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Updates on Ignite Student Outreach

Some updates on the program from Ignite Student Outreach (igniteoutreach.org), which I first posted about on November 24th and then on November 25th.

There are some possibilities here, although plenty of people are still looking into the program of four summer camps featuring speakers from Exodus International and Exodus Youth, the two largest ex-gay groups.

I’ve done some thinking, along with other folks around the web (at Wayne Besen’s site and Ex-Gay Watch), and it seems a little wierd to me that any camp would be able to “turn a kid straight” in just four days, the length of each camp. Looking more closely at the camp invite and the speakers profiles for Alan Chambers and Scott Davis, it seems as though this program and camp might be more about training Christian youth leaders to deal in the dogma of the un-true, harmful and, according to some, disingenuous dogma of the ex-gay movement.

The speaker profile of Alan Chambers, the president of Exodus International, states (emphasis added):

He offers unique insight into how homosexuality personally affects individuals and the broader culture. Alan will share advice and training with youth workers at camp to teach them how to address this epidemic issue.

The speaker profile of Scott Davis, the executive director of Exodus Youth, states (emphasis added):

Scott’s goal is to encourage the evangelical church to reach out to youth grappling with their sexual identity with God’s radical grace and unswerving truth. He educates and trains college and youth leaders on this issue and currently oversees the Groundswell Conference — nationwide training seminars that equip community leaders with a powerful, redemptive response to the growing crisis of pro-gay initiatives in America ’s schools.

Justin Lookadoo, an author and speaker on teen dating, will also be speaking at the camp. Lookadoo, however, doesn’t have a very good track record on speaking about male-female relationships and has, in the past, used derogatory statements often used against gay boys to shame male teens. According to reviews of his book on Amazon.com, Dateable: Are You? Are They?, Lookadoo tells boys to “be a man” and not to be a “pansy.” He also portrays boys as slaves to their lust and girls as commitment-crazy.

The promotional invite to the camp, which I received last Friday, includes a focus on training youth and student ministry leaders.

So… the more one looks into this camp and program, the more that one sees this camp is more than likely one in which youth and student leaders will be receiving training from Chambers and Scott, leaders of the ex-gay movement, rather than a camp where gay teens will be packed up and sent off for “transformation.”

Although there is no real way for anyone to know exactly what will be happening at the camps right now, one thing is becoming more certain: The connection between Ignite Student Outreach and Exodus International and Exodus Youth couldn’t be more clear. Not only does this program have Exodus speakers at its camps, it’s only affiliate group is Exodus Youth. Also, Ignite Student Outreach, once according to their website (before the address was cleaned off the site) and from an address printed on the camp promotional invite, is located in Casselberry, Florida, a suburb of Orlando; Exodus International has its headquarters in Orlando.

On Ignite’s testimonials page, Alan Chambers appears yet again, along with a testimonial from Brent Crowe, a Christian speaker who stresses that Christians must “fight for legislation” agains the “homosexual agenda,” “fight for education” to keep youth from learning about respect and diversity and “fight for [homosexuals’] salvation” in order to “break the chains and shackles that enslave an individual in a lifestyle that leads to eternal destruction” (source: “The Last Marker on the Road to Destruction,” MS Word file, BrentCrowe.com)

For those who still doubt what this camp and group, Ignite Student Outreach, is about, I urge you to again look at all the overwhelming evidence stacking up against them. This isn’t just your normal, average summer camp for Christian youth; in fact, it is no where close.

As I stated in my original post last Friday, I do not believe that any good can come from this camp. Youth and student leaders will be receiving erroneous and harmful information on how to counsel gay teens and I just can’t imagine the kind of aftermath that might have for any gay teens in these leaders’ programs back at their home churches or in their communities. Hopefully, something can be planned to challenge the un-truths that will be running amok at the four camp locations this summer, one at Ridgecrest, NC.

And… I have to add: There is just something wierd about the fact that these promotional items for this camp landed in my lap. They also landed in Pam Spaulding’s inbox. Why is this group, which has a definitive ex-gay angle in its programming, targetting vocal gay personalities in North Carolina, the state where one of its camps will be held? Thereare numerous ways that they could have gotten our contact information, but more than likely I can imagine that all it would really take is a Google search for “gay youth north carolina” or something of that nature. I have to wonder if there aren’t other LGBT people or groups which have also gotten the promotional items.

More updates later.

Click here for the most up-to-date & past posts on Ignite Student Outreach

Just for more info… Here is a video put together by the good folks at Ex-Gay Watch (h/t Maria).

Technorati Tags: Ignite student outreach, ex-gay, exodus, exodus youth, alan chambers, scott davis, justin lookadoo