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*[http://www.rickross.com/groups/youth.html Criticism of YWAM at Rick A. Ross Institute]
*[http://www.rickross.com/groups/youth.html Criticism of YWAM at Rick A. Ross Institute]
*[http://www.biblical-theology.com/ Articles on Moral Government Theology]
*[http://www.biblical-theology.com/ Articles on Moral Government Theology]
*[http://www.akha.org/content/missions/edenhousechildrenshome.html Criticism of YWAM Thailand mission at Akha Heritage Foundation]
*[http://www.petitiononline.com/AkhaZauh/petition.html Akha Human Rights Petition]


===Response to Criticism===
===Response to Criticism===

Revision as of 10:44, 16 December 2007

Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
Founded1960
FounderLoren Cunningham
TypeEvangelical Missions Agency
Area served
171 Countries
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 nearly every nation of the world.[1] [2]

Statistics

Youth With A Mission has been active since 1960. Originally using the model of sending youth on short-term trips to foreign locations, YWAM expanded its day to day operations to each continent. 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, including many who choose to spend their retirement years in active service.[3]

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.[4] There are currently over 16,000 full-time workers in nearly 1,100 operating locations in 171 nations.[5] It has been estimated that over 25,000 individuals participate in YWAM training programs and outreaches each year.[citation needed]

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 had 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.[6]

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.[7]

Before his marriage to Darlene Scratch in June 1963, Cunningham scouted the Bahamas in preparation for the next mission.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

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). This format: three months of lectures followed by two or three months of outreach, is still used in most Discipleship Training Schools today.

By the year 1970, YWAM had a total of 40 full-time staff. 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.

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.

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

In the 1980's, YWAM's refugee ministry in Thailand began partnering with the UN to provide effective relief for countless stranded refugees along Thailand's porous border. In 1992 alone, the 90 YWAMers and 4,000 refugee staff clothed 53,500 people, immunized 11,000 children per month, trained 109 agricultural students, distributed 44,000 letters monthly, and gave 26 pastors a year's Bible training.[11]

At the end of the decade, 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.[12]

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.[13]

In 2003, YWAM reached another milestone as leaders of YWAM and Mercy Ships agreed to release Mercy Ships to become a separate ministry. At the same time, YWAM unveiled a new global plan, called "4K", to reach further into the neediest parts of the world.[14][15] [16]

Training

The purpose of YWAM training programs is to raise up men and women who will "disciple nations and transform cultures."[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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

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.[citation needed]

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,[17] 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,[18] 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.

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. 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 .
  • 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.

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).

Notable people associated with YWAM

Controversy

There have been allegations that a few YWAM leaders with authoritarian personalities have intimidated subordinates. It is also claimed that YWAM has taught some controversial doctrines.

"Cult" Allegations

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. [19][20] 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.[21][22] 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.[23] 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."[24] 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.[25]

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." [26][27]

Akha Heritage Foundation

A non-profit human rights foundation dedicated to the protection of ethnic Ahkas currently maintains that YWAM is involved in financial exploitation of young akha girls and that the Salem, Oregon branch of the organization has attempted to conceal their involvement with the mission work there. [28][29]

Such allegations may be considered in the light of YWAM's publicly available Statement of Faith[30] and since 2002 their clearly defined grievance and reconciliation procedure.[31]

Shootings

Main article: Arvada missionary shooting

A gunman, identified as former YWAM missions trainee Matthew Murray,[32] 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.[33] 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.[34][35]

Twelve hours later Murray arrived at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, armed with five guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition,[32] 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.[36][37]

References

  1. ^ Founders - Loren and Darlene Cunningham/
  2. ^ http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07120052.htm
  3. ^ http://www.ywam.org/articles/article.asp?AID=90
  4. ^ The 1990s to Present: Looking With Both Eyes.
  5. ^ http://www.ywam.org/notfound.asp?404;http%3A//www.ywam.org%3A80/contents/sta_res_stats.htm&bhcp=1
  6. ^ 1956: Beginnings.
  7. ^ The 1960's: The Vision of YWAM Comes to Life.
  8. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_introhistory.htm
  9. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1960.htm
  10. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1970.htm
  11. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1980.htm
  12. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1980.htm
  13. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1990.htm
  14. ^ http://www.ywam.org/contents/abo_his_1990.htm
  15. ^ http://www.ywam.org/articles/article.asp?AID=338
  16. ^ http://www.ywam.org/articles/article.asp?AID=250
  17. ^ Go Manual
  18. ^ YWAM International DTS Centre
  19. ^ 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)
  20. ^ "Youth With A Mission - Ecumenical (Catholic/Charismatic) Evangelism". Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  21. ^ Gomes, Alan W. (1981). Lead Us Not Into Deception - A Biblical Examination of Moral Government Theology
  22. ^ Beisner, E. Calvin. (1994). The False God and Gospel of Moral Government Theology.
  23. ^ 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)
  24. ^ 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)
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ "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)
  27. ^ "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)
  28. ^ "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)
  29. ^ "The Akha Heritage Foundation - www.akha.org". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccessed= ignored (help)
  30. ^ Statement of Faith.
  31. ^ Guidelines for Justice and Reconciliation.
  32. ^ 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)
  33. ^ "Five Die In New Life Church, Youth With a Mission Shootings". The Post Chronicle. 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  34. ^ 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)
  35. ^ "Gunman may have warned of 2nd attack". Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  36. ^ 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)
  37. ^ 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)

Further reading

  • 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.

External links

Official

Criticism

Response to Criticism

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