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Just The Way It Was?


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Just The Way It Was

Written by Dorothy Owens

CONTENTS

Getting to God's Word

Moving On and Growing Strong

Heirs Together of the Grace of Life

Ermal the Trustee

Established in Service

Camping in Canaan's Land

Just the Way It Is

Biography & Memoir Book

You can buy it on Ebay! $14.00+

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(thanks, ca--that much i know!)

so shortfuse, was it published by the way? after lcm's departure, i assume. (that's what really got me curious--my understanding is that info about the early days was suppresed under craiggie's reign.) does it say anything of substance, or is it just another glorifying glossover?

was it promoted? was it an attempt to recapture some of what had been lost? or just throwing old dorothy a bone?

any thoughts on it would be appreciated.

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It was commissioned under Craig. Dorothy Owens was not comfortable with the idea of writing a biography of her late husband. Instead it is more autobiographical of her and Ermal. It was compiled by her recounting anecdotes to someone who then helped her put it down in writing. (I think the Uncle Harry book was produced this way.) The idea was to have something for younger people and people newer to the ministry to learn about the early days, and about the founding trustees. It is not as thorough as Mrs. Wierwille's book. The best word to describe it is probably "nostalgic". It's told in the sort of direct way she had in conversation. It was released shortly before she passed away. (if I remember correctly.)

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It was commissioned under Craig. Dorothy Owens was not comfortable with the idea of writing a biography of her late husband. Instead it is more autobiographical of her and Ermal. It was compiled by her recounting anecdotes to someone who then helped her put it down in writing. (I think the Uncle Harry book was produced this way.) The idea was to have something for younger people and people newer to the ministry to learn about the early days, and about the founding trustees.

Let's see..........

A book about the life of veepee............Born Again to Serve by mrs. w

A book about the life of uncle harry.......and his business/finance savvy

A book about the life of ermal owens.....can't leave out ole ermal

Buildings..............The Victor Paul Wierwille Prevailing Word Auditorium

...........................at Emporia, (at one time).....Wierwille Library, Uncle Harry Hall, Owens Hall

...........................the EOB....the executive office builidng OR the ermal owens building

...........................Founders Hall

Acronym..............Word Over the World (WOW)...or, Wierwille, Owens, Wierwille

Streets.................Wierwille Road, Owens Lane (side streets in trailer park named after wierwille family)

...........................ROA area had street signs of Wierwille, Owens, Uncle Harry

Publications..........The Way Magazine.....pictures and pictures of founding guys

...........................The Way: Living in Love is an in-house book to promote vpw

Other....................Garden of Living Waters.....is where all three founding trustees are buried

............................Monument of founding trustees at its "entrance"

............................Vpw is buried at the pinnacle of the fountain

............................The showcase fountain is on the front lawn facing Wierwille Road (for all to see)

More other.............Wierwille Barn, Founders' Home, Wierwille Family Crest in OSC, etc. etc. etc.

Can one say?..........IDOLATRY

So many people, who helped to build twi, have come and gone in the past four decades..............but consistently, twi promotes an idolizing of its "founding trustees" to support its efforts.

:nono5:

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Oh Yeah, the screaming forehead idolized her all right, but only when it served his own purposes. He used Dorothy Owens the same way he used Dorothea Wierwille and the entire Wierwille family, he would parade them out when he needed them and fire their butts off staff when they stood up for themselves.

Mrs O didn't have any money of her own besides her small stipend, no children and by the end of her life virtually no friends outside of twi.

When she died, it was left to another elderly couple to pay for her final expenses.

He idolized her all right, twi didn't even pay for her memorial service, funeral service, casket or burial plot.

I would have loved to read Dorothy Owens' real version of "the way it was."

Radar

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Many people only knew Mrs. Owens because Ermal really didn't like being in the limelight. One-on-one they were really an enjoyable couple to be around. Dorothy was a prankster - making "fake" chocolate dipped pretzels out of pipe cleaners and chocolate dipped "marshmallows" out of cotton balls, etc. And Ermal was one of my favorites to work for. He was demanding and sometimes frustrating, but he was really a great guy and one of the best bosses I ever answered to.

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Oh Yeah, the screaming forehead idolized her all right, but only when it served his own purposes. He used Dorothy Owens the same way he used Dorothea Wierwille and the entire Wierwille family, he would parade them out when he needed them and fire their butts off staff when they stood up for themselves.

Mrs O didn't have any money of her own besides her small stipend, no children and by the end of her life virtually no friends outside of twi.

When she died, it was left to another elderly couple to pay for her final expenses.

He idolized her all right, twi didn't even pay for her memorial service, funeral service, casket or burial plot.

unbelievable, radar. how could they not cover dorothy owens funeral?

I dunno.

How could they deny Mrs W homecare and kick her out of her house?

I know they did it,

but I can't see how they COULD.

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I dunno.

How could they deny Mrs W homecare and kick her out of her house?

I know they did it,

but I can't see how they COULD.

Old wine skins. That is how they did it. Though they will never admit to that. :realmad:

I was at hq right after lcm was installed, during the AOS days. You could tell that lcm and the rest of the bot had already started changing things from the way vp had run things. He(vpw) was also cast aside.

Edited by justloafing
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dorthy was way cool.

She pulled me aside one day, when I was doing the head table, and showed me a coffee cup that had a crack in it, and explained to me for about one hour about proper etiquette and proper handling of the guests at the head table....lol....

man, if she could see me now....its called theres the coffee...get it yourself.

Edited by prayingfordaylight
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Our dear Belle was kind enough to send me a copy of Dorothy's book a few years ago. I really wanted to read it, because I was fond of Dorothy.

Now, I'm an editor, so I know full well that every writer's work needs editing. But rule number one is to allow the writer "have his/her own voice." In other words, don't replace the writer's perfectly good words with wording you'd use if you were doing the writing. And on that same note, don't EVER change the person's intent or meaning in the process of changing his/her grammar, etc.

The feeling I got from Dorothy's book was that most of it was heavily edited so that it would say what the twi muckety-mucks wanted it to say. I wasn't surprised in the least, but I was certainly disappointed not to hear more of Dorothy's "voice." She had a terrific sense of humor, she was spunky yet gentle and kind, and she was intelligent and wise. I never got the slightest feeling that she thought she was better than anyone else, regardless of her status as the widow of one of the original trustees. She was humble and ready to teach and share.

I know some people bristled at her etiquette lessons, but frankly, some people needed them--badly. :) And she was there to help, not to make you feel foolish.

No, Dorothy wasn't the only "pillar of the twi church" who was treated badly at or near the end of her life. Cora Mae Pxtxrs comes to mind. She worked in the Wierwille home for many, many years, but when she got cancer it was "buh-bye." Sad, very sad. And I wonder about Berxxta Jess. I don't know if she left HQ of her own volition or if she got the boot. Another sweet, intelligent, humble servant of God.

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Personally, I LOVED MRS. OWENS!

Mrs. Patriot and I got to spend some wonderful, personal time with her. We thoroughly enjoyed it! She was real cute when she would make it known which particular "top" leaders she had absolutely no use for :redface2: . She had lots of opinions, and had no problem sharing them either.

One thing we found was that the tough, etiquette lady you thought would be uncomfortable to be around on her turf was anything but! She was a real neat lady! I look forward to seeing her after the gathering together.

It broke my heart to hear that TWI didn't even pick up the tab for her funeral and burial! There is just no excuse......none at all :( . They are just garbage people....no values at all!

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I agree .. they treated her horribly. I ordered this book on ebay from the Belizean BRC after reading about it on this thread ... and although it is edited to leave out some things she would have otherwise said (and the dedication is awash with promised land of the prevailing Word cr*p), I have found it a delightful read ... you get a sense of what life was like in the early days of the Way ... and yes, I agree there is much that is left out, as Linda Z said, but I found it a book well worth the money ... she was a neat lady, and even through the editing, you get a great sense of her love for Ermal and for God. The pictures are neat, too! You get a sense that the reason she could have stayed around for so long is that she remembered daily what it had cost her to have the Word ... and sadly, because she had nowhere else to go. TWI may not have remembered her and done its duty toward her, but I suspect she will have rewards aplenty for her faithfulness at the time rewards are handed out ...

DogLover

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Now, I'm an editor, so I know full well that every writer's work needs editing. But rule number one is to allow the writer "have his/her own voice." In other words, don't replace the writer's perfectly good words with wording you'd use if you were doing the writing. And on that same note, don't EVER change the person's intent or meaning in the process of changing his/her grammar, etc.

The feeling I got from Dorothy's book was that most of it was heavily edited so that it would say what the twi muckety-mucks wanted it to say. I wasn't surprised in the least, but I was certainly disappointed not to hear more of Dorothy's "voice."

Hmmm. :( :( :(

Edited by dmiller
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