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Youth With A Mission

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Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
Founded1960
FounderLoren Cunningham
TypeEvangelical Missions Agency
Area served
171 Countries
Key people
  • John Dawson, International President
    *Iain Muir, International Director
    *Lynn Green, International Chairman
Websitewww.ywam.org

Youth With A Mission (YWAM, generally pronounced as "why-wam") is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian missionary organization. Founded by Loren Cunningham in 1960 to "know God and to make Him known," YWAM now has operations in over 160 countries.[1][2]

Youth With A Mission has been active since 1960.[3][4] Originally using the model of sending youth on short-term trips to foreign locations, YWAM expanded its day to day operations to Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and South America. In the nearly 50 years since its inception, YWAM's activities have expanded from youth-focused trips to include educational training, church planting, and relief and development services. Today, YWAM involves people of every age group.[5]

YWAM is now comprised of people from over 150 countries and a large number of Christian denominations, with over half of the organization's staff coming from "non-western" countries.[6] There are currently over 16,000 full-time workers in nearly 1,100 operating locations in 171 nations.[7] Around 20,000 members also serve on short-term missionary trips in 149 countries.[8]


History

Youth With A Mission was conceived by Loren Cunningham when in 1956, as a 20-year-old college student traveling in the Bahamas, he claimed to have a vision of waves breaking over the earth which became young people taking the news of Jesus into all the nations of the world. He began to envision an organization that would send young people out after high school to the mission field (short term or long term) and would welcome Christians of all denominations.[8][9][10]

The YWAM website states that Cunningham had a desire to teach others what he had learned from his parents about hearing God's voice. This led to the establishment of schools. In December 1960, the name Youth With A Mission was decided on. The small YWAM staff printed out 180 announcements about their mission and sent them to pastors. The result was that YWAM sent two men in their early twenties to Liberia to build a road through the jungle to a leper colony. This was the organization's first official mission trip.[11]

The YWAM website also states that before his marriage to Darlene Scratch in June 1963, Cunningham scouted the Bahamas in preparation for the next mission.[12] By then, he had 20 volunteers for YWAM missions stationed in various nations, and he was planning the first "Summer of Service" for the coming year. Later in the year, YWAM teams were being sent to West Indies, Samoa, Hawaii, Mexico, and Central America. By 1966, there were 10 full-time YWAM staff including Loren and Darlene and hundreds of summer short-term volunteers. That year YWAM ministries also began in New Zealand and Tonga.[13][14]

Interests expand

In the fall of '67, Cunningham began to work on his vision for the first school. It was to be the School of Evangelism in Lausanne, Switzerland, which was held from December 1969 to the summer of 1970 with 36 students. The students' lodging and classes took place in a newly renovated and leased hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland. By the end of the year, YWAM purchased the hotel and made Lausanne, Switzerland its first permanent location.[15][16]

YWAM's wesite states that later in the decade, another YWAM school began that would become the foundation for YWAM's many training programs. By 1974, the School of Evangelism was being offered 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).[15] A format of three months of lectures followed by two or three months of outreach is still used in most Discipleship Training Schools today.[10][15]

By the year 1970, YWAM had a total of 40 full-time staff.[15] That year, 1,000 volunteer YWAM staff headed to Munich, Germany to prepare an outreach for the 1972 Summer Olympics. This was the first of many YWAM Olympic outreaches.[16]

The University of the Nations online magazine has stated that Cunningham and Howard V. Malmstadt met at a conference in 1974. They started giving educational seminars together, and eventually, Loren asked Howard to help expand the training arm of the mission. In 1977 YWAM leased the Pacific Empress Hotel in Kona, Hawaii and began renovations in order to turn it into the campus for what was initially called the Pacific and Asia Christian University--the forerunner of U of N.[17]

By 1979, YWAM's Mercy Ships ministry was launched with the commissioning of the ship "Anastasis" (the Greek word for Resurrection).[18][19]

YWAM sources state that at the end of the 1980's, 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 both by Loren Cunningham and by scientist and professor, Howard Malmstadt.[17][20]

In 1999, New Zealander Frank Naea was chosen to become YWAM's first non-white president, replacing Jim Steir, who continued as international director of evangelism and frontier missions and national director for Brazil.[21]

Third Millennium

By the year 2000, YWAM had over 11,000 staff from over 130 countries. To reflect this diversity and also to lead it well, YWAM developed a new leadership role, the Executive Chairman, which Jim Stier stepped into, and made the presidency a three-year rotating position. It named Frank Naea, who is both Samoan and Māori, its first non-western President. This reflected YWAM itself, which had become almost 50 percent non-western.[22]

Structure

YWAM leaders characterize the organization as a “family of ministries” rather than a structured, hierarchical entity.[23] YWAM's website says that each of YWAM’s 1000+ operating centers is responsible for determining which training programs it will conduct, the character and destination of its outreaches, personnel recruitment, financial sustainment,and ministerial priorities.[24] YWAM states they have no international administrative headquarters.[24]

YWAM sources cite the following characteristic as common to all operating locations: A) The pre-requisite of the Discipleship Training School. B) The mandate to "know God and make Him known". C) A three fold ministry of: evangelism, mercy ministry and training/discipleship. D) A shared statement of faith, vision and values.[24]

Accountability and leadership are maintained through a system of regional, national and international oversight. The Global Leadership Team (GLT), which consists of approximately 45 leaders from around the world, is considered the authoritative body of leadership for YWAM International. In addition to Loren Cunningham’s influential role as Founder, the GLT elects an international Chairperson, and an international President to provide overall leadership and representation to the organization.[25]

Doctrine and Practices

According to its Statement of Faith Youth With A Mission “affirms the Bible as the authoritative word of God and, with the Holy Spirit's inspiration, the absolute reference point for every aspect of life and ministry.”[26] YWAM teachers and leaders emphasize the following conduct in response to what they understand to be God’s initiative of salvation toward humanity: A) Worship: A calling to praise and worship God alone. B) Holiness: A calling to lead holy and righteous lives that exemplify the nature and character of God. C) Witness: A calling to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Him. D) Prayer: A calling to engage in intercessory prayer for the people and causes on God's heart, including standing against evil in every form. E) Fellowship: A calling to commit to the Church in both its local nurturing expression and its mobile multiplying expression.[27]

Discussing YWAM strategy with the Christian Post, Lynn Green has stated that YWAM missions "would be seen as indigenous". The perception, he claimed, combined with the intensive six-month training program, 'ties everyone together' so as to promote cooperation in working toward national goals.[10]

Foundational Values

YWAM leaders assert that “the unique family characteristics of YWAM--our ‘DNA’”[27] are represented in a document titled, "The Foundational Values of Youth With A Mission." According to this document, “These shared beliefs and values are the guiding principles for both the past and future growth of our mission . . . They are values we hold in high regard which determine who we are, how we live and how we make decisions.”[27] In February of 2004, the Global Leadership Team released a revised statement of YWAM’s Foundational Values. A summary of these is as follows:

1) Know God, 2) Make God Known, 3) Hear God's Voice, 4) Practice Worship and Intercessory Prayer, 5) Be Visionary, 6) Champion Young People, 7) Be Broad-Structured and Decentralized, 8) Be International and Interdenominational, 9) Have a Biblical Worldview 10) Function in Teams, 11) Exhibit Servant Leadership, 12) Do First,Then Teach, 13) Be Relationship-Oriented, 14) Value The Individual, 15) Value Families 16) Rely on Relationship-based Support, 17) Practice Hospitality[27]

Sara Diamond, citing an interview with Gary North, states that YWAM "sees its role as an on-the-ground combat force against liberation theology."[28] Lynn Green, speaking on behalf of YWAM, disagreed that post-modernism is detrimental to youth, because of its oppositions to scientific materialism.[10]

Training

The purpose of YWAM training programs is to raise up men and women who will "disciple nations and transform cultures." A central concept to YWAM teaching is the notion of societal "spheres of influence," such as Education, Government, Arts, Media, Business and Commerce, Family, and Church. YWAM desires to train and equip Christians to become people of influence within these spheres.[29]

The various training schools of YWAM are organized under the structure of The University of the Nations (UofN).[10] The University of the Nations offers modular courses[10] and is unaccredited.[30] Most schools in the UofN system have a three month lecture phase which is then followed by a two-to-three month field assignment.[10]

Discipleship Training School

The Discipleship Training School (DTS) is YWAM's entry level training. Discipleship Training Schools are run in YWAM centers around the world with the purpose of providing an opportunity for students to learn more about God and His purposes for humankind. The DTS encourages personal intellectual and spiritual growth and seeks to help graduates find their place serving God throughout the world. It also provides a good foundation for students to continue their education through the University of the Nations. The DTS generally lasts 5-6 months and consists of a 3 month lecture/study phase followed by a 2-3 month evangelistic/service outreach.[31]

Many centers run DTSs that place an emphasis on certain parts of the world or specific ministry strategies which help students use their skills and talents in world missions. Examples of these specialized DTSs include the Mercy Ministry DTS run by YWAM in Melbourne, Australia and a Surfers DTS hosted in Perth, Australia. Information about specialized DTSs and other schools are published each year in the Go Manual,[32] a listing of worldwide training and ministry opportunities with YWAM.

Discipleship Training Schools are operated according to the guidelines of the YWAM International DTS Centre,[33] which was established to maintain and enhance excellence in DTS programs worldwide in accordance with the DTS purpose and curriculum guidelines set by the International Leadership of Youth With A Mission and the University of the Nations.

Ministry

The three strands of ministry that the organization emphasizes are Evangelism, Training, and Mercy ministries.

Evangelism

Sports camps, drama presentations, musical events, along with other creative and performing arts are the avenues through which volunteers and staff share their Christian faith.

YWAM also engages in church planting, in coordination with churches from various denominations, or alone when working among "unreached people groups" who do not have churches among them.

Notable evangelism ministries include:

  • Shining Lights, an outreach to prostitutes in the red-light districts of Amsterdam.[34]
    See also: Prostitution in the Netherlands

Mercy Ministries

See also: Mercy Ships

(now operationally distinct from YWAM)

The practical and physical needs of the global community are met by YWAM through Mercy Ministries International.[neutrality is disputed] Its humanitarian efforts along with partners reach an estimated 3,000,000+ people annually and is increasing in its aims to be serving 100 million of the world's poor by 2020.

  • Marine Reach, the maritime arm of YWAM's Mercy Ministries, uses ships to bring physical and spiritual healing to the poor and needy. YWAM ships have provided vitally important surgeries, dental care, medical supplies, food, seeds, construction materials, development projects, training, and their message to the port cities of the world.[35]
  • ARMS (Australian Relief & Mercy Services Ltd) is a Christian aid and development organization that cares for the poor and needy both within Australia and overseas. It was founded in Canberra in 1988 and is the Mercy Ministry arm of Youth With A Mission in Australia. ARMS works in nations such as East Timor, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, India, Zambia,Vietnam and Uganda. It provides medical support to communities as well as disaster relief teams that serve in natural disasters and war zones. It also supports preschools and orphanages in poor communities, runs primary health care programs, and is also involved in building and construction, water and agricultural projects.[36]
  • Mercy Ships was founded by YWAM missionaries Don and Deyon Stephens in 1978.[18] It is now operationally distinct from YWAM.[37]

Disaster Relief

Flooding in Pakistan in 2007 in the Sindh province prompted a reaction by twenty Muslim, Christian, and Hindu volunteers led by YWAM Pakistan chairman Zafar Francis. They were assisted by an appeal by YWAM London's relief office. They were able to distribute food for a month to 3,000 of the 150,000 homeless survivors there.[38]

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.[39]

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 two transnational ministries for youth: Mission Adventures Network (MA), and King's Kids International (KKI).

Film Projects

YWAM Missionary Lee Isaac Chung's film Muryangabo (Liberation Day) earned Une 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.[40]

Notable people associated with YWAM

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."[43]

Partnerships

United Bible Societies works closely with YWAM as a missions partner.[45] YWAM joined with the Evangelical Alliance and John C. Maxwell to design the training program for the Global Pastors Network's Million Leaders Mandate.[46]

YWAM is a member of:

Lynn Green told Christian Post, "nearly every YWAM leader I know sits on boards of other commissions".[10]

Controversy

Former members allegations

There have been allegations by former members that a few YWAM leaders with authoritarian personalities have intimidated subordinates and traumatized those deemed to be "rebellious."[49][50][51][52][53] Some of the political involvements of its founders and members have also been examined by the media.[52][16][54][55][56][57] Its respect for other cultures has been severely critiqued by activists for the Akha of Thailand.[58][59][60][61][62] It is also claimed by Christian apologists that YWAM has taught some controversial doctrines.[63][64][65]

"Cult" allegations

Harold Busséll

In 1983, Zondervan published "Unholy Devotion - Why Cults Lure Christians," (later renamed, "By Hook or by Crook : How Cults Lure Christians"). Author Harold Busséll stated, "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." Busséll later confirmed in an interview this organization was Youth With A Mission.[49]

Dave Andrews

In 1999, Lion Publishing reprinted Uniting Church of Australia's Dave Andrews' account of his YWAM excommunication in his book, Christi-Anarchy. Andrews was excommunicated in 1984 by Youth With A Mission's International Council.[50][66] The reasoning, according to Andrews, was that "I was a rebel and, as an unrepentant rebel, would be summarily excommunicated," and that "it 'was what the Lord told' them to do."[66] Andrews described the aftermath as devastating: "I became suicidal because all the significant people I turned to denounced me, no one else would speak to me, and the people who had promised to protect me ended up having psychological breakdowns. One guy was taken away to an asylum."[50]

In 1986, the Cultic Studies Journal published Laurie Jacobson's account of her experiences within YWAM. In it Jacobson depicts a Discipleship Training School program of eisegesis and social engineering designed to inculcate attitudes and obtain conformity to the group's ways.[51][67] In 1990, researcher Rick Ross, retained by a family in Long Island, New York, published an evaluation of YWAM, refusing to recommend them. Ross' research not only included an interview with the YWAM leaders but also was founded on information obtained from Christian Research Institute, the pre-Scientology Cult Awareness Network, the book Spiritual Warfare by Sara Diamond, and further mention of YWAM in Charisma Magazine. In the report he cited their failure on the basis of Robert J. Lifton's eight criteria for recognizing thought reform and mind control.[52] The Miami Herald also published criticism of YWAM by Baptist missionary LaToya Channer from her experiences up to January 1992, when she left the organization. Channer described the organization to reporter Aurin Squire as a "cult" to which she "became dependent."[53] The Wellington New Zealand Star-Times also examined politician Bernie Ogilvy's connection to the organization during this time period. In the report, Ogilvy confirmed that the group has been called a "cult" by overseas sceptics but said that impression had been corrected. The Star-Times reported that YWAM made enough money to buy up to 12 Auckland houses and that Ogilvy at one point lived in a large house with a swimming pool as the National Director. Ogilvy stated that the houses were all sold and the money given away.[68] James B. Jordan, however, persisted in calling YWAM a cult as late as April 1994.[65] In 2007, when Youth With A Mission was thrust into the spotlight after the Colorado Shootings (see below), Fox News asked Rick Ross to clarify his position. "Youth With A Mission is not a cult," stated Ross, but acknowledged that he receives complaints about the group on a monthly basis and that brainwashing, financial dependence, and a lack of financial transparency are recurring themes in the more "serious complaints."[8] After the shooting, YWAM School of Writing director Janice Rogers noted several previous homocides and attempts and maintained that short term missions were easy to join and easy to leave. It is not expected that YWAM will change as a result of the incident.[69]

Political involvements

Journalist Frederick Clarkson published an account alleging that Loren Cunningham supported a 1982 coup by Efraín Ríos Montt in Guatemala, an account which is also corroborated in Sara Diamond's book Spiritual Warfare.[52][54][55][56] Under Ríos Montt, an Evangelical Christian, death-squad killing around Guatemala City was virtually ended, but the Army herded thousands of Indians into reeducation camps and subjected to psychological warfare while tens of thousands of Indians were slaughtered.[70] Spain currently seeks Ríos Montt's extradition on war crimes charges stemming from the Mayan genocide during his presidency.[71][72][73][74][75] YWAM has also been described as having "sought to gain influence within the Republican party."[55][56]

The Path to 9/11

More controversy emerged in 2006 when Loren Cunningham's son David produced a politically partisan historical dramatization for ABC entitled The Path to 9/11. Journalist Max Blumenthal exposed this connection to YWAM and noted past allegations of a political agenda within the organization, and like Ross, cited the book by Sara Diamond. Blumenthal also noted the previous intent by David Cunningham to 'revolutionize' film and television by founding an auxiliary group within YWAM called TFI (The Film Institute). YWAM acknowedged the controversy surrounding the concerns about their possible connection to the project - and YWAM International Chairman Lynn Green rebutted these concerns, insisting, "YWAM had nothing to do with financing the film, nor did any YWAM personnel have any influence on the content of the film."[16][57][76]

Akha Heritage Foundation

A non-profit human rights foundation dedicated to the protection of ethnic Ahkas currently maintains that YWAM is involved in the exploitation and forcible transference of young Akha girls in Thailand and that the Salem, Oregon base has attempted to conceal their involvement with the mission work there.[58][59][60][61][62]

Theological Concerns

Evangelical theologians Alan Gomes and E. Calvin Beisner claim that certain unorthodox doctrines were taught at some YWAM locations from the 1970s until the 1990s.[63][77] James B. Jordan criticized YWAM in particular along with others whom he said "know nothing about the Bible and theology" and who "worship a false god who does not even know the future."[65]

see also: Controversy and Christian missionaries

Responses to Criticism

As of 2008, David Clark, director of Youth With A Mission in Minneapolis, acknowledges these concerns with a rebuttal in two main points. "People have been hurt," stated Clark which he attributes to the freedom of the leadership of each base combined with the actions of a few "bad apples" who haven't adhered to core principles. Clark addressed the theological concerns by citing Youth With A Mission's acceptance of the National Association of Evangelicals Statement of Faith. He noted that many YWAM critics are "radical individuals who do not appreciate theological diversity" and "hard-core Calvinists", while claiming the ecumenical spirit within the organization embraces Calvinists.[78]

Shootings

Main article: 2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings

A gunman, identified as former YWAM missions trainee Matthew Murray,[79] shot four staff members at the missionary training center near Denver in the early a.m. hours on December 9, 2007, killing two, after being told he couldn't spend the night.[80] Murray stated on an anti-Pentecostal website that he had been removed from the Arvada youth mission program because of his introversion. After the initial shootings, he used the same website to warn of more to come.[81][82]

Twelve hours later Murray arrived at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, armed with five guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition,[79] killing two others and wounding three more before shooting himself in the head with a shotgun after being shot in the leg by a woman who volunteered as a church security guard.[83][84]

Response to shooting

Links to media corrections

Video Response from Dean Sherman, a well known YWAM teacher

Video Response from Dean Sherman, a well known YWAM teacher[85][86]

References

  1. ^ Founders - Loren and Darlene Cunningham/
  2. ^ "Return from India: A cultural leap". San Luis Obispo Tribune.
  3. ^ Ari L. Goldman. "A Valentine bargain". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  4. ^ Rhoda Tse (August 1, 2005). "New Yorkers Pray for London Bombings". Christian Post. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ YWAM Article Library
  6. ^ The 1990s to Present: Looking With Both Eyes.
  7. ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mission18dec18,1,1535239.story?page=2&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=la-headlines-nation
  8. ^ a b c "Missionary Group Thrust Into Limelight After Colorado Shootings". Fox News. December 11, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-04. Some former staffers and families of current members have likened it to brainwashing," Ross said, adding, "When I say brainwashing, I mean breaking people down and molding them into a YWAM mindset that is basically submissive and obedient and pliable to the leader's agenda. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ 1956: Beginnings.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Rhoda Tse (April 25, 2005). "Interview with the Executive Director of YWAM". Christian Post. Retrieved 2008-01-28. 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 gospel to the world. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ The 1960's: The Vision of YWAM Comes to Life.
  12. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_introhistory.htm
  13. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1960.htm
  14. ^ Catalyst Ministries UK
  15. ^ a b c d http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1970.htm
  16. ^ a b c d Anton Chaitkin (September 17, 2006). "Behind the ABC 9/11 Docudrama: The Axis of YWAM". Executive Intelligence Review. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ a b University of the Nations, Kona - DTS, Discipleship Training School, YWAM
  18. ^ a b Deann Alford (December 14, 2007). "Saving Faces". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  19. ^ "Miracle-working surgeons float to Africa's poor". WorldNetDaily. November 4, 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1980.htm
  21. ^ "In Brief". Christianity Today. 03-01-1999. Retrieved 2008-01-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1990.htm
  23. ^ Bishop, Bryan, ed. YWAM Go Manual,Youth With A Mission’s World Guide, (Seattle, YWAM Publishing, 2007), p 12.
  24. ^ a b c http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_wha_structure.htm
  25. ^ Bishop, Bryan, ed. YWAM Go Manual,Youth With A Mission’s World Guide, (Seattle, YWAM Publishing, 2007), p 12.
  26. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_doc_faith.htm
  27. ^ a b c d http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_doc_values.htm
  28. ^ Sara Diamond (1989). Spiritual Warfare. South End Press. p. 206.
  29. ^ International DTS Centre
  30. ^ University of the Nations, Kona - DTS, Discipleship Training School, YWAM
  31. ^ International DTS Centre
  32. ^ Go Manual
  33. ^ YWAM International DTS Centre
  34. ^ Ted Olsen (October 2, 2000). "Some Day: Empty Windows". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2008-01-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ www.marinereach.com/
  36. ^ www.arms.org.au
  37. ^ YWAM Article Library
  38. ^ Maria Mackay (July 29, 2007). "Relief Agencies Continue to Respond to Silent Cries of Pakistan Flood Victims". Christian Post. Retrieved 2008-01-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ Katherine T. Phan (September 2, 2005). "YWAM Houses, Prepares Aid for Hurricane Katrina Victims". Christian Post. Retrieved 2008-01-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  40. ^ Peter T. Chattaway (June 4, 2007). "Out of Africa". Christianity. Retrieved 2008-01-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ Mission Frontiers August 1999 Keith Green Commands Us to Go
  42. ^ http://www.hannibal.net/stories/101902/hap_1019020025.shtml
  43. ^ FaithNews Network
  44. ^ http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/106864252976.htm
  45. ^ http://www.biblesociety.org/wr_339/wr_339.htm
  46. ^ http://www.christiantoday.com/article/evangelical.alliance.ywam.to.launch.million.leaders.training.programme/4128.htm
  47. ^ Dawn Herzog Jewell (March 1, 2006). "Winning the Oral Majority". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2008-01-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  48. ^ http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ywamers.joins.global.initiative.to.bring.one.billion.to.christ/12658.htm
  49. ^ a b "Youth With A Mission (YWAM)". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  50. ^ a b c Mitchell, Paul (1999). "Christi-Anarchy". Shoot The Messenger. Retrieved 2007-12-25. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  51. ^ a b Jacobson, Laurie (1986). "My Experience in YWAM: A Personal Account and Critique of Cultic Manipulation". 3 (2). International Cultic Studies Association: 204–33. Retrieved 2007-12-12. Methods used by YWAM at their Discipleship Training School are some of the same types of methods used by Chinese Brainwashing experts, the Moonies, and Scientology. Students are isolated from their families and old acquaintances, forced to participate in obsessive personal confession and exposure in small groups using classical "sensitivity training"/encounter group techniques familiar to many cults, and forced to accept appointed authorities just for authority sake, whether the authorities acted correctly or incorrectly. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  52. ^ a b c d Ross, Rick A. (October). "Youth With A Mission" (html). Retrieved 2007-12-11. One former DTS student wrote, "I see how my mind was played with. I feel ripped off—it's just not fair to be taken advantage of". The author of one report stated, "hopefully YWAM is not deliberately brainwashing recruits…they want to do God's work so badly and yet it's wrong". The "ends do not justify the means". Taking into consideration all the available information, it seems to me, that it would not be prudent to recommend Youth With A Mission or any of its Discipleship Schools to anyone. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  53. ^ a b Squire, Aurin (May, 2000). "Parishioner answering missionary call". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2007-12-11. They're popular on college campuses," Channer said. "It's like this great big happy family and you start spending more time with them and less with your actual family and friends. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  54. ^ a b "This Week In Blogging the Religious Right: The Path to 9/11 Edition". Retrieved 2007-12-22. Ríos Montt's ascension to power [by coup in 1982] was celebrated by thge 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).
  55. ^ a b c Sara Diamond (1989). Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right. ISBN 9780896083615.
  56. ^ a b c Max Blumenthal. "ABC 9/11 Docudrama's Right-Wing Roots". According to Sara Diamond's book Spiritual Warfare, during the 1980's 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.
  57. ^ a b "ABC 9/11 Docudrama's Right-Wing Roots". September 11, 2006. 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). {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  58. ^ a b "Eden House Children's Home Vern McCulley". Eden House Children's Home removes Akha girls from their traditional land and Akha villages and exploits them to raise money for the inflated lifestyle of these western missionaries. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  59. ^ a b "The Akha Heritage Foundation - www.akha.org". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  60. ^ a b "A Man and His Horse Hope to Make a Difference". Proselytizing by Christian missionaries, some with local connections including such organizations as Youth With A Mission (YWAM), Corban College, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Salem Alliance Church, is seen by many as interfering traditions rooted in thousands of years of history. McDaniel said that missionaries often overlook the atrocities or in some cases even cooperate with Thai authorities in the oppression of the Akha ethnic minority. Unfortunately the U.S. government including the State Department express little to no interest in such cases, he said. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  61. ^ a b "Taking Away Akha Children - Does It BOTHER YOU?". Retrieved 2007-12-22. ...YWAM's Eden House in Thailand, a mission that takes away only Akha teen girls on their own definition of endangered and then works to convert them.
  62. ^ a b "Special interview: Matthew McDaniel, pro-Akha activist". Retrieved 2007-12-22. And I won't agree to the Akha losing all their children to the missionaries in a genocide. See article 5 - the Fifth Article of Genocide: Not an exact quote, but [it reads] to take the children of one group and make them members of another group. From Akha to christian by physical removal.
  63. ^ a b Gomes, Alan W. (1981). Lead Us Not Into Deception - A Biblical Examination of Moral Government Theology
  64. ^ Beisner, E. Calvin. (1994). The False God and Gospel of Moral Government Theology.
  65. ^ a b c James B. Jordan (1994). "PROLIFISM: A New Humanism". Retrieved 2008-01-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  66. ^ a b Andrews, Dave (2001). Christi-Anarchy. Oxford: Lion Publishing. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  67. ^ "Youth With A Mission - Ecumenical (Catholic/Charismatic) Evangelism". Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  68. ^ "MP linked to controversial 'cult'". The Wellington New Zealand Star-Times. August 11, 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-11. New United Future MP Bernie Ogilvy established a religious organisation which provoked controversy in the 1970s over the treatment of teenagers in its care. The evangelical organisation, Youth With A Mission, (YWAM) established in Auckland by Ogilvy in the late 1970s, took teens off the street and then put them to work - but it drew criticism over the amount of wages it retained.
  69. ^ Patrick Butler (December 11, 2007). "Shooting Won't Change YWAM". Tyler Telegraph. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  70. ^ Clifford Krauss (1991). Inside Central America. New York: Summit Books. pp. 40–42. Ríos Montt put a virtual end to death-squad killings in and around Guatemala City, but he followed the same basic counter-insurgency model pursued by the Lucas García brothers. He gave the strategy a name, "Beans and Bullets." Ríos Montt, in turn, financed and facilitated the work of Evangelical churches to spread the word to the Indians that rebellion was against the will of God and that Catholic liberation theology was the work of the devil.
  71. ^ "Spanish court accuses Guatemala of protecting genocide perpetrators".
  72. ^ Spanish judge makes worldwide appeal for witnesses of Guatemala war atrocities
  73. ^ Guatemalan officials dodge genocide extraditions | International | Reuters
  74. ^ Genocidal Guatemalan generals off the hook | Spero News
  75. ^ Former Guatemalan President Avoids Extradition on Genocide Charges
  76. ^ "YWAM and The Path to 9/11". As you probably know, Youth With A Mission and our founder, Loren Cunningham, have come under some intense scrutiny in the media in the past couple of weeks days. I thought you might have some questions arising from the publicity and wanted to help you by providing some answers to help you respond to people around you. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  77. ^ Beisner, E. Calvin. (1994). The False God and Gospel of Moral Government Theology.
  78. ^ David Clark. "Concerns about YWAM". Youth With A Mission, Minneapolis. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  79. ^ a b Meyer, Jeremy P. (December 10, 2007). "Police believe revenge motivated shooter". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  80. ^ "Five Die In New Life Church, Youth With a Mission Shootings". The Post Chronicle. 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  81. ^ Larson, Jace. "FBI got tip warning them about gunman". Denver 9 News (NBC). Retrieved 2007-12-12. In between the shootings, Murray posted violent comments on the Web site. In the posting he warned of a shootout and said he was prepared to kill people. Murray, who went by the name nghtmrchld26, made at least 11 posts between the two shootings. At least one visitor to the site was alarmed and contacted the FBI promptly, before the second attack, the site's administrator said. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  82. ^ "Gunman may have warned of 2nd attack". Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  83. ^ Draper, Electa (December 10, 2007). "Guard's hands "didn't even shake" as she shot gunman". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  84. ^ Nicholson, Kieran (December 10, 2007). "Vet lauds female guard who felled gunman". Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  85. ^ Riccardi, Nicholas (December 18, 2007). "A religious movement with an edge". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  86. ^ "Police retract statement about Matthew Murray's warnings". The Denver Channel.som. December 18, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Further reading

  • 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 0800706994.
  • McClung, Floyd. Basic Discipleship. InterVarsity Press, 1992. ISBN 0830813195.
  • Mc Clung, Floyd. The Father Heart of God: Experiencing the Depths of His Love for You. Harvest House Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0736912150.
  • Schaeffer, Edith, Francis A. Schaeffer and Deirdre Ducker. L'Abri USA, Crossways Books, 1992. ISBN 0891076689.
  • Schaeffer, Francis. The God who is There. 1968.

Official

Criticism

Response to Criticism

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