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| date=February 13, 1993}}</ref> Despite his ordination by the Assemblies of God, his untraditional ideas were met with considerable criticism as denominational leaders pointed out problems with his plan to send young, inexperienced youth from many denominations, overseas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buenting |first=Debra |title=YWAM’s Transformation: From Short-Term Missions to Discipling Nations |url=https://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/ywams-transformation |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=www.missionfrontiers.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The organization has faced numerous controversies over its doctrine<ref>{{Cite web|last=churchwatcher|date=2019-06-02|title=What churches should know about YWAM Part 1: A sketchy theological heritage.|url=https://churchwatchcentral.com/2019/06/02/what-churches-should-know-about-ywam-part-1-a-sketchy-theological-heritage/|access-date=2020-07-15|language=en}}</ref> and the behavior of its members, including complaints from former members of [[spiritual abuse]], [[financial abuse]], manipulation, and [[Indoctrination|cultic indoctrination]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-03-25|title=Missionary Group Thrust Into Limelight After Colorado Shootings|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/missionary-group-thrust-into-limelight-after-colorado-shootings|access-date=2020-07-15|website=Fox News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=YWAM people often did more harm than good|url=https://culteducation.com/group/1245-youth-with-a-mission/22531-ywam-people-often-did-more-harm-than-good.html|access-date=2020-07-15|website=culteducation.com}}</ref>
| date=February 13, 1993}}</ref> Despite his ordination by the Assemblies of God, his untraditional ideas were met with considerable criticism as denominational leaders pointed out problems with his plan to send young, inexperienced youth from many denominations, overseas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buenting |first=Debra |title=YWAM’s Transformation: From Short-Term Missions to Discipling Nations |url=https://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/ywams-transformation |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=www.missionfrontiers.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The organization has faced numerous controversies over its doctrine<ref>{{Cite web|last=churchwatcher|date=2019-06-02|title=What churches should know about YWAM Part 1: A sketchy theological heritage.|url=https://churchwatchcentral.com/2019/06/02/what-churches-should-know-about-ywam-part-1-a-sketchy-theological-heritage/|access-date=2020-07-15|language=en}}</ref> and the behavior of its members, including complaints from former members of [[spiritual abuse]], [[financial abuse]], manipulation, and [[Indoctrination|cultic indoctrination]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-03-25|title=Missionary Group Thrust Into Limelight After Colorado Shootings|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/missionary-group-thrust-into-limelight-after-colorado-shootings|access-date=2020-07-15|website=Fox News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=YWAM people often did more harm than good|url=https://culteducation.com/group/1245-youth-with-a-mission/22531-ywam-people-often-did-more-harm-than-good.html|access-date=2020-07-15|website=culteducation.com}}</ref>


The organization pioneered self-funded [[short-term mission]]s targeted towards young people. The way YWAM’s organization works is a system of each base has its own finance handling and self management rather than a larger organization it’s a bunch of small bases under one name. Which leads to a few corrupt bases hurting the image of the whole organization. Today, while maintaining its original youth-oriented ethos, the group has expanded its membership to those of older ages as well. The efficacy, safety, and morality of the types of short-term missions pioneered by YWAM has been called into question.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlson |first=Darren |date=2019-09-12 |title=I’d Probably Still Cancel Your Short-Term Mission Trip |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/still-cancel-short-term-mission-trip/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=YWAM: A Dynamic "Movement" of Hundreds of Ministries, but Not an Organization – MinistryWatch |url=https://ministrywatch.com/ywam-a-dynamic-movement-of-hundreds-of-ministries-but-not-an-organization/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |language=en-US}}</ref> YWAM trains upwards of 25,000 short-term missions volunteers annually, accepting participants from across all Christian denominations, including Catholicism via it's Kerygma Ministry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kerygma |url=https://kerygma.network/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=kerygma.network}}</ref><ref>[http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Youth-with-a-Mission-in.3792785.jp Youth with a Mission in Derry visit – Derry Today<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="CP08012005">
The organization pioneered self-funded [[short-term mission]]s targeted towards young people. Today, while maintaining its original youth-oriented ethos, the group has expanded its membership to those of older ages as well. The efficacy, safety, and morality of the types of short-term missions pioneered by YWAM has been called into question.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carlson |first=Darren |date=2019-09-12 |title=I’d Probably Still Cancel Your Short-Term Mission Trip |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/still-cancel-short-term-mission-trip/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=YWAM: A Dynamic "Movement" of Hundreds of Ministries, but Not an Organization – MinistryWatch |url=https://ministrywatch.com/ywam-a-dynamic-movement-of-hundreds-of-ministries-but-not-an-organization/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |language=en-US}}</ref> YWAM trains upwards of 25,000 short-term missions volunteers annually, accepting participants from across all Christian denominations, including Catholicism via it's Kerygma Ministry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kerygma |url=https://kerygma.network/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=kerygma.network}}</ref><ref>[http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Youth-with-a-Mission-in.3792785.jp Youth with a Mission in Derry visit – Derry Today<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="CP08012005">
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Revision as of 01:53, 16 January 2024

Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
Founded1960
FounderLoren and Darlene Cunningham
TypeChristian interdenominational missionary association
Websiteywam.org

Youth With A Mission (typically shortened YWAM, generally pronounced /ˈwaɪwæm/) is an interdenominational Christian training organization.

Founded by American missionary Loren Cunningham and his wife Darlene Cunningham in 1960, YWAM's stated purpose is to "know God and to make Him known".[1][2] Despite his ordination by the Assemblies of God, his untraditional ideas were met with considerable criticism as denominational leaders pointed out problems with his plan to send young, inexperienced youth from many denominations, overseas.[3] The organization has faced numerous controversies over its doctrine[4] and the behavior of its members, including complaints from former members of spiritual abuse, financial abuse, manipulation, and cultic indoctrination.[5][6]

The organization pioneered self-funded short-term missions targeted towards young people. Today, while maintaining its original youth-oriented ethos, the group has expanded its membership to those of older ages as well. The efficacy, safety, and morality of the types of short-term missions pioneered by YWAM has been called into question.[7][8] YWAM trains upwards of 25,000 short-term missions volunteers annually, accepting participants from across all Christian denominations, including Catholicism via it's Kerygma Ministry.[9][10][11]

History

Youth With A Mission was conceived by Loren Cunningham in 1956. As a 20-year-old student in an Assemblies of God College, he was traveling in the Bahamas when he had a vision of a movement that would send young people out into various nations to share the message of Jesus, and which would involve Christians of all Christian denominations.[12][13]

In late 1966, the name Youth With A Mission (YWAM) was chosen, and the group embarked on their first project, a vocational mission trip to Liberia to build a road through the jungle to a leper colony.[14][15][16][17]

Cunningham married Darlene Scratch in 1963. By this time, the new mission had 20 volunteers stationed in various nations, and the Cunninghams were planning the mission's first "Summer of 69". Later in the year, YWAM teams were sent to West Indies, Samoa, Hawaii, Mexico, and Central America.[citation needed]

In 1964, the organization became non-denominational.[18]

By 1966, there were 10 full-time YWAM staff including the Cunninghams, and hundreds of summer short-term volunteers. That year, YWAM ministries also began in New Zealand and Tonga.[16][19]

In 1967, Loren Cunningham began to work on the organisation's first summer school. Named the School of Evangelism, it was held in Chateau-d'Oex (Hotel Rosat), Switzerland, in 1969 with 21 students. A second school ran from the summer of 1969 through the summer of 1970 just outside Lausanne, Switzerland, and was held in Chalet-A-Gobet. The students' lodging and classes took place in a newly renovated and leased hotel. By the end of the year, YWAM purchased the hotel and made Lausanne its first permanent location.[20]

The School of Evangelism was formed in 1974 in New Jersey as well as Lausanne. With a focus on biblical foundations and character development as well as missions, much of the material from this course is now taught in the present day Discipleship Training School (DTS).[20] A format of three months of lectures followed by two or three months of outreach is still used in most Discipleship Training Schools (sometimes known as the Discipleship Training Course or "DTC") today.[13][20]

By 1970, YWAM had a total of 40 full-time staff.[20] In early 1972, a small team headed to Munich, Germany, to begin preparations for an outreach during the 1972 Summer Olympics; YWAM stationed 1,000 people at Munich for the outreach during the Games, and would later go on to conduct other Olympic outreach programmes at later Games.

The University of the Nations online magazine has stated that Cunningham met scientist and professor Howard V. Malmstadt at a conference in 1974. Malmstadt and Cunningham started giving educational seminars together, and Cunningham asked Malmstadt to help expand the training arm of the mission. In 1977, YWAM purchased the Pacific Empress Hotel in Kona, Hawaii, and began renovations to turn it into the campus for the Pacific and Asia Christian University, the forerunner of University of the Nations.[21]

By 1978, YWAM's Mercy Ships ministry was launched with the commissioning of the ship "Anastasis" (the Greek word for 'resurrection').[22] In 1984, the m/v Good Samaritan was added, in 1990 the m/v Pacific Ruby, then in 1994 the m/v Caribbean Mercy and then in 2001 the m/v Pacific Link. Mercy Ships was pioneered by YWAM, but in 2003 was released as a separate organization.[23] A New Zealand-based YWAM ship ministry, formerly a part of Mercy Ships called Marine Reach, which owned and operated the m/v Pacific Link continued to remain within the YWAM family and, over time, a number of ship equipped ministries sprouted up as part of the YWAM Ships network.[citation needed]

By the end of the 1980s, YWAM changed the name of its university to University of the Nations (U of N). The concept of a YWAM university that would encompass training programs in hundreds of YWAM locations was developed by Cunningham and Malmstadt.[21][24] When communist regimes in Eastern Europe began to fall in the early 1990s, YWAM began outreaches to countries there, including Albania.[25]

By 2000, YWAM had over 11,000 staff from over 130 countries and had become almost 50 percent non-Western.[26] Reflecting this diversity, in 1999, New Zealander Frank Naea, who has Samoan and Māori parentage, was chosen to become YWAM's first non-white president in 2000, replacing Jim Stier, who was to continue as international director of evangelism and frontier missions and national director for Brazil.[27] In 2000, YWAM developed a new role of Executive chairman, which Jim Stier stepped into, and made the presidency a three-year rotating position.[26] However, at a meeting in 2011, the organization's elders did away with the titles director, chairman, and president, in reference to all leadership roles except at the local level. By 2006, YWAM had joined the International Orality Network (ION), a multi-agency outreach effort to "the world's non-literate masses", employing verbal and dramatic means to introduce the Gospel to non-literate populations.[28] In 2008, a number of mission organizations and church mission departments, including YWAM, started the Call To All movement, dedicated to completing the Great Commission in the modern day.

Programs

Evangelism

Sports camps, drama presentations, musical events, volunteering, and other creative and performing arts are among the avenues through which volunteers and staff share their Christian faith.[29]

International sporting event outreaches

Youth With A Mission has been active in evangelism at the World Olympic Games since 1972.[30]

Training

The purpose of YWAM training programs is stated to be to help develop students' relationship with God and others, to help them find God's purpose for their lives, and to empower them to live Christ-like lives whatever their vocation may be. An important concept in YWAM teaching is the notion of societal "spheres of influence", via the Seven Mountain Mandate such as education, government, arts and entertainment, media and communication, business and commerce, family, and church.[51][52] YWAM aims to train and equip Christians to become influential within these spheres.[53]

The various training schools of YWAM are organized under the structure of the unaccredited University of the Nations.[13] The University of Nations offers modular courses,[13] which in the USA are accredited via bi-lateral arrangements with certain other higher education institutions, rather than by accrediting agencies. In some nations, such as Australia, certain YWAM courses are recognized by accrediting agencies.[54][55] Most schools in the University of Nations system have a three-month lecture phase which is then followed by a two- to three-month field assignment priced at around $9,000.[13] It has been reported by former members that after the initial Discipleship Training School, they are recruited into further courses, programs, seminars or into long term staffing positions. All staff positions are unpaid and require $400–$600 a month in self-funded fees for room and board.[56] Notably, the price of tuition is comparable to that of most accredited universities who are able to pay staff and faculty.[57]

Mercy Ministries

YWAM works to help meet the practical and physical needs of the global community through its many relief and development initiatives, collectively known as Mercy Ministries International.[58] These various YWAM ministries are spread throughout most of the locations that YWAM missionaries live and work, and range in scope from serving the poor through local feeding programs to international disaster relief teams that work in places of great need, such as the 2004 tsunami[59] and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[60][61]

Ship-based ministries

YWAM ship equipped ministries, the maritime arm of YWAM's Mercy Ministries, uses ships to bring physical and spiritual healing to those in need. YWAM ships have provided vital surgeries, dental care, medical supplies, food, seeds, construction materials, development projects, training, and the organisation's spiritual message.[62]

Mercy Ships was the original ship-based relief ministry of YWAM, and the new ship-equipped ministries grew from the foundations laid by the Mercy Ships vision and expansive ministry. Mercy Ships is now operationally separated from YWAM. New Zealand based YWAM ship ministry, formerly a part of Mercy Ships called Marine Reach, which owned and operated the m/v Pacific Link continued to remain within YWAM family and is now operated by YWAM Ships Australia.

Disaster relief

Various YWAM ministries took part in relief efforts in Louisiana and surrounding states after Hurricane Katrina and Rita.[63]

Youth With A Mission was also involved in disaster relief and grief counseling after the 2004 tsunami. tsunami relief by YWAM staff took place in India, Thailand, and Indonesia in both the immediate aftermath of the tsunami and is reported to still continue in some areas.[59][64]

Flooding in Pakistan in 2007 in the Sindh province prompted a response by twenty Muslim, Christian, and Hindu volunteers led by YWAM Pakistan. They were assisted by an appeal made through YWAM London's disaster relief|relief office. Various YWAM entities in Pakistan were able to distribute food for a month to 3,000 of the 150,000 homeless survivors there.[65]

Hurricane Katrina flooded all eleven of YWAM New Orleans' buildings. Personnel were evacuated to YWAM bases in Baton Rouge and Tyler, Texas, where volunteers in their MercyWorks relief arm prepared to take food, "baby items" and water to victims once access was granted to relief workers by the National Guard.[66] Earlier that year, YWAM lodgings in Phuket, Thailand were destroyed by the tsunami of 26 December 2004.[67]

Disease prevention and treatment

In Uganda, YWAM is working with villagers to provide relief for HIV/AIDS. They have established orphanages and are ensuring children are educated. British singer, Lemar visited the project in Soroti in 2007.[68][69]

In 2007, ARMS announced a new ministry focus – an international campaign against Malaria called Buzz Off.[70] The campaign is aimed at empowering smaller NGOs and ministries working in Malaria endemic nations to tackle the problem of Malaria at the local level. In from 2009 to 2010 Buzz Off fed resources into Burmese Internally Displaced People camps providing LLIN mosquito nets into IDP areas through already established health networks. Some funding organizations in Australia are getting behind the work that Buzz Off is doing with the IDPs.[71]

Other mercy ministry initiatives

YWAM San Diego is involved in building homes for families in Mexico through its Homes of Hope ministry. According to Sean Lambert, president of YWAM San Diego/Baja, teams participating with his base have built 2,084 homes for needy families since 1991.[72][73] Teams purchase the housing materials and, optionally, furniture. These teams then travel to Tijuana or Ensenada, Mexico to build the house with YWAM staff overseeing the project.[74] In recent years the work has expanded throughout the Caribbean into the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Panama.[75] According to their website, Homes of Hope has built a total of 4,300 homes in 16 different nations.

Youth ministries

Despite its historical and value emphasis on young people, YWAM involves people of all ages. However, there is still a core emphasis on youth ministry. While YWAM has many programs focusing on youth ministry, within the larger organization it has developed three transnational ministries for youth: Mission Adventures (MA), King's Kids International (KKI) and Youth Street. YWAM holds an annual spring event offering free dentistry to children in Lindale, TX. The ministry is first come, first served; while thousands are given free treatment, thousands more are turned away, sometimes coming from many states away.[76] In 1973, Pastor David E. Ross founded YWAM Korea, and launched campus ministries where Bible meditation sessions, prayer meetings and worship services are held on campuses in that nation.[77] Currently, in South Korea, about 120 universities have YWAM campus ministries[citation needed] with 150 assistant administrators and eight university discipleship training schools.[78]

Film projects

YWAM Missionary Lee Isaac Chung's film Munyurangabo (Liberation Day) earned Un Certain Regard at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Chung cast two street kids whom he found through YWAM's soccer-outreach program as the stars of a film that dealt with the moral and emotional repercussions of the Rwandan genocide.[79]

David Loren Cunningham, son of the group's founders, produced a film, Hakani: A Survivor's Story, which contains a depiction of infanticide among Amazonian tribes of Brazil.[80]

Associations and working relationships

Youth With A Mission is a global mission with international partnerships. Former chairman Lynn Green recently reported that YWAM representatives sometimes sit "on boards of other commissions" and organizations.[13]

YWAM also works closely with various missions and churches, as well as independent missionaries across the globe. Through these connections, YWAM has sometimes grown by taking over local independent ministries. One example of this is the story of its affiliate in Korea, Jesus Evangelism Team, which joined YWAM in the early 1980s.

A notable working relationship is the OneStory Project[81] which is a partnership between YWAM, Campus Crusade for Christ, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Trans World Radio, and Wycliffe Bible Translators as well as other Great Commission-focused organizations, churches and individuals.[82] United Bible Societies has also worked closely with YWAM as a missions partner.[43] YWAM joined with the Evangelical Alliance and John C. Maxwell to design the training program for the Global Pastors Network's Million Leaders Mandate.[83] YWAM and Christian Direction work together to pray for Muslims during Ramadan.[84] YWAM Pittsburgh has been involved in ecumenical local efforts to revive Epiphany School through teaching young people "Christian principles" and exposing them to dance and the arts.[85]

Partnerships

YWAM partners with:

Memberships

YWAM is a member of:

Endorsements

  • Church of God Assistant Director Douglas Leroy has noted the cooperation between COG and YWAM, among others, and endorses cooperation with mission groups "who have expertise in certain areas, without compromising our doctrinal or policy integrity."[93]

Mainstream news reports

2007 shooting incident

Main article: 2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings

A gunman identified as an expelled YWAM student, Matthew Murray,[94] shot four staff members at the missionary training center near Denver in the early morning hours on December 9, 2007, killing two.[95]

"But as soon as Murray enrolled at YWAM's training center in nearby Arvada in 2002, he found himself trapped in an authoritarian culture even more restrictive than home. He realized that, as another student of YWAM bluntly put it, the school's training methods resembled "cult mind-controlling techniques." Murray became paranoid, speaking aloud to voices only he could hear, according to a former roommate. He complained that six of his male peers had made a gay sex video and that others routinely abused drugs. Hypocrisy seemed to be all around him, or at least dark mirages of it. A week before Murray was scheduled to embark on his first mission, YWAM dismissed him from the program for unspecified "health reasons." "They admitted that I hadn't done anything wrong, just that they had prayed and felt I wasn't popular/'connected' and talkative enough," he recalled.” — Max Blumenthal, 'The Nightmare of Christianity',The Nation, September 21, 2009[96]

YWAM's School of Writing director Janice Rogers noted that internationally, YWAM had been the victim of violent offenders before, including homicides and other violent acts, although this was the first act of aggression against the mission on US soil.[97]

2016 sexual assault in Cambodia on outreach

A missionary, Mr. Choi, was sent out by YWAM to Cambodia where he was then arrested for engaging in inappropriate relations with a young woman. The young woman stated that she was assaulted. On November 29, Mr. Choi was suspended and banned from his mission and fundraising activities in Korea. Prior to this incident, Mr. Choi had been operating a school called, "New Vision School," which teaches primarily young children, kindergarten to the elementary age range. Mr. Choi had an extensive 30 years of experience in ministry.[98]

2017 Hawaii embezzlement charges

In January 2018, Pablo Rivera, the chief financial officer for University of the Nations at YWAM-Kona, pled guilty to wire fraud.[99] Rivera embezzled nearly 3.1 million dollars, amounting to $50,000 per month. According to the YWAM school leadership, in order to compensate for the fraud, increased charges were applied to volunteers and students.[100] According to the Department of Justice press release, Rivera used fraudulent invoices from an outside contractor [9] to supplement his lavish lifestyle; this included plastic surgery, failed stock market investments and a gold mine in Sierra Leone.[99]

2019 accused rapist to study at YWAM Perth

Jarryd Hayne, was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault inflicting bodily harm in relation to the alleged rape of a woman in Australia. The court trial took place starting in September 2020. While on bail, until he was convicted, former NFL 'player of the year', Dally M medal recipient was scheduled to attend a Discipleship Training School (DTS) at the YWAM Australia Perth location under the Discipleship Training Director, Caleb Brownhill. It is uncertain whether he attended the outreach phase of the school, which was contingent upon a second bail variation.[101][102]

Political affiliations

Youth With A Mission has no official political affiliations. The YWAM.org website states: "Individual YWAM staff and students come from a wide variety of political backgrounds and affiliations."[103]

Accusations of political activity

In 1989, Sara Diamond's book Spiritual Warfare mentioned a meeting in the United States between various Christian leaders (including YWAM Founder Loren Cunningham) and Efraín Ríos Montt. Ríos Montt consequently led a coup and counterinsurgency against Marxist guerrillas and his brief tenure as chief executive was one of the bloodiest periods in the long-running Guatemalan Civil War leading to accusations of war crimes and genocide perpetrated by the Guatemalan Army under his leadership.[104] The practice of using missionary groups as cover is not unheard of and prompted The National Association of Evangelicals to release a statement regarding governmental use of missionary and aid workers: "We insist that the CIA close any loophole that allows for intelligence gathering collaboration with clergy, missionaries, and aid workers. We insist that the CIA clarify and publish its policy for the protection of United States citizens serving in ministry abroad."[105] Diamond also suggested that YWAM "sought to gain influence within the Republican party."

In 2009, it was reported that C Street Center, was purchased by YWAM in 1980. The property is used by influential and controversial group The Fellowship for hosting meetings, and as boarding facilities for members of the US Congress.[106]

Doctrines on redeeming culture

In 1975, YWAM's founder Loren Cunningham, along with Bill Bright of Campus Crusade spoke of the importance of influencing seven main segments or spheres of society and culture (Family, Celebration, Religion, Government, Education, Science, Media).[107][108][109] One of these segments included "fighting a spiritual battle to redeem the area of government". While the group maintains that its teachings aimed only to promote moral service for Christian citizens, others interpreted the segment as an effort to influence secular governance with evangelical Christian ideals.[110]

Matt Slick of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry concludes, "The Seven Mountain Mandate is a hyper-focus on Christian dominion theology that does not seem to have the centrality of Christ’s atoning sacrifice as a central theme. In all of my research in it so far, making disciples of unbelievers is not the central issue. Instead, it’s taking dominion."[111]

The Seven Mountain Mandate prophecy was purportedly received as direct revelation from God, and delivered separately to Loren Cunningham, Bill Bright, and Francis Schaeffer ordering them to invade and rule "seven mountains" (sometimes referred to as spheres) of society. It is an ideologically refined version of the Dominion or Kingdom Now theology which Loren Cunningham openly taught and subscribed to, and is considered an unbiblical teaching by mainstream protestantism.[112][113] Despite being devised in 1975, it was not until 2000 during a meeting between Cunningham and Lance Wallnau that plans were set in place to fulfill the mandate. The movement came to further prominence after the 2013 publication of Wallnau's and controversial Bethel Church Pastor Bill Johnson's Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate.[114] The mandate is also a foundation of the New Apostolic Reformation, a controversial new religious movement which seeks to establish a fifth branch within Christendom.

A scholarly journal article in the Evangelical Review of Theology and Politics shows that the "Seven Spheres" are nearly identical to the ideological state apparatuses developed by the French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, on the basis of the theories of Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, and others. They both outline the key objects of societal influence to be religion, family, education, media, government, business (trade unions), and arts and entertainment, with Althusser's work being published several years prior to the supposed revelation received by Cunningham, Bright and Schaeffer.[115][116]

Controversies

Concerning treatment of YWAM volunteers

There have been numerous accounts detailing mistreatment of students and staff by leadership during their time in YWAM. There is an online support group called "Spiritual Abuse in YWAM" on Facebook with nearly 900 members focused on sharing and recovering from treatment endured while involved in YWAM.[117][118] The website of the International Cultic Studies Association hosts an article which describes in some detail an experience of spiritual abuse on a DTS course in Hawaii. In this incident the author and two other women left "in fear of serious damage to their mental health".[119][120]

The Apologetics Index also lists a number of personal accounts of spiritual abuse within the organization. The website's founder claims he himself was a victim of such abuse at the hands of a former YWAM leader, Floyd McClung. Talking about McClung, the author writes: "While I have forgiven the spiritual abuse and accepted his reluctant apologies ... the abuse has had far-reaching consequences, the scars of which I still bear."[121] He also quotes Harold Busséll, author of By Hook or by Crook: How Cults Lure Christians, "While living in Europe, my wife and I were involved with an evangelical youth mission based in Switzerland. We were with the group only six weeks, but it was almost seven years before I had overcome the psychological damage caused by their cult-like control and spiritualization … Questioning a leader was considered an act of rebellion against God and His chain of command."[121] The book is based on the authors experience in YWAM.

The Christian Research Institute also say they have received complaints about YWAM.[117] In 1990, cult "consultant" Rick Ross published an evaluation of Youth With A Mission, that cited both positive and negative aspects of YWAM.[citation needed] After the 2007 shootings, Ross told the Fox News Network that he continued to receive occasional "serious complaints" about Youth With A Mission, but he believed it is "not a cult"[95] Some of the political involvements of its founders and members have also been examined by the media.[104][122][123]

Theological and doctrinal concerns

Evangelical theologians Alan Gomes and E. Calvin Beisner believe certain doctrines taught to young missionaries at some YWAM locations from the 1970s until the 1990s to be unorthodox from a protestant point of view. They named those doctrines "Moral Government Theology",[124] which incorporates aspects related with the nature and attributes of God such as open theism,[125] the nature of man such as Pelagianism[126] linked to a moral explanation of the atonement.[127] Adherents of this theology such as Gordon Olson, Harry Conn and Winkie Pratney taught classes based on this teaching to young missionaries during this time period.[128]

Notes and references

Citations

  1. ^ "Founders – Loren and Darlene Cunningham". YWAM.
  2. ^ Ari L. Goldman (February 13, 1993). "A Valentine bargain". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  3. ^ Buenting, Debra. "YWAM's Transformation: From Short-Term Missions to Discipling Nations". www.missionfrontiers.org. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  4. ^ churchwatcher (2019-06-02). "What churches should know about YWAM Part 1: A sketchy theological heritage". Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  5. ^ "Missionary Group Thrust Into Limelight After Colorado Shootings". Fox News. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  6. ^ "YWAM people often did more harm than good". culteducation.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
  7. ^ Carlson, Darren (2019-09-12). "I'd Probably Still Cancel Your Short-Term Mission Trip". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  8. ^ "YWAM: A Dynamic "Movement" of Hundreds of Ministries, but Not an Organization – MinistryWatch". Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  9. ^ "Kerygma". kerygma.network. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  10. ^ Youth with a Mission in Derry visit – Derry Today
  11. ^ Rhoda Tse (August 1, 2005). "New Yorkers Pray for London Bombings". Christian Post. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  12. ^ "1956: Beginnings". YWAM.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Rhoda Tse (April 25, 2005). "Interview with the Executive Director of YWAM". Christian Post. Retrieved 2018-05-09. The vision was really a picture that he had in his spirit. It was a globe – as if seen from space – and there were waves lapping each continent, and each wave would come up further inland until he saw that each continent was completely covered. Upon closer inspection, the waves were actually young people. He knew then that the young people would be taking the message of the gospel throughout the world.
  14. ^ Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century, Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, p. 22
  15. ^ Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley, The Encyclodedia of Christianity, Volume 3 , Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 2003, p. 584
  16. ^ a b "The 1966s: The Vision of YWAM Comes to Life". YWAM.
  17. ^ Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century, Robert Nelson the 3rd , USA, 2015, p. 269
  18. ^ John W. Kennedy, Youth with a Passion, christianitytoday.com, USA, December 8, 2010
  19. ^ "Loren Cunningham". Catalyst Ministries UK.
  20. ^ a b c d "The 1970s: Two Hotels, a Shipwreck, and a Vision". YWAM.
  21. ^ a b "U of N's Founding Father Dr. Howard V. Malmstadt". University of the Nations, Kona, Hawaii.
  22. ^ Deann Alford (December 14, 2007). "Saving Faces". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  23. ^ "YWAM History".
  24. ^ "The 1980s: Mercy Ministry Grows Up". YWAM.
  25. ^ Moring, Mark. "Go!". Campus Life. January/February 1999, Vol. 57, No. 6, Page 38.
  26. ^ a b "The 1990s to Present: Looking With Both Eyes". YWAM.
  27. ^ "In Brief". Christianity Today. March 1, 1999. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  28. ^ a b Dawn Herzog Jewell (March 1, 2006). "Winning the Oral Majority". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  29. ^ Cayman Net News: Working for God in the South Pacific
  30. ^ According to the Christian Post, the 2006 Winter Olympic outreach in Turino was YWAM's 16th, yet the total number of Olympic Summer and Winter games from 1972 to 2006 would need include the 1980 Summer Olympics and still only amount to 15 games. One supposes that the Christian Post has knowledge of YWAM activities at Moscow and one previous event.
  31. ^ YWAM Associates InTouch Renewal Gathering to be Held in Switzerland
  32. ^ Christianity.ca – Everyone Benefits from STM
  33. ^ Olympian outreach games in LA attracting thousands of evangelists
  34. ^ Major faiths to race for souls of 7,200 athletes
  35. ^ "Performing arts". Youth with a Mission, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  36. ^ Freethought Challenges Of The '90s
  37. ^ DAWN News from USA (Atlanta Olympics), Islamic World, Russia
  38. ^ NEWS: 1,800 Churches Participating in Olympic Outreach | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction
  39. ^ a b "RELIGIONISTS READY TO PROSELYTIZE AT OLYMPIC GAMES". Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  40. ^ International Mission Board:: News & Information
  41. ^ Japan, April 1998 YWAM News Digest
  42. ^ Pasillas, Gena (August 26, 2000). "O.C. RELIGION; ORANGE COUNTY FILE; Events".
  43. ^ a b UBS World Report 339, March 1999
  44. ^ An army of charming volunteers – 2002 Winter Olympics coverage
  45. ^ Saipan Tribune
  46. ^ "Newspaper Archive".
  47. ^ "GREECE: Religious freedom, the Achilles' Heel". Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  48. ^ YWAM Prepares for Winter Olympics Outreach in Italy | Christianpost.com
  49. ^ "Welcome to the website of Forever 2012". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  50. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Lions Roar For The King". YouTube.
  51. ^ "About". inTouch Camps Europe, YWAM. Last updated 26 July 2008. Archived 2008-06-27 at archive.today
  52. ^ "Q&A with Loren Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine". Transformations, volume 3, page 2, 2006. University of the Nations, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
  53. ^ "Perspective: A Fire of Cleansing, in Every Area". International DTS Centre, YWAM. 1 February 2005.
  54. ^ "Accreditation". Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  55. ^ "Considerations about accreditation Archived 2008-05-23 at the Wayback Machine". University of the Nations, Kona, Hawaii.
  56. ^ "Staff". YWAM UofN Kona. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  57. ^ CEPF, Liz Knueven, Ryan Wangman. "Average Cost of College Tuition". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-12-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  58. ^ Robert H. Krapohl, Charles H. Lippy, The Evangelicals: A Historical, Thematic, and Biographical Guide, Greenwood Publishing Group, USA, 1999, p. 163
  59. ^ a b "YWAM Workers Continue Tsunami Relief Despite Anti-Christian Violence – KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |". Kltv.com. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  60. ^ "WKYC staffer arrives in Haiti, finds 'worse than expected' conditions". wkyc.com. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  61. ^ "Missionary Gives Exclusive Look into Haiti One Month After Quake". Kolotv.com. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  62. ^ Marine Reach – – Youth With a Mission
  63. ^ A Happy Ending for one Sulphur Family. KPLC.
  64. ^ Skeat, David. "Mateship In The Face Of Disaster" (PDF). Focus on Mercy (January–March 2005). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 3, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  65. ^ Maria Mackay (July 29, 2007). "Relief Agencies Continue to Respond to Silent Cries of Pakistan Flood Victims". Christian Post. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  66. ^ Katherine T. Phan (September 2, 2005). "YWAM Houses, Prepares Aid for Hurricane Katrina Victims". Christian Post. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  67. ^ Bette Nunn (January 12, 2005). "Missionaries spared from tsunami's path". Mooresville-Decatur Times. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
  68. ^ a b "Christian Aid partners help those left homeless by Ugandan rebels". Reuters AlertNet. 12 Nov 2003. Archived from the original on November 21, 2003.]
  69. ^ "Lemar returns to Africa for Christian Aid Week]". Reuters AlertNet. May 16, 2007. Archived from the original on May 18, 2007.
  70. ^ "ARMS". Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  71. ^ "Entrust Foundation – Buzz Off – Anti-Malaria Campaign – Myanmar (Burma) – Budget $25,700 – Required $14,200". www.entrust.org.au. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03.
  72. ^ Angela Holman (December 14, 2006). "Carlsbad students help build housing for the homeless". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  73. ^ "Fresh Produce Sportswear Brings Color and Hope to Underprivileged Families in Mexico". PR Newswire. January 30, 2007.
  74. ^ "Youth with a Mission – San Diego". Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  75. ^ "Homes of Hope « YWAM Haiti".
  76. ^ Free Health Care in East Texas. KLTV.
  77. ^ "예수전도단" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  78. ^ "예수전도단". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  79. ^ Peter T. Chattaway (June 4, 2007). "Out of Africa". Christianity. Archived from the original on 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  80. ^ "Hakani".
  81. ^ a b The OneStory Partnership
  82. ^ a b c d OneStory – About Us
  83. ^ Evangelical Alliance & YWAM to Launch Million Leaders Training Programme
  84. ^ Religion Today Summaries – October 4, 2006
  85. ^ Epiphany School given new life – PittsburghLIVE.com
  86. ^ What Others Say About YWAM
  87. ^ What Others Say About Us
  88. ^ "Endorsements". ihop.org. International House of Prayer. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  89. ^ Baldwin, Jonathan. "Convergence The Missions Movement Unites with the Prayer Movement". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  90. ^ "What churches should know about YWAM Part 2: Partnering with the New Apostolic Reformation". Holly Pivec. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  91. ^ "Partners". Modern Day Missions. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  92. ^ YWAMers Join Global Initiative to Bring One Billion to Christ
  93. ^ FaithNews Network
  94. ^ Meyer, Jeremy P.; Erin Emery; Christopher N. Osher (December 10, 2007). "Police believe revenge motivated shooter". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  95. ^ a b "Missionary Group Thrust into Limelight After Colorado Shootings". Fox News. December 11, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  96. ^ Blumenthal, Max (2009-09-09). "The Nightmare of Christianity". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  97. ^ Patrick Butler (December 11, 2007). "Shooting Won't Change YWAM". Tyler Telegraph.
  98. ^ "Sexual Assault…Buying Sex…Is There No Way To Prevent Missionaries' Deviant Acts?". www.kukmindaily.co.kr. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  99. ^ a b "Ex-Hawaii school official sentenced for fraud". The Seattle Times. 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  100. ^ "Hawaii School Official Pleads Guilty to Stealing $3 Million". US News. May 18, 2017.
  101. ^ "Jarryd Hayne to attend Christian missionary school while awaiting trial on rape charges". The Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 2019-07-03. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  102. ^ "Accused rapist NRL star Jarryd Hayne lashes out at reporters on his way to a Christian camp – where he'll study to become an evangelical disciple". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  103. ^ "[1]" YWAM FAQs
  104. ^ a b Sara Diamond (1989). Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right. Boston, MA: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-361-5. Ríos Montt's ascension to power [by coup in 1982] was celebrated by the U.S. Christian Right as a sign of divine intervention in Central America.... In May, 1982, [Pat] Robertson told the New York Times that his Christian Broadcasting Network would send missionaries and more than a billion dollars in aid to help Rios Montt rule the country. While Robertson's offer never came to fruition, it enabled Rios Montt to convince the U.S. Congress that he would not seek massive sums of U.S. aid. Instead, he would rely on "private aid from U.S. evangelicals. Toward that end, Rios Montt's aide... came to the United States for a meeting with... [Reagan consigliore] Edwin Meese, Interior Secretary James Watt... and Christian Right leaders Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Loren Cunningham).
  105. ^ "Governmental Use of Missionary and Aid Workers". National Association of Evangelicals. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  106. ^ Roig-Franzia, Manuel (June 26, 2009) "The Political Enclave That Dare Not Speak Its Name." Washington Post. Retrieved on July 12, 2009
  107. ^ Loren Cunningham Original Vision of 7 Mountains Strategy, retrieved 2023-12-15
  108. ^ "The Seven Spheres of Influence – Loren Cunningham". YWAM Podcast Network. 2016-02-12. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  109. ^ "7 Questions for those Impacting the Spheres of Society – YWAM Perth Australia". YWAM Perth Australia. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  110. ^ Wilson, Bruce, aka Troutfishing (July 11, 2009). "Ensign House Owned By Group Proposing Christian World Control Plot." Daily Kos. Retrieved on July 12, 2009.
  111. ^ Slick, Matt (2022-05-04). "What is the Seven Mountain Mandate, Prophecy?". Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  112. ^ "What is Kingdom Now teaching?". GotQuestions.org. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  113. ^ Ruling With Jesus – Loren Cunningham, retrieved 2023-12-15
  114. ^ Hardy, Elle (19 March 2020). "The 'modern apostles' who want to reshape America ahead of the end times". The Outline.
  115. ^ Tanksley & Schaich (2018-01-01). "Marxist Parallels with the Seven Mountain Mandate" (PDF).
  116. ^ "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses by Louis Althusser 1969–70". www.marxists.org. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  117. ^ a b "Youth with a Mission (YWAM)". Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  118. ^ Mitchell, Paul (December 1999). "Christi-Anarchy". Shoot the Messenger. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  119. ^ Jacobson, Laurie (1986). "My Experience in YWAM: A Personal Account and Critique of Cultic Manipulation". 3 (2). International Cultic Studies Association: 204–33. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  120. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Ezekiel 34:20–22 – New International Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  121. ^ a b "Youth with a Mission (YWAM) | Apologetics Index". Apologetics Index. 2014-05-03. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  122. ^ "This Week in Blogging the Religious Right: The Path to 9/11 Edition". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2020-08-12. Ríos Montt's ascension to power [by coup in 1982] was celebrated by the U.S. Christian Right as a sign of divine intervention in Central America.... In May, 1982, [Pat] Robertson told the New York Times that his Christian Broadcasting Network would send missionaries and more than a billion dollars in aid to help Rios Montt rule the country. While Robertson's offer never came to fruition, it enabled Rios Montt to convince the U.S. Congress that he would not seek massive sums of U.S. aid. Instead, he would rely on "private aid from U.S. evangelicals. Toward that end, Rios Montt's aide... came to the United States for a meeting with... [Reagan consigliore] Edwin Meese, Interior Secretary James Watt... and Christian Right leaders Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Loren Cunningham (head of Youth With a Mission).
  123. ^ Blumenthal, Max (September 11, 2006). "ABC 9/11 Docudrama's Right-Wing Roots". The Nation. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. According to Sara Diamond's book Spiritual Warfare, during the 1980s YWAM 'sought to gain influence within the Republican party' while assisting authoritarian governments in South Africa and Central America. Cunningham, Diamond noted, was a follower of Christian Reconstructionism, an extreme current of evangelical theology that advocates using stealth political methods to put the United States under the control of Biblical law and jettison the Constitution. ... Last June, Cunningham's TFI announced it was producing its first film, mysteriously titled Untitled History Project. 'TFI's first project is a doozy,' a newsletter to YWAM members read. 'Simply being referred to as: The Untitled History Project, it is already being called the television event of the decade and not one second has been put to film yet. Talk about great expectations!" (A web edition of the newsletter was mysteriously deleted last week after its publication by the blogger Digby, but has been cached on Google at the link above).
  124. ^ Gomes 1986, p. 1. The Moral Government teaching is a distinct system of theology concerned with the nature and attributes of God, the nature of man, and the process of salvation. [...] the form of “Moral Government” currently taught in certain circles has gone well beyond the formulations of Grotius
  125. ^ Gomes 1986, p. 13-16.
  126. ^ Gomes 1986, p. 39-48.
  127. ^ Gomes 1986, p. 23-28.
  128. ^ Gomes 1986, p. 11, 15, 40.

Sources

Gomes, Alan W. (1986). Lead Us Not Into Deception (PDF) (self published). La Mirada, CA: Alan Gomes.

Further reading

  • Cunningham, L. w/ Rogers, Janice, The Book that Transforms Nations, YWAM Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1-57658-381-3
  • Cunningham, L., Is That Really You God?, YWAM Publishing, 1984. ISBN 1-57658-244-2
  • McClung, Floyd Jr. and Charles Paul Conn. Just Off Chicken Street. USA, Fleming H. Revell, 1975. ISBN 0-8007-0699-4.
  • McClung, Floyd. Basic Discipleship. InterVarsity Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8308-1319-5.
  • McClung, Floyd. The Father Heart of God: Experiencing the Depths of His Love for You. Harvest House Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-7369-1215-0.
  • Schaeffer, Edith, Francis A. Schaeffer and Deirdre Ducker. L'Abri. USA, Crossways Books, 1992. ISBN 0-89107-668-9.
  • Schaeffer, Francis. The God who is There. 1968.
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