waysider

Hi, Larry What was it like that first year? Did you guys live in the apartments north of town? Did you have a garden or food co-op? Was there a daily routine that you followed? (ie: A.M. fellowship, run, breakfast, 9-5, yada, yada, yada?) Did you spend your evenings at limb HQ doing work assignments? What's your worst food memory? Ditto on the learning to co-exist.

On another thread, the subject of Fellowlaborers was raised. Anyone know how many states participated in this venture? How long did your program last? Both as an individual commitment and as a program overall. Any thought on what you may have experienced as a FL? Etc.,Etc.,Etc. I was a FL of Ohio (FL4) a 2 yr. commitment in the mid 1970's. The thing that had the biggest impact on me was the communal lifestyle we lived. Much more so than any one particular academic doctrine of The Way. BTW---- My "name", Waysider, stems from a truck stop that played an unlikely and important role in the lives of FLO(Fellowlaborers Of Ohio) Hence, I am not----THE---Waysider but merely one of MANY Waysiders to have endured the Fellowlaborers program. Probably not many of us who remember this but I thought I would give it a shot.

54 tomato plants????? That's enough to feed the whole state and then some. I haven't had a garden for about 15 years. If I ever retire, I might consider it again. 54 tomato plants????

I think that would make for an interesting thread, to say the least. Here's the problem, though. There just weren't that many of us. I stated in an earlier post that we graduated 50 per year. After thinking about it, I realized it was only half that number because it was like juniors and seniors in high school. All were at the same school but only the seniors graduated. So, if FL was around for 10 years(don't know), that's only 250 people, at least in the Ohio program. One of the aspects that is soooo difficult to convey to people is the reality of living in a *commune* 24/7. There was no going home at the end of the day. We were home. There was no *private* time to really speak of unless you count doing laundry on Sunday night as private time. You couldn't sneak into town or find a place to hide for a few hours. It just wasn't possible. We started our day at 5:30am(earlier if you were on breakfast assignment.) and ended at Midnight. All that time was committed to the program.Running across the street to the truck stop for a pack of smokes before lights out was like "stolen" time. Even when we were at our secular jobs, it was understood that our purpose in going to those jobs was to witness or promote the ministry in some way. If the job didn't afford those opportunities, we were supposed to get another job that did. Not that easy in Podunk,USA! Guess I got off topic. There was plenty of degrading behavior toward women, though. The prime example was how the limb leader, our second year, treated his wife (and mother of his child) Pretty disgusting if you want my opinion.

Rick I think you may have missed the focal point of that part of WW's post.(#131) As I understand the context, he is not accusing Oldies of calling people liars. He is asking Oldies if he(Oldies) thinks he(WW) should call people liars.(for presenting negative testimony.) The paragraph was presented in the form of a question. I could be wrong. That's just my take on what was being said in that paragraph.

And people wonder why we (FL) had to make "junk food runs" to The Wayside Truck Stop under cover of darkness to secretly compare our concerns. <_<

"The Word Of God Is The Will Of God" I just tried searching for the origin of this phrase. Mind you, my search skills are poor at best. It seems that about a zillion people have used or are currently using this phrase. It's not possible they all took PFAL or were part of TWI. I even found it on Peter Wade's site in an article titled "How To Walk On Water", dated 1976. Yes, that postdates the filming of PFAL but do we really know who was quoting whom? I think it's pretty safe to say that, even though this is a profound statement, it likely did not originate with VPW. (Fear in the machinery of life is one that he ABSOLUTELY did not originate) That is a very famous quote by E. Stanley Jones that predates VPW. My personal opinion is that it was a popular catch phrase that he was clever enough to identify as powerfully inspiring and used it in the context of his own work. Where's the beef? Perhaps one of Clara Peller's most---------ummmm-----quotes.

Sand is fear in the life of machinery.

Well, I've heard they can improve one's ability to "score".

And------- It will double the life of your car engine. NO.WAIT! That's STEED™. Never mind.

And yet, there will be those who say that because they never saw it that it couldn't have happened. Maybe this should be on that "ostrich" thread.

Perhaps using the term "performance enhancers" instead of "steroids" would broaden the scope of the discussion. Just a thought.

I don't post my real name 'cause I'm scared I might find out nobody remembers me! :wacko:

Mills Brothers--Caravan(1930's?)This is totally acapella!

Some points to ponder regarding The Mills Brothers: 1. They were not a Gospel group. 2.They represented a segment of society that VP was trying to reach out to at that time. (African Americans) 3. They were essentially local even though they were internationally known. (They were from Piqua, Ohio which is near New Knoxville.) Not sure where I was going with that. Just some loose thoughts to mull over. Anyone remember "Foreordained"? (Also a Gospel quartet.)

To those who never saw it: I never saw it either. I saw blackened eyes, bruises, verbal tirades and even a broken arm. I saw a twig leader get convicted of child molestation and sent to prison. And this was all back in the "good old days". I still remember many of the names of those involved but wouldn't dream of divulging them. And yet, I didn't see it. I thought it was isolated and specific to our geographic area. There was no internet. We knew little about what went on in day-to-day life at HQ or in other areas. Besides, it happens across the spectrum of society. I never put two and two close enough together to realize that what I was seeing was part of a bigger picture. The Way twisted scriptures and promoted a way of life that fostered and nurtured this type of behavior in people who may have had an inclination toward it before their TWI involvement. Then, they used scripture to justify it and fear to keep it under wraps. But still, I didn't really see it for what it was. Good old"whats his name" in the OT never "saw" death. Still, it happened all around him. I don't even know if the teaching of that account was accurate but I think we all remember the point that was stressed when it was taught. I didn't see it either. Shame on me.

"D-" :(

YUUUUM! But just remember, at the first sight of Swiss chard, I'm down the road!

I, for one, haven't a clue what the answer is. I can tell you,though, that as a teenager, I dated a few gals who ACTED like apes.(and looked like chimps!) They probably feel the same way about me. AHH.--- To be young again.-----Sigh!

Will there be refreshments? :blink:

From 1953-------- Here's the ORIGINAL (Big Mamma Thornton)

Dang!!! When I saw the YID, I was all prepared to listen to some priceless gems of wisdom from an aging Grandma Hmmm! That could still be true,though, couldn't it?

Oldies------------- I don't think anyone really doubts that you had some good times in the old days. Lots of us did. I'm among them. Some of the people with whom I shared those good times post here on GSC. None of that negates the fact that lots of very unGodly activity took place behind the scenes where the average twig goer never had an opportunity to investigate. I never saw any of this stuff either until I left my local area(after 3 years of local involvement) to enter Fellowlaborers. Even then, I had no idea it was anything more than isolated incidents. Had I known how widespread and typical it was, I probably would have packed my bags, or at least I like to think I would have considered that course of action. The concept of closing one's mind to any conflicting data is quite typical of how cults are able to gain the allegiance of devotees. The Way not only admonished us to do this, they suggested that failure to follow this concept would result in tragedy.(hence the session #7 reference) In Fellowlaborers, it was strictly taboo to discuss doubts about the program or the ministry amongst ourselves.And, you never knew who would sell you out if you did. That's one of the reasons we would walk together(2 or 3 of us) under the cover of darkness to The Wayside Truck Stop and discuss our concerns during the trek,to and fro. Even the concept of searching the scriptures becomes a moot point when you stop to realize that you are using THEIR rules to do so. My personal recommendation is to stop trying to convince me your good times were real. You're preaching to the choir on that one. Instead, try to at least consider that the picture you saw may have been viewed through a distorted lens. There is no guilt or shame in admitting you may have been hoodwinked. Embarrassment, yes, but guilt and shame, no. food for thought.

It was an assignment we were given in night twig, the twig that met after after coming home from Limb Hq. Rich W. was my twig leader. It must have been "twig specific". Between that twig and lights-out, we often ran over to the Wayside Truck Stop for munchies and smokes. Hence the name "Waysider". (Plus, I like the ambiguity it suggests.) But, to answer your question,"did you actually do the assignment?"--------------

dmiller Session #7 was the one that taught the 5 steps the serpent used to deceive Eve. STEP # 1; She considered. Yes, boys and girls, you too can avoid being tricked by the adversary if you remember that you must not ever, ever, ever *consider* any viewpoints that contradict TWI doctrine. (It's just the adversary trying to get you to doubt that you know that you know that you know.) Literal according to usage: Put the blinders on and refuse to even consider any alternative train of thought lest ye be stricken with emrods and ye walk outside the protective bubble of God's protection where the adversary waits to devour all who venture too far from accepted(ie: TWI) doctrine. As far as I'm concerned, this was the glue that held the whole thing together. Four crucified, the more abundant life and broken cisterns were just Sunday School lessons in comparison.