Hey Amanda, I was with you at that NIKO camp. I was from the San Jose base. There were so many things that you said that I began to remember as you said them and it was extremely illuminating and healing. Thank you for being brave and sharing your story. NIKO was extremely dangerous and I remember being so afraid. Everything in my body wanted me to not go, but it felt like I had to. Anyways, thanks again.
@alexi3223
11 ай бұрын
I just listened to this on spotify and needed to come over here to comment. I used to be with YWAM and I have my own share of difficult memories but what you experienced is nothing even close to healthy christian ethic and I don't think any pastor in his right mind would even endorse such a thing if he knew about what it actually was. This isn't normal for a christian. I grew up as a christian and some of it wasn't even the healthiest spiritual upbringing but what you experienced is so far removed from reality? So far removed from good and evil and so far removed from sound christian doctrine that I cannot even put it into words. I'm 100% sure that I would've died if I had had to do NIKO in this way, there's no doubt about it! I wouldn't have made it through a day without passing out or puking my guts out from stress. Even listening to this was difficult and exhausting. I'm so sorry. I cannot even imagine how toxic your DTS environment must have been that you already had so much anxiety in lecture phase, too. I mean, I was anxious af during my entire DTS, too, so I can understand it but it seems like yours was much more extreme.
@frizzyrascal1493
7 ай бұрын
I grew up in a Pentecostal cult like church, many of the typical signs were there, but I was blinded by ignorance and feed false teachings. Spiritual abuse, emotional abuse, etc, you name it. Stepping out of church was nothing I’d ever think I could do, but I did it last year and it has been my most healthiest spiritual decision since baptism (not everything was bad, just most things). And while I’m still in my faith, I can totally imagine how such abusive experiences can bring someone to the edge. I could resonate with so many things Amanda said. The constant self-doubt, self-criticism and so many other things. I thank God every day that I had the strength to leave that abusive and toxic environment. While I’m nowhere near in joining another church, I finally started to not numb down my god-given alarm system and that alone saved me from so many things already! Wish you guys the best.
@felicityjones5601
6 ай бұрын
Thank you for sharing! I was part of a base that started to bring back NIKO when I came back on staff. We weren’t told we were doing it. We were just randomly dropped off near busy streets with one backpack with expired, inedible food. We had ten dollars for bus fare. We had a list of things to accomplish across the city. The understanding was we weren’t to come back to the base (where we lived) for two and a half days. I had a broken ankle and had to walk for miles. My friend didn’t have his medication. The final piece was that we were reprimanded for being angry that we were lied to.
@Nocultyvibes
6 ай бұрын
OMG!!
@rebeccanewell3449
5 ай бұрын
Terrible and abusive!
@heidiartistry9245
Жыл бұрын
Christian Psychics! YES! One of my leaders in YWAM drew me a picture before she met me - most of it came true within YWAM, but written at the bottom in tiny print and misspelled was "scholiosis". I don't think I knew what it said at the time because it was a bit scribbled. I had debilitating back pain/sciatica for over a year 8 years later and and got MRIs and found out I have scoliosis and herniated discs. For some reason a year after that I pulled out that picture again, and found that little word at the bottom. My mind was blown. She knew I had scoliosis years before I even found out myself. She's definitely psychic lol. Our mission prep week was not this intense! I even forgot all about it - it didn't stand out as a memory. So sorry your base was so crazy :( though I will say, there was huge encouragement for me to start eating gluten again though I likely had celiac. I dabbled in it a bit and had bad stomach pains so I mostly didn't give into the pressure. The pressure wasn't too great - it was our personal journey and our base leaders respected that. Thankfully no one was ever pressured to throw out medication. CRAZY! My GOD if they made us butcher animals I think I would have packed up and gone home. I could NOT! HOLY SHIT! I'm so sorry for your insane experience. I'm so grateful most of my YWAM memories are positive (not all, definitely some weird things) but over all I have fond memories of that time.
@MrResomation
Жыл бұрын
I spent a week at a YWAM base and I forget what I said to my girlfriend who was with me. Something like let's get out of here these people are obnoxious. That turned out to be an understatement. Glad I didn't stay longer.
@moshelelia
Жыл бұрын
😊😊
@amandajo_elle
Жыл бұрын
Glad you listened to your intuition!!
@ferventheat
Ай бұрын
"NIKO is a Greek word pronounced “nee-ko”. It means “to subdue, conquer, OVERCOME, prevail, and get the victory.”" From YWAM sources
@queenbees1832
3 ай бұрын
I'm wondering how does YWAM conduct their base leaderships or school leaders ? once leader always leader ?
@melissaj1310
11 ай бұрын
The more I listen the angrier I get. There are basic human rights we all are entitled to, and these organizations condition young people to let those rights be trampled. It happened to me. And 20 years later I’ll be damned if I let anyone do it again. Or do it to my kids.
@FINDINGTRUTH47
8 ай бұрын
The military boot camp does similar stuff. It's training people to grow up and get tough. Look up what they have to go through to go into special forces in the military. It's not evil, it is helping people to grow up.
@melissaj1310
8 ай бұрын
@@FINDINGTRUTH47 Yes, that is the purpose of boot camp for the military. There is a big difference, though, between that and what is talked about in this video.
@FINDINGTRUTH47
8 ай бұрын
@@melissaj1310 What she is talking about is a YWAM training program which helps prepare people for the mission frield which can be extremely hard. People have to get prepared somehow. I grew up as a missionary kid and I can tell you, we went through some very very hard things on the mission field. My parents also had to do a "boot camp" and it was intense but it's needed. If you want to be a missionary, you have to be ready for extremely tough things or many of them break down and get mental issues later on if they aren't properly prepared and aren't learning to trust God. For example, while in the jungle doing missions, a tribal person got under attack by other tribal people and a man cut off the head of another in the middle of our front yard in full view of my mom. My mom started screaming and screaming and went into a state of shock that took years to fully recover from. That's real trauma. Missions is no joke. Some missionaries get kidnapped. Some get abused. Some get killed. You deal with malaria and different tropical diseases. It's not an easy life. These 5 days that these people had is not trauma. It's just like very bare minimum preparation for missions.
@melissaj1310
8 ай бұрын
@@FINDINGTRUTH47 I know people who have been long term missionaries and yes, there is much valid training for them. That is still not the same as the BS experiences programs like the one YWAM put young people through for the sake of manufacturing trauma in the name of “learning to trust God”. Big. Difference. You do not get to determine what is or isn’t traumatic for another person. That was unkind of you to say.
@Roseplagens
11 ай бұрын
First, no no no… NIKO should not sound like a normal thing to Christians. WE do not test ourselves in submitting to God. God should be the one testing us in that. AND the point of submission is that the person, husband, God, Jesus, whoever you submit to has YOUR best interest at heart. There’s an amount of trust there and knowing they have your best interest at heart. NIKO is no one’s best interest and neither is ywam. Terrible place to be. I was stuck in it for almost 3 years. The base I was at, talked heavily about doing NIKO and starting it. I’m thankful I didn’t have to do it because from the sound of it and not knowing what you were getting into scared me. I did however do a trekking DTS that was similar in the way NIKO kind of is. They pushed us to our breaking point physically and mentally. I believe it was their way of breaking you down to build you back up and hook you into their cult.
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