I was a FL of Ohio in its first year. I believe that was 1974-75. It didn't become a two year commitment until after I had left.
P.S. Hmm . . . What was the biggest impact it had on my life? Learning to love people despite their short-comings. Of course, it helped to learn how many I had myself.
It was a very interesting and fun time. I learned a lot.
Did you guys live in the apartments north of town?
We lived in apartments in Delaware. I don't know if that was north of Powell or west.
Did you have a garden or food co-op?
We laid the foundation for the garden on the other side of the creek that ran through the property. I remember building the bridge that crossed it. I remember shucking peas -- is that what it's called?
Was there a daily routine that you followed?
We worked secular jobs throughout the week. Myself and about four others all worked at a commercial laundry.
They let me in for whatever reason for about the last two or three months or so of the program. Why, I haven't quite been able to ascertain. We didn't exactly do a whole heck of a lot. Maybe they needed a "specimen" to study.. who knows.
I remember one participant "flipping out" and herr limb leader trying to cast out "devils" from the person.
I also remember being "checked out" by these guys. It was a more of a large vey home setting.
I noticed very thin scotch tape and very fine string being used on the edge of the doors to detect whether someone opened certain participants doors, if said door were to be opened, and tape broken. The jokester that I am, I thought about just re-arranging their room, and carefully replacing the thread or tape..
no, I was nice. Figured they must have had it there for a reason.
maybe they were trying to figure out who was breaking into their stash..
They let me in for whatever reason for about the last two or three months or so of the program. Why, I haven't quite been able to ascertain. We didn't exactly do a whole heck of a lot. Maybe they needed a "specimen" to study.. who knows.
Hammer, I'm sure you would make an interesting subject (specimen) to study. I think I would have loved to spend a year with you (in FL). :)
I remember one participant "flipping out" and herr limb leader trying to cast out "devils" from the person.
Are you speaking of FL of Ohio or some other state. I vaguely recall Burton going to International HQ but, can't remember who replaced him at the Limb level.
FLO 1975-77. Waysider was in the same time as I and opted for an unprecedented 3rd year. My worst food memories - well both of them had to do with vegetables. (1). Some soul unplugged the freezer in the basement of Limb HQ building and forgot to replug it, thus exposing some of us to a nasty outbreak of food poisoning from the thawed something or other that was used a week or so later. And #2, wilted mustard greens. YEECH! YUCK! Omigosh whose brainstorm was THAT!! The endless supply of home-mixed cereal (familia?) was a distant third. It was raw oats, nuts, seeds (lotsa flax seeds) and other crap, all mixed together by the members of our food program, which was called Manna. It was good if certain people made it and awful if the more legalistic among us made it. The future Mr. Garden, a third year FLO, made some of the best, replete with nuts, seeds, raisins, rolled dates and so on, and short on diarrhea-producing flax seed.
We were up for morning fellowship at 5:30 AM in a basement of one of the townhouse apartments on Hills-Miller Road, prayer, manfestations, and announcements (Mr. Garden used to sit in the back and snooze through this; I watched him covertly). Then a 3/4 or so mile run down Hills-Miller Road, where the cows in the cow pasture sometimes ran with us as much as they were able. Then a healthful and nutritious breakfast, usually featuring the above mentioned cereal, but sometimes varied with somlething like soaked, boiled wheat berries, resembling nothing so much in flavor and texture as tiny rubber bands. We then dressed for work and those who had time to do so, repaired to either Wayside Cafe, The Wagon Wheel, or the L&K down Highway 23 from us for some real food. Mr. Garden (who wasn't Mr. Garden then) occasionally prepared a real breakfast at home with eggs, ham or sausage previously purchased by him for his house, he being the house leader at one of the townhouses.
Off to our secular jobs, then meet at Limb every evening for a healthful and nutrititious dinner meal, hopefully not wilted mustard greens or Squachini casserole, either or both of which may have been involved in the food poisoning episode, or even better fried calf's liver (Mr. Garden prepared his household's portion with a LOT of garlic and onions, so there were races to sit at his table). Then work in the garden, which the future Mr. Garden coordinated), or clean the limb HQ and home where the limb coordinator lived (Howie Y my first year, and Jim M**ne of 4th WC fame my second), or other exciting chores. Once a week we had Fellow Laborer Night, similar to Corps Night. We had to look nice but not as nice as WC for this delightful occasion. On Saturday mornings we also had a work day, but left after lunch to clean our own homes, do our own laundry at one of the laundromats around town, etc. Sunday we probably were at Limb for mornings but I forget.
Interspersed with all these fun times were classes, meetings we had to go to or work at or both, etc. There were a number of hairy incidents cheerfully scheduled and non-scheduled as well.
What did I learn? Keep my head down, my mouth shut (not too good at that part) and keep an eye out for the one person in that whole first year who was my refuge and put things neatly in perspective for me - my wonderful husband, who called 'em as he saw 'em and got away with it.
I should also add I learned to put in a good hard day's work, not be afraid of cow manure or its more vocal cousin Bullpoo, and to finish what I start. I learned the benefit of exercise. I learned a lot about growing my own food, which I still enjoy. I learned to love God bigger than I had. In some ways the program was good for me. But the best thing I got out of it was my husband!
FLO 1975-77. Waysider was in the same time as I and opted for an unprecedented 3rd year, due to an unfortunate overdose of Swiss Chard.
My worst food memory - well both of them had to do with vegetables. (1). Some soul unplugged the freezer in the basement of Limb HQ building and forgot to replug it, thus exposing some of us to a nasty outbreak of food poisoning from the thawed something or other that was used a week or so later. And #2, wilted mustard greens. YEECH! YUCK! Omigosh whose brainstorm was THAT!! The endless supply of home-mixed cereal was a distant third. It was raw oats, nuts, seeds (lotsa flax seeds) and other crap, all mixed together by the members of our food program, which was called Manna. It was good if certain people made it and awful if the more legalistic among us made it. The future Mr. Garden, a third year FLO, made some of the best, replete with nuts, seeds, raisins arolled dates nd so on, and short on diarrhea producing flax seed.
We were up for morning fellowship at 5:30 AM in a basement of one of the townhouse apartments on Hills-Miller Road, prayer, manfestations, and announcements (Mr. Garden used to sit in the back and snooze through this; I watched him covertly). Then a 3/4 or so mile run down Hills-Miller Road, where the cows in the cow pasture sometimes ran with us as much as they were able. Then a healthful and nutritious breakfast, usually featuring the above mentioned cereal, but sometimes varied with somlething like soaked, boiled wheat berries, resembling nothing so much in flavor and texture as tiny rubber bands. We then dressed for work and those who had time to do so, repaired to either Wayside Cafe, The Wagon Wheel, or the L&K down Highway 23 from us for some real food. Mr. Garden (who wasn't Mr. Garden then) occasionally prepared a real breakfast at home with eggs, ham or sausage previously purchased by him for his house, he being the house leader at one of the townhouses.
Off to our secular jobs, then meet at Limb every evening for a healthful and nutrititious dinner meal, hopefully not wilted mustard greens or Squachini casserole, either or both of which may have been involved in the food poisoning episode, or even better fried calf's liver (Mr. Garden prepared his household's portion with a LOT of garlic and onions, so there were races to sit at his table). Then work in the garden, which the future Mr. Garden coordinated), or clean the limb HQ and home where the limb coordinator lived (Howie Y my first year, and Jim M**ne of 4th WC fame my second), or other exciting chores. Once a week we had Fellow Laborer Night, similar to Corps Night. We had to look nice but not as nice as WC for this delightful occasion. On Saturday mornings we also had a work day, but left after lunch to clean our own homes, do our own laundry at one of the laundromats around town, etc. Sunday we probably were at Limb for mornings but I forget.
Interspersed with all these fun times were classes, meetings we had to go to or work at or both, etc. There were a number of hairy incidents cheerfully scheduled and non-scheduled as well.
What did I learn? Keep my head down, my mouth shut (not too good at that part) and keep an eye out for the one person in that whole first year who was my refuge and put things neatly in perspective for me - my wonderful husband, who called 'em as he saw 'em and got away with it.
More later,
WG
WG, your memory is much better than mine. In reading through your post it stirred some of my own. One memory I vividly have is the time when I got very angry with Burton. During one of our "Fellow Laborers Night" meetings I spent the entire time staring at him with the meanest look I could muster. He avoided eye contact with me. I got what I wanted -- which was leave to go back home to visit my Grandmother who had come from Florida.
Pardon my complete ignorance, but was Fellow Laborers replaced by WOW? When? Why?
Keep the stories coming... I love reading them!
No, I believe the concept of FL evolved from "Way Homes" where a group of believers decided to live together in the same household. That concept probably evolved from the communal life of hippies since many during that time came from that background -- although I think Burton was a true-blue jock. I sometimes wondered if the man wasn't taking steroids. Anyways, I think D. Fugit came up with the inspiration for WOW.
Not every state had a Fellowlaborers program. In Ohio, we were almost like instate Way Corps, in fact, if I recall, Rev. Earl Burton was the one who came up with the idea and sold Dr. Wierwille on it. Obviously, West Virginia and Ohio had programs, and I think Indiana, Illinois and maybe California. But they differed from state to state.
Fellow Laborers in general were attached to the limb. They either worked with the limb coordinator and were under his guidance or I think some were more outreach oriented and became kind of like instate WOW's. Some programs lasted only a few months.
Ohio Fellow Laborers, as Larry mentioned, began as a one year program and was stretched to two years. My husband was in 3rd year fellowlaborers and it was a two year program, perhaps the first year it went to two years. I was a 4th year. I started in 1975 and graduat ed in 1977. I recall the programs began appearing in the early to mid-70's and were phased out or discontinued in the late 70's, reason being given that people were going into the state program rather than the "real" WC when God had actually called them to be WC (guess the line was down on that call). I suspect Waysider, who was in FLO for an unprecedented third year, would remember more about why it was discontinued than I, as by then I was so outta there!
In Ohio, if there was a class, say for example Christian Family and Sex, taught at the limb level, we assisted as twig leaders, meal cookers, cleaners, gofers, from before it started until after it finished. Our first year, The Ohio Limb Meeting* was held in a cow barn at the Franklin County fairgrounds. We went there after work, were handed a sack lunch, and spent that evening until 4:00 AM cleaning up cow poo, scrubbing the bathrooms, organizing everything and stringing chairs. This was on a week night, so we had to drive about 30 miles back to our apartments in Delaware, Ohio, then get changed, have morning fellowship at 5:30 AM, and go to our secular jobs. The next evening we also went to the cow barn to clean, I think.
Friday nights were frequently witnessing nights. Weather was irrelevant. I can remember tromping around the east side of Delaware in about a foot of snow the week before Christmas with some guy I didn't know real well who was a bit shall we say unusual (No it wasn't Waysider). He was griping because of the evils of Christ-mass and all the hideous decorations and holiday lights. I was nearly in tears because I was so homesick. Not a good combination.
Our first year in, we were presided over by the elder year FLO, who with a few notable exceptions did everything they could to make us miserable. There was NO privacy. We lived six and seven to a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath townhouse. Only the Coordinator and the Women's coordinator had their own rooms. My first several months I was in the largest bedroom on a narrow bed with two other women with narrow beds in the same room. The medium sized bedroom had two girls, and smallest one, which may actually have been a closet it was that tiny, belonged to the women's coordinator. One girl in the medium sized bedroom, a third year FL, took it on herself to awaken us every morning in case our alarms had broken, I guess. She was a big, buxom, loud girl who was unfailingly jaunty and nauseatingly cheerful at 5:30 in the morning, even when we had all worked until midnight.
"GOOD MORNINGJ!" she would boom, slamming open the bedroom door. IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND I THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE ME TO GET YOU UP SO YOU CAN GET READY FOR MORNING FELLOWSHIP!"
I have never in my entire life wanted to kill someone so badly. She was deeply hurt one morning when I simply rolled over and yelled "OUT!"
For a while my second year I was back in the same apartment, same bedroom, two different roommates, one of whom sleepwalked. I woke from a deep sleep one night to her standing by my bed, shouting out the window at something or someone, who knows! ooooooooeeeeeoooooo!
More later,
WG
*In those days almost every state was a Limb and had a yearly day long meeting somewhere, usually a rented auditorium or such like. There were also Womens' Advances, Mens' Advanced, Youth Advances, etc. We slaved for those too.
We lived six and seven to a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath townhouse.
Oh, I remember very well learning how to take a REAL quick shower. Having to share one with a bunch of other guys (who all had to get ready for the day's events) led to a few arguments. You had just so much time to get it done.
Only the Coordinator and the Women's coordinator had their own rooms.
This must have changed after I left. I bet Mike T. had something to do with that call. :)
One girl in the medium sized bedroom, a third year FL, took it on herself to awaken us every morning in case our alarms had broken, I guess.
I had my own personal living alarm clock. I believe his name was Eugene B. I always had a problem getting up in the ungodly time of the morning and so he would pour water over my head if I slept in too late. Funny thing about it though is one time I decided to just turn over and go back to sleep. That sorta upset him some when he realized that his little water sport game wasn't working anymore.
She was a big, buxom, loud girl who was unfailingly jaunty and nauseatingly cheerful at 5:30 in the morning, even when we had all worked until midnight.
I remember long days. On top of having to work a secular job and go to fellowship and classes (did you have the one with Art Linkletter?) we also had to do study time.
I have never in my entire life wanted to kill someone so badly. She was deeply hurt one morning when I simply rolled over and yelled "OUT!"
See! I wasn't the only one who learned to ignore wake up call.
For a while my second year I was back in the same apartment, same bedroom, two different roommates, one of whom sleepwalked. I woke from a deep sleep one night to her standing by my bed, shouting out the window at something or someone, who knows! ooooooooeeeeeoooooo!
I think we switched apartments every quarter or something. We also switched twig leaders around. The only ones who didn't switch were the married couples. There were one apartment housing them. I don't remember if any of them stayed on for another year -- and frankly I really can't remember who they were. I didn't associate with them that much.
*In those days almost every state was a Limb and had a yearly day long meeting somewhere, usually a rented auditorium or such like. There were also Womens' Advances, Mens' Advanced, Youth Advances, etc. We slaved for those too.
Usually I did all the parking for those events. That and setting up the chairs. To this day I will nudge a chair out of sequence just for the heck of it. ;)
WG - I remember when P*t Y*c*nis and I came to a "high School Minuteman" thingy and we stayed at his brother's fellow laberor's townhouse....(we took a bus from Pittsburgh) I remember being surprised at all the people who ran...I ran track in high school because I wanted too, but to just be told to run when one didn't really like it, was so foreign to me---and you guys actually did it.
There was a bunch of you poor innocents who visited us. Erin Somebody who married N**bert ST***r came too and slept in my room. I was scared to death she'd fall off the top bunk, which was my bunk, mostly because I was always scared to I'd fall off the top bunk.
It's like laughing about the broken collar bone you had when you were 10 years old.
It hurt like the dickens at the time, but looking back you think how foolish it was to allow it to happen.
WG's hubby was always one of my favorite FL3 guys.(74-75)
You would have been hard pressed to find another who would work as hard and cheerfully as him.
Always singing or humming. I wonder if he even knew he did that.
Larry
I think it changed quite a bit from the time you were in until the end.( I don't know how long it lasted.)
It seems like your experience was more along the lines of Way Home even though it was part of FL.
My first year was not too bad .(Howie Y. was limb leader/ FL coordinator)
My second year was wacko.(Jim M. was in charge)
My third year was a complete and total debacle.
You asked about the significance of the truck stop.
We were busy from sun-up to sun-down, 24/7.
Evenings were spent doing work at limb HQ unless you were on a special assignment such as food co-op.
After that, we drove about 30 miles to our apartments in Podunk, Ohio where we then met in twigs. Every friggin' night.
(Not the same folks as in our houses. Sometimes you had a "house meeting" after that.)
If you drove fast enough, you could pull into the Wayside and grab a cup of coffee to go and still make it to twig by starting time(10 pm?)
After twig was over you had to do dishes, get ready for the next day, etc, in time to make lights out at midnight.
At midnight, all lights went out and there was NO talking allowed. You had to be in bed.
Two or three to a room.
If you needed to talk to someone privately about the program or life in general, you invited them to accompany you on a "junk food run" to The Wayside. It was a half mile walk to and fro.
You had to squeeze that into a narrow window between the end of night twig and lights out.
It was the only way you could express yourself freely without someone listening in.
Also, none of the 8 townhouses had phones.You could not take it upon yourself to leave the compound without approval from leadership.
The only connection to the outside world was a single pay phone at the Wayside Truck Stop.
Sometimes it was in service and sometimes it was broken. You never knew.
It did not matter where you were calling, it was a sure bet it was long distance and expensive.
Not good news for a bunch of people living on very limited resources.
It's impossible to explain the program in a few brief paragraphs but that is some background on The Wayside Truck Stop and what it meant to be a Waysider.
I think it changed quite a bit from the time you were in until the end.( I don't know how long it lasted.)
It seems like your experience was more along the lines of Way Home even though it was part of FL.
You may be right. It was over 30 years ago and I obviously don't remember a lot. There's a thing said about impressions and first impressions being the most important. There were some bad times as well as good times but my impression overall is -- I have no regrets for having been there.
Is anyone still interested in talking about Fellowlaborers? As I look back at different things in my life that had major impact on me, my two years in Delaware/Powell OH certainly comes to mind. I had taken PFAL two years before, couple years out of high school,never been away from home and knew next to nothing. As I drove away from home pulling my U-Haul with my parents waving at me though my side mirror, well, it`s a feeling I`ll never forget. I have nothing but fond memories of the friends I made, the things I learned, and the experiences I had. I appreciate the anonymity of GS, some of your memories of me might not be as fond as mine are of you. Watered Garden, I remember you well, intelligent, articulate and a big heart. And from reading your posts these past years it sounds like you have`nt changed. If I could relive my life I`d do it again.
I'm sure we must know each other.(I was FL4---blue name tag--- dontcha know?)
I was just thinkin' recently that there are probably only a couple hundred of us who went through FLO.(We're kind of a rare species.)
That's like a drop in the bucket compared to how many went through the corps.
And yet, here we are, 4 of us plus a non posting grad spouse. Must have had some kind of impact, dontcha think?
I agree with you that we all experienced a great deal of personal growth.
Some of those experiences were pretty hairy but time has a way of smoothing out the rough edges.
Knowing what I know now, I would not do it again.
That has nothing to do with the individuals in the program.
There were some really terrific people huddled cross-legged on the basement floor every morning at 5:30 for morning fellowship.
It has a LOT to do with what I now know about TWI, the organization.
What was the wackiest project you had to work on?
I think mine was the time we had an "emergency" work detail to destroy the mimeograph plates for The Grapevine so "the adversary" couldn't use our mailing list against us.
That was during the time when all the conspiracy theories were running rampant.
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Larry N Moore
I was a FL of Ohio in its first year. I believe that was 1974-75. It didn't become a two year commitment until after I had left.
P.S. Hmm . . . What was the biggest impact it had on my life? Learning to love people despite their short-comings. Of course, it helped to learn how many I had myself.
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waysider
Hi, Larry
What was it like that first year?
Did you guys live in the apartments north of town?
Did you have a garden or food co-op?
Was there a daily routine that you followed?
(ie: A.M. fellowship, run, breakfast, 9-5, yada, yada, yada?)
Did you spend your evenings at limb HQ doing work assignments?
What's your worst food memory?
Ditto on the learning to co-exist.
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Larry N Moore
We lived in apartments in Delaware. I don't know if that was north of Powell or west.
We laid the foundation for the garden on the other side of the creek that ran through the property. I remember building the bridge that crossed it. I remember shucking peas -- is that what it's called?We worked secular jobs throughout the week. Myself and about four others all worked at a commercial laundry.
Yep, yep, yep, and then some. We spent all our time together.I think we only got together two nights a week. Maybe only one. Burton was teaching us from the book of Acts.
I didn't care too much for the fruit salad. I imagine you must have had a bad food experience though.
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Larry N Moore
This sounds interesting. What was so special about it? I can't remember that particular truck stop.
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Ham
They let me in for whatever reason for about the last two or three months or so of the program. Why, I haven't quite been able to ascertain. We didn't exactly do a whole heck of a lot. Maybe they needed a "specimen" to study.. who knows.
I remember one participant "flipping out" and herr limb leader trying to cast out "devils" from the person.
I also remember being "checked out" by these guys. It was a more of a large vey home setting.
I noticed very thin scotch tape and very fine string being used on the edge of the doors to detect whether someone opened certain participants doors, if said door were to be opened, and tape broken. The jokester that I am, I thought about just re-arranging their room, and carefully replacing the thread or tape..
no, I was nice. Figured they must have had it there for a reason.
maybe they were trying to figure out who was breaking into their stash..
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Larry N Moore
Are you speaking of FL of Ohio or some other state. I vaguely recall Burton going to International HQ but, can't remember who replaced him at the Limb level.
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Ham
It was in WV.
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Larry N Moore
OH! That explains some things. Did the Limb Leader also handle snakes when he spoke in tongues? ;)
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Ham
No, no snakes..
but he was short.
I think he thought he was Napoleon..
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Watered Garden
FLO 1975-77. Waysider was in the same time as I and opted for an unprecedented 3rd year. My worst food memories - well both of them had to do with vegetables. (1). Some soul unplugged the freezer in the basement of Limb HQ building and forgot to replug it, thus exposing some of us to a nasty outbreak of food poisoning from the thawed something or other that was used a week or so later. And #2, wilted mustard greens. YEECH! YUCK! Omigosh whose brainstorm was THAT!! The endless supply of home-mixed cereal (familia?) was a distant third. It was raw oats, nuts, seeds (lotsa flax seeds) and other crap, all mixed together by the members of our food program, which was called Manna. It was good if certain people made it and awful if the more legalistic among us made it. The future Mr. Garden, a third year FLO, made some of the best, replete with nuts, seeds, raisins, rolled dates and so on, and short on diarrhea-producing flax seed.
We were up for morning fellowship at 5:30 AM in a basement of one of the townhouse apartments on Hills-Miller Road, prayer, manfestations, and announcements (Mr. Garden used to sit in the back and snooze through this; I watched him covertly). Then a 3/4 or so mile run down Hills-Miller Road, where the cows in the cow pasture sometimes ran with us as much as they were able. Then a healthful and nutritious breakfast, usually featuring the above mentioned cereal, but sometimes varied with somlething like soaked, boiled wheat berries, resembling nothing so much in flavor and texture as tiny rubber bands. We then dressed for work and those who had time to do so, repaired to either Wayside Cafe, The Wagon Wheel, or the L&K down Highway 23 from us for some real food. Mr. Garden (who wasn't Mr. Garden then) occasionally prepared a real breakfast at home with eggs, ham or sausage previously purchased by him for his house, he being the house leader at one of the townhouses.
Off to our secular jobs, then meet at Limb every evening for a healthful and nutrititious dinner meal, hopefully not wilted mustard greens or Squachini casserole, either or both of which may have been involved in the food poisoning episode, or even better fried calf's liver (Mr. Garden prepared his household's portion with a LOT of garlic and onions, so there were races to sit at his table). Then work in the garden, which the future Mr. Garden coordinated), or clean the limb HQ and home where the limb coordinator lived (Howie Y my first year, and Jim M**ne of 4th WC fame my second), or other exciting chores. Once a week we had Fellow Laborer Night, similar to Corps Night. We had to look nice but not as nice as WC for this delightful occasion. On Saturday mornings we also had a work day, but left after lunch to clean our own homes, do our own laundry at one of the laundromats around town, etc. Sunday we probably were at Limb for mornings but I forget.
Interspersed with all these fun times were classes, meetings we had to go to or work at or both, etc. There were a number of hairy incidents cheerfully scheduled and non-scheduled as well.
What did I learn? Keep my head down, my mouth shut (not too good at that part) and keep an eye out for the one person in that whole first year who was my refuge and put things neatly in perspective for me - my wonderful husband, who called 'em as he saw 'em and got away with it.
More later,
WG
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Watered Garden
I should also add I learned to put in a good hard day's work, not be afraid of cow manure or its more vocal cousin Bullpoo, and to finish what I start. I learned the benefit of exercise. I learned a lot about growing my own food, which I still enjoy. I learned to love God bigger than I had. In some ways the program was good for me. But the best thing I got out of it was my husband!
WG
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Larry N Moore
WG, your memory is much better than mine. In reading through your post it stirred some of my own. One memory I vividly have is the time when I got very angry with Burton. During one of our "Fellow Laborers Night" meetings I spent the entire time staring at him with the meanest look I could muster. He avoided eye contact with me. I got what I wanted -- which was leave to go back home to visit my Grandmother who had come from Florida.
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TheHighWay
Pardon my complete ignorance, but was Fellow Laborers replaced by WOW? When? Why?
Keep the stories coming... I love reading them!
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Larry N Moore
No, I believe the concept of FL evolved from "Way Homes" where a group of believers decided to live together in the same household. That concept probably evolved from the communal life of hippies since many during that time came from that background -- although I think Burton was a true-blue jock. I sometimes wondered if the man wasn't taking steroids. Anyways, I think D. Fugit came up with the inspiration for WOW.
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TheHighWay
((aaahhh... D Fugit... great guy))
So, anyone know the time frames here?
Fellow Laborers -- 1974 to ????
Way Homes -- ???? to ????
WOW -- ???? to 1991? 1992?
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Watered Garden
Highway,
Not every state had a Fellowlaborers program. In Ohio, we were almost like instate Way Corps, in fact, if I recall, Rev. Earl Burton was the one who came up with the idea and sold Dr. Wierwille on it. Obviously, West Virginia and Ohio had programs, and I think Indiana, Illinois and maybe California. But they differed from state to state.
Fellow Laborers in general were attached to the limb. They either worked with the limb coordinator and were under his guidance or I think some were more outreach oriented and became kind of like instate WOW's. Some programs lasted only a few months.
Ohio Fellow Laborers, as Larry mentioned, began as a one year program and was stretched to two years. My husband was in 3rd year fellowlaborers and it was a two year program, perhaps the first year it went to two years. I was a 4th year. I started in 1975 and graduat ed in 1977. I recall the programs began appearing in the early to mid-70's and were phased out or discontinued in the late 70's, reason being given that people were going into the state program rather than the "real" WC when God had actually called them to be WC (guess the line was down on that call). I suspect Waysider, who was in FLO for an unprecedented third year, would remember more about why it was discontinued than I, as by then I was so outta there!
In Ohio, if there was a class, say for example Christian Family and Sex, taught at the limb level, we assisted as twig leaders, meal cookers, cleaners, gofers, from before it started until after it finished. Our first year, The Ohio Limb Meeting* was held in a cow barn at the Franklin County fairgrounds. We went there after work, were handed a sack lunch, and spent that evening until 4:00 AM cleaning up cow poo, scrubbing the bathrooms, organizing everything and stringing chairs. This was on a week night, so we had to drive about 30 miles back to our apartments in Delaware, Ohio, then get changed, have morning fellowship at 5:30 AM, and go to our secular jobs. The next evening we also went to the cow barn to clean, I think.
Friday nights were frequently witnessing nights. Weather was irrelevant. I can remember tromping around the east side of Delaware in about a foot of snow the week before Christmas with some guy I didn't know real well who was a bit shall we say unusual (No it wasn't Waysider). He was griping because of the evils of Christ-mass and all the hideous decorations and holiday lights. I was nearly in tears because I was so homesick. Not a good combination.
Our first year in, we were presided over by the elder year FLO, who with a few notable exceptions did everything they could to make us miserable. There was NO privacy. We lived six and seven to a 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath townhouse. Only the Coordinator and the Women's coordinator had their own rooms. My first several months I was in the largest bedroom on a narrow bed with two other women with narrow beds in the same room. The medium sized bedroom had two girls, and smallest one, which may actually have been a closet it was that tiny, belonged to the women's coordinator. One girl in the medium sized bedroom, a third year FL, took it on herself to awaken us every morning in case our alarms had broken, I guess. She was a big, buxom, loud girl who was unfailingly jaunty and nauseatingly cheerful at 5:30 in the morning, even when we had all worked until midnight.
"GOOD MORNINGJ!" she would boom, slamming open the bedroom door. IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING AND I THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE ME TO GET YOU UP SO YOU CAN GET READY FOR MORNING FELLOWSHIP!"
I have never in my entire life wanted to kill someone so badly. She was deeply hurt one morning when I simply rolled over and yelled "OUT!"
For a while my second year I was back in the same apartment, same bedroom, two different roommates, one of whom sleepwalked. I woke from a deep sleep one night to her standing by my bed, shouting out the window at something or someone, who knows! ooooooooeeeeeoooooo!
More later,
WG
*In those days almost every state was a Limb and had a yearly day long meeting somewhere, usually a rented auditorium or such like. There were also Womens' Advances, Mens' Advanced, Youth Advances, etc. We slaved for those too.
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Larry N Moore
This must have changed after I left. I bet Mike T. had something to do with that call. :)
I had my own personal living alarm clock. I believe his name was Eugene B. I always had a problem getting up in the ungodly time of the morning and so he would pour water over my head if I slept in too late. Funny thing about it though is one time I decided to just turn over and go back to sleep. That sorta upset him some when he realized that his little water sport game wasn't working anymore.I remember long days. On top of having to work a secular job and go to fellowship and classes (did you have the one with Art Linkletter?) we also had to do study time.
I think we switched apartments every quarter or something. We also switched twig leaders around. The only ones who didn't switch were the married couples. There were one apartment housing them. I don't remember if any of them stayed on for another year -- and frankly I really can't remember who they were. I didn't associate with them that much.
Usually I did all the parking for those events. That and setting up the chairs. To this day I will nudge a chair out of sequence just for the heck of it. ;)
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washingtonweather
WG - I remember when P*t Y*c*nis and I came to a "high School Minuteman" thingy and we stayed at his brother's fellow laberor's townhouse....(we took a bus from Pittsburgh) I remember being surprised at all the people who ran...I ran track in high school because I wanted too, but to just be told to run when one didn't really like it, was so foreign to me---and you guys actually did it.
I think it was in fall of 75
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Watered Garden
There was a bunch of you poor innocents who visited us. Erin Somebody who married N**bert ST***r came too and slept in my room. I was scared to death she'd fall off the top bunk, which was my bunk, mostly because I was always scared to I'd fall off the top bunk.
Lucky you to have escaped!
WG
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waysider
You guys are crackin' me up!
It's like laughing about the broken collar bone you had when you were 10 years old.
It hurt like the dickens at the time, but looking back you think how foolish it was to allow it to happen.
WG's hubby was always one of my favorite FL3 guys.(74-75)
You would have been hard pressed to find another who would work as hard and cheerfully as him.
Always singing or humming. I wonder if he even knew he did that.
Larry
I think it changed quite a bit from the time you were in until the end.( I don't know how long it lasted.)
It seems like your experience was more along the lines of Way Home even though it was part of FL.
My first year was not too bad .(Howie Y. was limb leader/ FL coordinator)
My second year was wacko.(Jim M. was in charge)
My third year was a complete and total debacle.
You asked about the significance of the truck stop.
We were busy from sun-up to sun-down, 24/7.
Evenings were spent doing work at limb HQ unless you were on a special assignment such as food co-op.
After that, we drove about 30 miles to our apartments in Podunk, Ohio where we then met in twigs. Every friggin' night.
(Not the same folks as in our houses. Sometimes you had a "house meeting" after that.)
If you drove fast enough, you could pull into the Wayside and grab a cup of coffee to go and still make it to twig by starting time(10 pm?)
After twig was over you had to do dishes, get ready for the next day, etc, in time to make lights out at midnight.
At midnight, all lights went out and there was NO talking allowed. You had to be in bed.
Two or three to a room.
If you needed to talk to someone privately about the program or life in general, you invited them to accompany you on a "junk food run" to The Wayside. It was a half mile walk to and fro.
You had to squeeze that into a narrow window between the end of night twig and lights out.
It was the only way you could express yourself freely without someone listening in.
Also, none of the 8 townhouses had phones.You could not take it upon yourself to leave the compound without approval from leadership.
The only connection to the outside world was a single pay phone at the Wayside Truck Stop.
Sometimes it was in service and sometimes it was broken. You never knew.
It did not matter where you were calling, it was a sure bet it was long distance and expensive.
Not good news for a bunch of people living on very limited resources.
It's impossible to explain the program in a few brief paragraphs but that is some background on The Wayside Truck Stop and what it meant to be a Waysider.
edited for spelling.
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Larry N Moore
You may be right. It was over 30 years ago and I obviously don't remember a lot. There's a thing said about impressions and first impressions being the most important. There were some bad times as well as good times but my impression overall is -- I have no regrets for having been there.
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waysider
WashingtonWeather
I remember Pat and Dan quite well.
They were FL3. We stayed in contact for a little while after FL.
I am sorry to say I do not remember your stay.
One of the functions we served was to act as an underground railroad of sorts.
We housed people who were being pursued by their families and deprogrammers.
It's not too hard to hide in a rural location that has no contact with the outside world.
We were strictly forbidden from asking questions other than the usual "do you need more blankets?", etc,
Hence, I do not remember your stay.
Re: The running.
Yep, we ran every morning at 5:30, rain or shine.(365)
One of our married FL sisters had to run even though she was having difficulty with her first ever pregnancy.
She wound up losing the baby and caused damage that rendered her unable to ever bear children.
Quite a sacrifice to make.
We were young and headstrong to "move The Word".
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Breeze
Is anyone still interested in talking about Fellowlaborers? As I look back at different things in my life that had major impact on me, my two years in Delaware/Powell OH certainly comes to mind. I had taken PFAL two years before, couple years out of high school,never been away from home and knew next to nothing. As I drove away from home pulling my U-Haul with my parents waving at me though my side mirror, well, it`s a feeling I`ll never forget. I have nothing but fond memories of the friends I made, the things I learned, and the experiences I had. I appreciate the anonymity of GS, some of your memories of me might not be as fond as mine are of you. Watered Garden, I remember you well, intelligent, articulate and a big heart. And from reading your posts these past years it sounds like you have`nt changed. If I could relive my life I`d do it again.
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waysider
Hiya, Breeze.
I'm sure we must know each other.(I was FL4---blue name tag--- dontcha know?)
I was just thinkin' recently that there are probably only a couple hundred of us who went through FLO.(We're kind of a rare species.)
That's like a drop in the bucket compared to how many went through the corps.
And yet, here we are, 4 of us plus a non posting grad spouse. Must have had some kind of impact, dontcha think?
I agree with you that we all experienced a great deal of personal growth.
Some of those experiences were pretty hairy but time has a way of smoothing out the rough edges.
Knowing what I know now, I would not do it again.
That has nothing to do with the individuals in the program.
There were some really terrific people huddled cross-legged on the basement floor every morning at 5:30 for morning fellowship.
It has a LOT to do with what I now know about TWI, the organization.
What was the wackiest project you had to work on?
I think mine was the time we had an "emergency" work detail to destroy the mimeograph plates for The Grapevine so "the adversary" couldn't use our mailing list against us.
That was during the time when all the conspiracy theories were running rampant.
Anyhoo---Just thought I would pop in and say
PS---PM me if you feel like it.
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