It's too bad there wasn't a truck stop nearby called The Wayside Truck Stop. You could have ventured there under the cover of darkness with a trusted WOW brother and pondered the absurdity that was beginning to unfold before your eyes.
We waited until everyone in our Way Home left for the day and threw our bags over the balconey ,taking as little as possible and my guitar and hitch hiked from Mesa Arizona
headed towards Florida.
Sidetracked to San Diego California with some strange rides and a sense of both fear and freedom in our gut.
Almost got into some deep .... near LA with gang members until by some mirical a truck appeared (out of nowhere it seemed)and inside was an Indian man wearing turquiste,never
speaking a word just signaling come on get in.
He dropped us in a little town it was early early 4 am or so when we got a ride in a pick up truck in the back carrying vegetables from the valley.
We took turns sleeping ,one of us always staying awake and holding the mace I still had from being a security guard in Tempe Az tightly in my coat pocket.
Thinking of our next move. It was around March 1980 and basically we were homeless.
Just amazing how many people seemed to feel they had to sneak off while the rest of their group (WoW, twig, whatever) were out of the house/locality.
Anyway, Cheranne, no doubt in your heart you'd made a vow TO GOD. And you haven't broken that vow.
You only broke away from a controlling group that would not allow you to love and serve God in a proper manner. Did they make a "vow" to you - for example, to support you by teachings, etc? Anything else? If so, they broke that.
And if TWI made no vow, remember how GOD has made vows to us, when we serve him with our whole hearts. He never broke His vows. He didn't then, and He doesn't now.
Oh boy do I remember the vow thing so well, in the splinter group I was in I left 3 times. The first 2 times I left secretly and the fear of being caught was unbelievable but it was the guilt over broken vows that made me come back. When I left the 3rd time I had plans on going back but thank God for GS and the enlightenment that it brought to my head. I still every now and then think about well was I wrong? Did I break a vow before God? I just have to remember all the junk I went through to quickly get past it.
Oh boy do I remember the vow thing so well, in the splinter group I was in I left 3 times. The first 2 times I left secretly and the fear of being caught was unbelievable but it was the guilt over broken vows that made me come back. When I left the 3rd time I had plans on going back but thank God for GS and the enlightenment that it brought to my head. I still every now and then think about well was I wrong? Did I break a vow before God? I just have to remember all the junk I went through to quickly get past it.
I remember kinda feeling like the words to this song! The confusion was I was believing God
but NOT TWI anymore who I thought were the elite you know the living room of Gods love.
I wish that I had bailed out on my WOW year, it was a total waste of time, even within the context of Waythink. There were so many times when my common sense told me to get out, but I was so indoctrinated that I needed to be part of "the household", "the ministry that taught me the Word" and all the other cliches that I just stayed on and on and on...
The vow aspect was a very, very big deal to me. I also took a salt covenant the first time I got married. That, too, weighed heavily on my mind as I went through divorce.
The vow aspect was a very, very big deal to me. I also took a salt covenant the first time I got married. That, too, weighed heavily on my mind as I went through divorce.
It also was a big deal to me Waysider. I held on to that Wow Pin for 15 years and then I had a celebration and threw it in a Deep Lake!
I realize now I was NOT leaving God I was leaving The Way a buisness that used the Bible
i don't think i will ever get married because i don't want to ever make a vow that i feel i might have to break because i saw what "the vow" did to my brothers and my sisters when they went wow or corps and they couldn't break "the vow" even when they knew they were serving men not god, so i get it from the outside looking in about "the vow" and it is sad and i hate it that "lewd fellows of the basor sort" tied my family up into such a vow!
Waiting...is what changed us. We ended up at a Sunrise sevice on Easter with some Way of Delaware people.
Not wanting to be IN (on the field)just taking a back seat in Way land suited me fine.(but I don't think TWI had back seats it was full blown SERVICE to move The (Class)
My friend went back to Long Island before her Basic Training started before the week was over there she told me she was not going to go in the Army and had a messed up knee.
I went to visit my old x fiance in NYC,he had dropped out of 11th Corp that year too.
He was real stand offish and guarded and dissapointed in himself,we were differant people
now we had changed within less than 2 years from the happy go lucky (I am going wow and gonna Serve God! Here I am send ME!!!) Yay.
Not anymore.we were hard and frozen and only felt safe "spiritually" around other Way Believers who had the same way of talking walking living.
He took me to Wall St and I could care less about the big city,we sat and stared at the Statue of Liberty, scripture running in our minds in circles of America and Founders of
our Country.
The song "We are songs of God with Power" and the teaching tape of Dr. Weirwille he sent the Wows in 79 on Christmas to listen to every Sunday Night over and over again.
We were both dissapointed in ourselves for breaking our vows, and the whole having done STAND! Rang in our head like a freaking nightmere for whom the bell tolls!
When morning came we were back on track, he was headed to a Way Home in Brooklyn and I was to spend my last 3 months in a Way Home on Long Island,before my Basic training at Fort Jackson South Carolina.
This time we would make it. Not us as a couple but our "service" to The Way International
It was that quick and that easy back into "fellowship"
I saw him one more time after that and I saw my traveling friend one more time and never again.
Long Island New York Way Home (that was a LAID back place.) Very easy going and friendly
I knew I was there to relax and get ready for the Army,that was my goal now to just focus
on being not so hyper on selling the bible class thing.
Why did everyone have to take that PFAL Class!
Well...that's another story. Got a job at Kodak Labs ,did alot of bike riding on the boardwalk and not so much reading the bible(which was a good thing for me at the time)
and also got a new boyfriend!(a believer ofcourse) Thought life was pretty good there for a while but I wanted to become a Military Wow since I was going into the Army and back
into The Way.
Rock of Ages came that year and I got "commissioned" my little name tag and made that Vow
AIT was at Fort Jackson for me also I was a 76Y10(That is a Supply Specialist)a lot like RETAIL but BIG HUGE ARMY STUFF everything from Pencils to Tanks.
I was made a squad leader,my drill sergent loved that I followed orders so well(what cult follower isn't use to that!)Graduated from that and I wanted to go Airborne.
My boyfriend who was a Pediatric Cardiologist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center NY
became my fiance and I don't know how the hell we were gonna work that out living in differant states .
But he was a Believer so it must be Gods Will. :blink: (I did not go to Europe as planned
but to Fort Bragg North Carolina)
I settled into my barracks and got a hold of the other Military Wows at Fort Bragg(not right away though before I had to move in and get back into Wow mode )
So....I made the call to International told them where I was and before you knew it there was a car for me.
I was to move off base with my new Wow Family(3 Wow brothers in uniform! Nice.)Although
I liked the Barracks too and when I saw a tv it was weird cause I hadn't seen a tv in YEARS!
Anyhoo...there we 5 Wow sisters living in another house(civilians)and since I was Military
The thing about being a Military Wow was that we were always working full time,and our schedules varied,sometimes we would be in the field,or working at night.
The balance was good for me ,getting more into the world and real life not so much with just Way people.
The Way was not my priority anymore so much as the Army was and my wow brothers we great!
I didn't have a car so one of them would always make sure I was on time for PT and sometime I would have to walk over to Womack Army Hospital where my Wow brother who was Major Podiatrist (I will just call him that name)and wait til he got off work from seeing alot of Paratroopers with leg injuries!
But we did what we could for (The Ministry ) and we thought we were called to Serve)
On Sundays we all would meet together(if possible with the all women twig)and they always
had loads of Army guys over there.
My fiance and I broke up(it just didn't work out)I was sponsering 2 people in the Way Corp
doing the ABS thing and felt more balanced.
Everything was going well. I met a Paratrooper. He wanted to take the class but never had time too because of his schedule so I was told to let him take the class at my house in a
quiet room.
He took most of the class and then had to go to the field or something but he was not so much into all the hoopla of the organization.
He was my "babe" later on turned into a relationship and we wanted to get married.
We asked the Leadership in that area about it and they said NO! :o
What! I was not really asking permission but for a ceremoney! Red Flags Appeared
Recommended Posts
waysider
It's too bad there wasn't a truck stop nearby called The Wayside Truck Stop. You could have ventured there under the cover of darkness with a trusted WOW brother and pondered the absurdity that was beginning to unfold before your eyes.
Translation----Yes, I've experienced it.
Edited by waysiderLink to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Well I took a plane home that time but later in Arizona I had a shunned wow vet and myself
at many truckstops!
We sat long and hard thinking about stuff! We even joined the Army together because we needed a job with benefits!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
We waited until everyone in our Way Home left for the day and threw our bags over the balconey ,taking as little as possible and my guitar and hitch hiked from Mesa Arizona
headed towards Florida.
Sidetracked to San Diego California with some strange rides and a sense of both fear and freedom in our gut.
Almost got into some deep .... near LA with gang members until by some mirical a truck appeared (out of nowhere it seemed)and inside was an Indian man wearing turquiste,never
speaking a word just signaling come on get in.
He dropped us in a little town it was early early 4 am or so when we got a ride in a pick up truck in the back carrying vegetables from the valley.
We took turns sleeping ,one of us always staying awake and holding the mace I still had from being a security guard in Tempe Az tightly in my coat pocket.
Thinking of our next move. It was around March 1980 and basically we were homeless.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Twinky
Just amazing how many people seemed to feel they had to sneak off while the rest of their group (WoW, twig, whatever) were out of the house/locality.
Anyway, Cheranne, no doubt in your heart you'd made a vow TO GOD. And you haven't broken that vow.
You only broke away from a controlling group that would not allow you to love and serve God in a proper manner. Did they make a "vow" to you - for example, to support you by teachings, etc? Anything else? If so, they broke that.
And if TWI made no vow, remember how GOD has made vows to us, when we serve him with our whole hearts. He never broke His vows. He didn't then, and He doesn't now.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Thank you Twinky and you are absolutely right! So many of us were so committed to Serving God thru TWI.
Why else would we just throw it all away unless our Hearts were not in it?
But meanwhile....
behind lay the corrupt leadership and twisted scripture of the buisness of TWI.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
polar bear
I know one thing dear Cher. The good you do comes back to you.
The bad does also. Twi is only a shadow of what they once were. It is now an empty shell. They are receiving what they gave out.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Well...at that point when your out on the road (everything comes back at you)you wonder if this was the right move?
At the time I can say YES,and I believe God protected us when things got really bad and they did a few times.
Was it the wise thing to do. No(Leaving TWI Yes that was wise but, not in the way we thought we had to.)
Disappearing into thin air. We got a ride from Tempe to Dallas to Memphis we stayed
in a cheap motel a few times and just crashed, took showers at truck stops and ate food
in bars having happy hour snacks as some men would buy us drinks we didn't spend money.
We still had the residue of WAY BRAIN ,I can do all things,terminator type attitude that
nothing could harm us,(I call it stupidity NOW!)
We got to Orlando somehow and I loose track of time there on how long we were on the road.
No money now, No Plans.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
grand-daughter
Oh boy do I remember the vow thing so well, in the splinter group I was in I left 3 times. The first 2 times I left secretly and the fear of being caught was unbelievable but it was the guilt over broken vows that made me come back. When I left the 3rd time I had plans on going back but thank God for GS and the enlightenment that it brought to my head. I still every now and then think about well was I wrong? Did I break a vow before God? I just have to remember all the junk I went through to quickly get past it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
I wonder how many people left a few times and came back to twi cause it was difficult to live on the outside.
The 2nd time was the most dangerous leaving experience I had. But that VOW thing just
ate at me and I couldn't shake it and I went back in as a Military Wow
Grand daughter I am glad you found this place. It is most difficult trying to sort it out alone without support.
I can only write now about these things 25 yrs ago,healing took along time and I believe
to share that with others can help.
It is one thing to physically leave and another to mentally have it out of your system!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
We got to Orlando completely broke and we decided to get back on the road and head to New York!
Got a ride to North Carolina then to Richmond then to New Jersy,thought about getting out in Dover De (where I had a sister) but we didn't.
We were headed to Long Island where my friend was from. It got scary in New Jersey and
and the trucker had a gun.
We tricked him into thinking he was going to get what he wanted but we made a plan really
quick and escaped into the darkness of the night.
Our last ride into NYC. Now what to do.
We stayed a couple of days at her sisters then got kicked out(she was a Way believer too)
So after traveling cross country..we had no where to go. Again.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
I thought maybe my sister would let us stay at her place. I hadn't seen her in years!
I swallowed my pride and called,she was more than willing to help me AND my traveling friend out!
My dear father who had bailed me out last time with a plane ticket from D.C. got both My traveling friend and me plane tickets to Philly.
The weird thing is we could not stand to be separated,we both never knew eachother until
we got into a Way Home in Mesa Az and we both were going thru the exact same leaving twi
and the shunning of the broken vow/greasespot crap.
We leaving together made eachother strong when the other was weak. We were just a mess
trying to get the twi talk outta our heads!
We got to Philly and what do we do hitch hike to Dover! Get there and at her apartment door
I mean the neighbor!
I could NOT believe this had a Way bumper sticker on the freakn door!!! We just wanted to throw up!
Edited by cheranneLink to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
I remember kinda feeling like the words to this song! The confusion was I was believing God
but NOT TWI anymore who I thought were the elite you know the living room of Gods love.
I had a lot to learn and UNlearn!!!
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIHwZO8Hnxk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIHwZO8Hnxk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIHwZO8Hnxk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Oakspear
I wish that I had bailed out on my WOW year, it was a total waste of time, even within the context of Waythink. There were so many times when my common sense told me to get out, but I was so indoctrinated that I needed to be part of "the household", "the ministry that taught me the Word" and all the other cliches that I just stayed on and on and on...
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Yes. I'm sure we all had those thoughts now and again.
Edited by cheranneLink to comment
Share on other sites
waysider
The vow aspect was a very, very big deal to me. I also took a salt covenant the first time I got married. That, too, weighed heavily on my mind as I went through divorce.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
It also was a big deal to me Waysider. I held on to that Wow Pin for 15 years and then I had a celebration and threw it in a Deep Lake!
I realize now I was NOT leaving God I was leaving The Way a buisness that used the Bible
for there gain, and the people as it's pawns.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
brainfixed
i don't think i will ever get married because i don't want to ever make a vow that i feel i might have to break because i saw what "the vow" did to my brothers and my sisters when they went wow or corps and they couldn't break "the vow" even when they knew they were serving men not god, so i get it from the outside looking in about "the vow" and it is sad and i hate it that "lewd fellows of the basor sort" tied my family up into such a vow!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Back to my story now....turned out the people next door were not Wows are anything
just some laid back believers...whom we never talked to until Easter.
My traveling friend and I got some waitressing jobs at Howard Johnsons within walking distance of the Apt.
Went to the beach at Rehobeth and thought about what to do, and how we even questioned if
God did exist?
My sister was most generous and kind to us and we were thankful for all she did to help.
But... it was time to get careers and move on with life.
at the Mall there was an Army/Navy recruitement center. We talked to a few service people
and becme intrested.
Took the test and joined got sworn in at Baltimore and were on the "buddy system"going to
Europe after basic training (together)
Thing is we were on the Delayed Entrey Program and had a 6 month wait! That was a long wait
and a lot of time for wiggle room to go back into The Way.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Waiting...is what changed us. We ended up at a Sunrise sevice on Easter with some Way of Delaware people.
Not wanting to be IN (on the field)just taking a back seat in Way land suited me fine.(but I don't think TWI had back seats it was full blown SERVICE to move The (Class)
My friend went back to Long Island before her Basic Training started before the week was over there she told me she was not going to go in the Army and had a messed up knee.
I went to visit my old x fiance in NYC,he had dropped out of 11th Corp that year too.
He was real stand offish and guarded and dissapointed in himself,we were differant people
now we had changed within less than 2 years from the happy go lucky (I am going wow and gonna Serve God! Here I am send ME!!!) Yay.
Not anymore.we were hard and frozen and only felt safe "spiritually" around other Way Believers who had the same way of talking walking living.
He took me to Wall St and I could care less about the big city,we sat and stared at the Statue of Liberty, scripture running in our minds in circles of America and Founders of
our Country.
The song "We are songs of God with Power" and the teaching tape of Dr. Weirwille he sent the Wows in 79 on Christmas to listen to every Sunday Night over and over again.
We were both dissapointed in ourselves for breaking our vows, and the whole having done STAND! Rang in our head like a freaking nightmere for whom the bell tolls!
When morning came we were back on track, he was headed to a Way Home in Brooklyn and I was to spend my last 3 months in a Way Home on Long Island,before my Basic training at Fort Jackson South Carolina.
This time we would make it. Not us as a couple but our "service" to The Way International
It was that quick and that easy back into "fellowship"
I saw him one more time after that and I saw my traveling friend one more time and never again.
Edited by cheranneLink to comment
Share on other sites
Ham
Thank you for sharing your story..
:)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Long Island New York Way Home (that was a LAID back place.) Very easy going and friendly
I knew I was there to relax and get ready for the Army,that was my goal now to just focus
on being not so hyper on selling the bible class thing.
Why did everyone have to take that PFAL Class!
Well...that's another story. Got a job at Kodak Labs ,did alot of bike riding on the boardwalk and not so much reading the bible(which was a good thing for me at the time)
and also got a new boyfriend!(a believer ofcourse) Thought life was pretty good there for a while but I wanted to become a Military Wow since I was going into the Army and back
into The Way.
Rock of Ages came that year and I got "commissioned" my little name tag and made that Vow
(one more time!)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
Fort Jackson, South Carolina (Alpha Company.)
My Basic survival skills,attention to detail. No Problem.
I actually had a good time and enjoyed being around non believers and just working people
but my Army buddies called me "The Preacher".
I was speaking the word but not telling anyone about The Way International and people were listening (also they couldn't go anywhere either)
It is amazing what being away from other Way people did for me,I didn't have to do all the
lets run a class but I did alot of "witnessing" about Jesus Christ.
You could find me up reading my bible at 4am dressed and ready for the day,I felt stronger
and closer to God during those 6 weeks of my life then ever before.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
AIT was at Fort Jackson for me also I was a 76Y10(That is a Supply Specialist)a lot like RETAIL but BIG HUGE ARMY STUFF everything from Pencils to Tanks.
I was made a squad leader,my drill sergent loved that I followed orders so well(what cult follower isn't use to that!)Graduated from that and I wanted to go Airborne.
My boyfriend who was a Pediatric Cardiologist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center NY
became my fiance and I don't know how the hell we were gonna work that out living in differant states .
But he was a Believer so it must be Gods Will. :blink: (I did not go to Europe as planned
but to Fort Bragg North Carolina)
I settled into my barracks and got a hold of the other Military Wows at Fort Bragg(not right away though before I had to move in and get back into Wow mode )
So....I made the call to International told them where I was and before you knew it there was a car for me.
I was to move off base with my new Wow Family(3 Wow brothers in uniform! Nice.)Although
I liked the Barracks too and when I saw a tv it was weird cause I hadn't seen a tv in YEARS!
Anyhoo...there we 5 Wow sisters living in another house(civilians)and since I was Military
I got assigned to live with the Men.
Just lucky I guess.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
cheranne
The thing about being a Military Wow was that we were always working full time,and our schedules varied,sometimes we would be in the field,or working at night.
The balance was good for me ,getting more into the world and real life not so much with just Way people.
The Way was not my priority anymore so much as the Army was and my wow brothers we great!
I didn't have a car so one of them would always make sure I was on time for PT and sometime I would have to walk over to Womack Army Hospital where my Wow brother who was Major Podiatrist (I will just call him that name)and wait til he got off work from seeing alot of Paratroopers with leg injuries!
But we did what we could for (The Ministry
) and we thought we were called to Serve)
On Sundays we all would meet together(if possible with the all women twig)and they always
had loads of Army guys over there.
My fiance and I broke up(it just didn't work out)I was sponsering 2 people in the Way Corp
doing the ABS thing and felt more balanced.
Everything was going well. I met a Paratrooper. He wanted to take the class but never had time too because of his schedule so I was told to let him take the class at my house in a
quiet room.
He took most of the class and then had to go to the field or something but he was not so much into all the hoopla of the organization.
He was my "babe" later on turned into a relationship and we wanted to get married.
We asked the Leadership in that area about it and they said NO!
:o
What! I was not really asking permission but for a ceremoney! Red Flags Appeared
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.