Comments on My Teen Mania Experience: Noelle's Story, part 3

Good question...they are leadership but they are a...

2012-01-01T14:01:11.027-06:00

Good question...they are leadership but they are also very, very young and I generally consider them to be just as much a victim as the interns.

Would you not consider a dorm director to be leade...

2011-12-31T10:15:08.365-06:00

Would you not consider a dorm director to be leadership?

Yes, the names were changed to protect the innocen...

2011-12-31T03:23:18.674-06:00

Yes, the names were changed to protect the innocent. My policy is that all names of fellow interns are changed while leadership names stay the same.

I posted in part 2, and also had some questions/co...

2011-12-30T23:56:27.762-06:00

I posted in part 2, and also had some questions/comments for this post.
1. Who were Dina and Kate? did you change the names to protect them? I don't need to know their real names but was there and don't remember those people...
2. I'm sorry if you were really chastized for reading the Bible during worship. I did that regularly and never was told anything about it. It was likely that you had some young interns with you from extremely charasmatic churches who didn't yet understand different peoples relationship with God. Either way, I hope and pray you continue to find healing and comfort in the Lord! :)

Noelle, your story is amazing. The fact that you w...

2011-12-09T12:36:30.731-06:00

Noelle, your story is amazing. The fact that you were able to leave, to stand up for yourself like that--it's awesome and took great strength. I admire you for that and am so sorry for the way you were treated.

***“There goes another one!” someone yelled sarcastically. They cheered. I didn’t care. I was free. I was in a cab and I was on my way to a bus station. The sun was rising and never before had I seen such a beautiful sunrise. I was going home.***

I love that you included it in your story. We were inundated with the message that leaving was a sin, so of course someone had to be snarky about. Not very much the loving Christian response, right? But no surprise there either.

I live in MN and remember when I first heard about the HA being here. I was mad and jealous and had a lot of mixed feelings about it. And I didn't even know it had shut down until your story posted. But that MAKES SENSE:

A few years ago, I was contacted by TM reps from Bethany Missions who had called to ask me for my help. I'm not sure what type of help they were after but it seemed like they wanted me to help market the program, get the word out, volunteer on campus etc. It was weird because I was not on any other alumni lists so I didn't know how they had gotten my info. When I asked, they'd gotten it through Facebook, lol.

At the time, I declined helping them because I felt I was still not good enough for TM. Ha.

Whoa. The whole worship thing resonated with me. W...

2011-12-08T22:29:56.958-06:00

Whoa.
The whole worship thing resonated with me. When I went on a mission trip over the summer I had a really hard time getting into worship. I felt that the whole idea of it was really empty because there was no grace involved at all. I felt the same as you. I felt like I was worshiping a different God than them. I actually almost left BEFORE I even went on the trip, and I kind of wished I had sometimes, but God used it for the better...WITHOUT me having to listen to lies.
Keep hope Noelle! I am so glad to hear about your calling to Urban Ministry!
Love.
~ "lacey"

Thank you for sharing your story. I think there a...

2011-12-08T13:39:45.907-06:00

Thank you for sharing your story. I think there are many emotional and spiritual effects of such an experience. You were right when you
mentioned your God was a God of grace. God loves you so much. I know
it helps me to focus on His love for me. He saved us based on His grace and not on anything we do or ever will do. You must have a had
a good sensitivity to be aware of the potential problems. Man's ways
are not God's ways. He loves each of us so much and He lives through
each of us in unique ways. Now may the God of all Comfort comfort you
with his peace and joy in believing............in believing that Jesus
is all, and has done it all, for each of us. It is finished. We
are accepted, saved and loved.

I am so glad you saw this early, you are right tha...

2011-12-08T08:38:51.635-06:00

I am so glad you saw this early, you are right that many people have misgivings in the first few days and stay sometimes only a few months sometimes for a year or more <3 I am so glad you were so strong in knowing what God was saying to you!

I'm so glad you realized the truth so early on...

2011-12-07T21:53:40.942-06:00

I'm so glad you realized the truth so early on and so sorry that you had to deal with emotional/psychological trauma even from that little bit of time. :(

I'm very happy that you had friends who supported you like they did.

Eric, I was going to post the same thing in caps. ...

2011-12-07T20:58:17.571-06:00

Eric, I was going to post the same thing in caps. I long ago started just reading my Bible in worship services because they started becoming so ridiculous for me. If someone would have told me what I would have left fundamentalism long before I did.

People cheered you leaving? Dear.Lord.God.

Bless you Noelle as you continue to heal. What an inspiration you are.

Your co courageous to stand by what you KNEW was b...

2011-12-07T19:17:42.828-06:00

Your co courageous to stand by what you KNEW was best for you, and the face of so much. I can't imagine being on the phone for 2.5 hours and keeping my whits about me at that age. Kudos Noelle!!!

"I was chastised for reading my bible during ...

2011-12-07T13:42:18.715-06:00

"I was chastised for reading my bible during the worship service." In one sentence, pretty much everything you need to know about the Honor Academy.

A good ending to a very well-written story. I'm glad that now there are things like this for people in your position to find when they get on the Internet.

You are a strong, brave, and discerning woman. I ...

2011-12-07T12:20:23.228-06:00

You are a strong, brave, and discerning woman. I am glad God comforted your heart that he was always with you. May your courage to post this testimony continue your healing and be a warning beacon to others.