A poll of how many years you were in TWI: 0 - 20years

[punkelf]

12 years or so.

Was born into the Way in 1971.

I can remember being really little and being bathed in a sink at the Emporia Campus while it is was still being worked on.

Was raised by a single mom, though in lots of twi houses with 2 to 4 other adults. We went WOW in 1975, 1976, and 1981.

That last WOW year was a doozy. I was still just a kid, but I know a lot of f'd up stuff was going on, and have a clear recollection that things were changing with the coming transisition of power, and not in a good way.

In like 1983 I remember being relieved when Mom chose to trip out. Her beater $300 car was giving her trouble, and we'd missed twig maybe twice. the twig leader reamed her over the phone for not believing. She never went back.

A year or two later, I saw a WOW bumbersticker on a car, and left my phone number under the wiper. Took PFAL, which I'd never really done, having always been told you had to be 12 or 13. Funny thing was, when I took it, I already knew it. We'd held the class in our various houses so many times, I'd probably been through the entirety of it several times.

Anyway, finished the class, went to maybe a couple of twigs after that, and was done.

Well, except for the years of therapy, the PTSD, nightmares, self-loathing, and long hard road of trying to figure out what the Truth was on my own, but that's another story.

[likeaneagle]

Hey Punkielf-

Yes, I agree, it is a rough road..but I have decided in this life, to do my best, and let God do the rest...:)

I was in from 74 to 83, went back in 90 and left in 2000..

My road needs new paving:)

And a big welcome to GSC!!!!!!!!!!

[punkelf]

thanks likeaneagle

:)

[Angry Monkey!!]

I was in TWI-Oregon form 90'-99' under Rev. P** and C** Miller, then Rev. E** and S** E***, then the aweful "rev." J** and P*** M***...

[wrdsandwrks]

Took PFAL in March 1974 at age 16

Went WOW in 1975

Way Corps in 1978

Left TWI in 1987

Let's see that's 13 years. Seems longer.

[egilkent]

PFAL 1979; WOW 82-83,AC in Emporia of the Wow year; finall out in 1989

[Son of the Master]

PFAL and Int. 1975

Advanced Class 78 at Emporia

Corps 1978

Ordained 83

Resigned assignment Dec. 86

after the Passing of a Predator (POP) and CG armed and dangerous October clergy meeting

left early 87

Oh. Married in Corps weddings 81 and still married!

[Lone Wolf McQuade]

PFAL 74. Out in 2000.

Hmmmm. Too long.

[likeaneagle]

Hey LMC

I took pfal in 74 and left in 2000 :unsure:

[Walk This Way...]

PFAL in Great Falls, MT...1981

Corps: 1984 'til I bailed in summer of 1986 after seeing the confusion & deception swirlling faster-n-faster.

5 years...it was the best of times...it was the worst of times!

[Larry N Moore]

Took PFAL in 1973. Left TWI in 1995. I suppose it's not necessary to say that given the amount of time I spent in TWI I pretty much was deeply involved.

What I find (somewhat) disturbing is the bitterness I see in SOME former members. I've tried to understand it but, without much success.

[exwaycorps]

pfal '75

wow'76

wow'78

advanced class '79

11th corps

KICKED out in '82 before the real fallout started (so i hear) so much makes sense now hearing others stories

loved many during those years learned a great deal about a lot of things that still serve me. yet reliving the ending is rough

never felt so betrayed lied to misunderstood undervalued and nearly hated.

just found this site today often wondered about the way had no idea how much happend sheesh ( I almost said "wow")

[skyybugg]

8 years in '79 out in '87

WOW 80-81 Waterown, South Dakota

Advanced Class '81 Emporia

Took Class Jesus Christ our Passover. I don't know alot about accuracy but It seemed pretty accurate to me and turned out to be one of my favorite subjects in God's Word.

That was 20 yrs ago, seems like yesterday.

Today is good, but, why does the past sometimes seem like the good 'ol days?

SkyyBugg

[waysider]

Today is good, but, why does the past sometimes seem like the good 'ol days?

SkyyBugg

Well, there are some here who will assure you they WERE the good 'ol days.

[30yearslater]

Physically active maybe less time than almost any here. Less than 2 years although specifics would take a lot for me to figure out from so long ago.

Mentally, and for most spritual ideology I've had ever since, I had never really left. (Until.....)

Curiosity hit me the other day and it dawned on me that surely there must be a whole new world open to those who would witness for TWI that I've never looked for nor even accidently stumbled upon through years of surfing online. What would happen if I google "The Way Biblical Research and Teaching Ministry"?

No "almost" about saying it at all: Wow!

[Suda]

Welcome to the cafe, 30! Good to have you here.

May I offer you some cookies and coffee to enjoy as you browse the forums? (I'll give you lots of cookies so you can share them with your friends in chat. LOL).

Hope to see you in chat again real soon!

Suda

[Steveo]

Was in from 1979 - 1983 Mostly in Pittsfield and Worcester MA, but went WOW in Des Moines, Iowa

[lucygoosey]

Not sure when we got in, I was born in '72, and just kind of seems like we were always in. I think I've heard my parents say 74 or 75ish, not certain. In 81, I was organizing Children's Fellowship for all my friends on Saturday mornings in Baird, TX. They came once, and I got beat up after school a lot after that. In 82, I took PFAL the first time in Abilene, where we were Home WOW's. We lived right by Abilene Christian University, and used to do a lot of witnessing on the campus. We had classes in our home several times that year. I took Advanced the next year. I think I was one of the youngest ever to make it through Advanced. I was a smart kidlet lol. I'm not sure exactly when we got out. I know we attended fellowships in Little Rock in 85, then in 86 we moved to south Arkansas. We had some fellowships in our house with one other family and a couple of single people, but I'm not sure if we were still 'in'. I got the impression there was some 'trouble' in Little Rock. So, 10 years for sure, probably a year or two more.

[lucyvanpelt]

From 12-31-80 until 6-1-88

I have no regrets. I proved all things and held fast to that which is good.

I have learned to apply God's Word in the past four years from another former involved person. He does not consider what he is doing to be an offshoot. He is only doing what he was ordained by God to do. And if you spent time with him you too would see the difference between a genuine gift minsitry and 99% of the people that lorded their title over us.

I was there for one thing, to learn about God, I didn't give a damn about anything else. I wasn't there for people, I wasn't there to socialize, I was there to learn about God. When I saw the .... at Corps week 1987, I excused myself and went about my business.

It's a shame so many people got so hurt. Look at it this way, we aren't the ones that are gonna stand before God and tell Him why we behaved so irresponsiblily to another believer, the leadership is. They are held accountable. That helps me through the rough patches.

No one ever forced me to do anything anyway. I was an incest survivor long before I met up with the Way bunch. No is N to the No for me. Nobody forces me to do ANYTHING against my will. NOBODY. I was there because I wanted to be. Now I don't want to be. My choice.

Thanks for letting me share,

Lucyvanpelt

[nick]

thirteen years

[Sam]

I took my first pfal in 1993. Moved up north 1994 thru 1997. Returned to fellowship and took the woa&p-foundational Feb 1998. The Intermediate in 1999. Moved to Florida2001. Now have returned 3 weeks ago. I found the GS yesterday and have been reading and listening to everything here. I'm alone here. I guess I'd like some advice on how to stay sane without twi. Thanks.

Edited May 26, 2008 by Sam

[nick]

"how to stay sane without twi?"

i think a hoby is key, there is a lot of time to fill.

i like video games.

[waysider]

I took my first pfal in 1993. Moved up north 1994 thru 1997. Returned to fellowship and took the woa&p-foundational Feb 1998. The Intermediate in 1999. Moved to Florida2001. Now have returned 3 weeks ago. I found the GS yesterday and have been reading and listening to everything here. I'm alone here. I guess I'd like some advice on how to stay sane without twi. Thanks.

TWI was and is a cult. Belonging to a cult, be it TWI or any other cult, will not foster sanity.

Maybe one of the first things to do would be to chuck their dangerous "law of believing" doctrine in the weeds.

They conditioned us to believe there was no safety or sanity outside the "household".

It's simply a control tactic they and many other cults employ.

[richnchrispy]

Rich and I were involved 1971-1987.

[hampshire73]

1973 to either 1986 or 1987. The last ROA I went to was in 1986. I remember that I was expecting my second child then; she was born in March 1987.

I took PFAL in 1974, was a College WOW three years, I think. Advanced Class 1976 in Emporia. Went WOW in 1977, after attending PFAL 77 in Athens, OH. I seem to remember taking the Advanced Class again in 1979.

I just remembered something -- I got married in 1980 and at the ROA in 1981, I went to get a new engraved AC nametag (remember those?), but they didn't want to allow me to have a hyphenated last name and insisted on using my first name and my husband's last name.

My then-husband and I just drifted away from TWI in late 1986 or early 1987. We didn't really intentionally leave, but we stopped going and didn't know a lot of what was going on in the ministry at that time. I knew something was going on, and it seemed like other people we knew weren't going any more either. I think everyone else assumed that we knew more than we did.

Anyway, I stumbled upon GSC one day last week and have been coming here almost every day since then. The first time, I just read for hours. The things I have read here have helped me make sense of a lot of things that I noticed back then but didn't understand.