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Bodies Behind The Bus

Bodies Behind The Bus

Bodies Behind The Bus 136 Episodes Oct 6, 2026

Bodies Behind The Bus is a podcast that features the voices of spiritual abuse survivors. It began with stories from the Acts 29 network and has since expanded to include accounts from many other organizations. The show explores experiences of abuse, gaslighting, manipulation, and betrayal within religious contexts. Survivors share how their stories were stolen and their voices suppressed, and the podcast aims to help them reclaim their narratives. It emphasizes that being discarded or harmed is not the gospel.

Episodes

Sarah's Story / YWAM / Pt. 2
Sarah's Story / YWAM / Pt. 2 Oct 6, 2026 3894 Sarah's story continues. She returns to a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base in the States, where a car accident leaves her hurt and exhausted. Instead of rest, she faces pressure to keep working and leading. In this episode, she describes a base culture built on strict molds, spiritual bypassing, and misogyny. When women disclose sexual assaults to her, leaders defend the men and dismiss the v
Sarah's Story / YWAM / Pt. 1
Sarah's Story / YWAM / Pt. 1 Oct 5, 2026 3401 Sarah joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) at 22 and did her training school in Samoa. In this episode, she shares what happened on outreach in the Solomon Islands, where a fellow student assaulted her. When she told leaders, they blamed her, called it her sin, and separated her from the team while her abuser stayed. Sarah walks through the harm that followed and the few people who finally believed
Jamie's Story / YWAM / Canada
Jamie's Story / YWAM / Canada Sep 25, 2026 4926 Jamie joins Youth With A Mission (YWAM) at 17 and stays 25 years, from 1994 to 2020. Jamie describes how YWAM's Founders Circle holds authority without accountability. After the Pulse nightclub shooting, Jamie, speaks out publicly as an affirming Christian. He recounts two years of meetings with international leaders and a talk in which founder Loren Cunningham tells of praying judgment on a
Skyla's Story / YWAM Kona, HI
Skyla's Story / YWAM Kona, HI Sep 17, 2026 6022 Skyla shares her story of serving on a team called End Bible Poverty Now at Youth With A Mission's (YWAM) Kona campus in Hawaii, where she pushed leadership to support outreach to deaf communities. When she raised the issue, she was accused of being rude for crying and told she needed more discipleship. Skyla describes being tested, gaslit, and slowly pushed off her team, all while a separate
Shelby's Story / YWAM / Switzerland / Pt. 2
Shelby's Story / YWAM / Switzerland / Pt. 2 Sep 11, 2026 5826 Shelby returns to finish her story of leaving Youth With A Mission (YWAM) after almost 20 years. Two friends she trusted rise to lead her base, and when she raises concerns about how they treat people, she is accused of attacking them. She is pushed off a program she built, then invited onto their leadership team to quiet her down instead. She takes a sabbatical during the pandemic and starts nami
Shelby's Story / YWAM / Switzerland / Pt. 1
Shelby's Story / YWAM / Switzerland / Pt. 1 Sep 10, 2026 5473 Shelby joins us to share her story of almost 20 years with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a Christian missions group with bases in nearly every country. She signs up at 24 to earn a counseling degree, hoping to help missionaries get better care. Instead, she is pushed to share painful secrets with strangers, watches a visiting speaker ask young women to sit on his lap for healing, and lives under a
Intro To Stories From YWAM: Loren Cunningham And The Seven Mountain Mandate (Updated)
Intro To Stories From YWAM: Loren Cunningham And The Seven Mountain Mandate (Updated) Sep 8, 2026 2252 In this episode, Jay and Johnna introduce a new series featuring first hand stories from Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Before the storytellers share what happened to them, we take a step back and look at the roots. We cover who Loren Cunningham was, the Assemblies of God upbringing that shaped him, and how YWAM grew from a beach vision into a network of thousands of bases around the world with no c
ATBS "American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom" w/ Keri Ladner
ATBS "American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom" w/ Keri Ladner Aug 19, 2026 3073 Keri Ladner is the author of American Dominion: The Rise and Radicalization of a New Christendom. Her book traces the roots of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and Dominion theology in the United States. She began her research while studying the Columbine shooting and how it was later used to build the martyr myths tied to this movement. Ladner also writes about these topics on Substack.America
Bel's Story / Sydney Anglican Diocese
Bel's Story / Sydney Anglican Diocese Jul 22, 2026 5081 Bel joins us from Australia to share her story of growing up in a church in the Sydney Anglican Diocese. When she was six, she nearly died in an accident at church. Soon after, her family moved to a new church led by a man we call Rev T. He called himself a counselor and claimed he could help people no doctor could. Bel describes a community shaped by control, fear, and the constant feeling of bei
Jane's Story / Chi Alpha / Assemblies of God
Jane's Story / Chi Alpha / Assemblies of God Jul 1, 2026 3457 In this episode, our storyteller Jane shares her years inside Chi Alpha, the college campus ministry of the Assemblies of God (AG). What began as a warm, welcoming community slowly turned into something else. Jane describes the pressure to lead, the strict rules over her time, friendships, money, and even her food and health, and the spiritual control that kept her silent for years.She walks us th
Michelle’s Story / IN
Michelle’s Story / IN May 8, 2026 5119 Michelle shares her story of serving on staff at a church in Indiana, where subtle control, blurred pastoral authority, financial pressure, and spiritual manipulation slowly became clear over time. Her story names the confusion of being labeled, silenced, and pushed to question herself while navigating deep personal and family crisis. Through telling the truth, Michelle begins reclaiming the voice
Katie’s Story / The Austin Stone
Katie’s Story / The Austin Stone Apr 17, 2026 6204 Katie shares her story of growing up in a highly controlled religious environment, entering a young marriage shaped by strict gender roles, and spending years overseas as a missionary. Through the pressures of ministry, isolation, and motherhood, she began to recognize patterns of emotional and spiritual harm in her life. This episode follows her journey of unraveling those beliefs, finding her vo

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