New Horizons Youth Ministries

New Horizons Youth Ministries was a Christian organization focused on child reform headquartered in Marion, Indiana and was shut down when the state of Indiana revoked its license as a childcare facility in 2009.

It was founded by Gordon C. Blossom (1921 - 1996).[1][2][3]

Blossom developed the controversial "Culture Shock Therapy" and "Christian Milieu Therapy". New Horizons Youth Ministries was founded in 1971 in Grand Rapids, MI with his son Timothy G. Blossom, operating an overseas facility called Caribe Vista Youth Safari located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After facing the threat of immediate deportation of 43 staff and students due to failure to reinstate visas for over two years, the school relocated to La Vega, Dominican Republic and eventually settled in the remote mountain regions of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, calling itself Caribe Vista School/Escuela Caribe, described in the film Kidnapped for Christ[4] and the bestseller Jesus Land.

Thousands of former students and parents of the students have alleged experiencing and witnessing widespread psychological, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

References
  1. Indianapolis Monthly -Sept. 2006 - Page 86 "But that incident with the pastor sounds grossly out of character for the Gordon Blossom I knew." But upon publishing her memoir, Scheeres was inundated with letters from other alumni who claimed they had seen and experienced many of the ..."
  2. Julia Scheeres Jesus Land: A Memoir 161902134X 2012 "CHAPTER 16 THE PASTOR Another preacher arrives a few weeks after Preacher Stevie departs, only this one is referred to as “The Pastor” with a capital T and P. He's Gordon Blossom, the man who started this place. The Pastor—as we're ..."
  3. Abuse and Neglect of Children in Institutions, 1979 United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Subcommittee on Child and Human Development - 1979 Page 226 "I submit to you parents cannot visit their children so Gordon Blossom can brainwash their children on his religious programs. If a child had any dental problems, local unqualified students would pull a tooth for a quarter. Education was nothing ..."
  4. "YHELLCAMPS FOR JESUS? An on-going series on faith-based tough love camps, schools and programs". Teen Advocates USA. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
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