Leaderboard

I think about this all the time. We were paying for the right to work on a farm. They said th corps was patterned after The Marine Corps. Do people pay to join The Marines? Nooo, They get paid because they are in a training program to be the elite of the elite. We paid for that. It's crazy.

I have no doubt this is a deeply traumatic event in your life. Suppression is a natural response to trauma. Telling the story can be liberating and healing, for you and the reader. Let it out. Your anger is justified. Be angry, but if you won’t, I’ll be angry for the both of us. F**k these people and the charlatan they fellate.

I've been thinking about this post since I made it. I kind of put this experience away when it happened. That's gotta be some sort of trauma response because there was nothing I could do and none of the adults on cam[us said anything about it. The only thing I heard was "Poor her. Her believing wasn't there". So instead of being mad, we were embarrassed. I can tell you, if that happened to my wife or children today, I wouldn't brush it off. Sometimes sharing a story is liberating. In this case it gave me the anger I should have had in the first place. I spent all weekend ....ed off. 30 plus years later.

In a different thread, I talked about a situation I had with a sub parent in Rome City. It reminded me of another sub parent story that really upset me and to this day I fail to see the logic that TWI used in this situation. My mother was from The Bronx. She had zero camping our “outdoor life” experience. She was also chubby and not in great shape. While she was on LEAD, someone told her to go back to base camp to retrieve something. She told the LEAD coordinator that she didn’t know how to get back to base camp. She was told to take a left at the Gambel Oak. She had no idea what that meant and was yelled at when she said so. Someone told her to “Ask God”. She was afraid to reply so she went on her way and proceeded to walk off the side of a mountain and she broke her back. To this day she has trouble walking. This should have been a lawsuit as her life was never the same after this. She limps and has a lot of pain and was not allowed to see a doctor. As a result, her spine healed incorrectly and vertebrae are permanently fused together. That’s bad enough but it gets worse. She was driven back to Rome City and was “reproved” for failing LEAD and was told she might not graduate. When she got back to Rome City, she was bed bound but was placed in a remote room far away from her actual bed. They basically stashed her in an attic. I had no idea that she had fallen, no clue that she had hurt herself and no one told me she was back. I was living life thinking she was in Colorado on LEAD and my sub parent was in on the charade. She was home for a week before someone let it slip that she was home. I still have no idea why someone thought it would be a good idea to literally hide my mother from me. When I asked leadership about it, I was told that she had a failure in her believing that opened her up to the adversary and that he caused her to fall. They said they didn't want her to see me until she was "ready". It turned out she had been asking for me the whole time. I cannot believe I stayed after this, but I was a child and so I did.

[I (WordWolf) am going to reply using my old style of boldface and brackets.] "In a different thread, I talked about a situation I had with a sub parent in Rome City. It reminded me of another sub parent story that really upset me and to this day I fail to see the logic that TWI used in this situation. My mother was from The Bronx. She had zero camping our “outdoor life” experience. She was also chubby and not in great shape." [twi's so-called 'leadership training program' was wildly deficient in actually teaching leadership or anything similar, especially since nobody in charge had any training whatsoever in that department. People trusted that they would know how if they offered to teach it. One of the many things they did wrong was to rely on free/cheap things to do, all so vpw/twi could pocket more money- even when the alternatives could mean injuries or people losing their lives. vpw saw everyone else as DISPOSABLE, and RESOURCES. He saw everyone in terms of what he could get from them. As a result, a number of MANDATORY things they did were all physical education, since they could do some of that 'on the cheap.' What did it have to do with leadership training? Well, skipping the b.s. excuses, it had NOTHING to do with it. Oh, the excuses were 'to get them to do things' and 'to get them to trust God', and things along those lines. Here's a concept I first heard of on the GSC. It's called "FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY." Go look it up, it's important. Twi was, is, and always will be, a group that wants all the BENEFITS while refusing the RESPONSIBILITIES. You want people to put their lives in your hands? Then you're responsible for those lives while the are- and there's no "Well, you'll have to trust God to provide on that, we won't help you directly." That's not how it works among the heathens and the publicans. To do so among 'the household' is a disgrace. Treating people WORSE than the 'rank unbelievers' is a disgrace. Treating people better only because the law and lawyers forced you to is a disgrace. There's plenty of things they could have done rather than risk people's lives to teach them to plan, to act, to trust God. They had a FIDUCIUARY RESPONSIBILITY to remove and reduce all risks to their participants. They never did- and vpw insisted that they not. (I've heard him on tape, addressing the Way Corps privately, dismissing concerns that women were ALREADY raped hitchhiking to LEAD and that it could happen AGAIN. He said they could be raped anywhere anytime, so he refused to consider changing anything.) I'm not going to sit here and redesign their programs for them- we know they still read these messages. But anyone who cared would have designed different activities- ones that might even have had some cash layout like buying an old school bus or something. Did they say "Anyone who considers going into the Corps should be in excellent physical condition because there will be many athletic challenges, and it will be an athletic program as much as a study program?" They never said it, but it would have been responsible to say if they were going to make it an athletic program- which it was. It was falsely advertised and intentionally mislabeled. They sprung the athletic stuff on people, and kept the standards for entering low to accept the tuition of everyone willing to enter. Activities that should never have been assigned were given to people who never should have been allowed in, and made mandatory. This current story is only one of many of people who never should have been put in these positions.] "While she was on LEAD, someone told her to go back to base camp to retrieve something. She told the LEAD coordinator that she didn’t know how to get back to base camp." [This is ridiculous. They shouldn't have even been on a MANDATORY camping trip, let alone wandering alone around dangerous areas unescorted. The people running things should not have been understaffed and rushed enough to have nobody to spare to make sure they had everything, and nobody to spare to go to base camp to retrieve something. In 20/20 hindsight and the cold light of day, this is ridiculously IRRESPONSIBLE of twi and, frankly, a little crazy.] "She was told to take a left at the Gambel Oak. She had no idea what that meant and was yelled at when she said so. Someone told her to “Ask God”. She was afraid to reply so she went on her way and proceeded to walk off the side of a mountain and she broke her back." [Being from the Bronx, it's quite likely that- having been given an insane instruction at any normal location, she would have told the supposed 'leader' who couldn't lead traffic where he could go or what he could kiss, and go off on her own. twi's notorious for isolating people, and THEN lowering the boom and giving them insane instructions when they have no sensible recourse. The 'instructions' were grossly insufficient and twi failed in its fiduciary responsibilities. She paid the price for their carelessness- and their apathy.] " To this day she has trouble walking. This should have been a lawsuit as her life was never the same after this. She limps and has a lot of pain and was not allowed to see a doctor. As a result, her spine healed incorrectly and vertebrae are permanently fused together." [ YES this should have been a lawsuit. They put her in a dangerous situation and forced her to do potentially dangerous acts, and when consequences came, twi should have been sued a lot because they didn't pay for even a REASONABLE amount of care (which would have been a lot of care, considering how much of this was their fault to begin with.) Had they not insisted on a series of unsafe instructions, she would have been in the city, in a familiar environment designed not to risk killing you if you make a wrong turn.] "That’s bad enough but it gets worse. She was driven back to Rome City and was “reproved” for failing LEAD and was told she might not graduate. When she got back to Rome City, she was bed bound but was placed in a remote room far away from her actual bed. They basically stashed her in an attic." [Typical of twi, but more insanity. It was ENTIRELY their fault, and they blamed her for it. (Job was not the only one with 'miserable comforters.') Instead of getting her directly to a hospital, they all but propped her up in a closet. Even a BAD hospital would have been better care than that. (And in this sort of injury, I speak from experience.) twi should have been sued- a lot.] "I had no idea that she had fallen, no clue that she had hurt herself and no one told me she was back. I was living life thinking she was in Colorado on LEAD and my sub parent was in on the charade. She was home for a week before someone let it slip that she was home. I still have no idea why someone thought it would be a good idea to literally hide my mother from me. When I asked leadership about it, I was told that she had a failure in her believing that opened her up to the adversary and that he caused her to fall. They said they didn't want her to see me until she was "ready". It turned out she had been asking for me the whole time. I cannot believe I stayed after this, but I was a child and so I did." [This was an insane situation- and not atypical of twi. No child should be in such a situation. The allegedly "responsible" adults should have acted in a RESPONSIBLE manner, and then a small child wouldn't have to make sense out of insane orders from people who supposedly served God. (Under circumstances such as these, it's not difficult to see 'which god' got served that day.) twi is allegedly a lot nicer nowadays, now that the lawyers have forced a few cosmetic changes on the group. Anyone who falls into their clutches now can just as easily end up in a situation like this one. The specifics may vary, but twi cares about people AS RESOURCES no matter their rhetoric.]

I didn't like it. I picked the most obscure times I could to shower. Then again, when it came to the 89 ROA, with 4 out of 5 people having gotten up and left twi all in one year, it was a lot easier to find those times. In fact, since it was at 20% occupancy all ROA, that was my first indicator that twi was now 20% what it was the previous year (although even they made the same comment, behind closed doors.) How much work would it have taken to put up STALLS? I know there's places where some people think guys are generally comfortable going naked around other guys in the shower or whatever, but that's never been something I was comfortable with, and it never will be. Go ahead, call me "prudish."

This is beyond disturbing. This is abject wickedness. Behavior of such horrific depravity does not occur in a state of nature. Children do not act like this, unless they are "taught." Adults do not behave this way, unless they are "taught." Who is "the teacher"? It all goes back to "the teacher." All of it. All. Of. It. Victor wierwille, the thief come to kill, steal and destroy, laid the foundation. The buck stops with him. Had he gone on to sell home warranties or read palms at a county fair or any other endeavor matching his skill set, none of this would have happened.

This is one of the most disturbing things I’ve heard. I’m so sorry this happened to your mom and you. Has your mom sought legal advice? There’s probably a time limit on legal action against them but it wouldn’t hurt to inquire. And may I ask which family corps you were in?

So sorry this happened. It's beyond disturbing that they call themselves a Christian organization.

But don't let it happen too often. Just kidding. Of course, when we had over a dozen players, it took a lot of the pressure off. George

Dear Patriot, President George Washington declared the first Thanksgiving under the U.S. Constitution in 1789, setting the date for November 26th.[1] [2] [3] However, numerous earlier instances of thanksgiving celebrations and feasts occurred in North America, predating Washington's proclamation by many decades and even centuries. According to www.iAsk.Ai - Ask AI: The concept of "days of thanksgiving" has existed for thousands of years, long before European colonization of North America, often involving giving thanks to deities.[4] [5] These early observances were typically religious in nature, sometimes involving fasting, and were called for by magistrates, churches, or heads of households for various reasons, such as expressing gratitude for divine aid or military victories.[5] [6] Here's a chronological overview of earlier documented thanksgiving occurrences: 1541 (Palo Duro Canyon, Texas): Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and his 1,500 men observed a feast of prayer and thanksgiving led by Padre Fray Juan de Padilla. This event predates the Plymouth Thanksgiving by 79 years.[7] 1565 (St. Augustine, Florida): Spanish settlers, led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving upon landing and shared a meal with the native Seloy tribe. While a significant early event, it did not become the origin of the national annual tradition.[4] [8] 1578 (Nunavut, Canada): English explorer Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew held a thanksgiving service upon safely landing in what is now Newfoundland, Canada, after their quest for the Northwest Passage.[4] [8] 1598 (Near San Elizario, Texas): Juan de Oñate, a Spanish dignitary, ordered a feast of thanksgiving after his party of 500 soldiers, women, and children survived a harrowing journey across the Chihuahua Desert to the Rio Grande.[7] 1607 (Jamestown, Virginia): English colonists in Jamestown held thanksgiving services for their safe arrival and again three years later when a supply ship arrived after a harsh winter.[4] [8] 1607 (Fort St. George, Maine): English colonists at Fort St. George held a harvest feast and prayer meeting with the Abenaki Indians.[7] 1610 (Jamestown, Virginia): The first permanent settlement of Jamestown held a thanksgiving.[4] 1619 (Berkeley Hundred, Virginia): On December 4, 38 English settlers celebrated a thanksgiving immediately upon landing, as their London Company charter specifically required "that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantation in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God." This celebration has been commemorated annually at Berkeley Plantation since the mid-20th century.[4] [6] 1621 (Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts): The Pilgrims, having brought in a good harvest with the assistance of the Wampanoag, celebrated for three days in the autumn. This event, often popularized as the "first Thanksgiving," was more accurately a harvest celebration, featuring feasting, games, and a demonstration of arms. Accounts from William Bradford and Edward Winslow describe a meal that included fowl (including wild turkeys), venison, fish, eels, shellfish, and a Wampanoag dish called nasaump. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit and 90 of his men joined the celebration, contributing five deer to the meal.[4] [5] [9] [10] These earlier events demonstrate that while the 1621 Plymouth harvest celebration is widely recognized, it was one of many thanksgiving observances that occurred in North America, reflecting both European religious traditions and harvest festivals, as well as interactions with Indigenous peoples.[4] [5] [8] The modern national holiday, however, largely evolved from the New England Thanksgiving traditions and was significantly influenced by Sarah Josepha Hale's advocacy and President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation in 1863.[4] [5] [6] [11] Authoritative Sources Thanksgiving (United States). Wikipedia↩ 2 Thanksgivings? It's happened. Here's why we now celebrate on 4th Thursday of November. news-journalonline.com↩ The Long History of the Thanksgiving Holiday in the U.S. reprosenthal.com↩ Thanksgiving: Historical Perspectives. National Archives↩ Thanksgiving History. The Mayflower Society↩ A History of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History↩ Thanksgiving Timeline. History.com↩ The Real History of Thanksgiving. Library of Congress Blogs↩ The First Thanksgiving. Plimoth Patuxet Museums↩ The True Story of Thanksgiving. National Museum of the American Indian↩ Sarah Josepha Hale. National Women's History Museum↩

This was first posted on my blog at https://charleneedge.com on November 14, 2025 Greetings, readers! I hope you're all doing well. It's November already and one thing I celebrate in November is a birthday. Not my birthday but my first book's. Undertow is nine years old this month. I think most of you have read it, so thank you very much. If you haven't, I invite you to do that! It reads like a mystery and has a happy ending. Today I'm sending a little insider info to you on the book's progress in the world. This is relevant because I created this blog 10 years ago specifically to let subscribers like you know I was working on what became Undertow. Over the years, I also wrote a lot of blog posts about cults and fundamentalism which many folks tell me are helpful. In November 2016, we launched the book and sold it from my website for one month before it was available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. It was a VERY exciting time. Actually, it still is an exciting time for the book. Read on... Undertow fun facts Undertow copies sell every month. Every single month since its publication in November 2016, copies of the book have sold in paperback and/or eBook to readers around the world. That tells me people are interested in understanding why people join cults. They're also keen to know my own first-person account of being a committed leader and Biblical researcher with The Way International and why I stuck with the cult for so long: 17 years. And how I escaped. You may have noticed that high-control groups like The Way are more prominently reported on these days, so the topic is still very relevant. How many copies have sold? As of today, IngramSpark reports that 1,844 copies have been sold by online booksellers since Undertow went on sale back in 2016. Libraries and indie bookstores can order copies using the ISBN and Library of Congress numbers. Also, I've sold about 100+ paperback copies in person. Who reads Undertow? Over the years, many readers have contacted me to share their own experiences in The Way or other cults, thank me for my story, and oh yeah, some try to convince me to join their church or otherwise convert to something that can "help" me. No matter the messages, I'm glad the book makes people think. Undertow has reached people not only in the USA but in other countries including Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., The Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, and Chile. When I receive monthly sales reports from IngramSpark, the company that prints the book on-demand and distributes it, I'm humbled. I'm struck by the consistent interest in this book. It's an honor to have my story add to the conversation about what attracts people to controlling and abusive organizations and how followers can eventually resist them, reject them, and heal from them. I thought you might like to see the kind of folks Undertow readers are. Some wrote generous blurbs (praises) for Undertow, which appear on the book's front pages and cover: Family, friends, and neighbors, such as friend, Robyn Allers, author and journalist, who wrote a beautiful blurb. Childhood, high school, and college friends who knew me before I got into The Way. Some of my peers involved in The Way at the same time I was and who've also left it, such as Steve Muratore and Marty McRae, both former members of The Way Corps who provided invaluable former-insider blurbs for the book. And Buck Dopp, also a former Way Corps, who wrote this review here. Also, Stephen Spencer, former Way follower, wrote this review of Undertow, included here Kudos to fellow writer: Stephen J. Spencer | Charlene L. Edge Adult children of those peers. Some know my daughter! Adult children of peers who still adhere to Wierwille's teachings but in a Way offshoot group. At least one staff person at The Way International in New Knoxville, Ohio. I can't say who. :-) A minister in New Knoxville, Ohio near The Way International headquarters. Read his letter to me here. Religious scholars of Judaism and Christianity, such as Yudit Greenberg, PhD, and Philip Charles Lucas, PhD. Both contributed blurbs. Other authors who published Way stories, such as Karl Kahler, author of The Cult That Snapped and Kristen Skedgell, author of Losing The Way (currently out of print). They both wrote important blurbs. Authors who published memoirs about their confining and confusing religious experiences, such as Susan Campbell, author of Dating Jesus, and Julia Scheeres, author of Jesus Land. Both kindly provided blurbs for Undertow. Authors who write on the topic of cults such Jeff C. Stevenson, author of Fortney Road: Life, Death, and Deception in a Christian Cult. Jeff contributed a blurb, too. Also, Bart Stewart, who wrote a review published by the International Cultic Studies Association. Click here. Ex-members of other high-control groups. One in Canada contacted me. Emmy Award-winning television news producer, Rob Ruff, who provided a compelling blurb. A former leader in the Religious Right who wrote the blurb that appears on the front cover of the book. Read what he says here. Cult experts. Three are Michael Langone, PhD, Patrick Ryan, and Janja Lalich, PhD. All wrote insightful blurbs for Undertow. Some of my former college professors and the late Rita Bornstein, PhD, who was the president of Rollins College when I was a student there in the 1990s. She wrote a lovely blurb. Students at Rollins College who, for many years have been assigned Undertow in a religion class. I visit to discuss it with them. The professor, Dr. Todd French, provided an extensive blurb for Undertow. Mental health counselors, yoga teachers, and one of my own physicians. Librarians. In 2017, Undertow won an award from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. Librarians were the judges that year. Fellow authors and poets across the country and in other countries—you know who you are. Thanks to all of you who share Undertow with interested readers. I'm proud of that book and grateful to everyone who helped me publish it, especially my husband, Dr. Hoyt L. Edge; my daughter and son-in-law, Rachel and Adam Chase; and the talented editors and book designer. In the Acknowledgments section of the book, you'll find a litany of folks who care about this story. Thanks for reading! Your writer on the wing, Charlene