Thank you all for your support and kind words. I do have a counselor and he has been great, but there is something about talking with people that have a true understanding of this particular cult (still getting used to calling it that).

@Reepicheep You mentioned Impact, my Dad was part of that company and I keep trying to find out more about it, but there is nothing out there. Woodrow's book only briefly mentions it and focuses more on the gold mine. I remember things like my Dad learning how to bind the principalities and powers of each city they rolled through. Also speaking judgement on Purdy paint brushes, I can't go through the paint department without thinking about that. Any other insights or stories from the front line you or anyone could share about that insider group would be welcome.

As far as extended family goes, We essentially stopped all contact and broke all ties with them years ago after my grandparents passed away. We were all affected too much by being around them and taught to keep our walls up at all times. They were identified as having a religious spirit so I have no real relationship with any extended family.

Tknc wrote:
"As far as extended family goes, We essentially stopped all contact and broke all ties with them years ago after my grandparents passed away. We were all affected too much by being around them and taught to keep our walls up at all times. They were identified as having a religious spirit so I have no real relationship with any extended family"

I'm so sorry to hear that your grandparents have passed away Tknc. You might want to keep an open mind, though. There may be extended family members who would still care about you as a person, not through the lense of your parents and their issues.

As far as Impact goes, there are others who frequent this message board who know far more than I do. I will preface by saying that I do not hold any leader, owner or ministry guilty of taking advantage of people other than John Robert Stevens himself. As far as I am concerned, pastors, elders, business leaders, and all who served in any capacity whatsoever were just following orders from headquarters.

That being said, my understanding in a nutshell is that, after the mine debacle, JRS was looking for new ways to "fund the kingdom". According to Woodrow, he was still thinking of his 1979 kingdom vision. He had people preparing, somewhat as doomsday preppers of today are doing, for days of tribulation (zombie apocalypse, if you will).

He had the idea that if the Walk could be in control of the financial realm, then the end-time remnant could continue to operate and thrive and grow in the midst of chaos. He commissioned men to start businesses and fulfill his vision. I don't pretend to know what was going on in his head, but whatever his true motivation, John had a way to inspire people to pour out their life for him.

I can't help but wonder if JRS was facing other Goliaths of which the people were unaware by the mid- to late-seventies. Prayer and intercession took on a violent, desperate tone. People in kingdom businesses worked for less than minimum wage and lived in dilapidated communal homes. (And went without heaslth and dental care, and ran up their credit cards just to survive.) It was as if the flock were fighting for their leader's very life, and perhaps that is exactly what was happening.

I think many people had their own experiences, have their own unique thoughts and opinions about Impact but I believe there is very little spoken about Impact any where because of the love so many of the people had for Bob. He wasn't about money, nor was he greedy, and he worked at the company and served in the ministry day and night with out a thought for himself. He and his family lived on an income that was no greater than any of the people who worked at the company. Bob believed his purpose in the ministry was to start a business for the purpose of publishing the gospel and to be able to financially support other pastors and their families, to financially free them to serve as ministries for the church - so that the members of the church would not be burdened financially with having to support them. This was the vision he had for the company and he did not depart from it.

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Also, you previously mentioned that your parents
> were in Impact. In my opinion, Impact and other
> related "kingdom businesses" were a cult within a
> cult. They considered themselves JRS' elite
> intercessors. If the Walk could be compared to the
> Army, then Impact considered themselves the Green
> Berets. They were taught to live an extreme
> lifestyle of impoverishment and crazed prophecy
> sessions.


So true. When I was at Shiloh I resided in a dorm room with 2 females who seemed to run the Iowa Impact. They reached out to me and invited me on some of their excursions to Iowa City. I recall them saying Rich Lindy wasn't happy with them because the Impact folks who lived at Shiloh weren't attending the Shiloh services/intercession and Rich made a suggestion that they should move out of Shiloh. The two Impact females said they had Bob McClain's support and they interceded among themselves. Anyhoo, at one point I was invited to tour the Impact facility. Why not? Subsequently, I was asked if I wanted to become part of the Impact team. I said I didn't think so. And I was pretty much dropped by the Impact folks. No more reaching out to me or invitations to go on their excursions. I can laugh about it now. But I am sooooooo glad I never signed on. Still, I loved Bob McClain and I have good memories of him but he was so sucked into it all. I recall when I read about him on Factnet, the poster said Bob wanted to give an inheritance he received to Marilyn, but I think I recall, Bob's family were able to talk him out of it.

Invisible Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think many people had their own experiences,
> have their own unique thoughts and opinions about
> Impact but I believe there is very little spoken
> about Impact any where because of the love so many
> of the people had for Bob. He wasn't about money,
> nor was he greedy, and he worked at the company
> and served in the ministry day and night with out
> a thought for himself. He and his family lived on
> an income that was no greater than any of the
> people who worked at the company. Bob believed his
> purpose in the ministry was to start a business
> for the purpose of publishing the gospel and to be
> able to financially support other pastors and
> their families, to financially free them to serve
> as ministries for the church - so that the
> members of the church would not be burdened
> financially with having to support them. This was
> the vision he had for the company and he did not
> depart from it.

Bob McClane and his family lived as servants to JRS. I have nothing but good thoughts about all of the McClane family. It's the man who inspired this devotion that I take issue with.

I got to know Bob fairly well in the latter part of his life. He was very distraught about his financial situation, and felt betrayed by G & M.
I've mentioned before that I was notified of his death by an announcement Gary made during a valley feast service. Coupled with the news was Gary's assessment of Bob's ministry as being a failure. There was also blame ministered to those who were in Bob's life for not being what were supposed to be to him. I walked out of the service not only saddened about the news of his death, but also feeling the sh*tload of guilt Gary was attempting to transfer to the fellowship--who likely cared much more about about Bob then he did.

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got to know Bob fairly well in the latter part
> of his life. He was very distraught about his
> financial situation, and felt betrayed by G & M.
> I've mentioned before that I was notified of his
> death by an announcement Gary made during a valley
> feast service. Coupled with the news was Gary's
> assessment of Bob's ministry as being a failure.
> There was also blame ministered to those who were
> in Bob's life for not being what were supposed to
> be to him. I walked out of the service not only
> saddened about the news of his death, but also
> feeling the sh*tload of guilt Gary was attempting
> to transfer to the fellowship--who likely cared
> much more about about Bob then he did.

That was so sad, changedagain, and must have been very difficult for you. Bob McClane never did anything to deserve that type of treatment. Another instance of "Let the random beatings begin!"

Two other holidays that connect us to the outside world:

Thanksgiving and Halloween, but especially T - Day.

Any group that wants to effectively estrange you from from family, friends, and mainstream society -- forbid T - Day.

He, he. For a lot of us, Thanksgiving is symbolized not only by turkey but by cranberry sauce --- those weird purple cylinders that slither out of cans.
The food equivalent of the Ugly Christmas Sweater. What's not to love?

Glop, plop.

A high demand cult will cut you off from all this.

Oh, yep. Another beloved holiday memory.

See's candies.

Remember when we were kids and someone would bring a box of See's to the party?

We'd be invited to take just one.

This was the early childhood introduction to decision making and risk benefit ratio.

How do you choose something likely to taste good and avoid something that would be gross?

You'd be told to hurry up, make up your mind.

If you guys were by yourselves, you could sort of poke at the tops and get
an idea what flavor it would be.

A cult wants to cut you off from this.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2017 10:23PM by corboy.

Reepicheep Wrote:
> Bob McClane never did anything to deserve that type of treatment.
He was treated cruelly--I can attest to that.

> Another instance of "Let the random beatings begin!"
Idea for a church sign? ha

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you for the warm welcome, Lily Rose and
> NickleandDimed.
>
> This time of year is especially hard for me
> because of time missed with loved ones during the
> holidays. Many of those I miss the most have
> passed away, and that time will never be
> recovered. I’m sure that I’m not the only one
> posting here who has this sadness. It was bad
> enough when we “didn’t celebrate Christmas”
> because we could still spend time with our
> families. It wasn’t the same, because Christmas
> wasn’t meaningful to us in the same way that it
> was meaningful to them, but it was alright. Then
> suddenly, we were strongly encouraged to
> participate in the Magical Christmas Caroling
> Truck. How do you explain to your folks that we,
> who don’t celebrate Christmas, cannot be present
> at holiday gatherings because we are doing a
> Christmas caroling extravaganza through the city
> streets? If you are unfamiliar with this
> particular practice, use this link
> www.christmascaroling.org/
>
> It’s been a wild ride, but I’m so glad to be on a
> healing path. Just wishing that it had been
> sooner.


I want to add my welcome as well, Reepicheep.

I too missed many a Christmas. Even after leaving TLW, I felt isolated from it. I spent five years of Christmases and Thanksgivings in Shiloh. The only one time that we were told to go home, if we possibly could, was after the Jim Jones horror. It was meant to show our families that we were not in a cult and we were free to go. It strikes me now as a terribly cult-ish thing to do!!

I left long before the Christmas Caroling, but have to check out the link. Sadly, I wonder how many people that are still in the Walk even know why they are there.

Looking forward to Christmas this year with family!