COON RAPIDS, MINNESOTA - Michael Taylor, fresh from a “rejuvenating” 6 months in Sweden, claimed to have found God and himself during his semester at YWAM. A conservative Christian equivalent to a Semester Abroad or a Semester at Sea, DTS has helped young, confused college students find meaning in the world. “I’ve always wanted to visit places.” Taylor exclaimed on his return. “And this was a really good opportunity to strip everything away and start all over.”
When asked about what his experience taught him Taylor replied, “I realized that God always has a plan and that it doesn’t matter where or who you are, he wants to be a part of your life.”
The fervent excitement that his trip instilled in him lasted a record tying 5 and 1/2 days after his return to the states. After promptly emailing local churches to see if they had volunteer opportunities available and reconnecting at Starbucks with old friends and flames, Taylor began to slide back into the same hole he had dug for himself prior to leaving. When asked about his loss of apparent enthusiasm Taylor replied “It’s just hard to readjust to normal life. I just need a few weeks of no responsibility before I start my own devotional group or homeless outreach under the 394/94 exchange overpass.”
A follow up interview a month later was held over the kitchen counter at Taylor’s Parent’s residence in Coon Rapids. When I inquired about how his outreach was coming along Taylor exclaimed “Oh Yeah! I totally forgot about that!” and dove back into his Ramen Noodle Insta-Lunch. After forgetting which Scandinavian country he had lived in for half a year and shuffling through a past-due college reapplication Taylor kindly asked if the interview was over.
Taylor now resides in his parents basement, plans to finally get the band back together and boasts about his Level 28 Undead Rogue in the MMORPG World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. He also has calculated that he will have his trip paid off by mid-March 2013 - Bernstein
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1 comment:
as a ywamer my self, i can tell you that coming out of a dts is hard.
imagine coming out wanting to share every that you have learned- both about God and yourself, and sharing the experience of being in another country with completely different cultures. then imagine friends who have come to all but forget you.
place the two of those together and it's quite disheartening. in fact, it feels like being betrayed. if the people around you are apathetic eventually you yourself become so as well.
personally I don't think these stories reflect the failure of YWAM, rather the failure of the communities we return to. (and ourselves as part of those communities.)
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