skyrider

Given twi's track record of exploitation and self-interests above all else, there are several reasons why Angela (a woman of color) is being added to the board of directors.

1. Donna Martindale sees the need to protect her backside and adding Angela does that.  Placing another woman in the mix, Donna (and Rosalie) are strengthening their control in a board room of men.
2. Angela will be pampered and given special perks to cement her loyalty to Donna.  This will give Donna the advantage of *more eyes on the ground* while Donna, Rosalie and Marcia get their "girl-time" shopping and dining out.
3. If Donna takes too many liberties (travel perks), Vern, John and Bill might feel the need to oust Donna from her pedestal.  Angela will be "reporting back" to Donna constantly.  Count on it.
4. Bonus:  Angela, a woman of color, is a powerful weapon against white male toxic masculinity in today's world.  This power move will solidify Donna's position for decades.....checkmate.  Heck, at this rate.....Angela might be twi's NEXT ceo?
5. In amplifying her credentials (a PhD in clinical psychology)......twi has stated, again, that they are secular in nature.  Yeah, yeah....she moves God's Word, but she's got a PhD for God's sake!!
6. All power resides on the women's side of the ledger.  Vern, John and Bill are simply placeholders......much like Ermal and Harry were.  Who ever remembers three significant things that Ermal ever said or did?

Listening to her story......the authoritarian control, sister-oversight, no tv or "worldly sources," etc.

.....REMINDS ME of wierwille's corps indoctrination program.

Elder corps held authority, responsibility and control OVER THE YOUNGER CORPS.  Even though there was truckloads of hypocrites who were way corps, the elder corps were deemed spiritually sharper than the new arrivals because they were more fully indoctrinated....er, trained.  Lots of dimwits who had a nametag that gave them access to abuse their authority.  Sheesh.

To this day, I still marvel how many corps grads STILL have not connected the dots on charlatan wierwille and his demented programs.  

"My memoir, Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International was published November 21, 2016. It is available in paperback and eBook at major booksellers and independent bookstores. Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9978747-0-9."

This is a GREAT read.  I highly recommend it.  

4 hours ago, Bolshevik said:

 

Oh . . . please continue on that?  I like how you phrased that. "rewarded with fiefdoms" . . . the MOG almost has a goal and purpose for competency 

fiefdom 

• the estate or domain of a feudal lord.
• Informal. anything, as an organization or real estate, owned or controlled by one dominant person or group.

Wierwille was a phony, pathetic, petty piker.

Doesn't anyone in twi read Mrs. Wierwille's book?  Nearly 70% of this sanitized book, young victor is on a mission to learn from other ministers and plagiarize their work.  He is pictured (standing in the back row with some 220 attendees) at E. Stanley Jones' retreat in North Carolina.  Another picture -- wierwille is a student at Rev. B.G. Leonard's class in Calgary, Alberta.  Wierwille is the student  Is his quest sincere.... or is it merely opportunistic?

Preachers here, there and on the radio.  Wierwille was looking for a shtick that would elevate his status from the rural ministers in Ohio.  Degree-mill papers from Pikes Peak "Seminary."  Snow-on-gas-pumps "revelation" that was contrived in wierwille's ego-head.  Deceptive thru and thru....

His history was phony.  His lifestyle was flawed, drunken, deviant and predatory.  He surrounded himself with enablers who stayed silent in their loyalty to him.... and were rewarded with fiefdoms when the money came pouring into twi's coffers from free-labor exploitation.  

When one walks the halls of the Outreach Services Center (OSC) or visits the Auditorium or BRC..... where are all the pictures on 3,400 corps grads or 800 clergy who helped build The Way International?  Why have all those panoramic pictures that were taken at each Corps Week in the late 70s, early 80s been stored away (or thrown away) from others?  The history is scrubbed.  The pictures are not displayed.  The cult is only displaying their AIR-BRUSHED VERSION of wierwille's ministry.

9 hours ago, T-Bone said:

wierwille pulled off a slow and remarkable transition …

from “teacher” to taskmaster 

from teaching the truth will make you free, to the truth is you really work for me.

This has been said MANY times......  but we often give wierwille TOO MUCH CREDIT.

• By 1960...... followers of wierwille (after 3 years) confronted vpw and harry about keeping ministry finances separate from the wierwille family farm.  They DID NOT WANT wierwille to move his offices and "headquarters" to the ancestral wierwille farm near New Knoxville, Ohio.  As a result, thirty (30) people deemed "board of directors" (giving a field perspective to twi's directors) exited twi, never to return.
• The First Corps Program FAILED.  To deflect from this failure, wierwille mocked it and labeled it as "the zero corps"...... because these young disciples would not jump thru all the hoops.
• Wierwille had to power-grab Hefner's and Doop's 501c3 organizations to gain access to their thriving ministries and finances.  Jimmy Doop spoke openly here at GSC in 2008 that wierwille was not trustworthy and abandoned his commitment to Doop.
• Only six years (1971-1977) ...... before corps grads started exiting twi/wierwille.  One of the ways wierwille tried to slow the hemorrhaging were his *corps letters.*  He opined that "his" corps were abandoning him and that they were not salted to their commitment.
• If wierwille would have lived another 10 years....... PERHAPS, his plagiarism and sexual predation would have caught up to him and landed his a$$ in prison.

Servitude ..... Ultimate Servitude ..... reminds me of the final scene in the movie "Gosford Park."

• "what gift do you think a good servant has that separates them from the others?"
• "It's the gift of anticipation."
• "And, I'm a good servant, better than good....I'm the best.  I am the perfect servant."
• "Didn't you hear me?  I am the perfect servant.  I have no life."

The conclusion of Gosford Park

Twinky..... your work schedule at twi's annual rock of ages "festival,"  as a corps-slave, highlights the essence of this thread --- Twi-Servitude.

With work schedules like this....... GOOD RIDDANCE to the rock of ages.

With abuse like this....... GOOD RIDDANCE to the way international.

1 hour ago, Twinky said:

.....snip

How mean-spirited, though.  Here I am, away from my twig, in the US; my twig from another country come to visit, and I'm not allowed (kept too busy) to see them... three years running.  You'd think, half an hour or even an hour, over a week, wouldn't have been too much - but it was, apparently.

Oh my!  That's what cults do...... 

You were too kind, too obedient.  I didn't know that the pottie brown shirts patrolled your work that tightly!! You had every right to show a little bit of rebel-spirit and spend time with friends from YOUR country.  

8 hours ago, Oakspear said:

Skyrider, your posts always give a POV that many of us non-Corps didn't see. Frankly, most of my negative TWI experiences involved Way Corps who were enforcing dictates from above and making my life miserable. And I'm sure some of them enjoyed the power trips that they engaged in. But we don't often consider that Way Corps were the leading wave of those who were abused. 

.....snip

Twi taught us......."A believer is a follower and a faithful believer is a faithful follower."

The corps indoctrination taught....... "A corps leader is one who obeys corps leadership and confronts his local believers with truth...ie ministry mandates and standards to keep them 'sanctified as the faithful remnant in twi's household.'"

Confrontation is love....

Elitists/narcissists always think they are right....

Yelling, intense heat, thunderstorms, flooded tents.....

Reminds me of a thread from 15 years ago 

The Backside of ROA

"When some post about those warm, fuzzy feelings from the rock of ages.........I've got to admit, I had some of those experiences too. But after about my 4th roa....and being corps....those 6 hr - 12 hr work shifts, coupled with mandatory meetings and teachings in 98 degree weather for the next 18 years was enough to douse any fire of excitement.

What is the backside of roa?

I suppose it could be called by many names.....but, to me, its the out-of-sight areas that any state fair or rodeo or event tries to hide from view. You know.......the smelly trash compactors, the honey wagon (sewer wastage) detail for rv areas, the port-a-pottie cleanup, etc. Also, the food warehousing area..... the staging and prep areas..... are massive undertakings for 18,000 people eating day after day.

Like most people.......I never minded working 4 to 6 hour shifts. That was no big deal......but when the shift was under-staffed or the workload kept growing......the corps were first in line to do the extra work. Not just one shift or one day, but throughout the TWO WEEKS (corps week & roa). And, the intense heat added to the challenge.....along with drenching downpours at night to soak everything in your tent."

........snip

Who'll Stop The Rain

9 hours ago, Oakspear said:

This expectation to stop rain by believing crap continued for quite a while. I was at the last-ever ROA (1995?) with my whole family (me, wife and six kids). We had bought a big tent for the adults and the youngest four kids and a small dome tent for the teenagers. A couple of nights in there was a thunderstorm that lasted for hours. Torrents of rain that never seemed to stop. Of course it was no surprise that the low-lying tent city was going to be soon under water. I don't care how good your tent is, you're going to get flooded out. We ended up decamping to the Corps tents for the night. We were then "allowed" to use dryers in the on-site residences to dry out our sleeping bags. The part we were in wasn't even the worst. After I got my wife and kids safely in the Corps tents I, along with a group of guys waded into other parts of tent city to rescue help people whose tents were awash in calf-deep water. 

And if that wasn't the worst of it, not only were we expected to be fresh and ready for the morning teaching and children's fellowship, but Martindale ripped into us all for not being prepared.

If the trustees couldn't stop the rain (by their believing) where the boiling heat and humidity collide into somewhat-expected torrential thunderstorms EACH YEAR...... how's about just using common sense?  Wouldn't it have been smart and feasible to install drainage pipeline in the camping area?  I know that Way Builders installed miles of electrical wiring for hookups and such.

 For seventeen (17) years (1978-1995), twi made a boatload of money by using free labor from corps to put  on the rock of ages.  How about installing drainage pipeline so that campers experience far less discomfort after those Ohio thunderstorms? The male/female corps tents were set up to give the worker bees six hours of sleep before their next shift.  Looking back at all this....... the coerced/exploited labor was off the charts.  Work. Work.  Work.  Where was the thanks?  Where was the love?

Oftentimes, the people (corps) who gave the most..... were the MOST EXPLOITED.  Wierwille had NO empathy in realizing all the hardships and burdens that he was placing on this pilgrimage each year.  

I know that I repeat myself.... but the only thing that explains all this, to me, is that wierwille was a blatant narcissist.  He had NO empathy for others who went thru trauma and hardships.  Wierwille had tunnel vision for only that which he deemed fitting or necessary.  No holy spirit within was working in wierwille.  He was governed by his narcissist pathological disorders.  Full stop!  

5 hours ago, Oakspear said:

I mentioned that TWI planted the seeds of their own destruction. Even though so much of what they promulgated was illogical nonsense, some of the methodology encouraged us to look at Way doctrine critically and question it later on when we weren't so ignorant or naïve. Understanding verses in the context, in light of Biblical era customs etc were all good tools for understanding the Bible - tools that Wierwille undoubtedly intended merely as cover for his agenda of command & control, but turned out to be effective means to unravel the BS. 

Oakspear......while I agree with what you are saying, to me there is a larger issue.  As teenagers we were manipulated and coerced to follow without getting some of those questions answered.  BUT..... as we grew into adulthood, we had REAL-LIFE RESPONSIBILITIES staring us in the face.  When corps couples and advanced class grads got married and pregnancies/babies followed shortly thereafter..... no longer was it smart or feasible to jump thru every twi-hoop.  Bills to pay.  Comfort accessories were needed at every turn for wife/mother and baby.

We were moving into adulthood and all the classes and claptrap of the cult could NOT stop the reality of these adult responsibilities.   No longer could we sleep in a pup tent at the rock of ages and enjoy that cold shower in "camp city."  Babies and diapers and air-conditioned motel rooms were fast becoming a necessity, not a luxury.  

Year after year......dozens (hundreds?) of long-standing corps couples were leaving the rock of ages early and heading home.  It didn't matter that wierwille opined in his corps letters (1977-1982) that corps were abandoning him...... the 20-year olds were NOW 32-35 year olds and time was marching on.

People recognize hypocrisy when they see it........ and with wierwille, it was in BOLD COLORS.

.

21 hours ago, Oakspear said:

Wierwille, after spending the first four sessions of PFAL repeating in various iterations that the Bible is without error, then spends a few sessions pointing out contradictions (or "apparent" contradictions if you will) and then shows you how they're not really contradictions...here's what it really says, what it really means, building up his own street cred as someone who can uncover the truth when every denomination in history got it wrong. That was the real purpose of PFAL, beneath the veneer of Biblical research that any Joe Schmoe could do was the idea that it was Wierwille who's conclusions should be trusted without question. If anyone questioned Wierwille's conclusions they were strongly encouraged to "hold it in abeyance", since obviously you were missing something if your conclusions were different than Wierwille's. Which was why things that made no sense, even within the context of "research" that Wierwille pushed, were accepted, at least provisionally. Things like "The Great Principle", or the idea that the original sin of Adam & Eve was masturbation, or the thundering herd of grammatical errors and leaps of illogic that filled so much of his "teaching"

Yes.....subtle, subliminal attacks on organized church denominations.  Yet, wierwille was attempting to build "his ministry" on a foundation of unquestioned loyalty and servitude to him.  

And, for all those questions *held in abeyance*..........did they EVER get answered?  Nope.  Those questions got pushed aside and shelved in the warehouse of wierwille's pathologies. 

7 hours ago, T-Bone said:

         great job,  WordWolf  !!!!

 

What a difference reviewing the material from PFAL and  the Advanced Class on Grease Spot compared to how TWI-followers    reviewed    regurgitated class material...here Grease Spotters actually analyze stuff instead of mindlessly absorbing and parroting class material.

YES........succinctly stated, provoking thought.  Thanks WordWolf.

Lest we forget how profound advanced class teachings were......."Cancer is a devil spirit."  Wierwille taught this in his advanced classes.  Wierwille dies of cancer.  Need I say more?

The contradictions, the insanity......of groupthink.

“Insanity in individuals is something rare — but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule.”   Fredrich Nietzsche

EXACTLY......

And further, when you sit back and think about it.....wierwille, in all his narcissistic glory, attempted to become mediator between God and man.  Step aside Jesus Christ and holy spirit......wierwille's got this.  sarc/

3 hours ago, WordWolf said:

I sometimes find it fascinating that things that DON'T make sense often had a list of verses appended to them, supposedly to document them, but never actually gone over to make the point.  The list wasn't there to answer questions, the list was to BLUFF.  Supposedly, if you had doubts, and there's a supposed STACK of verses saying the opposite of what you're saying, the problem is you.   Nobody ever actually read through the lists to see if they RELATED.    (Some "keys to walking by the spirit" had lists like that after them, never discussed.)   

The standard procedure- begun by vpw- was to expound upon a rambling set of analogies and anecdotes, then go fast over some verses that SUPPOSEDLY made the point, go somewhere else with the verses, then act like everything was answered just then.

So true.  When you "open the hood" to see what made this vehicle run......you find a cult of personality duct-taped to disjointed verses, plagiarized teachings and cliches, one-liners and claptrap.  Sure, the simple verses like John 3:16 stand strong in meaning and context....but the "advanced class" stuff has been tinkered with by this weekend mechanic in his back garage.  

Same with Mrs. Wierwille's book.  Nobody in twi actually reads this book to see the obvious trail of plagiarized and stolen material.  Victor Wierwille patched together a stack of verses and teachings from 12-14 radio and evangelical preachers from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.  That's all.  And further, when he taught these plagiarized teachings of others..... wierwille DID NOT UNDERSTAND the Greek references and meanings, let alone walk in this spiritual power.  Remember when wierwille taught in pfal that "just when they needed power it wasn't there"......that was a truism in wierwille's life.  

.

19 hours ago, WordWolf said:

.......

So, one does not "get born again of the wrong seed" because there is NO SUCH THING.  It did not appear in the Bible.  It was simply an occult (hidden) doctrine of wierwille's, who used its existence as another control mechanism because he, supposedly, had the inside track. After all, there were no other ministries or churches out there you could learn about this!  :)  So, he invented a new, secret thing, and congratulated you all for being mature enough to understand it. ]

I suppose that if we delve much deeper into this "born of the wrong seed" topic.....it becomes a doctrinal issue.  But I distinctly remember that when this topic surfaced in the early 90s, many brought up these SAME ISSUES.....i.e. there is no such thing as getting "born of the wrong seed."  Whereupon martindale would launch into this analogous description that it was like "a permanent doorstop that kept one's mind open to devil spirit infiltration continuously."  Scriptural references were added....."Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee" and others.

Wierwille was known for highlighting his "lockbox" teaching....[probably for a whole different reason, wink/wink]....or "learning how to keep the trapdoor shut" [from devil spirit infestation/infiltration].  So, there is some background to this and how it was slipped into the lexicon of twi-verbiage. 

Anywho.....it all seems so far back in my rearview mirror that I can hardly see it anymore.   

Yes, wierwille used well-worn tactics in his modus operandi.  In closed-door settings, he would opine and deflect attention from himself onto "undisciplined" corps...... and play the victim.  His corps letters utilized this manipulative tactic over and over again.  But on occasions when he could not contain his anger, wierwille's aggressive outbursts were sadistic (deriving pleasure through others undergoing discomfort or pain).  He would continue his tirade to exact a level of fear, humiliation and discomfort over the individual(s) that satisfied his malignant narcissism.

In hindsight, it is apparent that wierwille's passive/aggressive tactics were a major portion of his narcissistic playbook.  For example:  The 1979 Advanced Class in Athens, Ohio was a big event with wierwille teaching live the advanced class.  Promotions were going out nearly a year in advance.  Like at Olympics, wierwille wanted a "torch" to be carried from Rome City, Indiana to Athens, Ohio.....ie *Rome to Athens*..... to symbolize this great event.  Small groups of runners were assembled and assigned to run thru key towns and cities to rally attention...... and in Van Wert, wierwille wanted 40 RUNNERS to run this section.  Why?  Wierwille wanted to *stick it to his old church and congregants* that his ministry was thriving.  Why do I remember this so vividly?  I was one of the forty runners who ran thru Van Wert that day.

In my opinion, wierwille was defined by malignant narcissism........ 
All decisions and actions had wierwille's self-absorbed ego front and center...... 

.

6 hours ago, Oakspear said:

And another thing...

The Advanced Class was one of the biggest disappointments in my early Way career.

After seeing how the first three "manifestations" were practiced and critiqued until it was seen that we could do them, the lack of any practical instruction in the other six was a letdown.

Discerning of spirits became an excuse to denounce others

And was there every a definition of the "manifestation of believing" that made even a little sense? 

I will second that.  The Advanced Class was a big disappointment.

First off......when I went to the registration table, I found out that I was selected as a Branch Coordinator.  Now, instead of delving into the adv class material.... I was responsible for overseeing 25 guys.  Then, to add more consternation to the event.....wierwille and martindale requested that all Branch Coordinators needed to meet in the Fireplace Room at 4pm.  At this meeting, wierwille was still fuming over three 8th Corps guys who'd gone rogue with their research project and wierwille had the gall to vomit all this garbage onto us at this meeting.

Talk about spiritually/emotionally unhinged.   There was no need for wierwille to backstab these corps men in this 1978 advanced class meeting.....other than he could not contain his anger over what he perceived as "insubordination." How dare anyone even attempt to correct or challenge his pfal material.  Thus, he had to unload on the nearest target......and that just happened to be us "branch coordinators" at this advanced class.

Apparently, this was wierwille's modus operandi.  In closed-door settings (generally, with the way corps).....wierwille would sulk and opine his "having to deal with undisciplined corps."  Yet, it was wierwille who was off-track and undisciplined.  With Drambuie in hand, wierwille was a bully.

At this advanced class, we were led on a number of tangents.....1) The Thirteenth Tribe, 2) The Marxist Minstrels, 3) The Illuminati, 4) None Dare Call It Conspiracy, 5) Babylon Mystery Revealed, 6) Seed of the Serpent, 7) Major Denominations All Have Seed Boys In Charge, 8) 16 Keys to Walking By the Spirit, 9) Definitions to all Nine Manifestations, etc.  Lots of reading Old Testament records.  The Advanced Class is to bring people to full, spiritual maturity......so, were we NOW fully, spiritually mature to stand on our own two feet without twi ?  NOPE.

Each class, each program leads to another.....and then another.  The Way International's dirty little secret is that you will always be a STUDENT....and they will always be your LEADERS and TEACHERS.  In this setup, you are always subordinate to them.  You are dependent on them to "teach you the word."  YOU must abundantly share 20% (at least) for the rest of your life to be in their good graces to *receive God's Word on a silver platter.*

The con man cometh with a Bible in one hand and a degree-mill doctorate in the other. Beware.  

.

5 hours ago, Oakspear said:

Next month will mark 20 years out of The Way Corporation for me. Time flies when you're not mired in cultish servitude!

I don't spend much time here at the cafe any more, but I DO lurk once in a while

23 years out of The Way Cult Corporation for me.......but then, I started eyeing the exit door in 1993.  Martindale started, in haste, his purging campaign to "sanctify The Way Household" with repeated purges.  What a religious farce.  I was the Oklahoma Limb Coordinator at the time.....and found myself trying to protect people from twi's heavy-handedness.  What a roller coaster ride of insanity......Insanity on Steroids

Always good to see you Oakspear.  

.

Long gone are the days when we sang "My Jesus, I love you" or "This Jesus of Blue Galilee."  Back in the day, it was more *believable* to think that twi was "God's Ministry"........today, that is ludicrous.

Maybe, people have lost those critical cognitive skills to discern this deception......but today's twi is straight-up in-house servitude to PROMOTE AND ENRICH ITSELF.  

3 hours ago, Bolshevik said:

 

When it is taught and practiced that love is obedience what the heck do you expect? . . .  OBEY!!

Oh! . . . Says here Narcissists prefer fear, obedience and admiration over love and likability.  Due to the inferiority complex and paranoia.   I wonder if these matters have a connection . . .

Yep....