leafytwiglet

We left of course long before LCM got really rolling, but we left in the middle of the night, and we spent the next few days on the road, literally terrified that GOD would strike us dead for leaving the ministry..this was in 83 by the way... What kind of Ministry teaches you to be terrified of GOD, and that God would be so angry at us he would kill us for not being part of that ministry? The most evil vile kind. And before you say it, now, I wondser how I could have bought into that? But when that is what you are hearing,constantly, how could you not buy into it? Free to be me should be my new moto LOL! Once we left we just had a regular life, we are blessed and have been very happy, We have two beautiful successful Daughters we have our own home and we have fun together, and all out side the Way Ministry. I never regret leaving and honostly, coming to Greasespot has helped me to see just how evil The Way International really is. Edited to fix some of my errors(commas are so important) and to add Hubby was Corps and I was in charge of Childrens fellowship.. Not big wigs but leasreship none the less.

realize that no matter how long or short of time you spent in TWI it affects all of us differently. What really helps the most at least for me is reading here about what other people went through and how they look at what was taught in TWI.. Listen to those radio broadcasts... on the main page read the articles on the main page post on here ask question read a lot think alot. and give yourself time to work through it. Don't be afraid to cry about it... or be angry about it. because you will be and just when you think you have sorted your feelings out you will read something else some one went through and you will find your heart aching or you will find your anger coming to the surface again. Like Java Jane I to am actually thankful in part to the ministry while being horrified in the other parts of me.. for me TWi is how I met my lovely sweetie pie of a husband and because of that I have two wonderful daughters and of course hubby's family as part of my life . I also was the rare exception who had a really wonderful WOW year in which I grew and came to really understand myself more. TWI afforded me the oppertunity to escape an abusive home life.. And I was lucky as I left early on so my damage was minimal..I pretty much entirely missed the whole martindale anger ministry. For me stumbling into the Grease spot Cafe has given me the opportunity to examine all those TWI beliefs, I have been carrying around for 30 years, and finally begin the process of eradicating the ones I don't want and even some I thought were true but learned were not. OF course it must be said WELCOME to the Cafe. I am glad you are here and welcome to a new fork in the road as you move through your life. You may not always agree with people on here but that is okay . This place is about safely sharing your thoughts and actually evaluating what you have been taught and deciding if it really is true or false. IT is about recognizing all that was good or bad about your experience in TWI. IT is about learning the TRUTH about TWI. IT is about leaving behind the anger, haughtiness and arrogance. And finding peace and acceptance of who you are.

HI Roy! You are right we are not supposed to be telling each other what to do but to encourage each other. With Love and a holy Kiss leafy

Yeah Straight from The vicsters Mouth to The foreheads Ear and screamed out his mouth at us. IT all seemed so right when I was young and foolish.... And so far from what Christ set as an example of how we should be conducting our lives.

I find this interesting because tho I am no scholar and no Jew, I believe the intent was for the people of the tribe to select their leaders from among themselves, chosen for the persons mental and moral abilites and understanding of the Torah... not by men appointing themselves as leaders. Lets not forget also the importance of Bloodline within the Jewish faith.

LOL Chockful I thought the same thing. Good grief...

I was encouraged to go Corps from the get go but I knew I was not a good order taker I have a bit of a independent streak (I tend to break ranks and do my own thing) so I figured I would not be going into the Corps... but still every where I went there was the whole you should be in the Corps... but when I married Hubby I was told point blank if I was marrying a Corps I would have to go through the training at some point in the next couple of years... I said yes but figured I could drag it out and escape some how... never realizing Hubby was moving toward a full fledged escape.

Oh yeah it was particularly nice one because of it being in the fall and iearly in the evening so it was low in the sky and it was a full eclipse... so it really was the best part of the evening, And honestly looking back now i htink we were begining to move away from TWI at that point it would be a few more months till we left but it was a beginning

You would think that back in the 70's it would have been more exciting or interesting but I can honestly say I never heard one that did not put me to sleep. Okay and to be fair i only heard some on the WOW field and a couple with my husband... the last one was the one I heard I have already mentioned where they were teaching about devil spirits in everything and quite frankly it seriously made me start to question why I was even involved in TWI. So yeah maybe A STS was what got me on the road toward being ready to leave... and of course that one was in 82 We listened on one of those nights when there was a lunar eclipse, in the fall..... Anyway THe ZZZZZ"S and i can not imagine having too sit through one of those in a room with other people... and trying to stay awake. I would have been snoring for sure LOL

Personally for me THE places stating it was a cult were calling a lot of regular churches cults too and when I looked at the reality of the fellowship I was in and my WOW families and what we were doing it was not on the surface a cult.... Of course it was the whole time but I was young and what I thought of as a cult was not what I experienced in the late 70's to early 80's it wasn't until the end of 82 that I felt like things were getting overbearing for me... keep in mind that that pretty much coincides with my becoming a Corps spouse and spending infinitely more time with Way Corps people. as a regular believer at the time I was in you, pretty much went to twig when and if you wanted... you took the class once and then if it was playing again you could attend it if you wanted. As a WOW and Way Corps Spouse I was required to attend all the Classes. but Then I was in a specific program, with a goal of bringing more people to THe Way International. when I first got in you never heard about Abundant Sharing where I was being a requirement.. but by the time I left it was being pushed that you were required to tithe 10 percent and you relaly ought to be tithing more than that. I think distance from Head Quarters had a lot to do with that... Some of my worst experiences with TWI were when I was at Head quarters, at ROA.

I suspect that the whole idea that he just quit living or died of a broken heart stems from that story or rather the teaching he did during PFAL ( Or some other class) that in eastern culture people do that when they are done living they just decide they are done and they stop living.. So when Vicster died at a relatively young age people(CG) just kind of latched on to that Idea after all VP was supposed to be so extra spiritual of course he was in control of his body functions.. So many Lies so much BS and I believed it.

OMG ROFLMAO I so can see this in my minds eye! I remember filling out the blue forms and for the first couple years I was in, there was not a lot of emphasis at leaset where I was at about the Tithing, but for sure, by the time I was spouse Corps (82) it was all over but the crying suddenly we were being told we better be giving 10% and it darn well better be going to Head Quarters and not to some one we wanted to give it to.(believers we saw in need)

Okay I have a couple more questions... When i was in TWI Donna and LCM were living in a big new Log cabin style home it was beautiful and they let us returning WOW's do a tour through it. I think I remember it being in or on the edge of the Way woods... IS it still there and who lives in it now and what do they call it now... WOW Burgers... I actually liked mine... but, when you are hungry you know how that goes.

:P Well they do get quite larg some of them 6 feet tall depending on the type of Mustard plant. You too can live the abundant mustard life in California!

Okay i will bite... saftey van?????

It brings back memories looking at that and thinking about what I did while i was there... Like there at the corner of Tent city is where I almost got run over by Wierwille driving that cart thing. and Way woods where I went to my secret spot to get away from the crushing masses of people and LOL some poor Corps patrol guy almost got in trouble because I was in there and the woods was supposed to be empty for VP and LCM to walk through it... If at the time I had understood that if they had seen me he would have gotten reemed i might have been more sympathetic... I went back to the same hiding spot every year. just because it was so peaceful it was a tree stump with black berry vines growing around it and it was not on the path it wa sright at teh edge and when you got to it you were surrounded by bushes and shrubs.. a perfect place to pray and compose yourself. Then there was the Corps tents where hubby and i stayed my last ROA and the showers.. burr. COrps week I got stuck doing some kind of earth moving adventure Yuck... oh and there used to be a farmers market thing during ROA when I went where you could get yogurt and granola cookies and hamburgers I think..Sodas...and tehre was teh book store.... ahh memories.. the rain the mud the crushing masses....

Thank you... it is all starting to make sense now... so much of that came after i left or was off limits while we were there. It is so odd looking at it now and putting it in perspective of wandering from tent to big tent to way woods

Okay thanks I was zoomed down in close to see the spoke thing was the gazebo and that oval pad was where the big tent used to sit. and so i am guessing those square baren spots are where we all used to pitch our tents while we stayed there. There are just so man more things..

yikes what is all that stuff... what is what... keeping in mind they didn't have satellite imagery and internets when i was at ROA.. can some one Identify the main buildings and that circle thing with the spokes radiating out what the heck is that.. I don't remember the grounds being so large at all.. well it has been a long time since i was there. But it is like looking at some totally different place than what I remember. Where is the way woods? part of it is because I usually went with other people and I don't think I ever looked at it from a map even to orient myself.. sheesh

In my experience anytime the Corporation who ever that corporation makes a change in how you are getting paid or in how your hours will be worked it is always and I do mean always in favor of the corporation.. And TWI was nothing but a Corporation disguised as a religion... in order to suck the blood(Money) out of everyone of their followers until you had nothing left or ran screaming into the night!

SO in other words One of them was in an accident and got money from a lawsuit to pay for their hospital expenses and ongoing care for the injuries and TWI (you just know that was coming from HEadquarters or you would not have had both at this guy)Demanded they give a tithe of it? UN FREAKING BELIEVABLE!!!! that money wasn't for gain that money was to pay for their care.

LOL and also may prevent lawsuites... against the president unless one of her gilrfirends gets upset

Actually what I meant and didn't convey very well... sorry.. was that at the time I was not Long in the way ministry, I had taken the class and gone wow a couple of months later and at this point I was a WOW and had only been "in the word" as they used to say, for about one year. So my WOW family and pretty much everyone I knew treated me Like I didn't know squat because... well in regards to way doctrine I didn't really know much.. My WOw brother (and this is so much a part of the Way life style) felt he was way more mature because this leader had confided in him, and I surmised from our discussion together at that time had had sex with him and or maybe some heavy petting with at least one other believer there... and that there was some time spent together ... and he also intimated that it was something higher ups did (he never mentioned Weirwille and I never thought that... I just assumed(yes I know the making an foot Joke) but I just assumed he meant other unmarried Twig leaders. I never in a million years would have thought a man like weirwille who had supposedly studied Gods word would teach much less do this kind of stuff. I was apparently not spiritually mature enough to understand that the man of God or woman of God or spiritual leader could have sex with anyone and multiple believers no matter if they were married or not. As soon as I read on Grease spot the information about the affairs and the rapes my mind turned back to that conversation with him and suddenly I knew what he was talking about and I knew she was one of VP's conquests and I knew he knew it too and he choose to buy into the whole it is okay belief because it suited his purposes. AS to joking about it... We joke most when something is painful or embarrassing. I think it is a way to release the horror of it and the stress of it.

HAving sat on a board of Directors for a preschool, and an after school care program let me just say that we knew where every penny came from and where every penny went. and where we planned to spend every penny for 6 months at a time! as to tracking your tithe they knew eveery penny we gave... note the blue form... who gave what and how much and how hard is it to do the math? anyway not only where we admonished to give ten percent but Damn it it better be Gross not net you know! this was in the early 80's. Have I mentioned how glad i am I left... and what a lying piece of work Rosie is!