Your experience is consistent with what I’ve heard from my students, and many posters on this site.

Some people posting here defend this group and others like it, but if they joined a camp that turned out to be a lie, and were stuck under those circumstances, they’d be just as annoyed as you. They wouldn’t get away with what you described in many countries. They may organise the excursion in the USA, but they wouldn’t treat people the way you described in a western country because they laws are stricter, and they know it. What they are doing has nothing at all to do with freedom of religion.

Now they have been advertising their latest camps at my university in Thailand for the last month! Four weeks straight advertising one camp. Five to 10 IYF staff nonstop canvassing in the canteen, just to fill their camp. They interrupt people while eating lunch, pushing their handouts in front of them, inviting themselves to sit and talk about their camp. How much staff and man hours to fill one camp? What is their quota? Of course they NEVER mention that the camp is related to religion at all

Every year, I warn my students about these cult and their brainwashing camps, and the word has spread throughout my faculty about this group.

Get this; they even organised their “World Camp” during the week before mid-term exams (29 January to 4 February). Amazing that the administration would even allow any group to canvass the university to invite people to skip a week of class before exam week. No teacher in my faculty will excuse student’s absenses for this.

I encourage you and others who read this to call out this group, and other like it, for unacceptable practices. Exposing them is important. If they want to run a Christian proselytising camp, then they ought to be honest about it!

I got out of there pretty much as soon as I realized what they were trying to do, so I didn’t subject myself to the full extent of what they had planned for us, but since I returned, I’ve been reading a lot about brainwashing and how it works, and the IYF uses classic brainwashing techniques, i.e. inducing fatigue, irritation, mental/emotional stress, all while firing a relentless barrage of their propaganda at you. As I stated before, I’m sure the brainwashing techniques became more aggressive and egregious as the camp wore on. These methods of control are what would define the group as a cult.

I don’t think you can say they aren’t very good at brainwashing, because they are a huge group. They are financially supported by their members, and brainwashing is how they acquire these members. I saw it first hand. Perhaps I saw through them because I went in with some suspicions about the motives of this group, only to have even worse than my worst suspicions confirmed, or perhaps I am just more of an independent thinker than many of the other attendees. One thing that amazed me about this experience was how apparently eager people are to follow directions, regardless of whether or not those directions are in their best interest. I was able to leave because I could afford a plane ticket back home. Somebody who had no money to return home would have had to stay with this group for the entire ten days, all the way to Mexico and back, just because the group was their ride. I only attended a few hours worth of their ridiculous sermons and performances and still felt extremely stressed out. I can’t even imagine how people would feel after TEN DAYS OF THIS FROM 6AM TO 11PM EACH DAY. It would be a %$$ing nightmare, and I think it would have literally driven me insane.

I’m not sure what you meant by the world peace comment, but I do see them as an evil organization that exists specifically to fool people into believing some random theology and out of their money, which goes into the pockets of these so-called spiritual leaders. This group does not exist to “save” people. It preys on people’s weaknesses and feelings of unfulfillment for its own financial gain. You also said I sound like a fanatic. My comments are partially motivated by emotion, as I do feel that they attempted to victimize me (and they did get $300 from me, which I’m not sure I’ll be able to get back), but this group does undoubtedly engage in brainwashing techniques, and it undoubtedly takes money from its members. These practices are not illegal because the group members do everything “of their own will”, and so I don’t see the officials of this group going to prison anytime soon, but it sure would be nice to see. Of course, it seems everyone who attends an IYF event comes away with a very strong opinion of them, either positive or negative. If you went to one of these events, who knows which side you would end up on? Really, I think you shouldn’t make such comments without having had a similar experience yourself.

Don’t you think that your calling for their imprisonment makes you sound like a bit of fanatic on the edge of the lunatic fringe? – just like them?

And, of course, they’re back again this term at my university, like clockwork.

The name of their camp this year is…get ready for this: “Potential Challenge Camp”. Advertised as part of the camp is a “Potential Test”, and a “Potential Challenge”. The camps should be called “Potential Convert Camp”

As usual, religion, church, or Jesus aren’t mentioned anywhere in the camp advertisement fliers. I wonder how long it took them to decide on these names. They will be running out of non-religious names for their camps, as the names change every year, yet of course there is always religious proselytising.

@Nick, you talk about intolerance but the number of times that you put down Buddhism is quite numerous, especially in saying where Christianity is superior. That is more along the lines of an aggressive missionary, not someone spreading knowledge.

@Jon, I agree with your points concerning the aggressiveness of missionaries in Thailand. I have seen it myself and I find it rather unpleasant.

Omitting critical, but known to be vital, information is the same as lying. Hence, lying by omission. I very much despise how the groups are not up front about what they do, what they try to teach. They preach leadership, however the leadership is not in the general context that most of the world accepts it, but rather “leadership” from a religious point of view. They should admit that they are teaching religious materials, instead of misrepresenting their concepts as general pedestrian concepts.

As for the people who say that non-Christians are not forced to convert or “witness” at these events, I very much disagree. Having experienced it myself, I can say the peer pressure is immense, especially considering how almost everyone declares that accepting God is the only way. If someone would like to argue that peer pressure does not amount to being forced into action, then I encourage them to study up on the Stanford Prisoner and Guard study. I am not against Christianity or anyone who believes in it, but I do feel that the peer pressure is rather effective enforcer. I would encourage someone who disagrees to attend a ceremony of a different religion, you a language you understand very well of course, and feel what it is like to have people say that your beliefs and values are entirely false and is bad for the world.

If anyone is curious as to what my religion is or what my beliefs are, then here it is. I come from a Buddhist family, got sent to Catholic school, and had a girlfriend who was a strong protestant who tried to convert me. I’m from the United States. When I moved to Thailand, I witnessed the actions of missionaries firsthand at the Universities. As for my current beliefs, I would say they are along the lines of “do unto others as you would have them do” , pay it forward, and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”.

Cheers.

I live in Chiang Mai and was horrified to see a bunch of missionaries standing around some poor Thai handicapped guy selling lottery tickets, touching his head (like he was some weird statue) and asking if they could pray for him. WTF. Leave the guy alone….leave the students alone, etc. Thailand has a longer history and culture than most of our Western countries and certainly doesn’t need converting.

And another thing…why is it always the “born again” Christians? You don’t see the Catholic nuns and monks out trying to convert and preach to the Thais – and if you do, they are upfront and you know its a Catholic Church sponsored event, not a “leadership” camp.

Okay. End Rant.