I was exactly where you are until 2000. That was when I found out about LCM and his lawsuits resulting from forced sex, etc.
I could not believe my eyes as I read account after account of what he and VPW had done.
I also read some of the threads regarding how VPW stole PFAL and how much of it is WRONG.
I was in shock for weeks.
I actually have prayed to God to forgive me for all the years that I have TOLD HIM what to do. I now pray for His guidance and His will to be done in my life. Since I have humbled myself to this TRUTH, our business has sold and my hubby and I have bought a new home in KY. We are still waiting for God's blessing on selling our current home.
Please read some of the threads and pray to God to open your eyes to the awful truth of what we used to believe and would sell our souls to defend.
If you had read some of my posts you would see I am a critic of TWI. My experience was years ago and limited.(The only thing I did was attend the Pfal class and I think 1 twig fellowship) I never apologized for TWI and thought something was wrong even after I took the PFAL class. The biggest plus for me was it made me search more.
I spent 10 years with TWI. Married, had children, had the crap beat out of me (figuratively speaking), and reached a point where I was no longer really living, just dying far too slowly.
However, I am not sure I would trade all of those hard learned lessons for the ignorance I lived in prior to my TWI experience, despite the above.
I learned a lot of good things out of my experience with TWI. They were hard lessons, but imporant ones.
I learned I was much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for.
I learned what it is like to feel superior to others (you say this is a good lesson? yes it is because it was a false confidence which did not feel good or benefit me in the long run and it is something I will not do again).
I learned to be careful of too much black and white thinking.
I learned a great deal about the Bible which I may never have learned otherwise - yes I know it wasn't all accurate and it was practiced in extremes but the knowledge is still useful in my continued study and growth with God.
I learned that I really am a decent person in spite of the wrongs I have done in my life.
I gained a deeper sense of understanding of people in general and developed a better sense of forgiveness.
I learned a great deal about balance in life, what it is and what it is not.
I learned how to find peace within myself.
I learned I can love people even when I adamantly disagree with them.
I've learned how to set and maintain my own boundaries.
The only benefit I learned from twi is how to have commitment.
Since leaving, I learned that gung-ho commitment, like I had for twi, is not always so admirable. It keeps your mind closed.
Abigail, I admire all the things you learned. It took me getting out of twi to learn those kinds of things though.
Act2, it sure is humbling to realize all those years we were telling God what WE wanted HIM to do. I too prayed for forgiveness on that. Life is a lot easier when you trust Him to do His will and allow Him to work in your life.
Everyday I have to have some kind of thought about that damn place. I guess it was because it took up half of my adult life (so far :)-->) and I was on Staff for 5 years of the last years I spent there. I want to get to the point I don't think about that place or those people who don't really represent God. But I have compassion for people too. I think about those who are still in and were friends of mine. I look forward for the day that they too can have their eyes opened to the reality of that organization. I never realized the impact of twi on my life until my NBW husband told me that he thought I was traumatized by my experiences there based on things I talked about almost daily.
God is still healing me though. I am thankful for all that has been revealed to me and how I have changed a lot of my thoughts since leaving almost 2 years ago. Shaking 20 years of impact will take a while.
To avoid giving TWI too much credit, I think it's useful to distinguish between the benefits one gained from people IN TWI versus the organization itself. Many wonderful people helped me in ways that had nothing to do with anything the financially fraudulent, fanny-chasing farmers in New Knoxville.
You learned a lot. The good part is you can pat yourself on the back not them.
Oddly, Abby, my learning was much the same, all tho not from TWI because it was very shortterm for me. Flesh is flesh wether it was TWI or the Assemblies of God, there was flesh in both. But to come to somewhat the same conclusions from vastly different organizations makes experience more valuable from the standpoint we have all learned how terrible religion can be.
Thank you for your comments, they encourage me.
just thinking:
your comment:
To avoid giving TWI too much credit, I think it's useful to distinguish between the benefits one gained from people IN TWI versus the organization itself.
Ditto, but I think you know me well enough that I wasnt signaling benefit in deference to anything TWI provided that was positive, at least not in the long term.
Wafer, I did not learn all of those things in TWI, many I learned in the process of leaving, others I learned while in.
I guess, because the question was "how did you benefit from the TWI Experience" not "how did you benefit while being in TWI" I counted the entire experience from the moment I got involved to the entire process of leaving physically and mentally.
Thank you for the clarification. I actually tried to avoid reading into it either way.
Some things I did learn from TWI:
1. How to coordinate a meeting. (I know, start the "stringing chairs" jokes) Seriously, as a young person I had many opportunities to take on responsibility that I would probably not have gotten otherwise.
2. Public speaking experience. It is useful in many professions. Maybe not the best training in the world but more than many people get.
3. A chance (there, I said it!) to meet people from around the world. Our AC had people from outside the U.S. that were great to encounter.
Anything I learned from TWI that is even remotely worthwhile would have eventually been learned elsewhere without the horrible mental and financial costs. All I got out of it was a dozen years down the drain and countless ruined relationships, lost opportunities and god knows how much financial destruction. The good news is that twelve years is a drop in the bucket compared to a whole lifetime and I now have such a finely tuned BS meter that the next 50 years should be smooth sailing.
Saying anything positive about the experience would be tantamount to saying "well, I got hit by a bus but dammit, I learned to look both ways before crossing the road. Man, am I thankful for that!"
What the Lutheran and Methodist churches were only partially able to do, WayWorld completed - my conversion to agnosticism.
I finally arrived at the place in life, thanks to TWI, that I'm quite convinced that religion (or "sprituality" or "Godly living" or whatever you want to call it) is bull$hit.
I have an uncanny eye for detail and a work ethic that alot of people just don't seem to have. People hire me to orginize concerts and all kinds of events because of my reputaion for thinking everything thru. It still irritates me when people do 1 1/2 *** job or forget details. And I still live on "corps time". If you tell me to be there at 6 I'm there at 6:50 at the latest. As a result I spend alot of time waiting for the rest of the world, which is chronicly late. It drives me nuts.
One benefit, albeit learned after decades of stupidity, is that I carefully examine what I am told, and believe nothing without some kind of verification.
I don't allow anyone to meddle in my personal affairs.
I guess those are lessons learned after negative experiences.
As Georgio mentioned, I learned in TWI a level of detail and organization that has served me well.
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act2
I was exactly where you are until 2000. That was when I found out about LCM and his lawsuits resulting from forced sex, etc.
I could not believe my eyes as I read account after account of what he and VPW had done.
I also read some of the threads regarding how VPW stole PFAL and how much of it is WRONG.
I was in shock for weeks.
I actually have prayed to God to forgive me for all the years that I have TOLD HIM what to do. I now pray for His guidance and His will to be done in my life. Since I have humbled myself to this TRUTH, our business has sold and my hubby and I have bought a new home in KY. We are still waiting for God's blessing on selling our current home.
Please read some of the threads and pray to God to open your eyes to the awful truth of what we used to believe and would sell our souls to defend.
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sky4it
ACT2:
If you had read some of my posts you would see I am a critic of TWI. My experience was years ago and limited.(The only thing I did was attend the Pfal class and I think 1 twig fellowship) I never apologized for TWI and thought something was wrong even after I took the PFAL class. The biggest plus for me was it made me search more.
So glad to hear that you are doing well tho.
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Abigail
Sky,
I spent 10 years with TWI. Married, had children, had the crap beat out of me (figuratively speaking), and reached a point where I was no longer really living, just dying far too slowly.
However, I am not sure I would trade all of those hard learned lessons for the ignorance I lived in prior to my TWI experience, despite the above.
I learned a lot of good things out of my experience with TWI. They were hard lessons, but imporant ones.
I learned I was much stronger than I ever gave myself credit for.
I learned what it is like to feel superior to others (you say this is a good lesson? yes it is because it was a false confidence which did not feel good or benefit me in the long run and it is something I will not do again).
I learned to be careful of too much black and white thinking.
I learned a great deal about the Bible which I may never have learned otherwise - yes I know it wasn't all accurate and it was practiced in extremes but the knowledge is still useful in my continued study and growth with God.
I learned that I really am a decent person in spite of the wrongs I have done in my life.
I gained a deeper sense of understanding of people in general and developed a better sense of forgiveness.
I learned a great deal about balance in life, what it is and what it is not.
I learned how to find peace within myself.
I learned I can love people even when I adamantly disagree with them.
I've learned how to set and maintain my own boundaries.
There is more but that's enough for now.
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Nottawayfer
The only benefit I learned from twi is how to have commitment.
Since leaving, I learned that gung-ho commitment, like I had for twi, is not always so admirable. It keeps your mind closed.
Abigail, I admire all the things you learned. It took me getting out of twi to learn those kinds of things though.
Act2, it sure is humbling to realize all those years we were telling God what WE wanted HIM to do. I too prayed for forgiveness on that. Life is a lot easier when you trust Him to do His will and allow Him to work in your life.
Everyday I have to have some kind of thought about that damn place. I guess it was because it took up half of my adult life (so far
:)-->) and I was on Staff for 5 years of the last years I spent there. I want to get to the point I don't think about that place or those people who don't really represent God. But I have compassion for people too. I think about those who are still in and were friends of mine. I look forward for the day that they too can have their eyes opened to the reality of that organization. I never realized the impact of twi on my life until my NBW husband told me that he thought I was traumatized by my experiences there based on things I talked about almost daily.
God is still healing me though. I am thankful for all that has been revealed to me and how I have changed a lot of my thoughts since leaving almost 2 years ago. Shaking 20 years of impact will take a while.
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JustThinking
To avoid giving TWI too much credit, I think it's useful to distinguish between the benefits one gained from people IN TWI versus the organization itself. Many wonderful people helped me in ways that had nothing to do with anything the financially fraudulent, fanny-chasing farmers in New Knoxville.
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sky4it
Abigail:
You learned a lot. The good part is you can pat yourself on the back not them.
Oddly, Abby, my learning was much the same, all tho not from TWI because it was very shortterm for me. Flesh is flesh wether it was TWI or the Assemblies of God, there was flesh in both. But to come to somewhat the same conclusions from vastly different organizations makes experience more valuable from the standpoint we have all learned how terrible religion can be.
Thank you for your comments, they encourage me.
just thinking:
your comment:
To avoid giving TWI too much credit, I think it's useful to distinguish between the benefits one gained from people IN TWI versus the organization itself.
Ditto, but I think you know me well enough that I wasnt signaling benefit in deference to anything TWI provided that was positive, at least not in the long term.
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Abigail
Wafer, I did not learn all of those things in TWI, many I learned in the process of leaving, others I learned while in.
I guess, because the question was "how did you benefit from the TWI Experience" not "how did you benefit while being in TWI" I counted the entire experience from the moment I got involved to the entire process of leaving physically and mentally.
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JustThinking
Sky,
Thank you for the clarification. I actually tried to avoid reading into it either way.
Some things I did learn from TWI:
1. How to coordinate a meeting. (I know, start the "stringing chairs" jokes) Seriously, as a young person I had many opportunities to take on responsibility that I would probably not have gotten otherwise.
2. Public speaking experience. It is useful in many professions. Maybe not the best training in the world but more than many people get.
3. A chance (there, I said it!) to meet people from around the world. Our AC had people from outside the U.S. that were great to encounter.
JT
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Jason P
I'm sure this is the most common answer:
Anything I learned from TWI that is even remotely worthwhile would have eventually been learned elsewhere without the horrible mental and financial costs. All I got out of it was a dozen years down the drain and countless ruined relationships, lost opportunities and god knows how much financial destruction. The good news is that twelve years is a drop in the bucket compared to a whole lifetime and I now have such a finely tuned BS meter that the next 50 years should be smooth sailing.
Saying anything positive about the experience would be tantamount to saying "well, I got hit by a bus but dammit, I learned to look both ways before crossing the road. Man, am I thankful for that!"
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George Aar
What the Lutheran and Methodist churches were only partially able to do, WayWorld completed - my conversion to agnosticism.
I finally arrived at the place in life, thanks to TWI, that I'm quite convinced that religion (or "sprituality" or "Godly living" or whatever you want to call it) is bull$hit.
I'm a senses man! Gloooowry!
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Georgio Jessio
I have an uncanny eye for detail and a work ethic that alot of people just don't seem to have. People hire me to orginize concerts and all kinds of events because of my reputaion for thinking everything thru. It still irritates me when people do 1 1/2 *** job or forget details. And I still live on "corps time". If you tell me to be there at 6 I'm there at 6:50 at the latest. As a result I spend alot of time waiting for the rest of the world, which is chronicly late. It drives me nuts.
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dmiller
With whatever "good" twi offered --- the main thing I got from them was an introduction to E.W. Bullinger, and his "Companion Bible".
Granted --docvic claimed much of it for his own, yet I would have never heard of the works of Bullinger, had it not been for twi.
I have several versions of the bible here, yet Bullinger's (yea, yea, I know - KJV -
--> ) is the best I have ever had a chance to look at.
I got born again at an Evangelical Meeting;
I learned to speak in Tongues through a Catholic charismatic group;
Twi supported those teachings, but did not initiate them;
The only thing I can credit them with, is the intro they gave me to Bullinger.
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oldiesman
Here are some of my long-term benefits at the hands of twi...
The bible is the word of God, something that has integrity and trustworthiness
Anybody who believes Romans 10:9 is saved, no matter what denomination or group they are with.
Christians are saved by God's grace, not works
Being born again, which gift is never to be taken away
How to manifest holy spirit, principally SIT
The Dead are not alive now but dead until Christ's return and the resurrections
God is a loving and forgiving God
How to talk and reason about God and the bible with folks who may want to know more ...
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excathedra
i won't join another religious group
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Oakspear
One benefit, albeit learned after decades of stupidity, is that I carefully examine what I am told, and believe nothing without some kind of verification.
I don't allow anyone to meddle in my personal affairs.
I guess those are lessons learned after negative experiences.
As Georgio mentioned, I learned in TWI a level of detail and organization that has served me well.
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