It’s hard to explain in a statement what my experience was at IHOP. So I want to share a specific story instead. I was a member of The Call. A cult inside in cult. It was a pretty small group of students that were more active in protest movements and were kinda’ the radical kids of the radical kids. I now recognize we were mostly just traumatized before we got to IHOP. Anyway, one day we were having a private meeting with our direct leader. He wasn’t around too often. He was regularly traveling or to busy starving himself for one cause or another. But, that day he showed up to talk to us. To tell us about his trip to Uganda. To tell us how while he was there the country made homosexuality a capital crime punishable by death. I was in disbelief. This man, a man who was leading numerous queer Christian youths was in the room with the men who established this law, in his God’s name and didn’t even seem to care. He cared that we new he condemned the sin. He cared that we new he didn’t want to kill gay people personally. He cared that we didn’t say he encouraged the law. Truthfully I don’t know what he did in Uganda. But his impact, his influence lead to death. And I know he knew this or he wouldn’t have made the time to address us. Because Onething is true of The Call: We were not addressed directly unless something very important happened. I remember standing up and arguing with him over how he didn’t do more to prevent this from happening. I was so mad I left the school for the day. It was the first time in my youth that I recognized the power and the impact that the American church has on the globe and I was horrified. My participation still haunts me. I am so glad I left. But there’s no reconciling the damage this organization has caused. Be it for those of us who participated, yes we were also victims, but also for those who had nothing to do with IHOP-KC but were victims by legislative action the IHOP influenced both in the US and abroad.
- The Call/IHOPU2010-2012