Inside Teen Mania — A 'Stretching Of A Lifetime'

07 November 2011

EDITOR'S NOTE: A documentary about alleged abuses at Teen Mania will air tonight on MSNBC. ResonateNews.com published a two-part series, “Inside Teen Mania,” last year. It is being republished to offer another news perspective on the controversial claims now being revisited on a national scale. Part one was posted Saturday.

“You have to form your own opinions based on what the Bible says and your own convictions. No one tells you what to think.” — Nathan Weibe, 19, second-year Teen Mania “Intern.”

By Patrick Butler | ResonateNews.com

Is it right that Christian ministries ask young people to be physically challenged in any way? Is it going too far to simulate stressful environments — such as living in a country whose government is hostile to faith in God — forcing feelings to the surface so students may deal with them?

Teen Mania focuses on classroom-style learning for most of the academic year, David Hasz, director of Teen Mania’s Honor Academy, said in an October 2010 interview. But about four to six times a year, there are optional programs, called Life Transforming Events (LTEs) that challenge the bejeebers out of the teenage participants, a second-year “intern” said.

A local pastor who sees many Teen Mania interns said no matter how difficult any physical program is — regardless of what adjustments are made to make it more palatable — there are those who certainly will find them ill-fitting. The key is to receive program participation based on personal choices, and rooted in adequate information, said the Rev. David Hickey, pastor of Community Christian Fellowship in Garden Valley, Texas. About 900 people attend Hickey’s church on any given Sunday.

WARNING

Hickey said physically demanding programs at any Christian ministries are a legitimate tool for spiritual growth if they are done properly.

“As long as any program represents itself on the front side as, ‘this is who we are, these are the requirements you’ll have to meet while you are here,’ I think (ministries) have every right to develop (demanding) programs and offer it,” said Hickey. “Can you imagine going into the military and saying, ‘You know, I’m really not an early-rising person, so I don’t want to get up early in the morning; and I don’t like a lot of physical exercise, I’d rather prepare for a desk job’? If you know on the front side that (participation) will require some physical and mental agility, they have warned you up front what you’re getting into.”

If a mistake has been made and the program is not a good fit, back out gracefully if you can,  Hickey said.

“If you feel like the vision of the organization is different from your vision, then there needs to be a separation,” he said. “You need to be able to leave, and yet, not do so bitterly. Just realize, ‘what I’m looking for, and what their goal is, is different,’ and it’s not a good fit. But try to forgive, try to release and try to step away from it before you step into bitterness.”

Just what does a Life Transforming Event at Teen Mania entail? Who can get through one, and why would anyone participate?

VALDICTORIAN

Nathan Weibe, 19, a high-school valedictorian from Canada, sat pensively strumming an unplugged electric guitar in Teen Mania’s wide, sunlit foyer in October  2010, when approached by a lone, unannounced reporter. Weibe, who is slight in build, showed no hesitation to speak when questioned, nor deferred to any higher authority. Weibe’s blond shoulder-length hair bounced along to the rhythm of the songs he was preparing for youth worship at a local church as he answered questions.

As a second-year intern at the Honor Academy, Weibe said he had been through the Emotionally Stretching Opportunity of A Lifetime, or ESOAL, course and also some other Life Transforming Events, nicknamed LTEs by interns.

“There are a couple of fasting LTEs,” Weibe said, ticking off names. “An Endurance LTE, a Mountain LTE, an unreached People Group LTE and a World Awareness LTE.”

The purpose of a Teen Mania Life Transforming Event — of which ESOAL is voluntary, he said — is to make it impossible to solve the situation alone.

“It’s gotta be done by a team,” he said. “I personally like LTEs because they brought up so much stuff — so many feelings I never knew were in me — that I learned a lot about myself. I also learned how to depend on others.”

While the ESOL is an optional exercise, four LTEs are mandatory, Weibe said. And they are closely supervised by a team of “facilitators” who carefully monitor students for any negative effects.

DEMANDING

“Probably one of the most demanding LTEs simulates what it would be like to have your country taken over by a foreign power refusing to let you worship,” Weibe said. That is the World Awareness LTE.

“You live in the back woods here on campus for two or three days,” he said. “The people in charge who are the ‘government’ over you are rude, not friendly and they don’t like your faith.”

There was never a “correct” response given the students to emulate, Weibe said. Even his teammates held a variety of opinions regarding how to handle the simulated pressure of being part of a persecuted church.

“You have to form your own opinions based on what the Bible says and your own convictions,” he said. “No one tells you what to think. You have to make a choice. Are you going to react hatefully to them, or are you going to love them the way Christ loves them? It’s a hard decision. Different people have different reactions.”

Now involved in Teen Mania’s School of Worship, Weibe said he helped in the role of “facilitator” at September’s ESOAL. He is still participating in LTEs, he said.

“I just went through a fasting LTE, Weibe said. “We fasted for three days, drinking water.”

Fasting for three days was actually helpful, he said — if you drink lots of water.

“Somewhere in the second day, the blood used in your stomach all the time to digest, goes to your brain and thinking actually becomes clearer,” the high-school valedictorian said.

In last Sunday’s service at Community Christian Fellowship, Hickey made a passing reference to the fast, and Teen Mania interns in the congregation cheered loudly.

During his October 2010 interview, Weibe reiterated that students must make their own choices during Life Transforming Events.

“Some of us in our group (in the World Awareness LTE) thought they should resist,” he said. “Others said ‘love them.’ That’s the whole point of an LTE; to show you options, the way you’re leaning or feeling inside, and how you might react before you get into such a situation. You have to make your own decision.”

RINGING OUT

Asked if he would again go through an LTE or the optional Emotionally Stretching Opportunity of A Lifetime course, Weibe laughed and looked down at his fingers, strumming his guitar. After a moment, he looked up.

“I’d consider it,” he said, laughing again, “because of what it revealed in me. I got angry at times. I hated the people in charge sometimes. I was surprised I had those reactions. But, yeah … I’d do it again.”

Strong criticism by some outside Teen Mania concerning these stressful exercises almost conjures up the image that only the very strong can endure. But Weibe is 5–foot-11 inches, weighs 159 pounds and slender, not athletically so. How can he be a candidate to succeed at ESOAL or LTEs?

“Actually, it’s the 'jocks' (athletic types) who ‘ring out’ most often,” said Weibe, referring to the practice of ringing a bell when any participant has had enough and desires to end their involvement. “It’s surprising, but they are the ones who think they can do it on their own strength. When they find they can’t, they will sometimes drop out because they don’t turn to God or to a team to get them through it.”

He added after some thought, “Turning to a team is always secondary to turning to God for strength. The LTEs taught me that God is always with me; he won’t fail me or forsake me. I don’t have to ‘ring out’ in life no matter what I face.”

Those he is aware of who do “ring out” in LTEs are not made to feel like failures, Weibe said.

“It depends how they ring out, actually,” he said. “I think it’s more of a feeling, ‘I could have done more, I could have gone further,’ not, ‘I’m useless.’ Everyone gets a ‘good job’ encouragement just for being part of one, because the average person will not even participate (in something like an LTE) on their own, so even participating is an accomplishment.”

PHOTO FINISH

Hasz, the Honor Academy director, said his own seminal experience as a high school track athlete taught him a vital lesson he will carry for a lifetime: don’t give up.

“In high school, I was in a meet, running and when I came around the turn I realized I was in third place,” he said. “I thought, ‘Third place is good enough’ and I let up for just a moment. Then I realized, ‘Hey, I could win this’ and I turned up the speed.”

It was a four-way photo finish, Hasz said.

“You couldn’t tell who won my race that day without a photo to look at,” he said. “It turned out that I came in fourth. But I know to this day, that if I hadn’t let up, I could have been first in that race.”

Hasz shrugged his shoulders.

“Does that make me a failure? No. It makes me a learner. I learned in that situation what I could and could not do, and where I needed to improve.”

The key to the success of ESOAL and LTEs for so many interns — many of whom voluntarily repeat the courses — Hasz said, is the idea to challenge, create strong character, be persistent and, yes, build endurance.

Parents or pastors concerned about the programs their children or charges are facing are welcomed at any time to visit Teen Mania, Hasz said, to observe or even join in an LTE.

“Any parent who is concerned about their children as they go through the Honor Academy, he said, “can come, visit their son or daughter, sit in the classes, eat with the interns, see what they are doing, go where they are going, hear exactly what they are learning — anything. Parents are welcome here.”
Pastors are likewise welcome with an open door, he said.

“Any pastor who has members of their congregation attending can do the same. We welcome all parents and all pastors to come at any time, and they do. In fact, I’m trying to remember a recent time when we didn’t have parents with us.”

And for those interns who came away from Teen Mania hurt, wounded or displeased, Hasz made an appeal.

“Would you please forgive us?” he said. “Would you forgive us for hurting you in any way? Would you please forgive us for even the appearance of doing anything that would hurt you or take away from your life? It’s definitely not what we intended to do.”

As a longtime pastor at Community Christian, Hickey reflected on the dangers of hanging on to hurt, and refusing to reconcile.

“If anyone has problems (with any Christian program) I think they should immediately approach those in authority and voice their concerns,” he said. “If that doesn’t bring satisfaction, take it up the chain of command as far as you can. Voice your concerns.”

Avoid bitterness at all costs, Hickey said.

“Any time you do something physical and push kids beyond the limit, you are going to get kids who can’t, or won’t, do it,” he said. “But bitterness ruins all relationships, it really does, sadly. It affects every human relationship we have. Jesus talked quite a bit on that. When we refuse to forgive, we open ourselves up to the tormentors.”