DogLover

Bless Patrol at Emporia when I was there in-residence with the 13th Corps was not so bad because you did not have it so often and free coffee or Pepsis for a dime from a machine were available to keep you awake. Gunnison was a whole other matter ... it was frikkin' cold for one thing ... the women usually got to stay in the guardhouse and speak in tongues for a list of people left there, but one of the guys had to walk alone around to all of the buildings, check them, and add wood in some fireplaces ... just another abusive thing to keep the Corps tired under the guise of spirituality.

I remember going to ROAs in the late 70s/early 80s when the black and gold Buck Stoves motor coach would be parked in the Way Woods ... Carroll Buckner seemed to be the only Way person who ever made enough money AND had the inclination to have what VPW had in the way of housing/travel.

I mostly lurk, but had to come out of "hiding" to ask a couple of questions ... I'm curious ... had not heard about Donna having a brain tumor, and was curious about mention of two of Donna's children (I am presuming the poster spoke of Timothy and Leah, in that order, in his post), but what about Dororthy Grace? I think she is away at college, isn't she?

I was in The Way for 23.5 years ... still have some curiosity about what's going on there.

I remember hearing it was Bo Reahard who showed up to live in the Way Woods -- before he entered the First Corps. It was, however, not Bo, who set up the tepee in the Camping Area ... I went to most of the ROAs from 1972 until the last one and I remember seeing the teepee in some of the early ones that were at Way HQ (they started there about 1977, I think -- before that were at Shelby County Fairgrounds in Sidney (after the original one at HQ in 1971) -- except for one VERY wet and awful year (1975) at the fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio. I believe the Teepee Guy was just someone from the part of the country where teepees are used that brought it to camp in at the Rock ... no one with "name recognition." It was cool!

LEAD duos behind Founders Hall now? How lame is that!

When I was in the Way Corps, there was no health insurance for the average Joe ... they DID pick up the medical bills for all those hurt in the LEAD accident, I believe, at least the bills at the time ... not residual injuries that lasted for years afterward.

When I was on Staff at HQ my interim year (1983-84), they did pay for optometrist appointments ... that's when I got my first contact lenses. They also let us have the day off and a Staff car (several of us) to go to the Indiana Campus for free dental work. I rather doubt that's the case now, though. Those were the days of lots of abundant sharing flowing in ...

Though I feel confident that the Way International was quite happy to get Ron Peeler's money, when you know how deceptive he was in getting that money, you realize there is no way GOD wanted it ... it was tainted. I DO know how deceptive he was in gaining it and all the lives he hurt, so I have no compassion for him ... but I also do not believe The Way had any right to a penny of it ... and threatening "mark and avoid" is no different than a mobster strongarming a merchant for protection payments.

JT,

They NEVER parted with the $20. You had to give it back when you got back, and when I went (May 1985), it was $10...and you had it and your driver's license so that you could not be arrested for vagrancy.

Bottom Line: They took the Word of God which we loved and used it as a weapon against us.

Just curious ... since the in-res Corps was moved to HQ, are there no Corps at Gunnison now? Who is in charge there now? Seems like the last I remember hearing, Bob and Dottie Moneyhands were ...

Starting with the letter H, huh? How about Hendersonville, a lovely town in the North Carolina mountains?

How do they recruit new students? I would think that anyone under 50 nowadays is internet-savvy -- wouldn't they come across the GSC while researching TWI?

SoulSearcher,

They don't really care any more whether they recruit new students. They are living off the "boom years" of the ministry, and as long as they can appear to be doing the work of their mission under non-profit rules, the Board of Directors can continually milk that money. There is nothing Godly about the setup of the Way these days (perhaps there never was, I don't know) but the way it is set up today, the only Godly things done are done in the lives of individual believers who love God, yet are trapped in the ministry by a misguided sense of guilt or commitment.

I know this isn't a biblical site, but the Bible does give a couple important answers that relate to this ... it says in the Gospels that people (at least of Israel) aren't married or given in marriage in the afterlife of Paradise ... and most importantly, for the Christian believer, it says that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard" nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those that love Him ... so no matter what The Way International or anyone else thinks, that can't be it ... because then the Bible wouldn't be true. If you don't believe the Bible is true, then you don't have an answer, but if you do, then this provides some detail.

I'm confused ... are you guys kidding about a missile in the silo or an underground bunker under the OSC ... or are you serious?

Shellon,

My compassion goes out to you. MD F*rt. the Trunk Coordinator of the Way at the time, sent a letter to a friend of mine (former Way clergy) when he left TWI, saying that he would have been killed in Old Testament times, and that he would be dead within two years. That was in 1995 ... 15 years later, my friend is alive and kicking and living strongly for the Lord, without the condemnation and legalism that is rampant within The Way ... and he has biblically helped quite a few people in that time, adding to the 27+ years before that time. After he let me read the letter, he tore it up. His life continues to prosper.

If you have not already read THE SUBTLE POWER OF SPIRITUAL ABUSE, I highly recommend it ... it talks about how abusive spiritual groups use fear tactics such as the one described to keep their followers in line.

For any of you out there who are still "in," I suggest strongly that you leave. I left on January 11, 1996 and have had a great life fellowshipping with other Christian believers since then ... and, by the way, the home church I attend is not coordinated by a lesbian and her lover, as the Way is purported to be.

Paula WAS Paula Burkey when she was with me in the 13th Corps, but she and Rand divorced and she remarried. I don't know her married name. She is Harve's sister, not his wife ...

I am so sorry ... cherish your happy memories of her daily, and rejoice in the hope.

I don't know her married name, but I have a good friend who is looking for her ... Paula was in the 14th Corps. Does anyone know if she is still in, or how she might be contacted?

Someone said: The Way International did not help any one.

I beg to differ. It helped me. I've been out since 1996, but I cannot and would not deny that it helped me, despite all its founder's and other leadership's shortcomings and sins. I don't mean to excuse any of that, and they WILL be accountable for them. David had sex with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, killed, and yet he went on to receive revelation recorded in the Psalms, as well as being "a man after God's own heart." This was while he was a believer .. .and yes, he paid the price even in this life for that sin because of the death of his son ... so there will be consequences to pay, but I don't think in my case and many others that it would be accurate to say the Way International did not help anyone ...

A skink is a small lizard ... blue-tailed skinks are rather common here in western North Carolina. Quite attractive for a lizard, if you like lizards.

I found the address interesting ... for years, she and Howard lived on Allen Circle on the Way HQ's grounds ... but 19100 East Shelby Road sounds like a different, yet nearby address ... anyone have any information?

Emogene Allen, wife of former TWI trustee Howard Allen, and longtime Bookstore Coordinator, died on Friday, February 19, 2010. That's really all I know.

Thank you all for your very kind words ... and introducing me to the word "furkids." I like that.

My sister just called me to tell me Theodore, their West Highland White Terrier (Westie), died today. Her daughter, Sarah, said he had not seemed to feel well last night, but today he came in when Ann was asleep on the couch and wanted to go outside. When she let him out, he seemed excited and happy to see the four inches of freshly fallen snow and played in it a while, then, in Ann's words, "bounded" up the steps to come in. He went to lie down in his bed ... not long after, Sarah's fiance, Mike (who was here from Kentucky for the weekend), Sarah, and Sarah's 8 year old son, Gavin, returned from an outing, and Theodore got out of his bed, walked into the living room to greet them (as was his habit), and then just sort of lay down there. It was obvious to them that he was dying, Ann said two of their cats, Toby and Megan, came to sniff around him and seemed to be aware these were his last moments, and licked his face. Everyone petted him and said goodbye. When Ann called, he had just died, and Sarah was still in the living room petting him, while Mike had gone to his parents' house to get a shovel and mattock. It was a sad time, but it was a good thing that he had a pleasant last day ... he loved the snow, and he seemed to be hanging on until Sarah got home so he could say goodbye.

Theodore was 13 years old, and had been with them the last three years (Sarah adopted him after his original owner, an elderly lady, died.) Theodore had really enjoyed having a little boy and cats to play with after being mostly a lap dog for many years.

Theodore C\'mas 2009.bmp

It's stupid to even consider that someone could do that ... if anyone could have done it, it would have been Jesus Christ ... but even he was tempted by the devil. You will note he replied, "It is written..." not "You're not on my schedule for the day." Just absurd arrogance on the part of TWI leaders.

Michael Fort was very kind to me during my interim year at HQ (1983-84) and for the first block of my final year (when he was moved to Emporia to be an assistant Corps Coordinator). You would not have wanted a kinder, more supportive friend and coordinator. He seemed to have nothing but contempt (maybe disappointment and regret, I don't know) for me when I left the Corps in May of 1985 after a horrible LEAD evaluation, six weeks before I was to have graduated. We talked after that on the phone, though, and he was cordial and supportive. I have written him several times since I left the Way on January 11, 1996, but have never received a reply. I wish him and his family the best ... not because of what he has done since then, but for the kind and supportive friend he was during a difficult time in my life. I know he has done unkind things since then, but I speak only for that period of time in my life.