Hi Janet, and welcome to the Cafe.
Thanks for your sponsorship to others unknown. God will respect your heart in providing for the needs of others. And if those people respect God (rather than TWI) he'll bless and teach them.
I was born into TWI in the late 70s, raised just outside of Fort Wayne IN (a short road-trip from the HQ), and survived and thrived until my parents were kicked out in ~86/87. I don't know the details exactly, and don't really care that much. This is my first quick post, to get started. Don't recall any adult Janets, but you never know! Likely we shared Rock of Ages grounds for numerous years at least! Best to you, a Hog Ward.
I never attended a Rock of Ages in all my years of being in TWI. I was a divorced mom who could barely make ends meet. My kids were always more important than a Rock or going WOW or into the Corps. I was BULLIED for that attitude also. The one thing I did do was attend family camp one year. Other than that, I went to local events. I did take the advanced class but had to leave my kids with a Corps grad friend for 2 weeks because I could not trust my abusive 2nd husband. That marriage also ended in divorce. My life is peaceful now & my kids are adults.
I never attended a Rock of Ages in all my years of being in TWI.
I see. Did distance play any role? We were less than 2 hrs drive to HQ.
Also, what did "sponsored many people" entail?
Feel free to ignore this basic question. As a child, I was just along for the ride and have only vague ideas about most of the technical terms (sponsor, Corps for examples, though I believe I understand the Rock of Ages was an annual multi-day set of events at the VPW farm / HQ and the WOW was a year-long witnessing in a foreign environment, sent off or assigned from the ROA?).
5 hours ago, Janet21047 said:
I was a divorced mom who could barely make ends meet. My kids were always more important than a Rock or going WOW or into the Corps. I was BULLIED for that attitude also. The one thing I did do was attend family camp one year. Other than that, I went to local events. I did take the advanced class but had to leave my kids with a Corps grad friend for 2 weeks because I could not trust my abusive 2nd husband. That marriage also ended in divorce. My life is peaceful now & my kids are adults.
Tough life I take it, compounded by TWI. So what brings you to Grease Spot? I personally began searching for all of the names of people I recalled, buuuut, it seems anonymity is the psychosis now-a-days, so I am choosing to play along. Hi Janet , I am the son of a pig farmer <pig nose emoji snipped>
It was almost a 2 day trip to New Knoxville from where I lived & I had no car. Couldn't afford a car. Had no camping equipment. A sponsor is someone who gives you money for a project. I would send someone $10 a month while they were in the Corps. It's been so many years that I can't even remember the names of all the people I helped. I have known about Grease Spot for years & years & the site before it which was closed because of a legal agreement between the owners & TWI. This site has changed. It's fine; just different. It doesn't seem to accept attachments though. The Forums are a good place to visit. I decided to revisit to see if it still existed. At least you are not involved with Harry Potter.
I personally began searching for all of the names of people I recalled, buuuut, it seems anonymity is the psychosis now-a-days, so I am choosing to play along. Hi Janet , I am the son of a pig farmer <pig nose emoji snipped>
Hi Son of the Hog Ward- Our "Friend Tracker" forum is a good place to post (or search) inquiries about people you might recall. If they are here, they can either reveal themselves or send you private messages. Many of us first came here for the same reason.
Good luck and thanks for visiting.
vpw (victor paul wierwille) organized twi (the way international) to run at a profit at every level- money was a big motivator for him privately, although he'd never admit it if asked. When he wanted a training program, he didn't waste any money on training programs, he guessed he could fake it- so he did. He had small cells set up for people to live in (tiny dorm rooms replaced shared RVs, although twi has both now) and retaught all the twi classes, and added lots of physical labor (an unpaid labor force that actually paid HIM!). There was some other stuff occasionally dropped in. Since vpw had no experience in training programs, leadership programs, or anything related, don't expect they learned much about REAL leadership.
What they did have official training in... One of the Corps people took the Dale Carnegie Sales training course. vpw plagiarized ALL the content and retaught it to the corps. No, he did not pay their legally-mandated licensing fee for their copyrighted materials. No, he did not get them any OTHER training. They were a trained SALES FORCE, to sell twi and its classes to the masses. But, of course, that was never STATED. It's just what was done. What was stated was always something more in keeping with Biblical Christianity. However, as vpw himself said, if you take a jar of pickles, and you label it "apple butter", that doesn't change the pickles on the inside.
So, running a profit with the Corps. Since he began by asking lots of money from broke young people, he instituted a system to get them to pool their money. Each Corps candidate had to beg others in twi for a pledge of money to pay their tuitiion. "Spiritual partners" or "Corps Sponsors", they were called, rather than "pigeons."
Yes, the ROA was an annual event, eventually relocated to HQ. It welcomed the returning WOWs at the beginning, sent off the new WOWs at the end, and in between had music and stuff. There was official stuff, but the unofficial, just meeting people and so on, was usually better than the official stuff. The WOWs were "Word Over the World Ambassadors", in effect the missionary program. Usually, they were sent for a year to another location in the US, in groups of 4, to run pfal classes and run home fellowships that, hopefully, would continue after they left a few months later. (Sometimes it was another country, but that was rare.)
The forum "GREASESPOT 101" has threads that explain all the jargon, at least in a basic way.
It was almost a 2 day trip to New Knoxville from where I lived & I had no car. Couldn't afford a car. Had no camping equipment.
In that way, my family was quite fortunate to be so close. If you had been in our group/twig/branch, for certain my family and others would have hooked you up with a ride and some camping gear. We loved the farm life, and the Rock of Ages was (to me) quite simply a grand! farm filled with kind & excited folks, from adults to kids. Proximity & familiarity with the area helps of course...
What are your memories with TWI folks? Did your local people have enough resources and were people working together well to bring everyone up (hand in hand), united with a common mission?
My parents sure did portray this, and had a hand in convincing large numbers to become entrepreneurs and then proudly contributed to exchanging services within the families of the businesses. As I matured, I began to understand the highly-motivated bunch of boot-strappers w/ a can-do attitude, from window washers to roofers, tree trimming service, printers, lay-out artists, auto mechanic shoppes, even an eye doctor ... always "giving glory to god" and proudly wearing a hat or shirt that thanked God for motivation/empowerment.
Funny thing now that I think about it -- those entrepreneurs never ripped apart after people began leaving or being told to cease and excuse themselves from TWI. Those folks continued to benefit from that networking, both in terms of sharing as well as a new found independence. My dad would sometimes partly credit the Sales jobs & training that TWI pushed with some of the persistence needed in running a business.
12 hours ago, Janet21047 said:
A sponsor is someone who gives you money for a project. I would send someone $10 a month while they were in the Corps. It's been so many years that I can't even remember the names of all the people I helped.
Neat to be a part of something via sponsorship -- hope it was fulfilling to you at the time (in spite of other difficulties). You might search the "Friend Tracker" as username="Modgellan" suggested... hmmm, I didn't link to his username correctly. It would be fun to find ONE person you sponsored at least... or maybe hir child.
12 hours ago, Janet21047 said:
I decided to revisit to see if it still existed. At least you are not involved with Harry Potter.
It does, and the avatars are active!
Never got involved with Harry Potter's splinter group...
Hi Son of the Hog Ward- Our "Friend Tracker" forum is a good place to post (or search) inquiries about people you might recall. If they are here, they can either reveal themselves or send you private messages. Many of us first came here for the same reason.
Good luck and thanks for visiting.
Most excellent! I tried Search terms to start, so I wonder if the results will be different. I have now found three with Search terms, and while several of them have two or three Usernames, one guy seems to have several profiles over the years, and three profiles right now! All kinds of ways to work the system when anonymity is the norm. Shocking, but the norm.
And "Thanks Mod!" for the warm welcome cheers!
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Rocky
Okay then. I look forward to more when you're ready to say more.
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Janet21047
What else do you want to know?
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Rocky
Whatever parts of your story you're ready to tell.
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Twinky
Hi Janet, and welcome to the Cafe.
Thanks for your sponsorship to others unknown. God will respect your heart in providing for the needs of others. And if those people respect God (rather than TWI) he'll bless and teach them.
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Son of the Hog Ward
Hi Janet,
I was born into TWI in the late 70s, raised just outside of Fort Wayne IN (a short road-trip from the HQ), and survived and thrived until my parents were kicked out in ~86/87. I don't know the details exactly, and don't really care that much. This is my first quick post, to get started. Don't recall any adult Janets, but you never know! Likely we shared Rock of Ages grounds for numerous years at least! Best to you, a Hog Ward.
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Janet21047
I never attended a Rock of Ages in all my years of being in TWI. I was a divorced mom who could barely make ends meet. My kids were always more important than a Rock or going WOW or into the Corps. I was BULLIED for that attitude also. The one thing I did do was attend family camp one year. Other than that, I went to local events. I did take the advanced class but had to leave my kids with a Corps grad friend for 2 weeks because I could not trust my abusive 2nd husband. That marriage also ended in divorce. My life is peaceful now & my kids are adults.
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Son of the Hog Ward
I see. Did distance play any role? We were less than 2 hrs drive to HQ.
Also, what did "sponsored many people" entail?
Feel free to ignore this basic question. As a child, I was just along for the ride and have only vague ideas about most of the technical terms (sponsor, Corps for examples, though I believe I understand the Rock of Ages was an annual multi-day set of events at the VPW farm / HQ and the WOW was a year-long witnessing in a foreign environment, sent off or assigned from the ROA?).
Tough life I take it, compounded by TWI. So what brings you to Grease Spot? I personally began searching for all of the names of people I recalled, buuuut, it seems anonymity is the psychosis now-a-days, so I am choosing to play along. Hi Janet
, I am the son of a pig farmer <pig nose emoji snipped>
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Janet21047
It was almost a 2 day trip to New Knoxville from where I lived & I had no car. Couldn't afford a car. Had no camping equipment. A sponsor is someone who gives you money for a project. I would send someone $10 a month while they were in the Corps. It's been so many years that I can't even remember the names of all the people I helped. I have known about Grease Spot for years & years & the site before it which was closed because of a legal agreement between the owners & TWI. This site has changed. It's fine; just different. It doesn't seem to accept attachments though. The Forums are a good place to visit. I decided to revisit to see if it still existed. At least you are not involved with Harry Potter.
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Modgellan
Hi Son of the Hog Ward- Our "Friend Tracker" forum is a good place to post (or search) inquiries about people you might recall. If they are here, they can either reveal themselves or send you private messages. Many of us first came here for the same reason.
Good luck and thanks for visiting.
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WordWolf
FYI,
vpw (victor paul wierwille) organized twi (the way international) to run at a profit at every level- money was a big motivator for him privately, although he'd never admit it if asked. When he wanted a training program, he didn't waste any money on training programs, he guessed he could fake it- so he did. He had small cells set up for people to live in (tiny dorm rooms replaced shared RVs, although twi has both now) and retaught all the twi classes, and added lots of physical labor (an unpaid labor force that actually paid HIM!). There was some other stuff occasionally dropped in. Since vpw had no experience in training programs, leadership programs, or anything related, don't expect they learned much about REAL leadership.
What they did have official training in... One of the Corps people took the Dale Carnegie Sales training course. vpw plagiarized ALL the content and retaught it to the corps. No, he did not pay their legally-mandated licensing fee for their copyrighted materials. No, he did not get them any OTHER training. They were a trained SALES FORCE, to sell twi and its classes to the masses. But, of course, that was never STATED. It's just what was done. What was stated was always something more in keeping with Biblical Christianity. However, as vpw himself said, if you take a jar of pickles, and you label it "apple butter", that doesn't change the pickles on the inside.
So, running a profit with the Corps. Since he began by asking lots of money from broke young people, he instituted a system to get them to pool their money. Each Corps candidate had to beg others in twi for a pledge of money to pay their tuitiion. "Spiritual partners" or "Corps Sponsors", they were called, rather than "pigeons."
Yes, the ROA was an annual event, eventually relocated to HQ. It welcomed the returning WOWs at the beginning, sent off the new WOWs at the end, and in between had music and stuff. There was official stuff, but the unofficial, just meeting people and so on, was usually better than the official stuff. The WOWs were "Word Over the World Ambassadors", in effect the missionary program. Usually, they were sent for a year to another location in the US, in groups of 4, to run pfal classes and run home fellowships that, hopefully, would continue after they left a few months later. (Sometimes it was another country, but that was rare.)
The forum "GREASESPOT 101" has threads that explain all the jargon, at least in a basic way.
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Son of the Hog Ward
In that way, my family was quite fortunate to be so close. If you had been in our group/twig/branch, for certain my family and others would have hooked you up with a ride and some camping gear. We loved the farm life, and the Rock of Ages was (to me) quite simply a grand! farm filled with kind & excited folks, from adults to kids. Proximity & familiarity with the area helps of course...
What are your memories with TWI folks? Did your local people have enough resources and were people working together well to bring everyone up (hand in hand), united with a common mission?
My parents sure did portray this, and had a hand in convincing large numbers to become entrepreneurs and then proudly contributed to exchanging services within the families of the businesses. As I matured, I began to understand the highly-motivated bunch of boot-strappers w/ a can-do attitude, from window washers to roofers, tree trimming service, printers, lay-out artists, auto mechanic shoppes, even an eye doctor ... always "giving glory to god" and proudly wearing a hat or shirt that thanked God for motivation/empowerment.
Funny thing now that I think about it -- those entrepreneurs never ripped apart after people began leaving or being told to cease and excuse themselves from TWI. Those folks continued to benefit from that networking, both in terms of sharing as well as a new found independence. My dad would sometimes partly credit the Sales jobs & training that TWI pushed with some of the persistence needed in running a business.
Neat to be a part of something via sponsorship -- hope it was fulfilling to you at the time (in spite of other difficulties). You might search the "Friend Tracker" as username="Modgellan" suggested... hmmm, I didn't link to his username correctly. It would be fun to find ONE person you sponsored at least... or maybe hir child.
It does, and the avatars are active!
Never got involved with Harry Potter's splinter group...
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Son of the Hog Ward
Most excellent! I tried Search terms to start, so I wonder if the results will be different. I have now found three with Search terms, and while several of them have two or three Usernames, one guy seems to have several profiles over the years, and three profiles right now! All kinds of ways to work the system when anonymity is the norm. Shocking, but the norm.
cheers!
And "Thanks Mod!" for the warm welcome
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Son of the Hog Ward
Thankful for the pointers.
Cheers!
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