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 »
Things got extremely difficult for me when I returned home from my missions trip. Teen Mania does very little to prepare kids to return to the “real world” after being part of a Global Expedition. I had many strong emotions when I returned from my trip, but I didn’t feel like anyone could really understand
Robbie’s Story Part 3: The Aftermath 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 »
My family was poor, and $1000-$2000 was a whole lot of money that we didn’t have, so I knew a missions trip would be a “once in a lifetime” experience. Because the Christmas trips were only 2 weeks and cost almost as much as the summer trips, I decided to make the most of the
Robbie’s Story Part 2: Global Expeditions Read More »
Robbie, an active member over at our forums, recently shared his story on his own blog. While he was never an intern, his experiences at Acquire the Fire and on a Global Expeditions mission trip will ring true with a lot of us. Click here to read his story on his blog. but the story
Robbie’s Story Part 1: Acquire the Fire 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 »
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 »
