Junior Corps Surviver

Exactly what I started to figure out when I decided to leave. "wait a minute...we are paying to work AND getting reproved by very angry leaders who cheat on their wives. WHAT THE..." You should have been there when a friend and I went to Craig to let him know we had "discovered" an adulatory and theft problem among some leaders. I thought he was going to punch me.

Allan you are right about how much pressure she was under. We almost didn't go and that was being framed as a spiritual failure on her part and I was even spoken to about not having believing "big enough" to carry the weight my mother carries to take care of me. I really believed that if we didn't make it, I would have been to blame. I was proud of her but I was also relieved. I was afraid that I was screwing things up for her, which of course is ridiculous. I was 11. The only thing that bothers me at this point is the run around I got about it. If God wanted her to steal my money, why was she hiding it? I know exactly why. One lie causes another and she was lying about having spiritual partners and "earning" the money on her own and "coming up with it". It's funny (not haha) that she knew she was lying about getting into a Christian college. Twinky, you're right about the fees. Not only did we grow our own food, not only was the property paid for, but we were required to work for free. She paid money for the privilege of working her rear end off on a farm.

It's hard to accept that reality. But you're right. Those of us who grew up in TWI, we didn't join. We were dragged along and then left when we got older, so it's really hard to see how this could even happen. It's hard to let go, it's hard to know how to handle this, who to be mad at, if anyone. But I saw plenty of terrible abuses, thefts and lies in TWI so why am I surprised? I know this, TWI didn't care where that money came from as long as the pyramid scheme kept the money rolling in and the vulnerable people were there for them to take advantage of.

Hi. It's been a long while. Sometimes talking about The Way can be helpful and sometimes it just makes me remember bad things. I am dropping by to get this off of my chest. I just found out that my mother paid for her Corps experience with money that was supposed to be in an account for me for when I turn 21. I was 21 years ago but never got a real answer as to where that money was. Imagine waiting for 10 years for the day you get this pay out for that time you were almost killed in a car accident and then it just isn't there and no one can tell you anything about it. As I remember, the corps bill was paid for by "spiritual partners" who pledged to send money every month. Or at least those spiritual partners were able to help with day to day expenses like toothpaste and clothes. I clearly remember my mother having a hard time getting her money together and that we almost never went into residence in Rome City. She was told to pray about it and to believe. Well, glory be, she got the money together. I was so proud of her, now almost 40 years later I find that she paid for everything with the settlement money, which according to the settlement, was not allowed. My relationship with my mouther is not good and this isn't going to help. She dodged this issue for year and would actually get mad when I brought it up. Now my God Mother has told me the truth and I am angry at The Way and my mom all over again. We left TWI in the late 80's and I still have to process it.

Thanks guys. I am having a heck of a time doing this on my mac. I have a PC at work, might try it there.

Greasespot used to have audio of a thing that Donna M-Dale said about my friend Naomi’s death. She died in a famous plane crash that killed Democratic Party Chairman Ron Brown. Does anyone have this audio? It’s not on the site anymore.

My Jr. Corps brother DTension posted these on Facebook. Thought I’d share. They’re pretty funny.

I guess I wouldn’t use the word “cult” if it were a positive thing. But I hear you.

I distinctly remember our WOW Home being reproved for not having enough students. We basically had to fill a quota or risk being “off the word”. My house was regularly full of people you would never want in your home. At the root of Christianity that should be OK as a pure heart should want to help anyone who needs help. But we had people coming over that you would never want near your kids. I was especially upset by the class we ran that featured people from the local (and I am quoting as a matter of fact) the “reatarded adult home”. I mean, where do you draw the line? These people couldn’t read, they could not stop talking and could not stop disrupting the class. Of course they couldn’t. They all had Down Syndrome. It was great to want to help them but we took their money for the class and to me that was wrong. I went WOW three times. In those three years we had maybe 3 people who stuck with TWI, took all the classes and became full time believers (out of hundreds of people who took PFAL) Of course we had a 100% session SIT rate. ;) The worst part is we believed it.

It’s crossed my mind that if I were that twisted, which I am not because I am not a psychopath, I have all the tools, experience and knowledge to start my own cult. How easy it would be to do that rather than get a job. It wouldn’t be hard to find the local lonesome people who need a purpose in life and who have jobs so they can give me 15% of their income. I went WOW three times, I am good at that. No disrespect to the lonesome people but that’s who we sold the class to the fastest. That’s who came for the kisses and free coffee cake. I can’t imagine, as a father today, allowing active drug addicts, homeless people and someone I met at the laundry mat into my house where my kids are living their lives. The whole thing is so weird. But anyway, yes let’s start a cult. I can help you.

A few years ago a friend of Brian M’hands told us that he and his family were planning something of a coup. Years later , here it is apparently. I don’t think they wanted to go the splitter route. They wanted to revive and restore as far back as 4 years ago. That’s the exact term they used. Wow.

That’s a blast from the past. I remember Michael Fort.

LCM, basically. He ended ROA over it, as if any of what he said was happening was new.

One year at Teen Summer School VPW saw a group of us teen boys and he drove his cushman (sp?) over. He taught us the time honored lesson that way believer girls are for marrying and the non believer girls are for sex. He actually said that non believers deserved “the 4 F’s”. We all thought he was so cool. But looking back, it’s horrifying. But I have been reading about this stud for years. No need to re hash. It helps me a little to say it out loud and I know I’m not breaking any new ground. I just thought that this topic and the idea of the 90’s somehow being when things got sexual is absurd.

Thanks T Bone. I would say that, speaking for myself, Twig and TWI in general was about The Bible. I started in TWI when I was 4 so it was all I new and for the most part I took it very seriously. But a raging hormonal teen is still a raging hormonal teen. At Corps Week/The Rock I rarely went to the big top teachings. I didn’t work. I didn’t do anything but eat, sleep, drink, smoke and fool around with girls. And I certainly wasn’t alone in that. My kids do not know a life with the level of freedom I had in Ohio. It’s completely inappropriate.

oops accidentally posted twice.

Hi. I spelled my profile name incorrectly. I guess I will have to live with that. I was Junior Corps F9. I just want to shed some light on this topic from a Junior Corps perspective. We called it “Score Week.” We were precocious teenagers who were almost always unsupervised. I can tell you that as a parent I never would allow my teens to congregate in what amounted to our won private neighborhood in tent city. We would set up our tents in the same area every year and have two weeks of unsupervised sex, booze and rock and roll. We were lucky to mostly not be on any drugs outside of the booze. Score Week and The Rock was not about God or The Bible for us. It was a two week long party. When I look back at it I find it unbelievable that this was allowed to happen, let alone at a Christian event. I never saw any gay sex but I will say that this all started in the early 80’s. by the time LCM figured it out or addressed it, it had been going on for well over a decade. Of course I can now see that it was probably an excuse to cover for the real reason: Shrinking membership and shrinking revenue. A few last thoughts. 1. Corps Week often ended with a pizza and beer party. We Junior corps had no problem getting served from adult “bar tenders” aka The Way Corps. We also had access to wine and liquor at HQ. Adults got us drunk. That’s the truth. 2. My self and other Junior Corps had sexual relationships with Way Corps Adults. Usually adults on the younger side but not always. This extended all the way up to the board of trustees. A female friend of mine was sleeping with one of them and it wasn’t LCM. I had several encounters with a 20 year old Way Corps member when I was 14. 3. Adults were having the same party that we were. I remember walking into my mother’s RV and smelling marijuana and seeing several Way Corps adults, nude and sitting with people who were not their spouses. Looked like a wife swap to me. That behavior is fine with me, consenting adults and all. But a tad hypocritical for a “church”. To say that this became a problem in the mid 90’s is laughable.