What is ATI?

[Daenerys]

I've been looking all around this site and the net in general and I can't find anything that says what this is! Can someone explain? All I can gather is that it's something to do with Gothard....

[formergothardite]

http://ati.iblp.org/ati/

It is basically a homeschool cult run by Bill Gothard.

[Daenerys]

Is this the one that has 'camps' they send homeschool kids like the Duggars away to?

[formergothardite]

They have "training centers" that parents pay to have their kids work there. Gothard's entire empire is built on not just free labor, but getting people to pay him for the joy of working for him. He does have different events like Journey to the heart (think that is the one the Duggars went to) and EXCEL that is more like "camps", but they take place in the training centers. He has them all over the world.

[Daenerys]

What do they make them do there? Is it just like prayer, and helping out with publicity, or something else? Is it the same for guys and girls? I assume not, but I can't think how it would be different cus I don't know what they're doing.

[tabitha2]

ATI is a way of life.They have retreats-'Journeys'-for mothers,fathers,sons and daughters.All Duggar kids are part of this http://www.alertcadet.org/ or http://dallas.iblp.org/program_preexcel.html. Every member who can afford to wants to go on at least on mission trip but it It seems to me the expense of all these activities limits participation to the wealthy inner circle of Gothard families.

[formergothardite]

If you pay to work there you do everything from cooking to cleaning to yard work to maintaining the building. I think you can work your way up to doing office work and stuff. I think you do go out and "minister" some, but mostly you work. When I went to EXCEL at the Dallas training center, we only cleaned our own rooms, the rest of the time was spent learning about courtship, being submissive, and things like that. We were allowed outdoors for an hour a day at a local park, we were forbidden to talk to anyone outside of ATI and had to ignore people who asked why there were all these girls in long navy skirts, white shirts and tennis shoes walking in at the park.

ATI does have mission trips, but they are usually associated with Gothard's conferences and involve teaching his Character First classes.

[IceQueen]

Their headquarters is like 15 minutes from my parents house in Chicago. I had no idea they had homeschoolin' crazies up there. I never met any during my childhood. Where I live now is another story, but never in Chicago.

[luckylassie]

From what I can tell A.T.I is quite the cash cow...for Gothard anyway.