penworks

My two in-residence Way Corps years (I was a teenager) were spent in trailer #6 at the Way's headquaters outside of New Knoxville. For awhile, I loved being out in the country...the adventure of learning about farm life, the quiet mornings running down the road memorizing scripture, the inspiring orange sunsets over the corn fields. But that lovely hill-covered area of Ohio only fed into the isolation practices that enabled doctrines to be implanted in my mind more effectively than in a city. We had fewer distractions on "the farm."

Because I was enamored with the Way's doctrines and believed that God wanted me to be there - and I was so very young and inexperienced - I was blind to what was really happening to me. And I'm sure there are other factors, but that's another story.

Isolation from TV news, newspapers, radio, influence of family, friends, etc. was a perfect environment for this indoctrination. The "townies" were only people to be converted, the "locals" were future targets for witnessing nights and objects of criticism for their unbelief and their "negative" opinions about what was going on at HQ.

Isolation is only one thing that helps make mind control techniques effective. For further reading, check out Combatting Cult Mind Control by Stephen Hassan

That's just the beginning of the story...for other stories related to living there, read other posts here at GSC - there are many...

peace,

penworks

These are heartbreaking incidents, many of which were not known to most people in the ministry at the time they happened. Too bad stories like this did not make it into the newspapers. Perhaps investigations could have been done that would've stopped further such activities of twi.

Perhaps if we keep typing away on GSC, we can make a dent in the numbers of people who get involved with twi in any way shape or form.

peace,

penworks

Paw,You put alot of work here,sometimes you wonder is it worth it?

I say it is,Telling things as it is is never easy.Twi was is a master at illusion.

Taking the blinders off takes work,People dont like what they see,Hey kinda like the

movie the matrix,The red pill or the blue?

We here are not greasepots by midnight,The yelling the intimidation,the fear has been,

and is being dealt with.Thanks for this place,Hey?You want a doughnut with uor coffee?

Ditto. Thanks, Paw!

Peace,

Penworks

You can never be a wet blanket. However, those are big ten dollar words largely labeled by people who do not believe the Bible is authored by God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bless you!

Didn't mean to throw around $10 words, just trying to throw some light on a complex subject. To me, I try and remember the Bible is made up of a lot of different documents that were written at different times in history and influenced by various cultures. And their world outlooks were vastly different from ours. For instance, all of those documents (books of the Bible) were written when people believed the world was flat.

Just imagine that maybe there are very plausible reasons to value those documents instead of labeling them the "The Word of God." Guess I have been very curious about where that idea came from. I know VPW got sold on it by Rosalind Rinker. When you check into who she was, you find she was a Christian fundamentalist. Fundamentalism, which VP denied he was into, has a basic tenant that the Bible is inerrant, and that just means without a mistake or error. That is a widely disputed claim. THere are sound and respectable reasons for challenging that claim, but it takes more than posts here at GSC to get into it. But for those interested, the info is easily accessible at the library, books for sale at Amazon etc. and various sites all over the Internet...

I just think we need to be careful about assuming that just because these documents were included in between those 2 covers this makes them "perfect." The people who decided which books to include had certain reasons, some of which were political. Some of those documents were assumed to be written by Paul but recent discoveries show they weren't.

As far as translations and versions go, if a person says the Bible is the Word of God, I usually ask which version or translation is he or she referring to? If each word is supposed to be perfect, we have a problem right off the bat when we translate from one language (i.e. Greek) into English or Latin or Spanish. The translator has to make subjective decisions about which word to use. (Hence, those literal translations according to usage that are referred to by another poster here.)

Anyhow, this post is too long already. I say, life is more fun and interesting doing other things than wrangling about these issues which take a lot of study by others trained more than me. I just have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. I'm just an amatuer anyhow...

skyrider: BACK THEN........in the 70s/early 80s........those general concepts of "move the word, preach the word" ran the spectrum from "leading one to the new birth" to "leading as a trustee in twi." BACK THEN........there was a research department in twi with some quality individuals and many of us truly believed that twi was forthright with a genuine concern for teaching right doctrine AND right practice........not junk like "follow your father in the word."

Just to clarify a little: Yes, there was a research dept. back then (through 1988 or 89) with dedicated people who were sincere (as we know that's no guarantee for truth) but what you call "junk like 'follow your father in the word'" was still also very much at the forefront of belief for at least some of the first few corps (like me) who were still delusional about him. Back then, for me, vpw was still the MOG for this day and time. And what he said the Word said took priority over anything different that might have turned up in research, and it did...but that's another story...

edited by penworks for spelling :-)

"All the time and effort and investment into God's Word are the precious treasures you will have FOREVER!"

I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but keep in mind some things when you say sentences like the above. For instance, what you're referring to when you say "God's Word." You might want to check out information about fundamentalism, inerrancy, the canon, other documents not included in the canon, dispensationalism, translation of scripture, etc. the list goes on an on. It ain't as simple as you might think; certainly not as simple as The Way made it look...

Happy birthday! It's mine, too. 7:14 a. m. 1952. Aries is a great sign, full of adventure!

"I was planning on going WOW but I was not man enough to disregard my wifes and kids needs."

I suggest you re-think this evaluation of yourself. Your family comes first, IMO. No cult's program is worth doing if your family needs you...

On this subject, I highly recommend the book, Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan.

Remember that VPW got the idea that the Bible was the Word of God and that it was the will of God from Rosalind Rinker waaayyy back. Keep in mind that she came out of the tradition of Fundamentalism which has as one of its main tenants that the Bible (N.T. canon established in the 4th century A.D.) is the Word of God.

There's plenty of info in books you can find in the library and on web sites that explain the history of the N.T. canon, as well as the formation of the O.T. canon. This subject is critical to any study of the Bible, as far as I'm concerned, yet is ignored by most people who are glib when they parrot the phrase that the Bible is the Word of God. Just exactly what they mean is up for grabs. If you pin them down, they usually give you lots of circlular logic in response...they usually are uninformed about what they're referring to exactly...

I e-mailed them and asked whether Paul Mek@l was affiliated with them. I knew him back in the Way Corps in 1972. If I get a reply, I'll post it here.

Here you go.

A quicky, F9 was the first corps to do back to back years.

Technically, the first 3 Corps did two back-to-back years and then graduated. We did have a "field" experience for a few weeks during the second year, being sent out by VP to certain cities to get a class together or don't come back. I was in the 2nd Corps. (everyone came back).

skyrider: The corps logo WAS a five-pointed star with an inner circle......and a 'C' (for Christ) in the core center. Apparently, the program was view to be 'christ-centered'.........with strength and ability derived from there.

Just for the record, the very first Corps seal or logo was created by a second Corps person in 1972 ish before the 1st Corps graduated so it could be put on their graduation certificate. It had two open hands with the list of gift ministries printed on them, a dove and the words The Way Corps. I'll see if I can post a graphic of it...Dr. later discontinued using it because he said people got the idea that everyone who graduated had a gift ministry and that wasn't the case...

Best wishes for a wonderful day, WG!

Be the change you want to see in the world. ~ Gahndi

Just for the record, I remember AFTER I had started the Corps program at HQ (2nd Corps), one day I was in Trailer 6 talking with a fellow bunk mate. We were covertly expressing our surprise - and were a little chagrined - about finding out what we'd really signed up for. We hadn't known we'd be sent wherever Dr. wanted us to go after the program was over. That objective wasn't too clear to us when we applied, for some reason. But we figured it was God's will, so we went with it.

No Corps were on the field yet. The first Corps was in their second year of training. The zero Corps had been kicked out, of course, so there was no precedent set yet for Corps grad tasks, etc. I realize now that I was so caught up in the dream that I did not think very far down the road. But at 19 yrs. old, who does? A few do, I guess...but I was not one of them.

I can verify Howard was very ill and that Dr. called it encephalitis. I was in-residence in the Way Corps at HQ at the time. We prayed round the clock for him and heard from Dr. that beet juice was being administered to Howard while in his hospital bed and Pa# L*nn was there often to help. I remember Dr. telling us that this unorthodox beet juice treatment, although sanctioned by the attending physician (a PFAL grad), was causing a stir at the hospital, but that it was helping.

The day Dr. and Howard arrived back at HQ after Howard's stay in the hospital, we greeted him with cheers as he climbed out of the camper. We stood on the driveway alongside the ramp that leads to the BRC dining room. He was very fraile but walked on his own and stayed home for quite a while after that.

I remember Dr. saying he believed the hitchhiker must have been an angel. I was very impressed with that, as I was a very impressionable 20 year old in 1972. (Now you know how old I am :-) Anyway, the event surely was labeled as a miracle. God saved VP's best friend, etc. It seems to me that the story was used at many meetings to testify to the power of God's healing and the stand the ministry took on believing God for miracles, as well as promoting natural ingredients to heal, in addition to using regular medicines.

Oh poor guy! Please tell him his email pal in Florida who he was writing to for awhile has missed hearing from him and wondered what happened. This explains it. He's heavy on my heart...send him my love, please...

Jump in, Sir. I don't think penworks would mind. And the nature of suffering in the world isn't dependent on Bart Ehrman! :)

-JJ

Agreed!

i have to say that i cant bring my self to agree with these 3 points,

...but i'm also guessing it might be better for me to participate in a separate thread on the nature of suffering or something, as i havent read Ehrman's book

I'm almost finished reading Ehrman's book and so far find his arguments compelling. One point in particular about his approach to the scriptures that is impressive is that he sticks with the context of each view found in each separate book written by each separate author. This enabled me to sort out the different views and why the writers had them. To me it's extrememly important to understand each book in its historical context. If you can, give this book as an objective a read as you can and think it over...

I don`t know highway, I only know that I had left to have the baby, that I was asked to return to the limb to take care of a few loose ends. My bc picked me up and took me.

Twinky, thanks it gets worse...

There was a whole doctrine used...I call it doctrine because people have told me that the same reasoning and verses were used on them.

I was told that I had made a vow to God...if I did not finish my commitment on the wow field and enter the corpes in the fall I would have broken that vow...I would have lied to God. It was then pointed out what happened to people who lied to God...annanias and saphira were trotted out. How God didn`t see it as murder because old testament punishment for causing a woman to *lose her fruit* was different than murder....

It was pointed out that I shouldn`t let a group of cells.....not alive till first breath paracite ... not a real baby and to break my commitment to God for that was unthinkable...all complete with verses presented that appeared to support this .....

The sin was not in having sex, because all things were lawful to them which were in Christ...but only in allowing it to prevent me from honoring my promise. I was told that many people in the corpes big names had found themselves in this situation and not to be ashamed...

Feeling that I had no choice, that I didn`t think thatl I could live life without God....I agreed.

Get this.....The limb co knew where to go and even made the appointment for me. My bc picked me up and drove me me to the appt in the city where the limb was....and stayed with me...I fled the office the first time and was taken back to the lc...I was talked to some more ... a new appt was made....

I don`t want to argue abortion right or wrong either...I just think it was incredibly cruel to have to feel like I needed to chose between God and the child.

ohmygod. This is one of the worst stories I've heard yet. It's despicable. I'm so sorry you went through this at the sickening, twisted prompting of lc, bc, and others in The Way who used "committment to God" as the justification... I think I'm going to throw up.

These posts are very compelling and are a good example of how varied the Corps experience was, depending on when you were in it, how old you were, your own personal aspirations for the training, your previous religious experience, who your Corps coordinator was, how close VP monitored your performance, and on and on.

I was in one of those early Corps, the 2nd one. Craig was in that one, too. VP watched us like a hawk. I went in because I wanted to know the Word, because VPW was proclaimed the man of God for this day and time by the people who witnessed to me at ECU (some of whom were also in the first and second and third Corps), and because I figured I could learn more of God's Word and learn it faster in the Corps than anywhere else. That was my idealistic logic at the ripe old age of 19 yrs. That was my "heart." Those things were only reinforced during the training. And stayed that way for 17 years until I left in 1987. I left because I no longer wanted to be involved with Fundamentalism nor believed the Bible was God's Word. But that's another story...

The concept of being "toughened up" wasn't something I expected, but I did find out after I got there. To me it meant I had to be able to take harsh reproof and correction and do what I was told regardless of whether I understood why at the time (no, this did not include sleeping with the doctor, although others were not so lucky I now know). I had to learn to push myself physically - run faster, father, longer down Wierwille Rd. at 5:00 a.m. I had to memorize more scripture, I had to get along with others who were different than me, I had to be bolder when I witnessed to strangers (I hated that.)

Perhaps this adds something to this discussion. If not, oh well...

For anyone interested, here's a link to an interview of the author on NPR. I find the book fascinating and very pertinent to the topic of why we suffer. Ehrman also authored, Misquoting Jesus. IMO both books are excellent.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=19096131

"Well, they could emerge from obscurity with a prize-winning research team"

Speaking of this topic - Has anyone here thought about the possibility that doing biblical research is as futile as hanging clothes on the line in the rain? It rarely acheives what it sets out to do. IMO - it adds more @#$% to the heap of Bible interpretations that already cause so many schisms in the world.

Give peace a chance.

I, too, just listened to this interview. I personally know Kristen. It's a devastating story. It's unfortunate beyond belief. There were many hurt in the same way, some who knew about it but denied it, and some like me who were oblivious and blind and not targeted - for whatever reason I don't know for sure. The sadness I feel about that blindness is something I've borne for a long time. Sometimes I think that had I known, I somehow could've prevented the abuses. But a social worker once told me that siblings of abused children often feel that same guilt but the reality is they couldn't have prevented it...who knows...

For clarification: I can personally attest to the fact that the lockbox teaching about these sexual activities was not taught to everyone who ended up as a leader. The broad concept of the "lockbox," however, was applied whenever an issue was supposed to be kept "in house," for instance when VP had confrontations with research people who disagreed with him and they left or he kicked them out of the Corps, etc.