This is a parent category so that all of the year categories can fall into it. This should clean up the categories part of the sidebar.
I have been reading through the RA site here and there, and in the beginning, I will be honest, my thoughts were something like, “Well, good for them. They are hurting and finding a way to work through it.” But I felt disconnected. It has been 15 years since I was part of TM, before […]
The other major thing I got confronted about constantly was “rebellion.” Any opposing thought or belief not preached to us by our leaders was considered “rebellion.” Had I actually believed everything that people were confronting me about, I would have ended up hanging myself in the Back 40. Thank God (literally) there is grace. Without
Mariana’s Story: Part 3 Read More »
During Gauntlet Week, we had numerous interviews and personality tests. I didn’t know at the time that behind every curtain the Directors of Oz were hiding out listening to our conversations Big Brother-style so they could determine who they wanted for their team for our “ministry placements” (i.e. free youth labor). I had been majoring
Mariana’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
FYI: This story is a 3 part story. I was a sophomore in college when I was called to the Honor Academy. I was living with 4 guys and 2 other girls in a house we dubbed “The Real World.” The majority of us had never met and had found out through a friend-of-a-friend about the rooms
Mariana’s Story: Part 1 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
Note from RA: I expect to hear back from the Board of Directors today. If I do, I will post a full update tomorrow morning. When I first started reading about the experiences at TM I was a little skeptical. It led me to think about my experiences at TM. I was a January intern
Somehow with the second semester, all hell broke loose. I hadn’t realized how lonely I would become as the second semester worse on. Many of the people I really confided in had graduated at the end of my first semester. I began to feel very out of place. The powers that be moved me to
Shannon’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
First of all, I’d like to get it straight that I don’t hate Teen Mania. I don’t consider it a cult. I don’t regret having been a part of it. I don’t love Teen Mania. I don’t put it on a pedestal of spiritual perfection. I regret a lot of my choices during the internship
Shannon’s Story: Part 1 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
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 »
(2021 Moderator’s Note: Allie’s Story is part of The Vault, a series of drafts that were discovered in a backup file from 2011. These posts were not published for some reason but are now being published. If you are Bobby and do not want your story to remain published, please email me at recoveringalumni at
The End is near: So all that happens, and then it comes time to apply for a second year. Notice how I haven’t mentioned anything about my 6 month probation from when I wasn’t given a chance to defend myself against an accusation? That’s because I was given a list of requirements, and no one,
Derek’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
I have, since TM, told my story, in part, to Mr. David Hasz, and received a private apology from him. Am I still hurt, and going through things because of how I was treated? Yes. I hope that my story helps someone who has gone through the same things as me. Am I still in
Derek’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
Emotional/Spiritual Abuse This is the area that really pushed me to leave. When I arrived I had been asked about ESOAL (having previously indicated that I knew what it was) to which I stated that I would not participate. From that point on I was treated as though I was mentally ill for not wanting
C.R.’s Story: Honor Academy of the Ozarks, pt 2 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 »
MINISTRY PLACEMENT One of the most difficult aspects of my time at the Honor Academy was my ministry placement. I worked in finance. I found out later that the executive office had put a bid in for me, but it was the finance department’s turn to choose an intern, so I ended up there. I
Lauren’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
I was a January intern several years ago, and I’ve always been afraid to talk openly about my experiences at the Honor Academy—in part because I have this underlying fear that Ron Luce will somehow find a way to punish me, and partly because people don’t believe me when I tell them stories about being
Lauren’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
Summer Camps I worked in the Summer Camps department which at the time was a subdivision of the Honor Academy. Erin, my superior, didn’t like me from the beginning, which she made clear by being overtly irritated by my presence. Halfway through the year she openly told me that she didn’t like me. Summer Camps
Jacqueline’s Story: Part 3 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 »
To understand my Honor Academy Experience best I will share some defining moments in my life before I lived on the Teen Mania campus. My parents divorced when I was 7 years old. During the divorce my mother had temporary custody. At that same time I began to fall in love with Jesus. In those
Jacqueline’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
The OTHER massively diff part of my story is fast-forwarded 12 months later. I’m a Core Advisor. I love my Core to bits. I love leadership. I love it all. I also started to fall in love with a hottie worship leader named Joel. We were both CA’s, related on a ton of different levels,
Jessica’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 »
I came in contact with Teen Mania Ministries through an ATF when I was in high school. I was “saved” at an ATF. During my first ATF they had a break out session for those that were interested in the Honor Academy. The break out session made the HA sound a lot like the Ministry
Another Shannon’s Story Read More »
Since my first Acquire the Fire, I knew I wanted to go to the Honor Academy. It took me a few years to make it a reality, but it eventually happened. At first, things were good. They kept us so busy during Gauntlet that I didn’t really have time to think about whether or not
I was an intern with Teen Mania Ministries in 1995 and 1996. It has been a long time since my involvement with Teen Mania, and my memories have faded considerably, I felt compelled to sound my voice, mainly as a part of my healing process, but also out of concern for future potential interns. SHOCK
