Denver

I found this sub today and have been reading through. I knew these stories were out there because of the nature of YWAM. (I don’t think every base is “bad” but the structure, culture and lack of accountability is a recipe for disaster) I attended DTS and leadership training at Denver and was on staff for two years from 1998-2001. Coming from an abusive childhood and having become a Christian just a couple of years prior, the experience was very confusing for me. I now see the abusive and manipulative patterns and it negatively affected my understanding of God and Christianity for years.

I DID have amazing faith building and personal growth experiences on outreach. I think that while my abusive childhood made things confusing for me, it also made me somewhat more resilient and able to sort of separate myself mentally and focus on the experience itself. I have carried with me into adulthood the positive aspects that come from traveling as a young adult, seeing God work in the lives of people across the globe and in different circumstances, and experiencing other cultures.

Anyhow I just wanted to say that I feel for all of you who have had damaging experiences a I’m saddened by it. I’d be interested to hear if anyone currently on this sub participated with YWAM Denver. I did read through some of the old posts about it. Shocked, but also not surprised that they closed.