I have been wanting to share my story but have not wanted for personal reasons of having other than my nom de plume on it. I feel more comfortable here. so as I get my thoughts together I will beg your collective indulgence. I will begin later

Puddington and RTD -

I agree, and had just sent a PM to Mary about how it could very well be that this was her destiny.

Mary -

When I read your post, I only think for all of us - don't let anything come in about how our lives in the past were wasted. We have our whole lives ahead of us. I hope that there will be many times we meet face to face, but for now, if only via the internet, I am grinning like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. I'm so happy we are all on this road together, friends!!

Mary,

You've been like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. You pulled back the curtain and now we can see who/what was behind it. We are grateful!

We’ve all heard the saying that “Freedom isn’t free”. As one of several who recently met with Onion and Reepicheep in the C. Springs area, I think those following this thread should be aware of the great cost Onion has paid to go public with her information. Perhaps Janis Joplin captures it best by saying, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” At some point, threats mean nothing because there is nothing left to take. Her willingness to be as truthful as possible, no matter what the consequences, is bearing much fruit. I so appreciate her faithfulness and am certain it will not go unrewarded.

Many of us have heard rumors over the years of the destructive inner workings of TLWF leadership, but it has been very liberating to actually have someone turn on the lights and expose the darkness. If you have been following the Survivors thread on Facebook, you know that the problems go much deeper than just Rick. There is more information on the founders that has not been made public yet. One thing that will become increasingly clear to everyone is that they were never “Christ in the flesh” in the first place, but cons. The evil they accused others of doing is a much more accurate description of their own lives.

I’ve been amazed how quickly decades of TLWF deception have unraveled. Many who left years ago have struggled for a long time trying determine if TLWF was actually a cult or not. Personally, it took me years and about 20 cult books to come to the conclusions that many are coming to now in a matter of days. I’m so thankful for that! It will be interesting to see what people do with their new found freedom. It is easy to think that once you move out of your parent’s house, you will finally be able to do whatever you want, without consequences. However, life doesn’t work like that. Real freedom comes when you make good life choices and apply yourself. It looks a lot like work. When you do it well and start to reap the benefits, you have no interest whatsoever in ever moving back with your parents. If you do it poorly, you may end up like the Prodigal, just wanting to be treated like one of your father’s hired hands – and that’s not freedom.

LARRYBOBO:

Great points, and how fortunate to have the opportunity to compare notes with the others you mentioned. I personally know how liberating that can be.

Two days before Shalom posted her account (Oct 25), on Tuesday Oct 23, I got together with Puddington and ChangedAgain for a similar powwow that lasted about five hours. Somewhere near the end of our time together, and with all of us brandishing big smiles, someone mentioned this was probably going to be the 'shape of things to come'--getting together in LOVE for a real new day.

Dear Dirty & Lone Wolf: Beautifully said.


Cheers to the sweet hands of truth liberating loved ones!



dirtybrushes Wrote (in part):
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lone Wolf;
>
>
> I feel there is the right time for each of us to
> come out of our respective comas. I hope you'll be
> able to be that sweet hand of truth that liberates
> others in your family. My large family is now
> reunited in our non-TLWF freedom. It's amazing!

Where can I find the survivors thread on FB? I have found a couple FB sites but they are all TLW sites as far as I can tell.

I will ask Reep to post a link to the TLWF Survivors group because she's more computer savvy than I am. The Jewel (are you Jewel the Unicorn? That was my name when a bunch of my friends and I selected names from the Narnia Chronicles.) I can send you an invitation but you would need to give me your identity - which you can do in a PM back channel on this forum if you want to.

Thanks everyone for your supportive words. I don't think it is that heroic for me to determine I want to undo everything I ever did in protecting the secrets of the TLWF leaders. I had gone through so much terror based on issues I could only trace back to the walk, I felt it was crucial to my survival and had to do it even if I would be alive. Thank you for saying this might be my destiny. If it is then I can look back at something accomplished that is real and for a real reason rather than the sadness of wasted years in a cult. Three cheers for every one of us.

When I made the determination to expose truth (not that long ago) I knew Rick was a disgusting slug but I had no idea how far his abuse reached. If you close your eyes and remember what it was like when he ran the entire TLWF world behind his mom's apron strings, it is just sickening. But of course now we know the whole kit and kaboodle was sickening.

I still feel the most safe posting on this forum. Even with trolls. Being with all of you and seeing as more people join the forum is such a relief from the fear of leaving behind your lifelong commitment to TLWF. Thanks to every one of you.

theJEWEL:

FB Survivors page: [www.facebook.com]

kBOY - There really is a special connection among ex-pats. We really are like family. I recently met several people in person for the first time that I had only communicated with by email. It was nice to put a face with the words. The shared experience really does create a special bond - even though we were in different churches across the country. It's surprising how similar our stories are. On the other hand, I am so thankful for my wife, who had nothing to do with TLWF. She's a healthy, level headed person that has helped me sort through a lot of garbage. There was much I was taught to blame on Satan that was nothing more than my own bad choices - and many of those choices were made for me by TLWF leadership.