An inside source has reported to me that on Tuesday of this week, during chapel (approximately 36 hours before ESOAL began) Teen Mania leadership asked the intern body if any of them were paramedics or registered nurses. Two people responded and my source witnessed one of them working in the “clinic” area at ESOAL. 55 […]
Who is Providing Medical Care? Read More »
Frequent commenter, dan, wrote this in the forum last week and I thought it was too good not to share. Dan is a former Marine and has a long history with Teen Mania including being both an intern and Project Director. His military experience coupled with his TM experience gives him valuable perspective on ESOAL:
A Marine’s Point of View Read More »
ESOAL 2010 starts next Wednesday. As we’ve discussed before, ESOAL is physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually unsafe. The list of injuries is long including staph infections (one that almost killed an intern and led to a month long quarantine), broken and dislocated bones, panic attacks, hypothermia, diabetic issues and more. Keep in mind that in some
I went to the HA several years ago in the middle of my sophomore year of college because I was seeking to be stronger in the Lord. Looking back on my time in the HA, I now understand the negative reinforcement that was given to me. My mother was fully against it as she saw
50 comments: Anonymoussays:July 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM Hahahaha!Oh boy oh boy the memories!Lots of people need to see this…. Anonymoussays:July 29, 2010 at 11:58 AM is this a real picture from ESOAL? Yes. Shilohsays:July 29, 2010 at 3:21 PM R.A. I’m really happy that you are exposing ESOAL. I honestly couldn’t really see what
Hannah recently sent me her story, but noted that in her TM days, she went by “Hosanna.” The thing about TM is that you have this weird “connection” with people. That “you understand the 1-2 years of the craziest, best, worst, emotional, incredible, unforgettable, hardest time of my life” type of feeling. And yet, everyone
Moderator’s Note: “Chase” contacted me because he was concerned that this blog was not helpful but instead might be causing division. He graduated in 2009 and loves TM. He wanted to share his “positive” story. Trust me, its worth reading. Stay kind in the comments. Although the Honor Academy is tough, hard, and needless to
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking about different aspects of the conference call. Today, let’s look at the “popular” HA teaching – Beat your body and make it your slave. MY QUESTION: @ 1:18:25 – Through the overuse and misapplication of “Beat your body and make it your slave,” interns are conditioned to believe
Conference Call: Beating Your Body Read More »
A reader and fellow alumnus wrote this essay and sent it to me. I thought he made some great points and it was worth sharing here. Please keep the discussion civil. 🙂 1. Embrace actual doctrine: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
8 Things Teen Mania Needs to Change Read More »
A reader and fellow alumnus wrote this essay and sent it to me. I thought he made some great points and it was worth sharing here. Please keep the discussion civil. 🙂 1. Embrace actual doctrine: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate
Eight Things Teen Mania Needs to Change Read More »
When I arrived at the HA, I was placed in a room with Alex, a life saver at this point. My so called ACA showed up a week late and was promptly dismissed. I don’t even remember his name or even his face. During my first week we had corporate exercise. We didn’t have an
Mark’s Story: Part 2 (Global Expeditions Review) Read More »
00:00 -The video starts with an intern discussing their decision to “ring out” of ESOAL (AKA quit). “I had to ring out because my health was on the line.” I think this is a pretty fair representation of the overall mindset – its considered a huge spiritual accomplishment to quit ESOAL for the sake of
Honor Academy ESOAL: Never Before Seen Footage #2 Read More »
I recently came upon a very lengthy ESOAL documentary (2.5 hours). This particular video is from 2002 but recent interns have confirmed to me that most all of these events and attitudes are still firmly in place. This footage has never been seen outside the Honor Academy before now. I’ve edited down the 2.5 hour
Honor Academy ESOAL: Never Before Seen Footage Read More »
I hold no ill will toward Teen Mania and have come to terms with my experience, forgiven people, and moved on. However, I feel like I need to share my experience with the board of directors in order potentially improve the Honor Academy as a whole and spare others from a similar experience. My experience
If you join the Honor Academy, you can! Here are a couple of excerpts from the blogs of 2 current interns about ESOAL 2009. Apparently, when sleeping outside in cold rain, you are not allowed to shiver: And there was this weird “ESOAL rain” that fell most of the time; it was this sort of
Would You Like to Roll Through Your Own Vomit? Read More »
ESOAL came and went, and time carried on. I still got up for corporate, went to classes, did my homework, went to my ministry placement, had my quiet times, met with my accountability partner…completed all of my duties as the “perfect intern”; however that feeling that something wasn’t quite right still plagued me. It was
Ashley’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
Editor’s Note: This is the 2nd story of sexual assault I’ve been told in the past 2 weeks. If you have a similar story, this is a safe place to share it. You may remain anonymous.I graduated HA in August of 2004. I was (what I feel) sexually assaulted during my Unreached People Group LTE. I
My big problems are the long lasting physical effects I have had from the internship. Ear trouble – I had an ear infection that went untreated for two weeks because I couldn’t get anyone to take me to a doctor. I have hearing loss in that ear. Ovarian Cyst – I experience this for the first time
Stephanie’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
I just want to start off by saying that the Honor Academy was not the worst moments of my life…I’m not bashing it or badmouthing it in any way, I’m just bringing to light that there are those of us (myself and my husband included) that had a very difficult time growing and maintaining our
Ashley’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
A new Honor Academy “charter” was established late last year (2009) in Branson West, Missouri, called the Honor Academy of the Ozarks (HOA). Its based in a church there called Living Word Church and it used to be The Internship at LWC. I don’t have much information as to what the routines were like with
C.R.’s Story: Honor Academy of the Ozarks Part 1 Read More »
Nutrition When I arrived at the HA I was healthy and strong. The diet was so different than what I was accustomed to : very little efficient protein, legumes, and vegetables. There was plenty of pasta, denatured breads, soda, fruit juice, cereals, and desserts. After consuming this very high sugar-starch diet for a couple months
Jacqueline’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
My story starts out similar to most. ATF+Zeal+Parental Consent=August 99 Arrival! First year started off rough…my Core Advisor left weeks after Gauntlet…followed by my Intern Advisor…leaving an overwhelming feeling of aimlessness. After the January’s graduated,I became an ACA. I was excited to have a role. I worked in Leader Development recruiting Team Leader’s for mission
Jessica’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
We’ve got a good conversation going on in the forums about eating disorders and whether or not the environment at the Honor Academy contributes to them. Now, this is not something I have personally struggled with, but it got me thinking…For some reason, Teen Mania seems to have a fascination with throwing up. I remember
Does Puking = Godliness? Read More »
My Teen Mania experience was kind of middle-of-the-road. There were things that I loved and things I couldn’t stand. The Beginning First, I never wanted to be there. I KNEW that God had told me to go, but I fought it every step of the way. I cried the entire flight to Dallas. My initial
Karah’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
Here is the 2nd part of Ellen’s letter to the board. If you plan to send your story in, but haven’t yet, please consider doing so by the end of the week. The board hasn’t set a deadline, but I know they need enough information to be able to decide how and if they will convene
Ellen’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
