Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Page 52
You are taught that everyone not in the movement is under the influence of
Satan, and that you should mistrust them. The devil works strongest through
those closest to you, they insist. This naturally offsets the concern of parents
and friends. Thus, you become dependent on the group for love and positive
reinforcement After alienation is complete, you are told that you can leave if
you want to.31
It was never stated that everyone else was under Satan‘s influence, but it was implied that
they were perhaps not as spiritual.
At King‘s we were often told, ―YWAM is like a bridge, easy to get on and easy to get off.‖ It
is true that there never was any physical coercion or legal contract but we did become
dependent on the group to reinforce our new beliefs.
In America‘s cults, participation almost always begins voluntarily ...control
is achieved not by physical coercion but by an even more potent force:
information ...Most rely on the use -and abuse -of information on
deceptive and distorted language, artfully designed suggestion and intense
emotional experience ..Studies have shown that ‗most of the [psychological]
damage appears to be done in the first few months.‖32
Like cults, YWAM would ―emphasize group choice over personal choice, or urge choices
aided by a leader or discipler.‖33 During Outreach, several YWAM staff members visit the
teams and pray with them, assisting them in deciding what they should do after DTS. Many
are advised to remain with YWAM and to attend another school. Again, the influence of
Intercession is felt. One staff person felt that God might be calling me to YWAM‘s Counseling
School.
Even after enduring almost two months of mental and spiritual abuse from my Outreach
leaders, I felt obliged to stay. I remember one staff member telling me, ―God never wants
us to quit what we‘ve begun until it is finished.‖ God would not have wanted me to leave.
When I finally did decide to leave Kauai, before the end of DTS, it was after a week of
intensive harassment, hours of prayer, a phone call home briefly explaining the situation,
and the agreement of four other fellow students that we had to leave. The night before I
left, a leader discovered me packing. It was four in the morning. As she watched me dump
my belongings into a box, she sighed: ―Well, at least God never quits on us.‖ I winced. I
refused to dignify her comment with a reply, but she had stuck the knife in where I was
most vulnerable. It was another example of the YWAM attempt to coerce me by taking
advantage of my loyalty and love for God --causing me to question my relationship with
Him. I might have yielded, but at that point I was determined to leave even if God thought
it was wrong.
Conclusion
Several people with whom I have spoken about YWAM say: ―How do you explain the fact
that YWAM is doing so many good things, and that God seems to be blessing them?‖ This is
something that I have struggled with for months. It would be simpler if organizations or
people were either all good or all bad but they aren‘t. I could cite many excellent lectures
and list several ways in which I was benefited by YWAM. Indeed, YWAM was a period of
important personal growth. A friend I met in Oahu while on my way to Kauai for Outreach
later commented that he ―sensed genuine growth,‖ in me. If the situation in Kauai had not
become so unbearable, I would probably still be in YWAM, a committed member. Observers
of the cult phenomenon confirm my experience that although cult involvement is, on
balance, negative, it can benefit individual members in certain ways. Ronald Enroth refers,
for example, to a woman who changed from an introvert to an extrovert and was able to
resolve a number of other personal problems while in a cult.34
You are taught that everyone not in the movement is under the influence of
Satan, and that you should mistrust them. The devil works strongest through
those closest to you, they insist. This naturally offsets the concern of parents
and friends. Thus, you become dependent on the group for love and positive
reinforcement After alienation is complete, you are told that you can leave if
you want to.31
It was never stated that everyone else was under Satan‘s influence, but it was implied that
they were perhaps not as spiritual.
At King‘s we were often told, ―YWAM is like a bridge, easy to get on and easy to get off.‖ It
is true that there never was any physical coercion or legal contract but we did become
dependent on the group to reinforce our new beliefs.
In America‘s cults, participation almost always begins voluntarily ...control
is achieved not by physical coercion but by an even more potent force:
information ...Most rely on the use -and abuse -of information on
deceptive and distorted language, artfully designed suggestion and intense
emotional experience ..Studies have shown that ‗most of the [psychological]
damage appears to be done in the first few months.‖32
Like cults, YWAM would ―emphasize group choice over personal choice, or urge choices
aided by a leader or discipler.‖33 During Outreach, several YWAM staff members visit the
teams and pray with them, assisting them in deciding what they should do after DTS. Many
are advised to remain with YWAM and to attend another school. Again, the influence of
Intercession is felt. One staff person felt that God might be calling me to YWAM‘s Counseling
School.
Even after enduring almost two months of mental and spiritual abuse from my Outreach
leaders, I felt obliged to stay. I remember one staff member telling me, ―God never wants
us to quit what we‘ve begun until it is finished.‖ God would not have wanted me to leave.
When I finally did decide to leave Kauai, before the end of DTS, it was after a week of
intensive harassment, hours of prayer, a phone call home briefly explaining the situation,
and the agreement of four other fellow students that we had to leave. The night before I
left, a leader discovered me packing. It was four in the morning. As she watched me dump
my belongings into a box, she sighed: ―Well, at least God never quits on us.‖ I winced. I
refused to dignify her comment with a reply, but she had stuck the knife in where I was
most vulnerable. It was another example of the YWAM attempt to coerce me by taking
advantage of my loyalty and love for God --causing me to question my relationship with
Him. I might have yielded, but at that point I was determined to leave even if God thought
it was wrong.
Conclusion
Several people with whom I have spoken about YWAM say: ―How do you explain the fact
that YWAM is doing so many good things, and that God seems to be blessing them?‖ This is
something that I have struggled with for months. It would be simpler if organizations or
people were either all good or all bad but they aren‘t. I could cite many excellent lectures
and list several ways in which I was benefited by YWAM. Indeed, YWAM was a period of
important personal growth. A friend I met in Oahu while on my way to Kauai for Outreach
later commented that he ―sensed genuine growth,‖ in me. If the situation in Kauai had not
become so unbearable, I would probably still be in YWAM, a committed member. Observers
of the cult phenomenon confirm my experience that although cult involvement is, on
balance, negative, it can benefit individual members in certain ways. Ronald Enroth refers,
for example, to a woman who changed from an introvert to an extrovert and was able to
resolve a number of other personal problems while in a cult.34
