abuser will check to see if they are just theoretical or if they are followed in practice. In this respect, YWAM policies provide a paradise for abusers to set up shop. They can do a couple of schools, build a great reputation and then often not have to worry about ever being held accountable.

I have definitely encountered at least one narcissist at one of the bases I served at, and this person was dug in like a tick to the point where they could constantly slander everyone else in leadership with no repercussions, require those serving under them to work a regular schedule of over 12 hrs of work a day, six days a week, and meet with young single people of the opposite sex for “one on one” counseling where this person discussed their unsatisfying married sex life. The people this person counseled constantly complained about the topics being discussed, but no action was taken, because the staffer had built a reputation of trust.

The european council eventually did become involved in dealing with one situation. However, very little action was taken. In regards to Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, I know one person who has met with Loren in person to discuss some of these issues. Loren expressed concern about abuse in the bases, but no action was ever taken.

On the contrary, because of YWAM’s distributed nature, anything bad that happens at a base can be blamed on a few individuals or one bad base. Anyone higher up the chain of command can claim innocence and take zero responsibility for the situation. The policies are never to blame, because they are effectively regarded to be as pure and unquestionable as the ten commandments.

The final point I would like to mention is that an attitude is promoted to avoid ever speaking anything negative about the organization. It is as though YWAM is a precious brand name that cannot be allowed to be tarnished. Those who have negative experiences, for instance a student with staff member who tries to take advantage of their authority to boss them around to do their laundry or tries to learn every detail of their past sexual history for their own perverse reasons, are encouraged to just suck-it-up and keep silent. The main concern is not that a precious believer in the Lord was manipulated, but that the almighty holy name of YWAM should not receive a black mark. People seem more concerned with blasphemy against YWAM then with protecting the weak like Jesus commands.

Not being able to criticize an organization or its policy creates a bubble where the organization is basically turned into an idol. If YWAM is regarded as more important than a denomination, or if YWAM is considered to be equivalent to the kingdom of God, then we are getting into a cult mindset.

To sum up, some of the policy issues with YWAM are:

1. Too much power placed in authority figures
2. Lack of accountability for authority figures
3. Teaching an attitude of complete submission and trust to authority figures
4. Extreme devotion to the organization to the point of not being able to reasonably discuss any potential issues or problems
5. Teaching people to never speak negatively about the organization or else it will “promote disunity” or “give the devil a foothold”

At this point, I actually think that it’s unchristian to blame the individuals instead of the system of policies that makes abuse a dangerous possibility. Why wouldn't a love-filled Christian prefer to place blame on a system of rules instead of a precious soul for whom Christ died? Is the reputation of a missions organization so important that it must be viewed as perfect?

The sad truth is that these policies are a set-up for abuse of power. It is a constant temptation for those with positions of authority to go too far, because they are regarded as hearing the Lord too well and they have very little accountability. This is unsafe and the fruit of these policies are becoming more and more apparent as those who were on fire for Jesus are now in counseling for depression, filled with shame at their own perceived inadequacies taught to them by YWAM, or completely fallen away from the gospel because they cannot serve a God who has been portrayed to them as desiring them to be humiliated and treated like a slave on a constant basis.

For more details about my own experiences with YWAM, see:

https://ryanespringer.blogspot.com/2019/11/culty-is-as-culty-does.html

Here is a great blog from someone who served 12 years in YWAM.  This blog is what led me to the "Spiritual Abuse in YWAM" facebook group:

https://longehawaii.blogspot.com/2007/03/cult-of-ywam-honolulu.html

This is the story of a woman who was sexually abused in YWAM.  The response of many of the leaders to the situation was completely wrong:

https://medium.com/@rebeccalujanloveless/ywamtoo-my-sexual-abuse-story-f891884af23c

If you read the comments on her twitter stream, you will see more people with similar stories:

https://twitter.com/rlujanloveless/status/1073361471008985089?fbclid=IwAR0aK6Q4jTuN0PndR5nWEde4D0YXX_zvKqZ-b4Bqy8naBnZ6z_6RXYD2nl0