New Here!

[Lanikaigal]

I put this in my "About Me" area -- but figured I'd post it here too. 

I joined GSC recently ... mostly to learn, but occasionally to contribute.  Recently, I've been reading posts going back years.  It's amazing how many "light bulbs" have already gone off for me on many levels since reading what I have here already!  I've been lurking for a couple of years here -- but only very sporadically.  I tried to "join" a few times, but could never get my log-in to work over a period of about a year or more!  Only now -- with the new format -- was I able to register and actually get into the site successfully under a screen name and password.  (To say I'm a bit slow technology-wise would be a huge understatement.)  : )

A brief "bio" ... I was involved in da way from 1977 through about 1992 or so (witnessed to by wows, Jim Baker, Bob Darnell and a gal named Annie in Mt. Vernon, NY in June of '77); went wow twice and graduated 11th Corps; first assignment was Limb Coordinator Brit Lynn's secretary in West Virginia; next year became slave labor for Way Home leader and perv Area Coordinator Alan Licht in Yonkers, NY; extricated self by moving to NYC for new job; occasionally attended "way offshoot" events/fellowships there until about '92 or so, at which point I called it quits on anything having to do with TWI or any of its offshoots.  I reached that point of walking away after a rather dramatic (and I think Spirit inspired) moment after a chance meeting on a cross-town bus in NYC -- where I got "witnessed to" by some wide-eyed-with-wonder Church of Christ "disciples" who invited me to their home fellowship on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that night.  I had a HUGE "ah-ha" moment when I realized that THEY were ME 15 years earlier, when I was "witnessing" to others with that same wide-eyed zealous wonder!  When I got off the bus a few minutes later, I was in deep thought as I walked up the two flights to my little studio apartment in a lovely brownstone a half a block from Central Park.  I sat down at my table, opened my Bible to the gospels, and asked Jesus (out loud!) to be the only one I'd ever listen to again.  I read only the Gospels and Psalms for the next several months -- asking only that Jesus -- if he were REAL -- would reveal who he was to me.  It really was a beautiful epiphany -- in that I figured if this Christianity thing was really true -- than certainly The One who began it all would and could illuminate me.  I've never regretted that choice.  There were a few years in there when I succumbed to the propaganda that we MUST be in some sort of "congregation" and so I church-shopped for a while (with some hilarious results along the way!) ... but I always came back to the exact place I was on that day in Manhattan when I decided to leave Wayville and get back in touch with the Jesus Who'd shown me who He was years earlier -- when I was just 14 years old!  ; )

Thanks for reading this ... I look forward to getting to know some of youz guys here in the days ahead. 

Edited August 19, 2016 by Lanikaigal

[WordWolf]

Welcome!

Many or most of us have been there.  Even down to the "CoC in Upper Manhattan" thing. (They really liked Upper Manhattan,

apparently.)    Hope you like it here.

 

If you want, you can even join the games we're playing. They're currently paused because we're all watching

the Olympics, but I think that's going to taper off by Monday morning, so it's a good time to join the games.

Whether or not you do, feel free to join in any discussion and share your thoughts-even if they're unpopular.

It's nice to be free to agree to disagree.

[T-Bone]

Hi LaniK and welcome to Grease Spot !!!

I can relate to lurking; my wife Tonto was into previous ex-way sites before Grease Spot – between what she shared from them as well as from Grease Spot got me

interested enough to join here.

I got a kick out of your wide-eyed-with-wonder reference. I think a lot of folks were that way – myself included; Grease Spot draws upon the experience and wisdom of us all;

I believe this place can help one develop critical thinking skills – and over time that wide-eyed-with-wonder look is slowly replaced with vision that easily penetrates the fog of nonsense.

 

thanks for sharing……..I’m glad you joined - have a cup of cappuccino, kick back and enjoy Grease Spot!

 

[waysider]

Mmmmmm! Looks delicious. If you're not going to drink that, I'll take it off your hands.

Oh, and welcome aboard.

[Rocky]

15 hours ago, Lanikaigal said:

Thanks for reading this ... I look forward to getting to know some of youz guys here in the days ahead. 

Hey Lanikaigal,

You seem like a very interesting person...

 

[HAPe4me]

Well, well, wel-come

[Lanikaigal]

Hey, all youz guys ... Thank you for the warm welcome!  Look forward to "getting to know" you a bit more in the days ahead.  This website is a great resource for so many.  Kudos to those who keep it up and running -- especially the ones doing the most work as computer geeks and moderators!!  ("Geeks" said with pure affection, of course.)  Thank you!

[Twinky]

Lanikaigal, welcome.

I so relate to your "being witnessed to" experience. I get JW doorknockers from time to time, nothing new - but one day I was out walking and observed some Mormons doing their doorknocking thing.  And it struck me - that "was me," at one time, beating the feet up and down streets, hopefully knocking on doors but being rejected...  I wonder how many people have ever truly been reached by any bunch of people "door knocking."

Stick around, I'm sure you have a lot to contribute.

[chockfull]

Hey Lanikaigal,

Welcome!  

Have a cup of joe and a scone on the house :)

That's a cool image - you cruising out of your Brownstone and chilling in Central Park at a table getting real with our Lord and Savior.  

Welcome!

[krys]

It is, indeed, good to meet you here. I do hope you'll hang here for a while. 

[Lanikaigal]

Krys, I notice your location is in The Hudson River Valley in NY.  So is mine -- Cortlandt Manor.  We're neighbors.

[krys]

Only sort of neighbors, Lanikaigal. The Hudson Valley is bigger than you think!

[Lanikaigal]

How right you are!

[Raf]

Welcome,  Lanikaiga. I was a Bronx believer for a while, but WordWolf and I did spend some time at a fellowship in Manhattan whose coordinator ditched our TWI offshoot and made a beeline for the NYCoC.

Good to have you around.

[WordWolf]

7 hours ago, Raf said:

Welcome,  Lanikaiga. I was a Bronx believer for a while, but WordWolf and I did spend some time at a fellowship in Manhattan whose coordinator ditched our TWI offshoot and made a beeline for the NYCoC.

Good to have you around.

Actually, they did NOT make a beeline for the NYCoC.  They made a beeline for the CoC, the NY section. The NYCoC was a completely different organization from the CoC.  The NYCoC was those people I brought you to a Sunday morning meeting-more for amusement than attendance. (I wore a PFAL t-shirt and we sat near a stranger who fell seriously asleep, if that triggers a memory.)  

[krys]

CoC?  What is that? Am I getting too old for this forum?

[WordWolf]

1 hour ago, krys said:

CoC?  What is that? Am I getting too old for this forum?

We're getting off-topic here, but since you asked...  The first post mentioned "Church of Christ" and the 2nd replied with "CoC."  It's another independent religious group that reads the Bible and meets in homes sometimes. It apparently had a splinter group, "NYC Church of Christ" that resembled young twi a LOT more, with pushy evangelicals and high turnover and lots of arrogance. (I would have been a lot more forgiving of the arrogance if they were really as hot as they thought they were, but it really was a lot of hot air and Sociology.)   So, in NYC, there were at least 2 groups using "Church of Christ" as their name, one with "NYC" in front, and one not.  The initial poster and I had run-ins with the "NYC" branch, and Raf probably never realized there were 2 similar groups with almost identical names. 

[WordWolf]

Here's a pair of links about the pushy people we referred to in the first 2 posts:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/30/nyregion/ex-members-compare-campus-ministry-to-a-cult.html

http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=8

Please make a new thread somewhere if you want to continue this discussion.

[Rocky]

And here I thought NYCoC would have been the NY Chamber of Commerce.

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On August 19, 2016 at 4:18 PM, Lanikaigal said:

I put this in my "About Me" area -- but figured I'd post it here too. 

I joined GSC recently ... mostly to learn, but occasionally to contribute.  Recently, I've been reading posts going back years.  It's amazing how many "light bulbs" have already gone off for me on many levels since reading what I have here already!  I've been lurking for a couple of years here -- but only very sporadically.  I tried to "join" a few times, but could never get my log-in to work over a period of about a year or more!  Only now -- with the new format -- was I able to register and actually get into the site successfully under a screen name and password.  (To say I'm a bit slow technology-wise would be a huge understatement.)  : )

A brief "bio" ... I was involved in da way from 1977 through about 1992 or so (witnessed to by wows, Jim Baker, Bob Darnell and a gal named Annie in Mt. Vernon, NY in June of '77); went wow twice and graduated 11th Corps; first assignment was Limb Coordinator Brit Lynn's secretary in West Virginia; next year became slave labor for Way Home leader and perv Area Coordinator Alan Licht in Yonkers, NY; extricated self by moving to NYC for new job; occasionally attended "way offshoot" events/fellowships there until about '92 or so, at which point I called it quits on anything having to do with TWI or any of its offshoots.  I reached that point of walking away after a rather dramatic (and I think Spirit inspired) moment after a chance meeting on a cross-town bus in NYC -- where I got "witnessed to" by some wide-eyed-with-wonder Church of Christ "disciples" who invited me to their home fellowship on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that night.  I had a HUGE "ah-ha" moment when I realized that THEY were ME 15 years earlier, when I was "witnessing" to others with that same wide-eyed zealous wonder!  When I got off the bus a few minutes later, I was in deep thought as I walked up the two flights to my little studio apartment in a lovely brownstone a half a block from Central Park.  I sat down at my table, opened my Bible to the gospels, and asked Jesus (out loud!) to be the only one I'd ever listen to again.  I read only the Gospels and Psalms for the next several months -- asking only that Jesus -- if he were REAL -- would reveal who he was to me.  It really was a beautiful epiphany -- in that I figured if this Christianity thing was really true -- than certainly The One who began it all would and could illuminate me.  I've never regretted that choice.  There were a few years in there when I succumbed to the propaganda that we MUST be in some sort of "congregation" and so I church-shopped for a while (with some hilarious results along the way!) ... but I always came back to the exact place I was on that day in Manhattan when I decided to leave Wayville and get back in touch with the Jesus Who'd shown me who He was years earlier -- when I was just 14 years old!  ; )

Thanks for reading this ... I look forward to getting to know some of youz guys here in the days ahead. 

Hi L!!  Sorry about just the "L" but no way, will I ever remember your screen name!!  I have been coming to the GSC for years, but I too had a hard time logging in!!  Wow, you were got in a year before I did; 1978 for me.  I got out in 1988.  From what I read here in GSC, the late 80's and early 90's were among the Fog years.  I guess Craig really went nuts with all his purges; I think Rosie also went overboard with her leadership!  If you can call it leadership.  I remember JAL and his wife Pat when they were the Limb Leaders of NY. Late 70's, early 80's (?).  This was before John and Pat were divorced, obviously.  I know John is a bit off these days, but at one time, he and Pat were fun to be around, and taught great teachings.  The Limb meetings in Hunter Moutain 

every year was a great time to hear The Word, and fellowship with people from all over the state.  

I do have special memories of moving The Word in New York State, before TWI fell apart.

[penworks]

Welcome to GSC, Lanikaigal. Hope you find some good, helpful, and insightful info around here. Maybe some of it will be upsetting, but this community has some "other side of the TWI story" stories to offer here. And much love, insofar as love can be given and felt online. Goodwill is our intention here. And truth telling. Cheers to your post-TWI life.

Penworks

 

[Lanikaigal]

Grace Valerie Claire ... don't be too intimidated by my screen name.  Lanikai is a place in Hawaii where I used to live ... It means "heavenly sea" in Hawaiian.  It truly was a heavenly place -- and was a place where I had a tremendous amount of healing and renewal.  So "Lah-nee-kye" (the "kai" part is pronounced like "eye") is not hard to pronounce at all.  I'll always be Lanikaigal ... as I loved the place so very much.  Here are a few photos of the place ... and you'll see what I mean.  It really does live up to the name!

Edited December 1, 2016 by Lanikaigal

[T-Bone]

I want to go to there

 

thanks for sharing those pictures, Lanikaigal

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 11/21/2016 at 2:52 PM, penworks said:

Welcome to GSC, Lanikaigal. Hope you find some good, helpful, and insightful info around here. Maybe some of it will be upsetting, but this community has some "other side of the TWI story" stories to offer here. And much love, insofar as love can be given and felt online. Goodwill is our intention here. And truth telling. Cheers to your post-TWI life.

Penworks

 

 

On 12/8/2016 at 4:37 PM, T-Bone said:

I want to go to there

 

thanks for sharing those pictures, Lanikaigal

I want to live there!!  Beautiful place!!