Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Page 36
My Experience in YWAM:
A Personal Account and Critique of Cultic Manipulation
Laurie Jacobson
The following account of the author‟s experience with a missionary group is presented as
part of our continuing follow up to the special CSJ issue (Volume 2, Number 2), “Cults,
Evangelicals, and the Ethics of Social Influence.” The opinions expressed in the article are
those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cultic Studies
Journal or the American Family Foundation. As always, the CSJ will consider articles,
comments, and letters expressing other points of view.
Abstract
While recounting her own experience, the author compares training in Youth
With a Mission (YWAM), a Christian missionary group, to what she has heard
and read about involvement in religious cults. She finds that her YWAM
training, and the philosophy which undergirds it, are similar to that described
for cultic groups. Features common to YWAM and controversial religious cults
include manipulation of fear. and guilt, authoritarianism, the denigration of
critical thinking, social exclusiveness, and suppression of individuality. The
YWAM Discipleship Training School, which the author attended in Hawaii, also
relied on the leadership‘s special interpretation of biblical verses and precepts
to inculcate attitudes and obtain conformity to the group‘s ways. The author
concludes that while YWAM hopes to create a perfect community, the result is
a loss of freedom.
Introduction
So how far have I come?
Can‘t really tell them how it is. It‘s frustrating.
Yes, I am frustrated, trying to do everything right,
six months of trying to be so real
Be real and you‘ll look lost.
Share your feelings and you‘ll get bruised.
I‘d rather excuse the pain.
I think I‘m down and depressed,
To go to hell in a Christian setting
The Devil wastes no time.
Do you see why I‘m confused?
This was written by a twenty-year-old girl after she had spent six months in beautiful Hawaii
with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Both she and I attended YWAM‘s
Discipleship Training School (DTS). Living and working with dedicated, loving Christians in
an exotic, tropical island should have been Paradise. But it was the opposite.
YWAM is an international movement of people from various Christian denominations, and
DTS is one of many schools within YWAM‘s Pacific and Asia Christian University (PACU).
Anyone who wants to be a part of YWAM must first attend a DTS, which is divided into two
My Experience in YWAM:
A Personal Account and Critique of Cultic Manipulation
Laurie Jacobson
The following account of the author‟s experience with a missionary group is presented as
part of our continuing follow up to the special CSJ issue (Volume 2, Number 2), “Cults,
Evangelicals, and the Ethics of Social Influence.” The opinions expressed in the article are
those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cultic Studies
Journal or the American Family Foundation. As always, the CSJ will consider articles,
comments, and letters expressing other points of view.
Abstract
While recounting her own experience, the author compares training in Youth
With a Mission (YWAM), a Christian missionary group, to what she has heard
and read about involvement in religious cults. She finds that her YWAM
training, and the philosophy which undergirds it, are similar to that described
for cultic groups. Features common to YWAM and controversial religious cults
include manipulation of fear. and guilt, authoritarianism, the denigration of
critical thinking, social exclusiveness, and suppression of individuality. The
YWAM Discipleship Training School, which the author attended in Hawaii, also
relied on the leadership‘s special interpretation of biblical verses and precepts
to inculcate attitudes and obtain conformity to the group‘s ways. The author
concludes that while YWAM hopes to create a perfect community, the result is
a loss of freedom.
Introduction
So how far have I come?
Can‘t really tell them how it is. It‘s frustrating.
Yes, I am frustrated, trying to do everything right,
six months of trying to be so real
Be real and you‘ll look lost.
Share your feelings and you‘ll get bruised.
I‘d rather excuse the pain.
I think I‘m down and depressed,
To go to hell in a Christian setting
The Devil wastes no time.
Do you see why I‘m confused?
This was written by a twenty-year-old girl after she had spent six months in beautiful Hawaii
with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Both she and I attended YWAM‘s
Discipleship Training School (DTS). Living and working with dedicated, loving Christians in
an exotic, tropical island should have been Paradise. But it was the opposite.
YWAM is an international movement of people from various Christian denominations, and
DTS is one of many schools within YWAM‘s Pacific and Asia Christian University (PACU).
Anyone who wants to be a part of YWAM must first attend a DTS, which is divided into two
