goodseed

I like to hear the unvanished version. Having worked at root locations of twi for over 20 years, i worked directly with the way corps, and I must say I have never seen more dedicated and idealistic people. It makes me sick to think of the horrors they endured just to massage the egos of vpw and lcm. However, I think people who were not there might not realize that not EVERYBODY who was in the corps or who worked at root locations was "in on" the orgies and the debauchery. You see, there had to be respectable people there as a front, and vpw knew that. He was masterful at reading people and what they would and wouldn't tolerate (obviously much better at it than lcm). The first time I met vpw I was a young single woman in my twenties. He "accidentally" touched my butt as I was walking behind his chair in the dining room. It was clear by my response that I was not shall we say, receptive, and he never again had an accident around me. Shortly thereafter I was told by Ermal Owens that there would always be a job for me with twi as long as I wanted to work there. There were many faithful believers who lived Godly lives and never realized the depravity going on until much later. I regret any semblance of respectability my stand may have afforded those predators. I do remember on one occasion when the 6th corps arrived at Emporia there was a small group of young women talking about vpw and how awesome he was and how they would do "anything" for him. I told them they were wrong to put him before the Word and they looked at me like I was from another planet. I guess I was. I imagine they were among his conquests at some point. But I digress. The topic here is the hoax, and I am as apalled by that assertion as I was by the inexcusable behavior of twi's MOG.

I have thought about selling mine before, but I couldn't be responsible for someone else getting sucked in. I gave a full set of books to my former pastor whose church I attended immediately after being m&a'd so he'd know what kind of crap I had been feeding on. Other things I disposed of hoping they would never again see the light of day. If someone were to read something in one of those books that made them want to contact twi and get involved, I could never forgive myself. I still have a set (large family), and NEVER look at them, but someday may once again give them to someone who needs to know.

What the...??? I'm with you, Hill Bro. How can anyone look at that kind of devastation and call it a hoax? Reminds me of the assertion by VPW that the Haulocaust didn't happen. I know that wasn't any more original than the rest of his research, but he promoted it. What next? I think Jonestown was a hoax - it gives cults a bad rap!

My unfulfilled promises, to name a few: Peace Joy Prosperity Promises fulfilled: Divided Word - divisionist doctrine Confusion

Yep. I moved to western New York about 4 years ago and took a job at a large IT reseller which employs over 1200 people at this location. After having worked there for about 6 months I saw a very familiar face in the cafeteria. Turns out this woman was visiting her husband for lunch we had worked together at HQ about 18 years before. It was great!

Many people only knew Mrs. Owens because Ermal really didn't like being in the limelight. One-on-one they were really an enjoyable couple to be around. Dorothy was a prankster - making "fake" chocolate dipped pretzels out of pipe cleaners and chocolate dipped "marshmallows" out of cotton balls, etc. And Ermal was one of my favorites to work for. He was demanding and sometimes frustrating, but he was really a great guy and one of the best bosses I ever answered to.

Tom S, Thanks for the exhortation. Even while I was under the influence of twi, I maintained, and still maintain that there are hundreds of thousands of wonderful Christian people in churches. I often have wonderful conversations with great believers of all denominations. I do believe that over time I will probably trust more and be more comfortable in a church setting. I certainly don't hate them or fear them - they're just not for me right now. But, you know, if I felt a need to "connect" with believers it would be in a church - not in a twi offshoot.

I agree, Oldiesman. I loved Don and Wanda dearly. They were like a brother and sister to me. Does anyone know where Wanda is and how she is doing?

Corporate apology? Naw - wouldn't happen, and wouldn't do any good for anyone. Heartfelt acts of contrition - yeah, they go a long way. Some posters here will likely not believe this, but a couple of years after LCM slandered me in a corpse night and M&A'd me I was at one of my kids' graduation from NK school. Right before the ceremony got started while everyone was getting situated, I was standing in the aisle behind a section of chairs set up on the floor of the gym. Don W. came over to me and wrapped his arms around me in front of God and everyone and with tears in his eyes congratulated me on my daughter's graduation. Believe me, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Even my fellow ex-wayfers, some with some pretty hardened attitudes about twi, recognized Don's "love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation". I had long before forgiven all of them, but Don allowed me to forgive and forget. Do I want a hug from LCM? Heck, no! He never showed any humanity to me or my family in the 20 years I knew him. But a heartfelt apology would be accepted, although I would probably still not forget. <_<

I have had plenty of opportunities to join groups consisting mainly of ex-wayfers, and have not been able to do so. If it looks like a dog and barks like a dog.... For those who want that, I say have at it, but even the church experience is too much for me, and I was a faithful church-goer before twi.

Divorced from an ex-Wafer 16 years ago after 15 years of marriage and 4 kids. I have now been happily married to a wonderful unbeliever for 7 years, and I do not regret it at all. Do we always agree? Of course not, and there are definitely times I think he's a total a** h***, but you can't live without an a** h*** - I just happen to have two! He's the best father my kids have ever had, and they consider him to be just that - their father. He's a loving husband, and despite my past life as a cultist, he loves and respects me. OK, he occasionally teases me about being an ex-Wafer, but hey, it's true. Besides, I wasn't the one who married a middle-aged woman with 4 kids and no money. So who's off his rocker? Some of us are just happier married than single. I always knew I'd remarry because I love having someone to share with, to do for, and to keep me warm at night. With my husband I got an extra blessing of the sweetest mother-in-law and a great bunch of siblings-in-law. What's not to love?

When I was M&A'd by LCM about 12 years ago, I was living in NK, and my kids were in NK school. One of my older children had mostly way kids for friends, including Leah Martindale, and she was active in a local twig. My daughter and I discussed the situation, and although her siblings preferred to abandon twi with me, she felt the need to continue to fellowship with twi, maintaining the close friendships she had with the other way kids. It hurt, but I understood her decision. It broke my heart to see how her twig coordinator and others at twi tried to pump her for information about me and my doings. It was a bizarre situation. When Laura Lombardi called me, supposedly on LCM's behalf, she mentioned my daughter and her decision to stand with twi, trying to taunt me, I told Laura that my daughter and I had discussed my daughter's decision to continue to fellowship, and that I loved her and was very proud of her. Laura's response? "We'll see how proud you are of her - that will change" What a vile witch! I am happy to report that all four of my children are Way-free and happy, well-adjusted adults. They were not able to destroy our family.

Good observation, TomTuttle, I'm sure there are many who could verify your allegation of SPS, but as far as being cut off - well, in the case of VPW it is too late. In the case of LCM - no first hand knowledge, but I'd just venture a guess that there is too little.

It always seemed to me that VPW hammered pretty hard on the fact that the scriptures are of no private interpretation unless it was his own PI. Then he'd preface his "revelation" with some gobbledegook about "if you'd really study it and get into the depth of the Word, blah, blah blah, you'd see...." Then he'd come out of left field with some cockamamie bunch of crap that was opposite what biblical scholars have come up with for the past 2,000 years. How frustrating it must have been for God to have had no one listening to Him for such a long time before His anointed VP showed up to really speak for Him. Even his schtick about SIT being the outward manifestation of being born again was, IMHO, PI.

In Western New York there is a very large prison in Attica, which is located right next to the interstate. There are signs posted in the area that read something to the effect of, "Prison area - do not pick up hitchhikers". That cracks me up. They should add "especially if they're wearing orange jump suits"!

His argument was that it didn't matter to the baby where it was born. My response was that it DID matter to me. He was obviously a control freak, as anyone who was ever under his reign of terror can attest. I waited to awaken my husband when I went into labor. She was born 20 minutes after I woke him, so oopsie, there wasn't time to take me anywhere.

Good one, Wayfernut! Reminds me of a former Joyful Noise personality who was known for walking up behind women in the OSC office where he worked and pinching their butts. He usually only repeated on women from whom he got a reaction - if you just gave him a "f you" stare, he usually didn't try again. One woman I worked with, I'll call her Jane, got very upset when he pinched her, and came to me asking what she should do. I told her he did it to everyone, and if you ignored him he'd quit, but she said she was too upset to just ignore him. I asked if she had asked him not to do it, and she said that she had,but he still did it. So I told her she apparently had not his attention first, and that she should grab him by the b***s, look him right in the eyes and say, "Please don't do that again." I assured her he would not forget. A couple of years later I was working in the same office with this perp, and I noticed he no longer pinched women's butts, so I asked him if anyone had ever walked up to him and grabbed his b***s and told him to not pinch her butt. He said, "Oh, you mean Sue?" Anyway, he finally did get the message

I don't know about "helpful", but toward the end of my stint, with LCM ranting like a freakin' lunatic, cussing up a storm and mf'n and M&A'n everybody it was very much like what I would imagine an asylum to be. He was definitely out of control.

It was my "attitude" that got me in the position of being TJ's admin in the first place. He had a problem with me, and some decisions I was making concerning the upcoming birth of my second child, and rather than confront me, he called my husband into his office and got him to agree to change my plans. When my husband came home and told me what they had agreed upon on my behalf I was livid. I might have been one of only a handful of people back then who marched into TJ's office and told him how it was going to be. As I left his office I said, "If it means I don't tell my husband I'm in labor, so be it! I will have my baby as I planned." (I did, by the way - she was born at home, as were all the rest of them.) Four months after the birth I was assigned to be his admin so he could keep close tabs on me.

And hope you never have to use it!

Old fashioned wisdom was that in order to make friends you have to be a friend. Empathy, a word often maligned in TWI, is important. Because of my years in TWI and since leaving, because of my husban's job which requires relocating every 5 years or so, I have had thousands of opportunities to make new friends. An open, loving attitude and smile go a long way toward opening doors for friendships. Unfortunately, often as wives and mothers, we women often get too busy to make the friends we so desperately need because we feel the need to put everyone else in the household first. Finding the balance is the key. Another very important thing to remember is to separate the person from their actions. You can love someone - love the person - with the love of God even though you may not approve of what they are doing that is wrong. The Word teaches forebearance. We are capable of it because the Word tells us to do it, and the Word does not ask us to do anything impossible. So we CAN focus on loving others for who they are and sometimes just pray (silently) for God to show them where they are wrong. He is always more loving in the way He reproves.

I lived in NK and had 4 kids. Since I couln't possibly keep them in keys - they would lose them faster than I could have them made - I didn't lock the door. That said, we did close the doors, and did not expect to have goons trudging through. I figured that would be the last time they would "invade" my house because that night I was the topic of Sir Rant-A-Lot's Corpse night, and everyone was threatened with excommunication if they were seen or suspected of having ANY communication with me. Crazy! If I walked into the post office to pick up my mail, the local Wayfers couldn't get out of there fast enough. Walking down the street they would switch to the other side if they saw me approaching. Then "bless patrol" started cruising my street to make sure no one was visiting me. I'd see them coming and go to the front door and wave at them. Then they'd get all embarrassed and look the other way, like they were'nt on my little 4 house street to spy on me!

Dear Connerron, I am deeply saddened by your horrible experience with TWI. The corruption of the ministry's leadership is indeed a well documented fact, and although many are still dealing with the painful repercussions of the systemic evil, the perpetrators are the ones who will ultimately answer for their wickedness. You have come to the right place to begin your healing. There is life after TWI! Welcome!

Well, said, George. I've always been pretty much an open book. Call me naive, but I can't think of anyone here I'd be afraid of "trusting" with my name and address. But don't expect me to send you $$.

I'm with Sushi on this. Although people like that know no shame, it is gratifying to humiliate them by pointing out their ignorance as kindly as possible. Reminds me of a lady one day in the grocery store who stopped next to my cart to admire my baby girl. I had had her ears pierced and she was wearing little hoops and a very feminine little blue dress. This twit looks at my precious little girl and says, "Oh, look, he has an earring!" To which I replied as I steered my cart away, "Yes, he has one on the other side, too." What a loser! People like that are not worth getting upset over - they're a waste of adrenalin.