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 »
Sunflowers I hadn’t been an intern for maybe 4 days before I was confronted for having a “sunflower” (how juvenile is that term!!) for a fellow intern. The accusation was absurd. We happened to be interested in the same things. We happened to be at the same place at the same time fairly frequently. But
Karah’s Story: Part 2 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 »
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
(To read part 1 of Amber’s story, click here.) Our Gauntlet “week” was more like a month long as leadership scurried to adjust and make plans for the interns based on the new surroundings and resources. We had to run a mile every day – nothing compared to the 3 miles I have read is now
Amber’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
Just to let you know, I have waited for going on 14 years to write my experiences down and have someone hear me and care. At first I wrote a few things down on the alumni website but I was largely ignored or occasionally confronted or my posts were deleted as not conforming to the
Amber’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 »
Ellen (not her real name) recently sent me a copy of the letter that she sent to the Board of Directors. I’ve left out her remarks addressing the Board specifically, but here is the rest of her story in its entirety:I left the internship feeling completely chewed up and spit out into a cold and
Ellen’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
I was put on probation at one point during the year for not having enough money. My honor ring was taken away, which was an important outward sign; not to be allowed to wear the honor ring was something to be ashamed of. The part that seemed most unjust to me was that I was
Katie’s Story: Part 3 Read More »
I was assigned to the International Operations department, (moderator note: this dept. is now Global Expeditions) as a recruiter for Team Leaders. Apparently this was one of the higher level work assignments, in the informal ranking system of jobs, where grounds and kitchen are on the bottom, Acquire the Fire calling somewhere in the middle,
Katie’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
(Moderator’s Note: Katie (yes, her real name!) recently sent me the letter that she sent to the Board of Directors. If you are just now joining us, the Board of Directors is looking into the allegations of spiritual abuse made on this blog. They are looking for former interns to tell their story so they
Katie’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
I was on the Honor Council for 2 terms (once as an intern and once as a GI). I look back now and am extremely saddened when I think about the people I hurt with my harsh punishments. During my first term on the Honor Council, we were all very strict. We did not deliberate
Lauren’s Story: The Honor Council Read More »
I was an intern in January of 1999. I dropped out of college in the middle of my sophomore year, convinced that I was supposed to be a world changer. I was placed as an Administrative Assistant. I had zero office experience, but I was willing to learn. I was also placed in a position
The Way to Grace The Teen Mania Honor Academy is focused on creating leaders for the next generation of the Church in the world. While this seems like a very praiseworthy goal, I believe it misses the mark of how leaders are created, trained, and commissioned into their work in God’s Kingdom. In an effort
Caleb’s Story: Part 3 Read More »
The Breakdown My early days with Teen Mania Missions weren’t all flowers and sunshine, but the sum total of my experiences were largely positive. I’d seen a few interesting leaders get confused about their authority and role in the universe, I’d seen a few missionaries get a little crazy with interpreting an odd scripture here
Caleb’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
The Beginning I was hopeful, as I drove in Garden Valley on the first day of my Internship. I’d just finished another summer in India, my senior high school year, and a long drive to Texas so things seemed to be on a good note. For the past 6 summers, I’d been involved with Teen
Caleb’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
I want to start this by saying that I don’t hold any unforgiveness or bitterness towards any of my friends or staff members at Teen Mania. I just want to share the story of what happened to me during my undergrad year starting August 07. A lot of the people involved in the situation, I
The final installment in Erin’s story – her GI year. I did this new program called the G.I.I.E.T. (You’ve heard of I.E.T.? Intensive elective training? That was another thing started my year. This was the G.I. version.) MORE intense. Requires MORE dedication. It was totally promoted that if you could make it through the G.I.I.E.T.
Erin’s Story, Part 4 Read More »
