Bodies Behind The Bus

Rachel joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) at 18 and did her Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Puerto Rico. In this episode, she shares a base culture of control, from limited phone time and locked bathrooms to comments on her body and clothes. She walks through a group deliverance session, a survival camp called NIKO that ended in a forced animal sacrifice ritual, and an outreach in Colombia her team was not prepared for. Rachel shares why she left and why she is speaking up now.

Support the show

In this episode, we continue our Youth With A Mission (YWAM) series with Amanda. At 18, a back injury ended her basketball dreams, so she joined a YWAM program hoping to grow her faith. Instead, she found strict rules, constant control, and a culture that pushed her to doubt herself. Amanda shares what her training looked like day to day, and then walks us through NICO, a five-day wilderness program in Costa Rica that left her and others deeply harmed. This is a hard story, but it is also one of survival, healing, and finding her voice again. Amanda now speaks out so others can make informed choices and know they are not alone.

Content note: This episode talks about trauma, suicidal thoughts, disordered eating, and harm to animals. Please take care while listening.

Support the show

Sarah's story continues. She returns to a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base in the States, where a car accident leaves her hurt and exhausted. Instead of rest, she faces pressure to keep working and leading. In this episode, she describes a base culture built on strict molds, spiritual bypassing, and misogyny. When women disclose sexual assaults to her, leaders defend the men and dismiss the victims. Sarah then walks through her own relationship with Junior, which turned controlling and violent. She shares why she finally left YWAM and what she wants leaders to hear. This is part two of two.

Support the show

Sarah joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) at 22 and did her training school in Samoa. In this episode, she shares what happened on outreach in the Solomon Islands, where a fellow student assaulted her. When she told leaders, they blamed her, called it her sin, and separated her from the team while her abuser stayed. Sarah walks through the harm that followed and the few people who finally believed her. This is part one of two.

Support the show

Jamie joins Youth With A Mission (YWAM) at 17 and stays 25 years, from 1994 to 2020. Jamie describes how YWAM's Founders Circle holds authority without accountability. After the Pulse nightclub shooting, Jamie, speaks out publicly as an affirming Christian. He recounts two years of meetings with international leaders and a talk in which founder Loren Cunningham tells of praying judgment on a man who died the next day. Jamie shares why he and his wife walk away, what they lose, and the community they have now.

Support the show

Skyla shares her story of serving on a team called End Bible Poverty Now at Youth With A Mission's (YWAM) Kona campus in Hawaii, where she pushed leadership to support outreach to deaf communities. When she raised the issue, she was accused of being rude for crying and told she needed more discipleship. Skyla describes being tested, gaslit, and slowly pushed off her team, all while a separate clergy sexual abuse case was being quietly managed on campus. After she was let go, campus security posted false claims about her that stayed up for months. Today, Skyla shares her story to give voice to the many others harmed by YWAM Kona. If her story resonates with you, you can reach her at [email protected].

Support the show

Shelby returns to finish her story of leaving Youth With A Mission (YWAM) after almost 20 years. Two friends she trusted rise to lead her base, and when she raises concerns about how they treat people, she is accused of attacking them. She is pushed off a program she built, then invited onto their leadership team to quiet her down instead. She takes a sabbatical during the pandemic and starts naming what happened to her as spiritual abuse. When her husband tries to renew the farm lease his family has held for decades, the same leaders try to hold it hostage until she agrees to reconcile with them. She reports them to top YWAM leadership and learns she is one of many victims, then runs into her alleged abusers at a global conference and on the flight home. She shares her full story with local leaders, watches YWAM avoid the word abuse, and is later blacklisted after her team is pressured to remove her from a course she was set to lead. She ends by speaking directly to YWAM leaders and to anyone still inside the organization.

Support the show

Shelby joins us to share her story of almost 20 years with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a Christian missions group with bases in nearly every country. She signs up at 24 to earn a counseling degree, hoping to help missionaries get better care. Instead, she is pushed to share painful secrets with strangers, watches a visiting speaker ask young women to sit on his lap for healing, and lives under a daily schedule that tracks her every move. She pushes through the flu because stopping looks weak, then nearly dies from dengue fever and dysentery in Haiti with no help paying the bills. She falls in love with a Swiss farmer, settles at a new YWAM base, and builds a close friendship that will change everything. This is part one of her story.

Support the show

In this episode, Jay and Johnna introduce a new series featuring first hand stories from Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Before the storytellers share what happened to them, we take a step back and look at the roots. We cover who Loren Cunningham was, the Assemblies of God upbringing that shaped him, and how YWAM grew from a beach vision into a network of thousands of bases around the world with no central oversight. We also break down the Seven Mountain Mandate, an idea Loren helped start that has grown far beyond YWAM and now shapes today's political landscape. Along the way, we talk about how these beliefs and this structure can create a culture where abuse takes root and stays hidden, and we name some of the leaders still carrying this mandate forward today.

References

• NBC News, “Pastors and Prey” series https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/pastors-prey/index.html

• NBC News, Assemblies of God investigation (Oct.30,2025) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us news/assembly-god-church-shield-predators-child-sex-abuse-allegations-rcna240213 

• HoustonChronicle / San Antonio Express-News, “AbuseofFaith” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/abuse-of-faith/

• YWAM.org, “Our Founders” https://ywam.org/about-us/our-founders 

• LorenCunningham.com https://lorencunningham.com/ 

• Christianity Today, “Died: Loren Cunningham, Who Launched Millions on Short- Term Missions” https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/10/loren-cunningham- ywam-death-youth-with-mission/ 

• Christianity Today, “Mike Bickle Accused of Abusing a 14-Year-Old Before IHOPKC’s Founding” https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/02/mike-bickle- allegations-ihopkc-repent-investigation-report/ 

• MinistryWatch, “Report Details 17 Cases of Abuse by IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle” https://ministrywatch.com/report-details-17-cases-of-abuse-by-ihopkc- founder-mike-bickle/ 

• Kat’s Story / YWAM / Tyler, Tx / Pt. 1 (prior BBTB episode) https://open.spotify.com/episode/3hp https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kats-story-ywam-tyler-tx-pt-1/id1601586078?i=1000593690769

• Kat’s Story / YWAM / Tyler, Tx / Pt. 2 (prior BBTB episode) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bodies-behind-the-bus/id1601586078?i=1000593705604

• Intro to Stories from The Austin Stone (prior BBTB episode) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bodies-behind-the-bus/id1601586078?i=1000714367734

Support the show

Keri Ladner is the author of American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom. Her book traces the roots of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and Dominion theology in the United States. She began her research while studying the Columbine shooting and how it was later used to build the martyr myths tied to this movement. Ladner also writes about these topics on Substack.

Support the show