As a beginning, let me thank all the faithful supporters and blog readers who have contacted me over these last few weeks to check on me. Yes, it has been over five weeks since I have written a post. What would explain the absence? In part, I will share that I have been recounting the losses and assessing the aftermath of my time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). At times, I have ignored or denied that the losses were as devastating as they actually turned out to be. During these last few weeks, life events have occurred for the family that remains inside WOFF. I was not invited, asked to participate or briefed on the outcome.  There has been no contact in reference to these events or others that are yet to come. Admittedly, it would have been awkward to revisit WOFF, as I am told that I am forbidden to step foot on their property. Shocked?  All that being said, it is still regrettable beyond words, and more accurately, a severe life-changing emotional tragedy to realize the outcome for once being a part of Jane Whaley’s kingdom. Words are often shallow and do not come with enough color or accuracy to describe to others the pain of losing the family you had been with for over twenty years- all in the name of a religious cult.

But, where will I go from here? That is still to be determined. For certain, I don’t plan to stay in the gully of despair or in the ditch of rejection and pass the days away lamenting what could have been. No. In conjunction with recounting the losses, I have been setting my sights on the future. As other survivors learn, I have also found to be true; the road to a positive future can sometimes be elusive and hard to navigate. What do the next few years hold? None of us knows for sure. But, I am determined to find a more rewarding life-path than these last four years have been.

Also, during these last few weeks, there was so much to write about concerning the topic of religious cults and mind-control. Here is a link explaining a major story about cult involvement. I first heard about the break-up of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in an email. It was not until just before the Olympics that I saw a news piece on television that explained the connections to the Church of Scientology. Here are two videos I found most helpful in knowing the issues at hand. The first one is a short piece from NBC® found on YouTube®. The second is a much longer piece which has more material in it to explain the complexities- also, found on YouTube®.

 

 

Am I saying that WOFF is like the Church of Scientology? Actually, I am only providing the resources so you can hear others describe the Church of Scientology and then you compare it to what has already been documented on this blog about life inside WOFF. I will admit that when I watched the news article on television, I got a queasy, YUCK feeling and experienced flashbacks to WOFF days as observations about life inside the Church of Scientology were described. Yes, I will field questions on the comparison.

Next, I was told about a series of documentaries done by Anderson Cooper which include teenage survivors of FLDS. We have discussed FLDS on this blog before and have repeatedly made the comparison of the methods used in both FLDS and WOFF. I have included on video showing a couple of teenage survivors in New York. There are others to watch.

Finally, I bring you the most interesting article I have seen in the news in many weeks. Did you know the Summer Olympics were being held in London? Is that a funny question? If you are a faithful WOFF member, you may not have been told about the Olympics. RF may not have had clearance from Jane to get up and tell folks about the Olympics. If, as a faithful WOFF member, you work inside a WOFF-member owned company, attend all the WOFF services, live in a WOFF household, have no television, don’t listen to the radio in your car, don’t read the newspapers, don’t talk regularly with relatives or former friends outside the group, and in order to stay holy and righteous, don’t read magazines- then you just may be in a such a WOFF-cocoon and may not know. I am just making the point. As a fact, I have very little remembrance of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. The 1996 Olympics stand out because of the bombing in Atlanta.

The 2012 Olympics are being held in London. Many nations come together and compete in many events. The United States and China are leading in the medal total count. But, on my Yahoo.com homepage a few days ago, I saw this headline- “Family kept grandparents’ deaths secret from Chinese diver until she won gold medal.” The article was written by Martin Rogers for Yahoo Sports and can be found here: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics–family-kept-grandparents–deaths-secret-from-chinese-diver-until-she-won-gold-medal.html

Previously, we reviewed the movie- “Mao’s Last Dancer”. The movie is a true story about a Chinese exchange student who seeks asylum in the United States. The comparisons to China’s political cult and WOFF were made in detail. Here is the link to the post- http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=5051

So, being alerted to at least some of the inner workings of life in China made me drawn to this article. The article begins, “LONDON – Chinese diver Wu Minxia’s celebrations at winning a third Olympic gold medal were cut short after her family revealed the details of a devastating secret they had kept for several years.   Wu’s parents decided to withhold news of both the death of her grandparents and of her mother’s long battle with breast cancer until after she won the 3-meter springboard in London so as to not interfere with her diving career.   “It was essential to tell this white lie,” said her father Wu Yuming.”

  The article continues…

In China, athletes are often taken away from their families at a young age and placed in specialist training schools where they practice for hours every day. Wu began training daily at a diving camp at the age of 6. By the time she was 16, she had left home to be installed in a government aquatic sports institute.   She has become one of her sport’s all-time greats, but her father says the success has come at a high price to her personal life.   “We accepted a long time ago that she doesn’t belong entirely to us,” Wu Yuming told the Shanghai Morning Post. “I don’t even dare to think about things like enjoying family happiness.” (emphasis added)

In the article, the mother defended the decision to keep the news from her daughter. The grandparents of the young athlete had died over a year ago and the news was kept from the athlete so she could concentrate on training for the gold medal. The mother also has breast cancer and that was withheld from the daughter until after the gold medal ceremony.

John, what are you saying? Does this type of thing occur within WOFF? No, what I am saying is that the tragedy of WOFF is worse than what is reported in the article about life in China. Let me explain.

When you watch “Mao’s Last Dancer” you get an idea of the process of selection and the emotional changes brought on the family from which a child is chosen for further study. The process is very open and yet, the communal peer pressure is obvious. At least, during this process, the Chinese are more honest and forthright about telling their lies. As a contrast, inside of WOFF, the process to solicit the heart and soul of a child away from their parents is done in the name of religion or “the call of God” and at times when the parent is not present. The allegiance does not go to the cause of the country, but, to one Jane Whaley under the cloak of her being the only one who can “hear from God”. The underlying meaning of this phrase is that you, as a faithful WOFF member, cannot hear God at the same level and will always be subject to Jane.

We have mentioned before that children in WOFF report to leadership when a parent expresses doubt or does not follow the many rules of the group –while at home. Some children are more easily persuaded to give-up the natural respect and allegiance to their parents. When Jane points out the faults or “sins” of the parent to the child, the process has begun for her to supersede the authority of the parents and replace them in the family structure. This is all done in the name of being holy and righteous and leading the child to believe it is part of fulfilling the “call of God”. After all, the child may be told that if they really love their parents, they will expose their sin so the parents can get “help”.

For a fact, when you enter WOFF either with children or if you have them while inside; you WILL learn as the Chinese father did, ““We accepted a long time ago that she doesn’t belong entirely to us…”. You may learn it gradually or all at once. But, for sure if you stay long enough, Jane will own part or all of your child’s heart and soul. If you doubt, listen to the way she is addressed as “Momma Jane” or “Grandma Jane” by present and former members. While inside WOFF, parents lose their authority and are displaced in order for Jane’s control to grow and permeate the group at all age levels. This is the mechanism for her to secure the loyalty of the next generation. This destroys the family structure and has many parents thinking either while inside or on the outside- “I don’t even dare to think about things like enjoying family happiness…”.

It is clear that while at WOFF you will not win a medal. Jane hands out glory and adulation to no one. She is a hoarder of the glory and the credit for everything that happens “good” inside of WOFF. She decides where the money goes and who benefits. She may not technically own the companies affiliated with WOFF members- but, she owns her WOFF members and has them just where she wants them. The more of her faithful members a WOFF-member owned company has working for them, the more Jane becomes the effective owner of that business.

Will you win a medal for surviving and leaving WOFF? I would say probably not. There are not Olympic certified events just for ex-cult members. After all, there are many folks who live right among WOFF members and still don’t believe the group and its leader are dangerous. Why would there be applause for those that leave? Yes, applause is hard to come by for leaving a cult like WOFF. If a survivor is to get any satisfaction or sense of accomplishment for leaving such a group, it will come by overcoming the fears, the false guilt and the sense of shame that was ingrained in them – for some, from birth. For anything positive to come from leaving WOFF, a person must label the years inside the group for what they were and move on. And that is where I started. I am in the process of doing just that. Just how that process all shakes out, I am not sure, but, I have begun.

Thank you, for taking time to visit and read this blog. Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.

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Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, for posts written by John Huddle, any information about WOFF is from his memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 407.