Watered Garden

I think the term "the suggestion of the leader is tantamount to a command" is just military jargon. I heard it in 1974. Problem is, none of these guys is a general, admiral, or even a genuine imperial grand high Poobah. I escaped abuse by the grace of God, but it does not cease to amaze me how many of these self-proclaimed MOGs get away with this kind of crap. I would love to be a fly on the wall when they are exposed for what they really are. These jerks have no right to think, speak about, or do anything sexual to anyone but their own spouse. Anything else is sin, and most likely illegal. WG

No surprise there. I think just about any group that has all this secrecy stuff going on has a cult mentality. Scary people. WG

Mine was on the love of God and how to manifest it toward our brothers and sisters. I printed out copies of the son "They Will Know We are Christians by our Love" and passed them around and taught the song. These were medical WOWs who were being really ....y to each other, infighting and complaining and a couple of them thought because they were WOW ambassadors they were too cool for school. They all stared at me in silence at the end. Got up to get coffee or go outside and smoke, except the coordinator, my future brother-in-law, who at last could not contain his laughter, gave me a big hug and told me I did real good! WG

Does God have more than one will? How can we trust that God's Word is God's Will if God has more than one will? And where did He hide His other will? And are there codicils to His other will? Anyways, the one that bugged me the most was "How would you like to get blessed?" We had this gung-ho 6th WC grad BL when Mr. Garden was in college who moved herself in with us and when I came home from work, exhausted, it seems she always asked me this question. I fell for it once or twice, and then snapped right back: "I'm already blessed. What favor did you want me to do for you?" Stopped her in her tracks. I always just thought that was so dishonest; just ask me for a favor, but don't give me this BS question, especially not when I just got home. I will be blessed when I can sit down, kick my shoes off, and drink a fresh cup of coffee. WG

"Not what we give but what we share, For the gift without the giver is bare. Who gives of himself with his alms feeds three; Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me." From James Russell Lowell, "The Vision of Sir Launfal." You guys are awesome! WG

There wasn't all that much academic activity when we were in residence in RC, either, IMO. I did learn how to clean the hell out of anything within reach, fire a .22 rifle and a 20 gauge shotgun, and get yelled at. I already knew how to change a poopy diaper, but as a result of that activity, I learned what those nincompoops should NOT be feeding their toddlers. I remember we were supposed to memorize the red thread, and were instructed exhaustively on the mathematically exact and scientifically precise method of brushing and flossing our teeth. I think at some point after we left Greek was taught by Wa&&e Cl&&p. And I think there was a class on firing handguns, the one thing I'm sorry I missed. No pun intended. WG

I saved that tuber and I'm going to give it a try! The house plants need to be in for the winter, and the ficus Benjamina, about 10 feet tall, shed leaves all over the place and look quite sad by the time the sun starts to strengthen again. I still have my stock and my cilantro growing on the porch. They are green as can be but just don't grow very fast this time of year. They are quite protected, so it will be interesting to see how long they last. We have amaryllis bulbs that are warming up in the sunroom and hopefully will bloom at Christmas. Over the years, our apple blossom and red lion have produced some interesting children, mostly magenta with very faint lines in the petals from their apple blossom parent. The original apple blossom grew two huge stalks with about 6 flowers each last year. WG

Rick Panyard was the one that went to prison. You can find out by googling his name and here's one story about it: he Denver Post Online] Minister ends up in court By Mike McPhee Denver Post Staff Writer Jan. 13 - A silver-tongued minister who conned his way into his congregation's bedrooms and bank accounts was brought to justice last week in U.S. District Court, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. Richard J. Panyard, who led the Way International Ministry in Boulder, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for conning his flock out of more than $700,000. The money virtually vanished in bad business deals, liquor, sexual relationships with his followers and the support of a Christian rock band. Beginning in 1982, Panyard, who was 30 at the time, gathered about 50 Followers of the Way, a home-based teaching ministry that initially set up in an abandoned warehouse in Boulder. In 1987, according to documents from the U.S. attorney's office in Denver, Panyard founded Pros International, a consortium of businesses that included ProSteel, a steel brokerage company, as well as a real estate company that attempted to develop land in Fort Collins and Grand Junction. Pros International was funded primarily by contributions from Panyard's followers, as well as by a small number of loans from investors. Two members of Followers of the Way, Charles Mandry... helped Panyard start the firm and served as vice president and secretary-treasurer, respectively. Mandry had extensive experience as a steel broker and was the principal in ProSteel. The company stumbled along for two years until April 1989, when "the company turned from a struggling business to a scheme to defraud," according to court documents. Panyard began what was described as a Ponzi scheme, in which he paid off debts with new contributions. His company never developed sufficient revenue to earn a profit, yet the books and the firm's credit remained good because of new infusions of cash, according to the documents. In December 1990, Pros International literature listed investments of $375,000, yet it had none, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Pros International also claimed an income of $1.42 million from "service revenues," yet it had no income, according to court documents. And it also claimed profits of "70 to 80 percent" on its real estate investments when, in fact, it lost $22,000, or 10 percent of its investment, on a house it built in Fort Collins. Panyard, a keyboardist, also founded "The Rock Band," in which he played. The band was supported by contributions from the Way. Court documents revealed that during the same period, Panyard drank "excessive" amounts of alcoholic beverages. Panyard also developed sexual relationships with up to six of his female followers, including Charles Mandry's former wife, Kia Mandry, who served as the company's office manager and bookkeeper, court documents stated. Followers said the true figure was closer to a dozen women whom he slept with, excluding his wife. In fact, it was those relationships that partially motivated Panyard to continue the fraud, according to government pleadings in the case, which were written by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Haried and Sunhee Juhon. They wrote that Panyard attempted to develop a cult relationship around him. "To do that, he needed to maintain his position of authority and power as a leader of their religious community and of a successful business," the pleadings stated. "If Pros International went down the tube, ... so would Panyard's relationships. Thus, believing it was going down, ... he committed fraud," according to the government lawyers. One of the female followers, who claims not to have slept with Panyard but is listed in court documents as one of his sexual partners, said she was very surprised that Panyard paid her back all of her investment, which was relatively small. Yet court documents state that Panyard's motivation for the fraud, to a great degree, came from his need to pay back the women he was sleeping with so that they would continue sleeping with him. To do that, he took new contributions and gave them to the women instead of investing them. "The way I saw it, for anyone who is hungry for power, there are certain things that go along with it, particularly for men who are very driven," said the woman, 35, who didn't want to be identified. "This drive for power is always accompanied by other desires; for lust, drinking, adultery. Those ... activities all run together. "I don't think he put himself in that position just to have women. His primary motivation was to have power, to be 'The Dude,' to be worshiped and to have money. It was a major ego deal." Mandry and... Panyard's partners, pleaded guilty to fraud earlier this year in exchange for lighter sentences that excluded jail time. Panyard, who now lives in Ninevah, Ind., is scheduled for sentencing March 17. DENVER POST, MARCH 18, 1998 EX-CULT MINISTER SENTENCED TO PRISON, ORDERED TO PAY RESTITUTION TO FOLLOWERS by Mike McPhee A former minister of the cult religion The Way International was sentenced to prison Tuesday in U.S. District Court and ordered to pay restitution of more than $500,000 to his former followers after he admitted he had bilked them of their money, in some cases their life savings. Richard J. Panyard, 45, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and three years' probation and ordered to repay more than 20 of his followers a total of $528,000. (ARTICLE GOES ON TO DESCRIBE THE DAY OF THE SENTENCING, WITH COMMENTS BY JUDGE LEWIS T. .) Back to "The Way Today" Menu

When I was in the hospital in St. Mary's during ROA 1994 because I had newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetes, about a dozen and a half friends came to see me. Most of them were at least advanced class grads, and many were WC. Do you how many of them offered to minister to me? 0. Zip. Zilch. In the 1970's I would have been hard put to keep their ministering hands off me! But LCM pretty well squelched that sort of thing with his teaching that if you were sick it was some sin you had committed that God was kicking your butt for. WG

Yeah, actually, I do; but it may not be what you wanted. From 1982-1990 we lived in Charleston, SC. I worked at a hospital downtown as a transcriptionist in the Radiology Department. I had run out to a drive-through to get lunch, and when I re-entered the hospital, I heard a "Code Blue" being called, in the front of the Ashley Avenue entrance, first floor, next to the cafeteria. Great. Right outside my office door. I walked back there, biggie diet drink in hand, and three or four people were clustered around an older woman who was flat on her back on the floor. They looked at her. I looked at her and at them. She definitely was not breathing. The head of the dietary department was standing there. She stared at me and said loudly "Anyone who does not know how to help this woman needs to leave RIGHT NOW." Well, I didn't know why SHE was standing around with her head up her behind. I walked over to the woman, stared intently at her face and silently spoke in tongues and thanked God for healing her and getting her breathing again. In the Name of Jesus Christ! And she gasped, opened her eyes and LOOKED RIGHT AT ME! About that time the "first responders" came around the corner, in no big hurry. The woman kept looking me. "You'll be fine." I said and they carted her away. I turned around to find the Dietary Nazi had knocked over the drink I'd set down on a cart of some kind. It didn't matter, not after that. I have no idea the final outcome. I just know she wasn't breathing when I got there and she was conscious when they took her around to the ER. WG

You stopped payment on the check! Twice! :eusa_clap: :eusa_clap: One of the two places you could kick those SOBs where it would really, really hurt!

Very good research! I think I mentioned we were in a church plant where a 15-year-old girl was raped by the pastor, who is now in prison. I didn't look up the states for Ohio but I do know that he, the church plant, and the planting church are also defendants in a civil case filed by her family. I think he was "counseling" her also for some time. He pled out to two lesser charges and stood up and apologized to almost everyone, except of course the church he devastated. WG

I'm so thankful you are getting help for yourself and your son. And I'm so sorry for what you went through before you got it. Our son has ADHD and of course that didn't sit too well. TWI of course has only one solution for such situations: Deny the need for real medical help and beat the dang out of them until they LISTEN REMEMBER OBEY! Such neanderthals. They are so damn ignorant it's amazing. WG

I can't even think of anything to say, except I can identify with a lot of what you have written. TWI isn't the only "Christian" organization that pounds women into the ground, but they sure as hell are one of the best. You are one helluva lady, I'll say that much. WG

Very nice. Thanks for posting. I wish I knew how to do this. There was a hymn from a motion picture "We Were Soldiers" that is called "The Mansions of The Lord" It was sung by a military chorus at the funeral of Ronald Reagan. This is appropriate for today, also, I think. WG

I went through the same thing. I almost never dream about TWI any more; it's been 13 years since we left. Most of the dreams I had I felt I was in danger. It will get better, though, it really will. WG

Fox News ! has a video of Reagan's famous "Mr. Gorbachev! Tear down this wall" speech interspersed with comments by others, pro and con. One of them is Mr. Gorbachev himself who of course poo-poo's the idea that it was even slightly influential. "All staged," he claims, "He was just using his acting skill!" Well, hell, Gorby, it worked, didn't it?

Found some more acorn squash! On another note, Mr. Garden was cleaning up outside stuff and pulled the moribund sweet potato vine out of the pot and found a decent sized tuber. Is this a real sweet potato? It doesn't look right. I'm going to try to get it to make another vine. WG

As I recall from a thread of the time, RFR announced, after a week or so, that no believers had been harmed. Meaning TWIbots. There should be an ancient thread about it. Maybe one of the better equipped folks can find it for you. WG

Wasn't that advanced class special in 1992 called "Dealing with the Adversary - Seed of the Serpent?" Totally weird class, IMO. I think erkjohn had already escaped by then?? WG

We didn't actually grow any peppers this year, but last year we had the same experience; at the end of the season after I'd stopped even looking at the plants, here was one with two biggies! Strange. WG

Oh, man, I miss camillas - and gardenias - and oleander (even though it's deadly poison), grew or at least saw them all when we lived in Charleston, SC. Beautiful. Too darn busy working/housekeeping/going to seminars! Haven't even looked over there lately! When we lived in NC, our next door neighbors let us garden in the country where they owned a house. One of the folks down the street also gardened. He had the first Troy-Bilt tiller I'd ever seen, and would put out the most absolutely fantastic garden anywhere then let it go once the crops came in. The wife of the guy who owned the land and I would regularly look at each other and say "I think it's a sin to waste food," and away we'd go! He apparently wasn't interested in the increase, just the plowing and seeding and weeding. I want something back for all that hard work! WG

Do they serve free Kool-Aid at the staff meetings? <_< WG

A "cult expert"???????? Perhaps this was an efficiency expert or even a couple of attorneys? I would think a "cult expert" would recommend shutting the place down altogether. Aren't the individuals "employed" at TWI called "volunteers?" Because mandatory working hours over 40/week would be illegal I would think. Unless they are paid overtime for any over 40. WG

I think convicted pedophiles should be summarily executed by impalement. WG