little_rock

On 5/12/2010 at 7:53 PM, bliss said:

Oh, they all act like I used to~when I was 20 and first got in TWI.....sickly sweet,hugging, helping everyone move...... all the while distancing myself from anyone who wasn't interested or wanted to be involved with it. (like my family!)

I have read many desperate mothers searching for answers to why their child WON'T leave this, and/or why these kids were told to NOT TALK to their parents for a year because they don't believe in or they ask too many questions.

Sad. Seems the vulnerability with this age range runs deep and these wolves know just how to stalk and attack the coup!

I learned years later all that the Wow ambassadors' sicky-sweetness was fake. Some analyst call it "love bombing". They would shower you with love and think you are just the most interesting person they have ever met. But over time, once you are in the fold that sicky sweet veneer wears off real fast. I can't say that for all people, their are plenty of good people the ministry. The Way Corps people could be so mean-spirited it would cause one to take pause and ask one's self, why am I continuously tolerating this verbal abuse? The leader was always right and you were reprimanded if you even thought anything to the contrary. They said it is part of "The Mystery". The mystery is why I stayed too long at the fair. So glad got out of it, it was very difficult for me, but God found a way for me.

I cannot remember the last year I went to the ROA, it all seems like a prolonged bad dream. Please allow me to meander through some of the memories from various years.

The first year was around 1975. Some new recruits of the W.O.W. program had to sleep on cots in a barn with occasional rats running about. There were showers to use, but there was no hot water, very invigorating in the late fall weather. Dannon Yogurt was plentiful, I remember seeing the trucks there.

Another year,  I remember when they were drumming up money to build the W.O.W. Auditorium. At first VP said he didn't want his name on it, but he later caved in and said OK to his name being on it. The Way was asking for volunteers to help build the auditorium. By this time in my involvement, I was rather cool to the idea. Also, the Fountain of Living Waters was being planned and they were asking for donations. I didn't give any money to that effort either. It did not make sense to me with all the needs people have, that we would donate to a fountain that I would only see if I went to New Knoxville, maybe once a year.

Does anyone remember when people chipped in to buy VP a big Harley-Davidson motorcycle? As he was cruising slowly through the crowd, a plethora of professional and amateur photographers were chasing him and taking pictures of him on the motor cycle. Sometimes, I wonder if they were hired to show up. The cameras looked very expensive. Also, there was a quartet that sang a cappella singing songs like "The sons of the Pioneers". I can't remember their name, but when they were on the stage performing, they were very good, but VP couldn't resist stealing the spotlight, so he shuffled up on stage doing his adorable grandpa dance. Of course the crowd just ate it up, because they adored him so. So, right before they got the chorus of the song, VP would shout "SING IT!" and the crowd would go wild. Remember?

Jumping back to 1976, does anyone remember someone teaching about a constitutional crisis, or something like that, where we were supposedly in danger of losing our democracy? A reverend said he prayed to God on a beach to save our country. Apparently, the danger had passed and America survived another day. What was one of the benefits of the PFAL class? Enable you to separate truth from error? Well we don't have to worry about that any more, they stopped the PFAL classes, from what I've heard. And no more Rock of Ages? Amazing. No more Camp Gunnison? No more Way College of Emporia? I guess some people came to their senses. At one point, I had considered joining the Way Corp. God must have told me not to do that. I am so glad I listened. 

You know the old saying, what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. Amen to that! 

Started in 1975 and finally broke free in 1983. The lesson: do not break ties with your friends. They could be your lifeline. I did not do that...but things worked out for the better over time.

I remember Jeff Longley, he was a good person. His father worked at Davenport Bank.. Here is his father's obituary, it appear Jeff still lives in Davenport. I was a Wow in 1976-77 in Davenport.

https://qctimes.com/news/local/obituaries/robert-longley/article_68991440-7830-5a27-8f3c-b804b7ef6bcc.html