WAYout

I tried to get out, but was M&A'd first. It made for a much more painful exit that still stings when I think of it today. I got involved in TWI in 91' although the family that encouraged me to join had been close to me for a couple of years before. During the 93' ROA believers were encouraged to move in together and that family and I did. During the ensuing year I began having REAL problems with corrupt local leadership and ever more present Doctrinal errors. I had decided to move out from the family in the fall and "fade away". I still had many friends in the Ministry (Including my younger brother) and I figured I'd need to be careful not to make any of my "innie" friends feel that I disrespected thier stand with the Ministrty. ROA 94' came up and it came as a shock to many that I would not be going. I made no hard stand, just came up with other commitments and wished them well. The following week after ROA 94' I was wakened and told my BC was waiting for me to attend a meeting. He claimed that during the Rock he was given "Technicolor" revelation that I had a homosexual spirit in me and that I was M&A. My only recourse was to leave the house immediately (the apartment I was to lease would not be available for 6 weeks) and that if I wished to get back "in the house of Zion" I would be required to work with the BC exclusively. (i always found it ironic that they used the fact that I had a girlfriend to "prove" the homosexual demon spirit!) Unless the BC granted it, I was to have NO contact with my friends or my Brother within the fellowship. I'll never forget that moment. I was SO mad I could have killed that man. What hurt the most was that my friends gave me no support. They had been stripped of the Twig that they ran and were thankful to still be in fellowship. To me it was no choice at all. I collected a backpack of clothes and walked out. I spent a couple of weeks sleeping on the couch of a friend, and scraped enough $$ for a different apartment. A year later my brother walked out on his own, and to me the Ministry was then DEAD. I still miss many of my old friends, but I could never trust them again. I often wonder if I would still have my "surrogate family" if I would have gotten out before that a**hole BC Marked and Avoided me.