I lived in a house in Grandview with three graduates of the IHOPU program for about two years. I also went to a charismatic university in a nearby state before moving to KC. I never did a theological deep dive on their teachings, but my social life in KC was predominately IHOPU graduates. People who drank the kool-aid, and then went on to do truly incredible things with their lives. People I looked up to, who seemed to really love God and to love people and who cared about life-giving justice in the world. I remember going to the prayer room several, at the suggestion of the roommates. And I remember sometimes the worship sets would be all about just... worship. And those seemed so healing. But the sets that were for spiritual warfare type things, I'd always leave when they started because they made me feel kind of empty and uncomfortable (I have a severe chronic illness, and during this time my life was consumed by a kind of charismatic-Christian induced guilt that I couldn't "faith" my own illness away. So "spiritual warfare" type stuff made me feel disassociated, paralyzed with shame, and depressed, tbh. But I digress.) I no longer live in KC, but I've been absolutely engrossed in these IHOP stories because about a year ago, I experienced the breakdown of a co-dependent relationship with a narcissistic individual who spiritually abused me in a way that I see mirrored in these IHOP stories. She's more all-in with Bethel, but she's made week-long trips to the IHOP prayer room before. I moved to a new part of the country and didn't know anyone but her, so she offered for me to live with her while I sort of figure things out. Before living with her, I'd been experiencing some of the most joy and freedom in my life that I'd ever known. The longer I lived with her, the more her "dreams from the Lord" or prophetic words about my life would 1) scratch my unhealed personal wounds in a way that only a licensed professional shold have (and it just caused me to become SEVERELY re-traumatized and depressed) and 2) make me believe that she really heard the voice of God in a way that I did not. I now realize that, EVEN THOUGH I think she was operating from what she saw was real love.... she was gaslighting me, causing me to question my own reality, and causing me to believe that the only interpretation of reality, of God's truth, was viewed through her specific and unique relationship with the voice of God. She was one of my best friends for over ten years... and now I think maybe she actually struggles with clinical narcissism, and calls it "hearing the voice of God." I used to be one of the most insecure people I've ever met. The more I actually 1) read the Bible for mysel fand 2) have friends who aren't Christian in any way, the healthier my relationship with God, my own voice, and TRULY loving others becomes. I hope this for anyone who has been affected by all this trauma. I'm so sorry for what has happened to you.
I was 11 when my parents moved me and my older brother to Grandview to be close to the headquarters of IHOP. I experienced extensive fear based brainwashing/teachings and became a very disturbed and anxious child. I attended a small school that was highly regarded by IHOP owned by a local couple. For 4 years I was taught ancient greek, catechism, bible verse memorization and that I would be one of the many children that would battle the antichrist when the “end times” came. They neglected to teach me math, science and literature which greatly hindered me later on. As for my relationships with worship leaders and other members there are several instances that stick in my mind. In the summers I would attend IHOP camps, one night I remember there was an hours long worship session (like any other night) and I was exhausted being only 11 or 12 and having done camp activities all day. I had sat down during the session and then was forced to stand up and move to the front to worship. I was ostrocised by this camp counselor and was treated like I was turning away from god and being a bad follower. I was unable to get anyone to contact my parents to pick me up. Another time when I was also 11 I was approached by a prominent figure of the church and was accused of letting the devil possess me after my parents had mentioned in passing that I amused them by pretending to be an alter ego named “Jessica” that I made up who had a raspy voice and crawled at them on the ground (really I was inspired by seeing the character gollum on lord of the rings lol). I was crushed and convinced myself that I was an evil child, I never did it again and never told my parents why. I was manipulated at 13 into doing manual labor at a horse ranch that specialized in “horse therapy” where I fed them and mucked large pieces of land in freezing temperatures in exchange for a measly 30 minute “riding lesson” where I never even sat on the horse once for a 5 month period. I became very anxious and plagued for years by the ideologies taught in my time there: that everyone I knew who did not believe (my extended family) was going to die an awful death and burn for eternity, the devil hated woman the most and would target them in the end times, I should be willing to die and be tortured if someone should force me to choose between that or rebuking christ, homosexuality is disgusting and evil, abortion is murder even if the woman was under danger of medical conditions, and many more intense fanatical ways of thinking. My parents, my brother and I all left the religion together in 2015 and moved out of state. We left behind long time family friends and my aunt, uncle and cousins who refused to speak to us again. It took me years of healing and mental work to move forward and even at 23 I struggle. I still think of my time at IHOP often and my memory of everything before that period is nonexistent probably from trauma and the brainwashing. I’m sharing my story to spread the truth and to confirm that IHOP KC is a cult and is very dangerous. They take advantage of young and vulnerable people and control their time, finances and their bodies.
I was a 21-year-old camp counselor for the IHOPKC Summer Teen Internship(STI) in ‘05. I emailed a person to express my interest and I was in. A close friend of mine also signed up. All I had to do was go to Hickman Mills police station to print off my own background check. The kids would be staying at ‘Host families’ homes around the city. The host families were any IHOPKC adjacent families that were willing to give sleeping bag space and pop tarts to a few kids each day. Some kids were in Belton, Lees Summit, or in the nearby South KC area. My friend and I were assigned to live in quarters with around 10 kids in a large living space. There was an IHOPKC family that just finished building a large house on some nearby IHOPKC property with a large open basement with its own bathroom/shower and private entrance. So, we set up 5 sets of bunkbeds and single beds for myself and two other camp counselors. The teenage son of the family had his own bedroom in the basement next to the space where the camp kids stayed. He was around 15-16 years old at the time. We’ll call him John. There were three of us camp counselors staying in the room with the teens. Myself and my friend that had been students/staff with IHOPKC for two years, and another guy from out of town. Let’s call him Mark. Mark was a college student out of state. He had never done anything IHOPKC except for attending a conference. He had met a well known IHOP worship leader and their so when they led worship in his town, and that’s how he got connected with STI. Mark was a really nice guy. He was a musician and worship leader and often led worship for the teens. Our personalities worked well with each other. We all got along well living in close quarters. We had fun with the teens, ministering, and staying up late goofing off together. John, the teenage son of the family that owned the house where we stayed, would often hang out with all of us. He was not enrolled with the internship, but he was present and knew everyone. He became friends with some of the teens and Mark. Mark rented a movie one night to watch with the teens on a laptop. I believe a group of the teens, Mark and John watched it in John’s room. After a long day of camp sessions, prayer room time and Bible studies we would all get home later in the evening and hang out as a group and stay up relatively late in our living quarters. One time a few of the teens were shirtless while hanging out. Somehow, Mark ended up sitting on a bunk bed with 4 teens all giving each other shirtless shoulder massages. The two of us other counselors were uncomfortable. We cautiously suggested they stop, without drawing attention to it or accusing anyone. When at the house, Mark would hang out with John more and more. We all generally hung out in the large room, but they hung out together sometimes in John’s bedroom. One night everyone had gone to sleep and I noticed that Mark’s bed was empty. I looked around and found him asleep on John’s bed next to John himself. I woke up Mark and strongly suggested he go to his own bed. He woke up and didn’t think anything of it. It was very uncomfortable for me and stayed with me. My friend and I didn’t really know what to make of it, but we knew it had to be passed up to the leader of STI. I think maybe my friend told him about it. STI Leader approached me about it. He asked about the shirtless massages and finding Mark asleep in a teen’s bed. I confirmed it and he thanked me for saying something. I believe within the next day, Mark was let go from the camp. The staff got together and explained what had happened and that it was best for Mark to leave. That was all that was said and we agreed and accepted it. I was talking about it with worship leader’s son that had met Mark in his hometown since he was the one that connected Mark to STI. He was saying how weird that was and that he never vouched for him because he hardly knew him. He met him one weekend while traveling. Mark had asked for a way to come to IHOPKC for a bit and he suggested the STI. And it was never talked about again. I have my doubts that the parents of John were brought into the conversation about Mark. Today as a father, I cannot imagine putting my children in any situation even close to what I described. And if I had found out a counselor was sleeping in my kid’s bed and giving massages, I would lose my mind and would have kicked all of the STI kids and staff out of my house at the very least.
I have been a part of the prayer and worship movement since I was 13 years old. I am 35 now. I wanted to share some of my experiences with IHOPKC that were troubling. I have known for years now that the experiences I had there were not okay but with everything coming to the light in recent days, I feel it's important to give some more glances into the dysfunction. I moved to KC to attend IHOPU and was there between 2007-2008. 18-year-old me arrived in KC with great anticipation and excitement. I remember thinking it was a dream come true. I met some amazing friends and not all memories are bad but many things were questionable, to say the least. Even my 18-year-old self had inklings that the way the community was handled was very odd but I was trusting and all in. Unless you were on staff, an intern, a student, or led worship/prayer, you had no real connections to others. I remember feeling grieved by this dynamic. So rewind to my first week at IHOPU, it's orientation week. I just finished taking my photo for my student ID, and they bring us to a room to be encouraged and prophesied over. I was encouraged but then we were told the men and women would be separated for a "talk." I was cattled into a small room with way too many people. Instinctually, I was like: "Oh, they're giving us the purity talk." Needless to say, the female leader proceeded to tell us that we need to strongly refrain from wearing t-shirts or clothing with letters across the chest to avoid bringing attention to our breasts, to instead be modest and avoid wearing tight or revealing clothing, and we were strongly encouraged to not dance, jump, bounce, or jiggle in the prayer room because we would cause the men to stumble into sin. I remember being so uncomfortable in that talk. Inappropriately, the leader even modeled to us with gestures and movements what we were and were not supposed to do with our bodies with particular emphasis again on NOT making the men in our community stumble. As one who grew up in the purity culture, this wasn’t wildly foreign. In addition to the expectations around clothing and other restraints, we were instructed to not date in the first 1-2 years of internship/university. Many interns and students did anyway. It was presented as a blessing to focus on the Lord and not be distracted but it was overboard, controlling, and I believe was a ploy to control. We were also required to download a monitoring accountability program on our computers and laptops and identify accountability partners to whom we were instructed to confess if we watched pornography or engaged in sexual sin. If any of us visited a site that was pornographic or in the slightest bit inappropriate, our identified accountability partner would get an alert in text or email with that disclosure and we were encouraged to have an honest conversation to confess the sin we committed. I am not against accountability, honesty, and confession but for years, I have been detangling from the mess of these experiences. I now know it was a saving grace that I had to return home to Florida to care for my family. I was saved from years of heartache if I had remained there in that unhealthy environment.
I was introduced to IHOPKC as a college student (2007), by a girl on my freshman dorm floor. I regularly attended weekly prayer meetings and worship nights that were significantly influenced by both the music and teachings of IHOPKC. Prayer meetings, worship nights, local evangelism and church involvement were my entire life during my college years and early 20s. I followed the teachings and even more so the worship music of IHOPKC for many years. I regularly tuned into the prayer room stream and/or recordings from the stream. I always wanted to attend OneThing but it never worked out (as I lived very far away, out of state). I became very interested in Exodus Cry and even raised money for the ministry and raised awareness about EC within my community. I was beyond a Jesus freak in those days. And looking back I can acknowledge now that I was very afraid to question things and think for myself - which makes me ‘vibes’ at IHOPKC even more interesting. In the fall of 2013, I got a job on the west coast. I had a friend who sang at IHoPKC and offered to drive part of the trip with me cross country. I stopped at IHOPKC for a Saturday service that was specific to Exodus Cry (she was even singing on stage that night). The plan was to stay with her and her housemates and leave the next morning. From the moment I stepped into the building (which I believe is now FCF?) something felt very off to me. The entire service felt very off to me. My gut kept saying ‘this is weird, something is off, leave.’ I could sense a genuine spirit in many of the people there but it felt off - insular, even cultish. (And this is coming from someone heavily involved in a Vineyard church and other charismatic groups at that time.) After driving cross country and taking up a new life in Santa Barbara, I never tuned into the prayer room stream again. I didn’t listen to any of the IHOPKC teachings again. Like I said, I had met very genuine and kind people connected to IHOP many times over the years, but the campus felt cultish. It has been heartbreaking to see things unfold the way that they have these past few months. It’s reminded me that these insular communities detach you from your gut and intuitive instincts and do everything to adopt you into the ‘collective consciousness.’ For those who are leaving and have no sense of self, community, identity or meaning beyond IHoPKc please know that there is hope.m and life beyond it. Please know that you can feel joy again, that you can connect to your intuition again, that you can think for yourself again. Please know that the world is not full of evil and darkness but many loving, kind, warm and genuine people.
I was told by a leader that I should be thankful he did not abuse the power he had over me. He said I trusted him too much and that he could have abused his power if he wanted to…
I visited IHOPKC with a group of missionaries from a Canadian prayer ministry. I realize this story may not fit here but wanted to share my experience and offer support to those coming forward. When I entered the prayer room for the first time, I had an expectation that I would feel the power of God as I had in other places of prayer. But actually, much to my disappointment, I didn't sense much of anything. I asked those in the group I travelled with what they felt , but all I offered to them was that it wasn't as I had expected. Upon returning home, I mentioned the absence of feeling God's presence to a few trusted people. I wondered how a place could have 24/7 prayer for 15 years and feel like that. However, in the end, I was content to process the experience through the lens that my discernment was off - I was the problem. When the news began to emerge a couple months ago, my memory from 10 years ago made tragic sense. It was heartbreaking to hear the podcast of an assault that was improperly handled in the Spring of 2014 - around the time I was there. Praying for all that have been mistreated and wronged - that despite the depravity of people, God would reveal His kindness to you in very tangible ways. Even if this isn't posted, I pray it's an encouragement to those reading the message - your stories are believed.
In late 2004, not long after I had turned 18 and started working at IHOP, an event occurred that continues to affect me to this day. I had only been at IHOP for a few months when I was invited to a home group. During this time, I thought I had a spiritual experience and was eager to discuss it with the group leader. This individual was not the son of a boxer. One evening, while I was in the Prayer Room, the leader came to me. I expressed my desire to share the developments in my spiritual life. He seemed interested and suggested we talk more about it. However, he noted that the Prayer Room wasn't the right place for such a conversation and invited me to his house instead. Agreeing to his proposal, we left for his residence, located in the adjacent apartments known at the time as Hernhut. Upon entering the apartment, I immediately noticed a strong fish odor. The leader explained he had cooked fish earlier. The atmosphere quickly became unusual and uncomfortable. He mentioned his roommate was in the bathroom, pointing towards a door. Then, he asked about my weight. When I responded that I weighed 150 pounds, he expressed disbelief. To my surprise, he lifted me over his shoulders and then set me down again. This action felt awkward and inappropriate, especially since I had come there to discuss spiritual matters, and I hardly knew him. Next, he asked if I liked wrestling, specifically referring to WWF/WWE. I didn’t, but he knew I had watched it with a friend who was a fan. He offered to show me a wrestling move, and I hesitantly agreed. He then came up behind me, put his arm around my throat in a choker hold, and brought me to the ground. He wasn't choking me to the point of asphyxiation, but it was still alarming and forceful. I realized with dread that there was no roommate – I suspected he had lied about this to prevent me from calling for help. During this moment, I experienced a sense of disconnection and shock. Despite no removal of clothing or penetration, the man, significantly larger than me, proceeded to assault me, humping me through his clothes until climax. I was in a state of frozen terror, mentally and physically immobilized, feeling as though I was wrapped in heavy chains. My primary focus was on how to survive the ordeal without showing my fear. After the incident, he left for the bathroom, and I managed to sit up on the floor, contemplating if I could escape before he could stop me. However, he returned and instructed me to follow him. As we left the apartment, I felt an urge to run away, but the situation seemed too controlled and planned, making me doubt my ability to safely escape. We then got into his car, and he mentioned needing to make a quick stop. We drove a short distance, merely across the parking lot, to another apartment in the Hernhut complex. He expressed his desire for me to meet someone, and we ascended to the second floor of the building. He knocked on a door while standing behind me, an ominous positioning. The door was answered by a man wearing mascara, holding a knife, who then invited us inside. A wave of fear washed over me, as I thought I might be subjected to further harm or even killed in this new setting. In the living room, I noticed magazines on the table featuring stylish men. Somehow I knew I was not the first person to be brought here under such circumstances. I felt death was in the room to my left and I felt they were deciding what to do with me. The man with the knife placed it on the table, heightening the threatening atmosphere. The leader then asked me to close my eyes and deliver a prophecy. Despite my efforts, I could not close my eyes, too consumed by fear. I tried to conceal my terror, but the leader made it evident that he was aware of how frightened I was. I noticed a sliding glass door across the room and contemplated trying to jump through the glass door. As a religious DVD played in the background, I fabricated a prophecy about a caterpillar and a butterfly, my mind solely focused on survival. I remained in the second apartment for approximately 45 minutes. During this time, the details of the conversation are largely a blur to me, but I distinctly remember the conversation and subsequent prayer was sexual in nature and manipulative. My state of mind was overwhelmed and disoriented, making it hard to recall the specifics of what transpired. My sole concentration was on survival and finding a way to escape, clinging to the hope of making it out of there alive. In an effort to extricate myself from the situation, I fabricated a story, telling them that I had informed my family I would be speaking with the group leader and needed to return to my aunt who had recently arrived for a visit. To my astonishment, he believed this story and mentioned he needed to go home to rest. He escorted me to his car and drove me a short distance back to IHOP. The moment I entered the doors of IHOP, I felt a profound sense of relief, as if an immense burden and the chains binding me had been lifted. I realized I was finally safe and free. Upon reaching safety, I immediately told my sister we had to leave. Once home, I broke down and shared the entire ordeal with her. She then contacted an IHOP leader she knew, who was out of town on preaching duties. He advised me to find solace in the Prayer Room and partake in communion, promising to address the issue upon his return in a few days. Following his advice, my sister drove me to the Prayer Room, where I went to the communion table, took the bread and juice, and sat down. To my dismay, the group leader was also there, seated right behind me. Although his presence was unsettling, being in the Prayer Room gave me a sense of safety. While working at IHOP, I approached my boss to request a few days off due to the distressing events. My boss, a man I respected for his kindness and firmness, and whom I saw as a devout man of God, insisted on a meeting to understand the reasons for my leave request. In this meeting, I disclosed everything that had happened to me. Following our conversation, he reached out to the IHOP leadership to discuss the situation. They assured him that the matter was being handled, which led to my return to work soon after. In the months that followed, I daily encountered the group leader at IHOP, as he worked in an adjacent department. This continued for months, during which time it seemed as though nothing was being done about the incident. He behaved as if nothing had occurred, appearing completely unaffected, while I was deeply troubled by his presence and the lack of resolution. Unable to bear the situation any longer, one evening, I drank some beer to gather the courage to confront him at IHOP. I drove there, found him on the coffee shop patio, and, in a state of emotional turmoil, I shouted and expressed my ongoing distress, accusing him of causing me nightly nightmares. I then quickly left the scene in my truck. However, still unsettled, I drank more beer and decided to return to confront him directly. When I arrived, he was no longer on the patio. As I searched the parking lot, I suddenly heard screeching tires and narrowly avoided being hit by a speeding car. In a heightened state of alert, I grabbed a metal chair from the patio, intending to use it defensively against the vehicle. A voice from another distant vehicle made a threatening remark, and then they too sped away. Neither car contained the group leader. During this confrontation, everyone nearby had fled indoors, but I knew there were security cameras that might have captured the incident. I attempted to access the footage to corroborate my account, but IHOP was uncooperative. Frustrated with IHOP's inaction, my mother urged me to press charges against the group leader instead of waiting for IHOP to address the situation. The police arrived at his residence that evening. Remarkably, they found him hurriedly packing his belongings, ready to depart to the northeast, his origin. Had they been an hour later, he would have vanished. In court, a renowned, high-priced attorney represented him, declaring her unfamiliarity with such minor cases and the court's basic procedures, resulting in an extended delay of nearly a year. During this time, I, with the naivety and maturity akin to a typical 15-year-old, had to face him daily. He had penned a confessional letter, but it first reached an IHOP leader. His lawyer argued the letter's confidentiality under clergy privilege, ensuring it was not presented in court, even though I had a copy. Throughout the trial, I stood alone as the sole witness, while he remained silent, seated, offering no defense. The court result was I was mandated to attend a six-month program at Living Waters, a support group for individuals facing sexual issues. This period was emotionally challenging for me, and I felt a deep sense of injustice and was forced to weekly meet and talk with other individuals who were gay (I am not, but was very damaged from such individuals). The support from my organization, IHOP, was inadequate and inconsistent, leaving me feeling alienated and penalized. The representative from my side seemed relieved at the resolution, but failed to understand my emotional state. In contrast, the opposing party had ample support. Post-trial, I never encountered him again, and heard rumors that IHOP had employed his lawyer to manage the situation discreetly, though I couldn't confirm this. At that time, I still believed in the leadership's integrity, despite their mishandling of the situation, and I chose to continue my association with IHOP. Before the court proceedings, two unusual incidents occurred. It seemed like I was inadvertently attracting unwanted attention, likely due to my apparent naivety. On one occasion, a man from Canada approached me on the patio for a conversation. He suggested we take a walk while discussing Jesus. We strolled towards Hernhut, following the adjacent road. As night fell and we neared a wooded area, the conversation took an unsettling turn. He began discussing "raging homosexuality" and suggested we venture into the dark, secluded woods. I immediately declined and returned to IHOP, where I reported the incident to my supervisor. My boss, a genuinely good person, began to realize that I was becoming a target for troubling behavior. In the following months, I encountered another man who was married with a daughter. He invited me to his home for prayer. During the prayer, when I opened my eyes, I was shocked to find he had undressed. I left immediately and reported this incident to a top leader, who was aware of my previous experience with the leader. Surprisingly, the leader walked away laughing. About a year later, I joined an internship program, albeit two days late. On my arrival, I was questioned about my reasons for being there. I earnestly replied, "I want to know the truth." The response I received was disheartening: "You can't handle the truth." Three months into the internship, I was unjustly accused and expelled for allegedly speaking to a female colleague alone and exchanging notes, which was strictly against the rules. However, these accusations were baseless, as I had adhered to the guidelines and had not engaged in such activities. Following this, I returned to my apartment to pack my belongings. Fortunately, my boss, who had heard about the incident, spoke to the leader on my behalf, asserting his belief in my honesty. This series of events summarizes my journey with IHOP. While I cherish the prayer room and the genuine followers of Jesus, these experiences have left me deeply wounded and unsettled, untrusting of the justice system and the IHOP leadership. The truth is, I am not okay. I am mostly over it, but what remains is a dead version of myself, calloused, confused, scared, locked up and broken. More details: The leader who did it was not an official leader. However he was the leader of the IHOP fire parties which was a meeting of young people who met in various home-group like settings for worship in 2004-2005. He also worked at IHOP as the main kitchen assistant for years (I believe). He continued to work at IHOP afterwards, for i think a year, (its been so long ago)... and that entire time I worked as a maintenance leader for years. The back wall of the coffeeshop is adjacent to the kitchen. I saw him every day for months, at the coffeeshop, kitchen, patio, entries, hallways and prayerroom. No action was taken and all leaders were aware of the incident, supposedly believing it was being "handled". They even received his written confession. Even after I went to the police (after 2 months of no action), he still remained working there for months and continued meeting with young adults in the fire-parties, maybe for about a whole year. Leadership was aware of this. I would see him almost every day, he would always smile and pretend nothing happened. This was late 2004, there was no one who was assigned to deal with these issues. They acted like they didn't know what to do, so they did nothing, even with a confession. The two months before the confession, I literally didn't even believe it had happened. Can you imagine not being able to believe in yourself? I can't really explain unless you personally know how that is. When he wrote the confession, only then did I realize it really happened. I know the event seems small, its not like there was penetration, but the pain and confusion did penetrate deep within my soul, and the lack of protection, month after month was devastating. And to top it off the court details left me very alone and facing the very type of person I was injured from weekly.
I graduated from the IHOPU FSM program. [Leader] was the president of IHOPU. He had a brilliant mind but would belittle me and my classmates. Several times people would leave in the middle of class to cry over his snarky, rude remarks or being treated as stupid when they asked questions. Some people avoided taking his class after the first year because his ego was out of control. [Leader] was the center of his universe. Every conversation revolves around him or he makes it about him. Having a discussion with him is impossible because he always has to be right. He teaches sermon on the mount but doesn't live it. My time at IHOPU was deeply affected by the terrible ways he treated me and others. I regret going to IHOPU and the pain it caused me. If you are considering IHOPU, I would not attend the school while he is in charge.
I attended IHOPKC starting at the age of twelve. I immediately joined Student Ministries as it served as a great catalyst to obtain new friends around my age. For a while, all was normal, and I enjoyed my time and experience at Student Ministries. Then, a male leader joined. This leader took a particular interest in me and a small group of other teen boys. This was not out of the ordinary as Student Ministries facilitated "small groups" of same-sex individuals that had a leader of the same sex over them. These "small groups" would meet both within and outside Student Ministries to get further into the Bible together and to encourage comradery among the teens. This leader became a counselor over me and my life both within IHOPKC and outside of it. I told him my entire life story and put all my trust in him. Eventually, on top of meeting with him with the rest of the "small group", we began meeting one-on-one. During these times, he began grooming me - and I will not go into detail on the grooming tactics that were involved. Generally, the grooming happened when we were alone, but there were a few times when it involved the rest of the "small group". Then, at the age of seventeen, it was put as a requirement on me by my parents to meet with the leader every week, this time as a therapist and official counselor for my struggles with same-sex attraction. It was at these required meetings that the grooming switched to sexual abuse. The abuse occurred over several meetings, and still to this day I am scarred and heartbroken. I feel like Student Ministries and IHOPKC let me down in a few different ways. As it stands the leader, who also played on worship teams, left IHOPKC a short time after the abuse and resides in the greater Kansas City area to this day.