I believe Word Wolf is correct. In my WOW year, we had 4 WOW families. We ran 7 classes that year. How many were in each class, I don't remember. How many people actually stayed around after that? Maybe 3, and I'm really allowing for my loss of memory. One lasted for a few years. Nobody else lasted beyond a few months.
Was WOW a success? It was for the many who got laid in the process. I think most of the people who sat in our WOW Branch classes got involved because they were getting laid by a grad. And don't get me started on how many WOWs were boinking each other. My WOW sister boinked two of our 3 WOW brothers. It was pretty disgusting. All that crap about growing 10 years in one was pure bullshirt.
My original WOW family coordinator was a freakin' alcoholic. He yelled and tried to reprove us while he was drunk. I told him I could have stayed home and got the same treatment from my unbelieving dad.
WOW was a huge farce, but it was a huge sales program for VPW. When I think about him welcoming home WOWs at the gazebo, I wonder how he could live with himself. The fact that he sent single men and women together should have been a clue to what was really happening. The 2 drink limit was a joke. I kept my WOW pin, but I don't know why. I'm not proud that I stayed in a year of dysfunction.
That year indoctrinated me thoroughly. It was all those dang classes. Little did I know what the remaining 18 years would yield to my life. Thank God I got out and started living life again.
faithful followers tithe 10%, minimum. 32m divided by 100k followers means each tithe comes from an annual income of $3,200 (if I did my math right).
Since it was the early 80s when they were claiming to have 100K followers, I seriously doubt the average wage was even $20K per year. I remember getting $1,300 a month from a receptionist position in 1986. The Branch coordinators were really proud of my believing to be so prosperous. $1,300 a month comes to $15,600 a year.
Those same Branch coordinators borrowed money from me and never paid it back. They tried to tell me I owed rent, food, and electricity for watching their house while they went to Corps Week and ROA. I already had a home where I paid for rent, food, and electricity. And there wasn't any freakin' food in that house. Plus I had a list of chores to complete before they got home. It was really anal stuff like washing their windows. I was considered a faithful follower because I didn't say no. I was told it made me Corps material too. WTF does that mean? Maybe I should have gone in residence. I probably would have left earlier.
Since it was the early 80s when they were claiming to have 100K followers, I seriously doubt the average wage was even $20K per year. I remember getting $1,300 a month from a receptionist position in 1986. The Branch coordinators were really proud of my believing to be so prosperous. $1,300 a month comes to $15,600 a year.
<snip>
it's possible with so many college people taking the classes, that actual incomes of a few thousand dollars were typical. I remember how much I made in college from my part-time jobs. but that doesn't take into account the doctors, managers, and receptionists making $900/mo and up. if there were 100k followers, the average income was poverty level.
or, people just weren't tithing, which made them NOT followers according to twi doctrine. it seems to me that twi's definition of "follower" was anyone who paid for the class.
oh yeah, I guess we'd have to deduct class fees from that 32m to find out what people were tithing.
Are you kidding? The atmosphere at one of those gatherings was electric. It made people want to go WoW and be a part of the experience. I knew people who made decisions on the spot based on the emotional aspects of those experiences. I know I wanted to go UNTIL I sat down and read the rule book. The enthusiasm quickly dissipated. I don't know if people were encouraged to see what one was committing to prior to signing up, but I made sure I did.
It's one thing to come back to an experience with fresh eyes and perspective. It's quite another to discount what you were actually feeling at the time - and most of you thought it was the best thing you were planning to do or had ever done and also thought it was something everyone should do, at least once - the more times the better.
The disdain I experienced when I made it clear I wasn't up for a year of WoW ambassadorship was real even though I believed I was making an informed decision. I can't tell you the number of people who tried to get me to look past the rule book in making my decision. The only person who suggested I pay close attention to the rule book was my then boyfriend who had been college WoW.
Isn't there any middle ground? Going WoW was a choice. Regardless of the outcome it was a learning experience - even if that learning included figuring out you never wanted to do it again.
My eyes!! My eyes!! OMG Cheranne that was brutal to watch, remind me to never p*ss you off! It's even more brutal to admit that I was there that year. Didn't see myself in the videos though. It's odd that I have almost no memories of my two ROAs, 1975 and 1976. All I can remember is sleeping in a tent (with whom? I have no idea) and a few memories of the WOWs On Parade, or whatever the big tent event was called. Now I'll have to call Barb, she remembers better than I do.
Was WOW a success? It was for the many who got laid in the process. I think most of the people who sat in our WOW Branch classes got involved because they were getting laid by a grad. And don't get me started on how many WOWs were boinking each other. My WOW sister boinked two of our 3 WOW brothers. It was pretty disgusting. All that crap about growing 10 years in one was pure bullshirt.
As if it wasn't bad enough that a bunch of Christian "missionaries" were boinkin' each other, it was sometimes used as a deal closer to get people to sign "the green card". Using sexual favors as an enticement to garner compensation, I think that might constitute prostitution.
My eyes!! My eyes!! OMG Cheranne that was brutal to watch, remind me to never p*ss you off! It's even more brutal to admit that I was there that year. Didn't see myself in the videos though. It's odd that I have almost no memories of my two ROAs, 1975 and 1976. All I can remember is sleeping in a tent (with whom? I have no idea) and a few memories of the WOWs On Parade, or whatever the big tent event was called. Now I'll have to call Barb, she remembers better than I do.
Hahaha sorry OperaBuff I should have put a warning sign up for that! The sight of vpw(is what made me wanna puke!)
The people were cool back then but the message was still sinister twisted sister like(I just couldn't see thru the smoke screen)
Yet those who were ready to see, could see God at work during their WoW year. Some people chose to go out several times.
Please don't be always looking for the worst. It's fashionable on this site to knock TWI - and there is a lot to knock! - but there was also some good stuff. Musta been, else we wouldn't have stuck around. There must have been more people who had enjoyable or at least interesting experiences during their WoW years than have posted on this thread. Hey - some of you have posted on other threads about things that happened in your WoW year. And some of you went out several times.
Never mind the success (or otherwise) for TWI. What about your personal successes?
Oh, and yes, the video clips are before my time but nonetheless scary - aargh!
Save the nation - huh, where d'ya get that, Cheranne (barf!).
The original question, however, was in reference to the program, itself.
"how successful was the WOW program after all is said and done?"
Like you, I'm sure there are probably many people who had positive individual experiences.
I certainly didn't mean to sound like I was negating that.
Maybe that was the intent but the first post was worded in such a way as to make it seem like you were going to talk about more than the finances of TWI.
Maybe that was the intent but the first post was worded in such a way as to make it seem like you were going to talk about more than the finances of TWI.
Now we know what was meant.
I posted pretty much open to any kind of discussion on it, since what each person felt they were going to accomplish may be different than what twi intended. the program seems to have been a sales scam, more than anything, but a lot was promised individually, and I think that the real successes of individual perseverance, suffering, realization, departure from twi, what have you, were all largely ignored and twi's focus was on false successes, as in my opening example. when it was all said and done, where's the impact? how many were saved? twi grew, but it was not solid, real growth because twi's roots weren't designed to sustain the growth in numbers... not where each number represented a real human being, a child of god.
I guess if one derived personal benefit from the programs, then they wouldn`t want to hear about or remember the times we went hungry, or the times that we placed ourselves in danger, the unpleasant people that we were forced to endure and serve under.
Now...I am one who went out twice...because it was so great?? No, but because this was presented as the best way to serve God and grow spiritually. Many of us went out with pure hearts to serve in the spiritual battle, only to find ourselves beaten and battle weary at the end of the year.
I am not saying that God couldn`t or didn`t work...I think that he works no matter how stupid the situation we place ourselves in or stifling the parameters in which we will allow him to work.
I only have to look at the lives of my 3 syblings though to know what my life might have been had I never had the misfortune of being witnessed to by the wows that came to our city. They managed to survive and prosper just fine without the greatness of da word.
No doubt the wow`s patted themselves on the back as successful for witnessing and running classes for folks like me that went wow and corpes afterwards....the *fruit* of their productive year....All I can say is that my children are the age I was then, and if ever a wow (I know they aren`t around any more) came sniffing around them, they would be facing a gun, because I would rather face prison than see my kids indoctrinated into a belief that would damage them like pfal did us and have them enslaved in an evil group like twi.
I still have trouble forgiving the wows that derailed my life. I am ashamed of myself for my part in promoting the evil, enabeling it to survive and thrive.
When my then husband and I decided to go wow we were so excited.....young, wild and free. We had the world by the tail. I remember praying and praying to go out west. I wanted to go to Arizona. I laugh now as I remember that time. Literally, I am laughing as I remember how young and thinking whatever may come. I don't care. I just wanna go somewhere. But let it be out west, o. k. God. Gosh, it is still so vivid. Heck, we were going somewhere and I knew it was going to be out west. Then we opened the envelope and it was Iowa....what the screw, IOWA!!! Where is Iowa? Even the spelling of the state is weird!&^$!? Too many vowels. That was the year we spent 6 months in one town then moved to another in the same state. First it was Davenport then Des Moines. Wayne Clapp was our Limb Coordinator.
We met our wow family. Two girls and one had a two year old son. Then we met the other family and the Corps leader was in that family. I do have to say that Dennis was a very loving guy. There were some sticky times. Our wow sister got pregnant and had an abortion.
God Almighty, we had fun!!! My husband must have taken care of the money part because I don't remember too much of that. We worked by day and played pool by night. We made some money from that, too. I remember Wayne coming to visit us and we took him to one of the pool halls we played at and some guy walked in and cranked up a chainsaw. You should have seen the look on Wayne's face. We said, oh, he is just one of the locals.
I think we ran two classes that year. I skated on a frozen pond for the first time in my life. Our first born was conceived on the wow field. I personally am still close friends with two from the other family to this day. As a matter of fact we will take our yearly trek to Myrtle Beach next weekend to another ex-way friends house for Super Bowl.
We had a blast during our WOW experience. We were a young newlywed couple, our daughter was only 4 years old, we were hooked up with a couple that had a 9 month old baby.
This was our first time of being away from family, on our own, grown ups! We were sent to Ansonia/Derby/Shelton, Connecticut.
I got to see Yale and hang out on campus, was exposed to culture that I had always wanted to check out, met people that contributed very favorably to our lives, in twi and not.
Our WOW family remains my dear friends to this day, 20 plus years later.
We did the required witnessing, yes, but we never ran one class. Somehow we didn't care and didn't stress it; we sort of took the stance of if people didn't want to come to twig, we didn't care. We did have alot of people over for coffee, games, conversation, but never formal fellowship.
Personally, I hold no guilt or responsibility for others' decisions or actions. While I understand not everyone's experiences were like ours, I remain thankful ours was fun, which was our goal.
There were challenges, sure. Life is like that, huh? We ended up staying another year because the area was so great for us; I'd move back to it now even.
For us, it wasn't about TWI, necessarily, although of course that was why were went there. It was about taking on an adventure as a young couple.
Successful as in people taking the class? No
Successful as in us learning alot out ourselves as a married couple, as parents, moving outside of our comfort zone, yes, very.
Yet those who were ready to see, could see God at work during their WoW year. Some people chose to go out several times.
Please don't be always looking for the worst. It's fashionable on this site to knock TWI - and there is a lot to knock! - but there was also some good stuff. Musta been, else we wouldn't have stuck around. There must have been more people who had enjoyable or at least interesting experiences during their WoW years than have posted on this thread. Hey - some of you have posted on other threads about things that happened in your WoW year. And some of you went out several times.
Never mind the success (or otherwise) for TWI. What about your personal successes?
Oh, and yes, the video clips are before my time but nonetheless scary - aargh!
Save the nation - huh, where d'ya get that, Cheranne (barf!).
So ,we can measure success in various conditions....
Success for TWI
Success for the person (The WOW)
Success for others
Success for God
Here is a success story for one of the others,and for God in song
WOW Ambassadors
Dean Ellenwood
There’s a group of people speaking forth God’s Word today
They’re gonna grow with God this year, they believe and pray
And God will bear His arm for them, that is for sure
They’re our WOW Ambassadors.
And the WOW Ambassadors they work for God it’s plain to see
They do their best to walk like Christ who set the captives free
And they’re true believers they believe to give their all,
and then give more.
And they’re growing as they learn to live
WOW Ambassadors
Early in the morning they rose up from their beds they might have felt like going back to sleep
But they read God’s Word instead
And as those sunny words of life woke up their sleepy heads
Well they grew excited as they thought about the day ahead
And one by one their family well they gathered round to pray
And it’s always so exciting just to hear what God will say
Well that day was bound to be special to the people in that town
Well it’s a blessing when a Son of God stands on holy ground
And the WOW Ambassadors they work for God It’s plain to see
They do their best to walk like Christ who set the captives free
And they’re true believers they believe to give their all,
and then give more.
And they’re growing as they learn to live
WOW Ambassadors
Now early that same morning another man in that town had been awake all night
He lay wishing for the light, He was hungry nigh unto death to know the truth
He thought what’s the use of living? If there’s no truth to be found
And he found himself at a lonely end just wondering what’s the use?
But….. It was then that WOW Ambassador arrived upon that scene
He was on his way to work but then he saw that man in need
And he had the love to speak those words of life to that mans heart
And it cast away the darkness there and made a brand new start
He said ….at last here is the sunshine at last here is the son
As excited questions flooded from a heart held down so long
It had been so many lonely years but at last this man was free
And he’s thankful to this day I know because that man was me
And the WOW Ambassadors they work for God It’s plain to see
They do their best to walk like Christ who set the captives free
And they’re true believers they believe to give their all,
Yet those who were ready to see, could see God at work during their WoW year. Some people chose to go out several times.
Please don't be always looking for the worst. It's fashionable on this site to knock TWI - and there is a lot to knock! - but there was also some good stuff. Musta been, else we wouldn't have stuck around. There must have been more people who had enjoyable or at least interesting experiences during their WoW years than have posted on this thread. Hey - some of you have posted on other threads about things that happened in your WoW year. And some of you went out several times.
Never mind the success (or otherwise) for TWI. What about your personal successes?
Oh, and yes, the video clips are before my time but nonetheless scary - aargh!
Save the nation - huh, where d'ya get that, Cheranne (barf!).
Well, let me give you some specifics that maybe will help you understand why some folks don't get all warm and fuzzy when asked about W.O.W.
In order to go W.O.W. I sold a small "hobby" farm ( 6 acres), left a lucrative job in a growing company (where I was "the man"), and alienated my family (they basically thought I was nuts and trapped in an abusive cult {they were right}). I've never regained that level of prosperity or had that good of a job since (it was a great job that I should NEVER have walked away from).
While out in Alabama, about midway through the year, the branch leader in a nearby town decided it would be a swell idea to shoot his disobedient W.O.W. family member in the head (which he did). That particular family member would never return home alive and the BL spent the next several years in an Alabama prison. Another W.O.W. had an ailing mother, but - in order to stay true to her holy commitment - she stayed "on the field" while her mother died (this sort of thing happened FREQUENTLY).
Other W.O.W.s can tell of the times they were raped, robbed, assaulted, had nervous breakdowns, etc. Going without meals, or housing, or jobs, or friends and family was the NORM, from what I could tell. Anything else was generally the EXCEPTION.
And all this sacrifice for WHAT? To promote a conman's business, that's what. And to prepetuate a tired mythology.
Sorry, no thanks, it was B.S., and yes, I DID try it TWICE. Gaaaawd...
Naaahhh, we never rose out of bed early to read our Bibles or pray. We did go back to sleep the couple of times we tried. Different strokes for different folks. The Lord did not have electricity back then.
I survived the year, but I will always regret obeying them when my grandmother died, and I wasn't allowed to return home for the funeral. I blame myself for not having the backbone to go anyway, and to this day I'm not proud of it.
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Nottawayfer
I believe Word Wolf is correct. In my WOW year, we had 4 WOW families. We ran 7 classes that year. How many were in each class, I don't remember. How many people actually stayed around after that? Maybe 3, and I'm really allowing for my loss of memory. One lasted for a few years. Nobody else lasted beyond a few months.
Was WOW a success? It was for the many who got laid in the process. I think most of the people who sat in our WOW Branch classes got involved because they were getting laid by a grad. And don't get me started on how many WOWs were boinking each other. My WOW sister boinked two of our 3 WOW brothers. It was pretty disgusting. All that crap about growing 10 years in one was pure bullshirt.
My original WOW family coordinator was a freakin' alcoholic. He yelled and tried to reprove us while he was drunk. I told him I could have stayed home and got the same treatment from my unbelieving dad.
WOW was a huge farce, but it was a huge sales program for VPW. When I think about him welcoming home WOWs at the gazebo, I wonder how he could live with himself. The fact that he sent single men and women together should have been a clue to what was really happening. The 2 drink limit was a joke. I kept my WOW pin, but I don't know why. I'm not proud that I stayed in a year of dysfunction.
That year indoctrinated me thoroughly. It was all those dang classes. Little did I know what the remaining 18 years would yield to my life. Thank God I got out and started living life again.
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Nottawayfer
Since it was the early 80s when they were claiming to have 100K followers, I seriously doubt the average wage was even $20K per year. I remember getting $1,300 a month from a receptionist position in 1986. The Branch coordinators were really proud of my believing to be so prosperous. $1,300 a month comes to $15,600 a year.
Those same Branch coordinators borrowed money from me and never paid it back. They tried to tell me I owed rent, food, and electricity for watching their house while they went to Corps Week and ROA. I already had a home where I paid for rent, food, and electricity. And there wasn't any freakin' food in that house. Plus I had a list of chores to complete before they got home. It was really anal stuff like washing their windows. I was considered a faithful follower because I didn't say no. I was told it made me Corps material too. WTF does that mean? Maybe I should have gone in residence. I probably would have left earlier.
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cheranne
kinda made me throw up a little!
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cheranne
ugh! :blink: What was I thinking!
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potato
it's possible with so many college people taking the classes, that actual incomes of a few thousand dollars were typical. I remember how much I made in college from my part-time jobs. but that doesn't take into account the doctors, managers, and receptionists making $900/mo and up. if there were 100k followers, the average income was poverty level.
or, people just weren't tithing, which made them NOT followers according to twi doctrine. it seems to me that twi's definition of "follower" was anyone who paid for the class.
oh yeah, I guess we'd have to deduct class fees from that 32m to find out what people were tithing.
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Tzaia
Are you kidding? The atmosphere at one of those gatherings was electric. It made people want to go WoW and be a part of the experience. I knew people who made decisions on the spot based on the emotional aspects of those experiences. I know I wanted to go UNTIL I sat down and read the rule book. The enthusiasm quickly dissipated. I don't know if people were encouraged to see what one was committing to prior to signing up, but I made sure I did.
It's one thing to come back to an experience with fresh eyes and perspective. It's quite another to discount what you were actually feeling at the time - and most of you thought it was the best thing you were planning to do or had ever done and also thought it was something everyone should do, at least once - the more times the better.
The disdain I experienced when I made it clear I wasn't up for a year of WoW ambassadorship was real even though I believed I was making an informed decision. I can't tell you the number of people who tried to get me to look past the rule book in making my decision. The only person who suggested I pay close attention to the rule book was my then boyfriend who had been college WoW.
Isn't there any middle ground? Going WoW was a choice. Regardless of the outcome it was a learning experience - even if that learning included figuring out you never wanted to do it again.
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OperaBuff
My eyes!! My eyes!! OMG Cheranne that was brutal to watch, remind me to never p*ss you off! It's even more brutal to admit that I was there that year. Didn't see myself in the videos though. It's odd that I have almost no memories of my two ROAs, 1975 and 1976. All I can remember is sleeping in a tent (with whom? I have no idea) and a few memories of the WOWs On Parade, or whatever the big tent event was called. Now I'll have to call Barb, she remembers better than I do.
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themex
Yes, the boinking things happened also in México.
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waysider
As if it wasn't bad enough that a bunch of Christian "missionaries" were boinkin' each other, it was sometimes used as a deal closer to get people to sign "the green card". Using sexual favors as an enticement to garner compensation, I think that might constitute prostitution.
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cheranne
Hahaha sorry OperaBuff I should have put a warning sign up for that! The sight of vpw(is what made me wanna puke!)
The people were cool back then but the message was still sinister twisted sister like(I just couldn't see thru the smoke screen)
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cheranne
Shield your eyes!
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Twinky
I honestly don't believe this.
So many have posted negative comments.
Yet those who were ready to see, could see God at work during their WoW year. Some people chose to go out several times.
Please don't be always looking for the worst. It's fashionable on this site to knock TWI - and there is a lot to knock! - but there was also some good stuff. Musta been, else we wouldn't have stuck around. There must have been more people who had enjoyable or at least interesting experiences during their WoW years than have posted on this thread. Hey - some of you have posted on other threads about things that happened in your WoW year. And some of you went out several times.
Never mind the success (or otherwise) for TWI. What about your personal successes?
Oh, and yes, the video clips are before my time but nonetheless scary - aargh!
Save the nation - huh, where d'ya get that, Cheranne (barf!).
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cheranne
I got this off You Tube(Joe Fair posted it).
We all thought The Way was IT or we wouldn't have gotten involved.I am thankful for the people
I have know throughout the years I was in TWI really sweet people,I loved all of "Susans girls"
Ya'll know who you are!
But..it was the message that was wrong and that is why it failed.(for me anyway)
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waysider
Twinky
I understand where you're coming from.
The original question, however, was in reference to the program, itself.
"how successful was the WOW program after all is said and done?"
Like you, I'm sure there are probably many people who had positive individual experiences.
I certainly didn't mean to sound like I was negating that.
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leafytwiglet
Maybe that was the intent but the first post was worded in such a way as to make it seem like you were going to talk about more than the finances of TWI.
Now we know what was meant.
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potato
I posted pretty much open to any kind of discussion on it, since what each person felt they were going to accomplish may be different than what twi intended. the program seems to have been a sales scam, more than anything, but a lot was promised individually, and I think that the real successes of individual perseverance, suffering, realization, departure from twi, what have you, were all largely ignored and twi's focus was on false successes, as in my opening example. when it was all said and done, where's the impact? how many were saved? twi grew, but it was not solid, real growth because twi's roots weren't designed to sustain the growth in numbers... not where each number represented a real human being, a child of god.
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rascal
I guess if one derived personal benefit from the programs, then they wouldn`t want to hear about or remember the times we went hungry, or the times that we placed ourselves in danger, the unpleasant people that we were forced to endure and serve under.
Now...I am one who went out twice...because it was so great?? No, but because this was presented as the best way to serve God and grow spiritually. Many of us went out with pure hearts to serve in the spiritual battle, only to find ourselves beaten and battle weary at the end of the year.
I am not saying that God couldn`t or didn`t work...I think that he works no matter how stupid the situation we place ourselves in or stifling the parameters in which we will allow him to work.
I only have to look at the lives of my 3 syblings though to know what my life might have been had I never had the misfortune of being witnessed to by the wows that came to our city. They managed to survive and prosper just fine without the greatness of da word.
No doubt the wow`s patted themselves on the back as successful for witnessing and running classes for folks like me that went wow and corpes afterwards....the *fruit* of their productive year....All I can say is that my children are the age I was then, and if ever a wow (I know they aren`t around any more) came sniffing around them, they would be facing a gun, because I would rather face prison than see my kids indoctrinated into a belief that would damage them like pfal did us and have them enslaved in an evil group like twi.
I still have trouble forgiving the wows that derailed my life. I am ashamed of myself for my part in promoting the evil, enabeling it to survive and thrive.
Wierwille couldn`t have done it without us.
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rascal
I guess it boils down to success being relative.
For TWI wow was a resounding success.
Speaking as an individual participant? I`d have to say no.
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kimberly
When my then husband and I decided to go wow we were so excited.....young, wild and free. We had the world by the tail. I remember praying and praying to go out west. I wanted to go to Arizona. I laugh now as I remember that time. Literally, I am laughing as I remember how young and thinking whatever may come. I don't care. I just wanna go somewhere. But let it be out west, o. k. God. Gosh, it is still so vivid. Heck, we were going somewhere and I knew it was going to be out west. Then we opened the envelope and it was Iowa....what the screw, IOWA!!! Where is Iowa? Even the spelling of the state is weird!&^$!? Too many vowels. That was the year we spent 6 months in one town then moved to another in the same state. First it was Davenport then Des Moines. Wayne Clapp was our Limb Coordinator.
We met our wow family. Two girls and one had a two year old son. Then we met the other family and the Corps leader was in that family. I do have to say that Dennis was a very loving guy. There were some sticky times. Our wow sister got pregnant and had an abortion.
God Almighty, we had fun!!! My husband must have taken care of the money part because I don't remember too much of that. We worked by day and played pool by night. We made some money from that, too. I remember Wayne coming to visit us and we took him to one of the pool halls we played at and some guy walked in and cranked up a chainsaw. You should have seen the look on Wayne's face. We said, oh, he is just one of the locals.
I think we ran two classes that year. I skated on a frozen pond for the first time in my life. Our first born was conceived on the wow field. I personally am still close friends with two from the other family to this day. As a matter of fact we will take our yearly trek to Myrtle Beach next weekend to another ex-way friends house for Super Bowl.
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Shellon
We had a blast during our WOW experience. We were a young newlywed couple, our daughter was only 4 years old, we were hooked up with a couple that had a 9 month old baby.
This was our first time of being away from family, on our own, grown ups! We were sent to Ansonia/Derby/Shelton, Connecticut.
I got to see Yale and hang out on campus, was exposed to culture that I had always wanted to check out, met people that contributed very favorably to our lives, in twi and not.
Our WOW family remains my dear friends to this day, 20 plus years later.
We did the required witnessing, yes, but we never ran one class. Somehow we didn't care and didn't stress it; we sort of took the stance of if people didn't want to come to twig, we didn't care. We did have alot of people over for coffee, games, conversation, but never formal fellowship.
Personally, I hold no guilt or responsibility for others' decisions or actions. While I understand not everyone's experiences were like ours, I remain thankful ours was fun, which was our goal.
There were challenges, sure. Life is like that, huh? We ended up staying another year because the area was so great for us; I'd move back to it now even.
For us, it wasn't about TWI, necessarily, although of course that was why were went there. It was about taking on an adventure as a young couple.
Successful as in people taking the class? No
Successful as in us learning alot out ourselves as a married couple, as parents, moving outside of our comfort zone, yes, very.
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WhiteDove
So ,we can measure success in various conditions....
Success for TWI
Success for the person (The WOW)
Success for others
Success for God
Here is a success story for one of the others,and for God in song
WOW Ambassadors
Dean Ellenwood
There’s a group of people speaking forth God’s Word today
They’re gonna grow with God this year, they believe and pray
And God will bear His arm for them, that is for sure
They’re our WOW Ambassadors.
And the WOW Ambassadors they work for God it’s plain to see
They do their best to walk like Christ who set the captives free
And they’re true believers they believe to give their all,
and then give more.
And they’re growing as they learn to live
WOW Ambassadors
Early in the morning they rose up from their beds they might have felt like going back to sleep
But they read God’s Word instead
And as those sunny words of life woke up their sleepy heads
Well they grew excited as they thought about the day ahead
And one by one their family well they gathered round to pray
And it’s always so exciting just to hear what God will say
Well that day was bound to be special to the people in that town
Well it’s a blessing when a Son of God stands on holy ground
And the WOW Ambassadors they work for God It’s plain to see
They do their best to walk like Christ who set the captives free
And they’re true believers they believe to give their all,
and then give more.
And they’re growing as they learn to live
WOW Ambassadors
Now early that same morning another man in that town had been awake all night
He lay wishing for the light, He was hungry nigh unto death to know the truth
He thought what’s the use of living? If there’s no truth to be found
And he found himself at a lonely end just wondering what’s the use?
But….. It was then that WOW Ambassador arrived upon that scene
He was on his way to work but then he saw that man in need
And he had the love to speak those words of life to that mans heart
And it cast away the darkness there and made a brand new start
He said ….at last here is the sunshine at last here is the son
As excited questions flooded from a heart held down so long
It had been so many lonely years but at last this man was free
And he’s thankful to this day I know because that man was me
And the WOW Ambassadors they work for God It’s plain to see
They do their best to walk like Christ who set the captives free
And they’re true believers they believe to give their all,
and then give more.
And they’re growing as they learn to live
WOW Ambassadors
WOW Ambassadors
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George Aar
Well, let me give you some specifics that maybe will help you understand why some folks don't get all warm and fuzzy when asked about W.O.W.
In order to go W.O.W. I sold a small "hobby" farm ( 6 acres), left a lucrative job in a growing company (where I was "the man"), and alienated my family (they basically thought I was nuts and trapped in an abusive cult {they were right}). I've never regained that level of prosperity or had that good of a job since (it was a great job that I should NEVER have walked away from).
While out in Alabama, about midway through the year, the branch leader in a nearby town decided it would be a swell idea to shoot his disobedient W.O.W. family member in the head (which he did). That particular family member would never return home alive and the BL spent the next several years in an Alabama prison. Another W.O.W. had an ailing mother, but - in order to stay true to her holy commitment - she stayed "on the field" while her mother died (this sort of thing happened FREQUENTLY).
Other W.O.W.s can tell of the times they were raped, robbed, assaulted, had nervous breakdowns, etc. Going without meals, or housing, or jobs, or friends and family was the NORM, from what I could tell. Anything else was generally the EXCEPTION.
And all this sacrifice for WHAT? To promote a conman's business, that's what. And to prepetuate a tired mythology.
Sorry, no thanks, it was B.S., and yes, I DID try it TWICE. Gaaaawd...
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kimberly
Naaahhh, we never rose out of bed early to read our Bibles or pray. We did go back to sleep the couple of times we tried. Different strokes for different folks. The Lord did not have electricity back then.
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hiway29
I survived the year, but I will always regret obeying them when my grandmother died, and I wasn't allowed to return home for the funeral. I blame myself for not having the backbone to go anyway, and to this day I'm not proud of it.
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