Twinky

It's not your money, it's God's money, doncha know? Therefore, as God's representatives, they have a right to ask. Yeah, right.

Oh I meant to add under the first part, When I was a trainee in a high-powered job that involved presenting argument to seriously important people, the suggestion was given to me that I should imagine those important people as being seated on a toilet rather than a comfy seat. And the same for anyone else who is being pompous. The image is so laughable that nervousness can dissipate. Tell me one person who doesn't sit on a toilet several times a week - greatest or least!! Can you imagine, for example, LCM or VPW sitting on a toilet with their trousers round their ankles, whilst pontificating in PFAL or during LCM's wonderful Advanced Class, or what have you? Would they have sounded quite so authoritative then? (Sorry if that gives you a horrible mind-picture. )

The greatest and the least... None of us is "greater" or "lesser" than another person, but circumstances make it so. The bigger house, flashier car, fancy clothes ... do not make the person. The rags, cardboard box and begging bowl of the person who lives on the streets ... do not make the person. Went to an event recently relating to a Christian charity that I help out with. It's lots of churches in my city that have formed a charity to help vulnerable/homeless/jobless/long-term outcasts. It's widely supported in the city, by a wide range of people and businesses. http://www.genesistrust.org.uk/ Anyway, they were celebrating their 20th "birthday" last week. All these Christians came, local dignitaries, etc - and quite a number of the "clients" - dishevelled, grubby, with the supermarket trolley that their worldly goods are stored in... Peter, the Chairman, made a point of thanking everyone for their service. And first of all, he thanked the homeless ones for their service, their being there and giving an opportunity to serve to the others, for what they contributed to the quality of lives - of the serving Christians. It was beautifully done and very touching and very inclusive. As to footwashing: the "greater" is to serve the "lesser". We are all supposed to serve each other, in whatever way we can. Foot washing was done by the most menial servant, as a gesture of welcome and hospitality. I wonder, especially in our day and time, but perhaps in that time also, if footwashing does not also denote a sort of vulnerability on the part of the person whose foot is being washed. The washed one allows someone to make that contact, and it is quite intimate contact. The washer could hurt the foot or treat it roughly - or just laugh at the ugly bunions, twisted toes and blackened toenails. And (in our time) an embarrassment about allowing ourselves to be served so personally. Just a random thought.

Definitely got their own cult-vocabulary... see Glossary on their front page.

Ruuun!!!!!! Quick, the door is over here! The application form sounds, just as Excathedra says, like the From Birth to the Corps papers. If that's what they want at the beginning - maybe i's even worse than TWI? Those poor kids. Preying on the very vulnerable.

Am very behind with my gardening this year. Today I finally set to soak overnight my runner bean seeds. Well. If they grow, they'll catch up. It hasn't rained in about 2 months here, except for a brief spell one day a couple of weeks ago. So nothing much is growing, hardly any weeds. Except for forget-me-nots, which have sprung from nowhere and taken over a border. I have been very involved with path re-laying. A friend is helping me (read, doing the work). We took up the top pavers, which had settled a little, and then there was a flight of steps that must have been erected a long time ago and the reason for them being there has disappeared. Okay, there is a slope, but nothing like the angle on these stairs. Friend has decided to remove the steps, so much later, thanks to a mighty powerful hammer chisel, we now have 3 TONS of broken up concrete in bags on what should be the vege garden. These sit on small mounds of earth that were once the path before it was dug out and proper foundations made. (Like there aren't enough rocks just under the surface of the soil ... huh.) Below is a pic which shows the "flying staircase" before destruction. No, the work wasn't done with the little geological hammer in my friend's hand. That was just a first attempt before he realized how hard it was and before he borrowed a hammer chisel. Lower down the path are 2 more steps that need to be reduced and extra ones built - that means more concrete rubble in the bags. My vege garden is only about 12 x 25' anyway so everything gets crammed in all together. At the moment only half is potentially useable; and half of that is occupied by my leeks from last year which are still in the ground! So-ooo - how does my garden grow? It sure grows rocks, all right.

Well whatever it is, I can only get a header saying Cracked.com and a blank page. Was Abi having a joke, or is there something to see?

Okay, having nothing better to do, I have reviewed all the documents on that Arizona Corporation website and you will see below a precis of their NET ASSETS ie, what they have in the bank less all the liabilities they still have to pay (a very small amount). The figure includes fixed assets (undefined) less depreciation, which may include vehicles, equipment etc. Of course, some of their fixed assets may have been depreciated down to nothing and therefore they don't show at all...you know, the old printing press that breaks down all the time. The figures in the reports are quite blurry and difficult to distinguish, so there may be some minor inaccuracies - however the trend is clear to see: Report Date filed Net assets 96 ANNUAL REPORT 02/03/1997 $35,124,127.00 97 ANNUAL REPORT 06/19/1998 $32,473,703.48 98 ANNUAL REPORT 11/13/1998 $35,800,130.89 99 ANNUAL REPORT 11/16/1999 $39,743,015.57 00 ANNUAL REPORT 12/21/2000 $43,123,987.20 01 ANNUAL REPORT 11/05/2001 $46,251,209.99 02 ANNUAL REPORT 10/29/2002 $47,500,643.72 03 ANNUAL REPORT 11/20/2003 $46,159,482.57 04 ANNUAL REPORT 11/12/2004 $48,501,315.50 05 ANNUAL REPORT 11/14/2005 $47,800,771.11 AGENT ADDRESS CHANGE 05/26/2006 - 06 ANNUAL REPORT 11/24/2006 $50,403,547.30 07 ANNUAL REPORT 11/14/2007 $52,726,231.88 08 ANNUAL REPORT 12/01/2008 $54,201,408.15 09 ANNUAL REPORT 11/27/2009 (figures not shown) (Blanked out) Look at this. The net assets figure has increased by over 50% from 1996 to 2008. In 12 years, they have managed to accumulate NINETEEN MILLION DOLLARS ($19M). Guys - forgive me - perhaps after all they should be giving us financial advice? (If only how to run an MLM heh heh). (Edited to try and get some spacing in, but layout doesn't recognise spaces or tabs)

The "members" used to be only the (three) trustees. Never included the rest, that might loosely be called "congregation" (if it were a church). Why Arizona, anyway? TWI doesn't own property there, does it?

bump

Another thread, from ATW, re TWI finances. This is the one I mentioned earlier. Goey's thread, not Polar Bear's: http://www.greasespo...post__p__446117

You might find this thread of interest, about Rosalie. It's in Archive > subforum Getting help for Cult Dysfunction, but I bumped it so it should be easily located: http://www.greasespo...dpost__p__27164 And this is a short-cut to her title to the land/forest, which is embedded in the above thread. http://gismaps.crave...04%20%20%20-002

bump

"If you are a staffer..." Would that include Rosalie and other members of the Board of Directors? After all, they are on staff, maybe get salaries (even notional salaries) - rumor has it Rosalie is self-funded but I can't see that, really.

The so-called trunk or limb or whatever they called it based at Gartmore (under C Geer) didn't thrive. Was opened about 87 and folded only a few years after that, early 90s, after PoP. Was supposed to be a European centre but never was, really. And that only accounts for Internationals from Europe. There were (maybe still are?) internationals from Africa and Australasia. The USA might be quicker and easier to get to (than Europe) from southern Pacific countries, but it's still a very long swim or expensive airfare. South America also has/had a lot of believers inc Corps; I think Venezuela has become some sort of a focal point now (big splinter group there) but it wasn't at the time. There was no South American "trunk" so far as I'm aware. I honestly don't think Weirwille had any conception of what life is like for people in other countries. There was NEVER any effort to emphathize or do things the local way, there was little allowance for different customs, and there is no understanding that the needs and priorities of people in other countries might be different. Culturally boorish. You'll recall how he "dissed" a respected Brit theologian in the PFAL foundational class. And how he "healed" some poor Indian man, and as a result was held in awe by Indian officials - basically, he was saying he expected other countries to fall at his feet in awe. But he wasn't seeing them as people.

What's this OVER TEN MILLION DOLLARS in a medical fund? (1) Don't they believe in healing - no need of third aid, hospital or doctor services? (2) Who gets the benefit of this fund? Is it available to meet the expenses of all staff - or just the select few? There are other financial records posted in these forums, and extensive discussion of the information therein. I have a feeling they were posted by Polar Bear, but it could've been someone else. Will see if I can find the link.

Dig up the body and see if the citations are engraved on the palms of the great plagiarist's hands.

I had to polish that stuff when I was in rez. Probably, though, when I was in Multi-Services and assigned to Housekeeping Crew. Or maybe in preparation for some big event. Too long ago to remember. Also had to push my fingers into the creases in the carpet, where it bends between the step and the riser, to rake out all the dust. You'd think they would have heard of crevice tools on vacuum cleaners. Or maybe they thought a crevice tool had a different purpose entirely...

Actually, happy mothers say....thank God the kids finally remembered...!

Reading this thread, it's amazing how widespread some sort of knowledge / rumor was outside TWI - and how little many people knew inside TWI. Inside, we were told that these rumors were to besmirch the work of TWI and were smears, a devilish plot, to mock the wonderful ministry. And also we were told that those who had left TWI were devil-spirit infested and untrustworthy. Contact was prohibited (on pain of expulsion oneself). So in fact, there was very little means by which those in TWI could find out. Outside, you could shout as much as you liked. The walls of Zion are thick and don't let the sounds in.

...walks away WITH HIS WIFE! Sounds to me like a split is being engineered. Hey, is this some pet therapist who might pass on info to the "ministry" (cough) (anonymously re the therapee) so that by putting two and two together, the ministry (cough) can "help" that person more? (You don't name TWI and there are more cultish/abusive organizations than them but the same principle applies.)

Ploar Bear, thanks for collecting the Internationals. You never collected me, I know, but there were (at one time) quite a lot of internationals and we probably all needed just that little bit extra help. Still amazes me that TWI was where I met some of the most genuine "what-can-I-do-to-help-you?" type of Christians, and the worst "what-can-I-get-out-of-you" Christians. The former, of course, often didn't get very far up the Way tree. They went or got kicked out.

Patriot might have something to add, but he doesn't come here very often these days.

I lived in mortal fear that they would decide to assign me to HQ, once I was married (to an American, who they really seemed to love). If working at HQ had been anything like being in rez, I don't think I could have stood it at all. Anyway, they made a different decision on my behalf. They cast me out. They placed me way beyond the pale of respectability. In retrospect, it was the best thing they could have done though at the time it was desperate for me. :( Glad to be free.