Grace Valerie Claire

DWBH, you are right in many of the leaders in TWI were twisted, sick puppies. But of all the leaders/teachers I knew in Way World, there is one who in my opinion stands out. His name was Ralph D. I can't remember his last name, but what a great teacher/leader! He got kicked out, or left. He was in for years, and years, and when he left, TWI treated him like caca. I mention Ralph because I think, if he had been appointed the head of Way World, he might have be able to turn it around. Perhaps not, but I thought he might have made TWI a Godly Ministry, instead of the evil POS it is today.

OS, I hear you!!! I feel the same way!

No way would I ever be a JW!! Their lives are centered around witnessing all the time!! Not for me, but it helps others, that's great. But, please stay away from me. Too religious for me.

T-Bone, I think it is very interesting to read about the different experiences people had in TWI. For example, my WOW sucked! It was the worse single year of my life. Some people had a great year, some didn't. I thought the AC was a waste of money; what a bunch of sheet! Some people thought it was great. I did have some great times in The Way, but when I left, I left for good. I thought leaders in TWI, had it made. Some may have, others went through hell. So many of us had such a variety of experiences in TWI. If I could turn the clock back, I would have left TWI years before I did.

Twinky, I had adjustment issues, but not because of TWI. I had adjustment issues after getting out of the Navy. However, today life is good!

BS, consider yourself blessed in you were never in TWI.

GM, it certainly has gotten better! I met some great people in TWI, but I got so tired of having to sign people up for classes all the time. Especially since the classes were boring!! I heard VPW teach several times, and I thought he was boring. I left in 1988, but heard about a lot of the garbage that Craig did, and said. What a jerk! And a terrible dancer!

Seriously, that is why I keep reading posts here at the GSC. It seems that so many people are leaving TWI, I am surprised that they still exist.

Does anyone know how many people are left in Way World? Just curious.

For sure! I lost over 30 pounds during my WOW year. There were days that I starved because I didn't have enough money to buy food. My WOW year was the worse single year of my life.

Twinky, I had no idea of how corrupt TWI was until I came here. In the Twigs I attended, everything in Way World, was grand and glorious. God forbid if you got sick, lost a job, or had any other negative in your life. Your believing was wrong. After a while, I realized that Way World was an unrealistic place for most of us to deal with. And some of the people who inhabited it were azzholes!!

I was a WOW that year in ILLINOIS. I think some Corps guy killed his WOW brother some place down South. God, what a tragedy!

God forbid TWI deal with the real world. Death is a part of life; someday it will claim all of us.

Yes, and when I woke-up, I discovered TWI had lied to us for decades. In the Twigs I attended, people were taught that TWI walked hand in hand with God. Years later, I came to GSC, and discovered that TWI was a huge Cesspool of corruption, and had very little to do with God. I think VPW started TWI as a way to make a lot of money, and hit on women. He was a POS, in my opinion.

Hi Mike! It's good to "meet" you! BTW, I use my real name. I love my name; I think it's pretty. I personally would not read his books again; I thought they were poorly-written, but if you enjoy them, good for you! Even when I was in TWI, I read what I wanted to. I love to read; I don't watch TV. I read instead. I have come to a time in my life when I can read as often as I like-praise God!

That was me. I was busy living my life, and didn't want to be any type of leader. From what I have read here at the GSC, so many people were so scared by their experiences, I wonder if they will ever recovery from them. One woman described how she was sexually abused by VPW, and it made me cry, and cry. Never in this lifetime, will I understand how "Godly" men could do S--t like that to so many of their Sisters in Christ. I believe that if VPW, and others of his ilk, were still alive, they would be sent to prison for their evil deeds.

Sky, now I can understand why so many people stayed, when they really wanted to leave. I never understood that before, but now I do. Thank you for sharing with the readers of GSC, how hard it was for you, and your family to leave. I never realized how complicated it was for some people to leave, while others just left.

Yes you are!! Again Sky, thanks for sharing all that you, and your family went through. All that time, and work for TWI, and they treat you like caca!! Sky, what really makes me angry is that you, and your wife worked for them for decades, and they never gave you a pension, or a retirement plan, or anything like that. I think that sucks!!! I was in the Navy for five years, and it took 22 years for my Disability Benefits to kick in, but they finally kicked in. No wonder why TWI has a hard time getting people to work for them. They pay you peanuts, and then kick you to the curb when you retire. A lot of people in my Twig wanted me to go Corps after I finished the AC in 1985, but I knew it wasn't for me. I choose to join the Navy, and I'm glad I did.

Wow!! I can't wait to read about it. Sky, I know for many people in TWI, it was hard to walk away from it, but it wasn't for me. The Navy sent me to Italy in May of 1988, and I stopped attending Twig. When I came back to the USA two years later, I had no desire to attend any more TWI fellowships. I realize that it wasn't that easy for many others involved in TWI. I found out years later, that many people had a very difficult time getting out for a variety of reasons.

Yes, I feel it also! Wow, the struggles that so many leaders on the field went through during their time in TWI, was unknown to so many of us. Sky, I thought leadership got paid a certain amount of money, and didn't have to worry about paying their bills like us average believers. Obviously, I was wrong. I can't believe that HQ treated so many leaders like caca; I would have left much sooner than you and your wife did. But, I was/am single with no kids, so it was much easier for me to leave than someone with a family.

Sky, I think many of us feel the same way. I know I do.

Sky, another great post! I also noticed that the BOD, and VPW lived much better than the average Way person. I remember the 1978(?) Gray Lincoln Continental that VPW used to ride around in. Holy Moly, I could barely afford to pay my rent, and other bills, and he was tooling around in a car like that??!! WTF? I wouldn't get started on his plane,or motorcycles. It seemed to me that the people at the top lived like Kings, but the rest of us lived on a much lower scale.

Yes honey, you are so right!! I did not know the seedy side of TWI, until I came to the GSC. If I had known, really known all the sheet that happened in Way World, I would have left much sooner.

Yes Sky, thanks!! I was out of TWI by then, and didn't know most of the garbage that went on in TWI after I left. I am thankful that I left when I did.