MayaPapaya

Wow! Your story matches mine a lot! I always felt like I wasn’t good enough. My mother and stepfather (married when I was 15) were really strict with me. They had harsh rules and I felt like I was being punished for things I hadn’t done or didn’t even think of doing. My father (also an alcoholic) died when I was a senior in high school. She had cut off all contact with him and also any contact with my sister and I. So, she didn’t even let us know that he passed until it was too late to make arrangements to go to his funeral. At the time, they believed that nothing good would come of it. anyway, I am still working through all of the issues from growing up TWI. Know that you’re not alone!

Renewed Mind is the Key ahahahahaha TWI knew that none of their followers listen to mainstream music and wouldn’t notice that that beat was clearly stolen from Destiny’s Child “Bugaboo”. I love to watch that clip. Those are some sweet dance moves.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! It’s been fun reading through old posts and seeing some familiar names or hearing about certain events through the eyes of an adult rather than a child.

Hi all! I was brought into TWI by my mother in 2nd grade (about 1992). I stopped attending fellowship as soon as I moved out to go to college in 2002 and haven’t looked back. I was part of fellowships in NC but we also spent one year in WV when I was in 5th grade. We were supposed to go out WOW the year that they canceled it and for whatever reason we (me, Mom, and sister) were placed with another couple of Way Corps people in WV for a year. In 6th/7th grade, I was sexually abused by the adult son of our fellowship coordinators. I told my mother. Rather than informing the authorities, we did what you do in TWI and handled it internally. That process means going to the fellowship leaders for counseling. Unfortunately for me, they were not unbiased. Nor did they have any kind of training to handle such a situation. In the end, it was decided that I was just as much to blame (at 12 years old) as this grown a$$ man. “We” agreed that it was wrong, would never happen again, and moved forward from there. That’s when I stopped believing in God and I’m pretty sure it’s when all of my self esteem and anxiety issues started. Throughout my teen years, I was forced to take the classes, pay for magazine subscriptions, go out “witnessing”, lead/teach fellowship, etc. I faked speaking in tongues because it was something I was supposed to know how to do. I was called out and humiliated for so many things during these crucial years, but was told that it was all done out of love. None of the other kids my age stayed with TWI, and my mom later told me that they refer to us as “the lost generation.” I guess they’ve since taken steps to ensure the younger folk stick around. I have some good memories of the ROA. Being raised by a single mom, we didn’t have many opportunities to go on vacation, so it was our one vacation per year. My parents are still very much involved with TWI and it saddens me. My mom first go involved with it back in the 70s/80s in Northern California and then sought it out again in NC when she was going through a particularly tough time in her life. I get that. I think the part that will take me the rest of my life to recover from is that my mother chose TWI over me and my well-being at the time in my life when I needed her the most. She recently turned me on to the A&E show about Scientology because she wanted me to see how ridiculous other religions are. It brought back sooo many memories about my own experiences and maddened me that she couldn’t see the parallels between Scientology and TWI. Anyway, that’s why I’m here. Sorry for the book! It’s nice to meet you all!