A few days ago, Google Alerts® provided a link to an article about Nick Skinner. I did not know who Nick Skinner was but, the title of the article caught my attention. The subtitle told me a little more: “Nick Skinner, husband of Savannah Miller, talks for the first time about life inside a Costa Rican cult.” I continued reading this article written by Lynne Wallis and knew it had many points that could prove helpful to our readers.

  According to Steven Hassan, a leading cult expert, there are four main types of cults. We have reviewed mostly religious cults on this blog. Other that religious cults, there are political groups, therapy/large group awareness training groups and commercial groups. Source: “Releasing the Bonds” (Copyright© by Steven Hassan 2000, A Freedom of Mind Press Book, ISBN: 0-9670688-0-0) It helped me to review this article and see the common techniques used in the group Nick Skinner became a part of and the practices of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The link to view the entire article is here – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9061694/How-Igot-sucked-into-a-cult.html . We will only review certain parts that coincide or appear similar to the practices of WOFF we have discussed here on this blog.

  Skinner begins, “People don’t tend to go looking to join a cult,” he says. “Instead, curious and often idealistic people are led into recruitment and their lives are then ruined. That is certainly what happened to me.”  Well, that seems to fit the WOFF experience. How many WOFF members, present and pervious were drawn into Jane Whaley’s group by their desire to “know God”, have a family living in God’s ways… I can say for myself that there was certainly the curious idealism that led me to be a part of WOFF. Oh, it was disguised as “seeking the call of God” or “wanting to know more of God’s ways”. In reality, I look back and remember the curiosity and desire to live the life God had for me and yet I did not use any discernment or verify anything about WOFF. It was so easy to believe what was going on at WOFF as being the “move of God”… because I wanted to believe it.  I have done more research about a car I wanted to buy than performing any research or verifying the past of Sam and Jane Whaley. That was sad to realize.

  More from the article, “Just a few months after their son, Oscar, was born, the couple headed to Costa Rica. Talking to fellow travelers, they heard about a “biological reserve” in a remote part of the country with a community who lived on-site… “I’ve always been a keen environmentalist,” says Nick, who is now a bushcraft teacher, “and the community sounded amazing. It was self-sufficient, set in forest scenery. They kept goats and helped the indigenous population. We had to see it.”

  Yes, I can identify with the “We had to see it.” attitude. After arriving in Greenville in March of 1992; the members of Grace and Truth Fellowship began to speak about life at Spindale. People there were sold out for God, seeking His call and getting deliverance… after several weeks of this – We had to see WOFF. In May of 1992, we made our first visit to Spindale for services at WOFF.

  Skinner describes the living arrangements, “There was no electricity, radio or television… “There was a dress code,” he continues. “Very short hair and beards for men – the founder didn’t want us looking like hippies to outsiders – and long hair for women, while ‘modesty’ dictated a ban on bare legs. The image was scientific and professional.” … The reserve seemed well organized, with families, single men and single women all living in separate buildings. As well as Costa Ricans, there were Americans and a Dutch woman.”  Does any of this sound familiar? Dress code, no outside information sources, ban on bare legs…? Well, does any of this sound like WOFF-life? Keep reading it gets more obvious.

   “Everyone had a timetable, and the couple were given guidelines on community life, meal times and working patterns. “As we got into the swing of the timetable, the meditations became more intense. We only spoke basic Spanish at first, so our understanding was limited. The conditions were loose early on, but gradually we lost more and more freedom.”  Okay, does anyone live on a “timetable” at WOFF? I did. As we became more familiar with the routine, more was expected and yes the “meditations became more intense”. After all, don’t you want to be free from those devils? Then let’s get them out! Start praying and hitting the heavens! Right?

   We move on. From the source article: “Soon the pair were assigned their own individual tutors, who helped them “integrate”. “It was help with factual things at first, practical stuff, but soon we were being tutored in the beliefs and values of the group.” Yes, at WOFF, if you were new and sometimes if you were just not showing intense fervor for Jane, you could be assigned a “minister” to help you open your heart and teach you God’s ways… Yes, you would be “tutored in the beliefs and values of the group.” Does this sound similar in each group?

   As the months passed things became more intense. “We were told, why sleep when you can be doing something useful?” says Nick. “I realize now we were being weakened by sleep deprivation and a meager diet so we’d become too weak to resist the force of the group. They’d talk about how consumerism was destroying the world, agricultural reforestation, how to create a harmonious lifestyle – all topics we found fascinating… “That was the external face of it. The internal face was the development of self, spiritual evolution, how to become the perfect human being, with the leader a sort of living manual to achieve this. If you questioned him, that wasn’t tolerated, and people were ostracized and shunned as punishment.”  Here is where the similarities begin to be very intense. Did Jane preach a message titled –“You don’t have to sin”? I remember that message. Do you? What was the general direction of WOFF? Jane was perfect and you should strive to be so. (Don’t worry; no one ever met her standards…) If you questioned her perfection, you “were ostracized and shunned as punishment.”  

   The story continues and so do the similarities. Nick speaks of himself: The questioning part of his mind remained active, but he silenced it because he wanted to keep his family intact…Allie, on the other hand, had turned into an unquestioning devotee. Their relationship became strained and she moved out of their shared cabin into the single women’s accommodation. Nick could still visit his son, but this eventually became difficult and Allie accused him of “snooping”. Soon he was forbidden from visiting Oscar at all. Well, here we have the destruction of the family unit to support the purpose of the group. How about that? Any of this sound familiar pertaining to WOFF?

  This next part was sounded so much like WOFF-life I had to reread it several times. Nick, “‘I tried to gain more acceptance from the cult leader, but it was hard as he used psychological tricks, with rewards for compliance and punishments for crimes such as questioning the teachings. When I managed to get myself into ‘acceptance’ mode, everything made perfect sense – and when you see how together everyone is, how close, and that you’re not part of that, you want to be. You would strive for acceptance. But no matter how hard I tried to give myself up to the group, a part of my brain always resisted.” Can any other WOFF survivors identify with this?

  Nick was told to leave to do environmental study and be clearer about what he wanted. His wife and son stayed. The separation seemed to work and he returned a year later where “he knuckled down with his “tutor”. “I didn’t question a thing, and the leader was pleased. I stopped listening to my quiet voice that challenged them, and I continued like that for two more years, believing I was learning to be the perfect person. We were told the end of the world was coming. We were so cut off from the world, with no newspapers or anything, the beliefs of the group were all we had. The longer you are in the grip of a cult, the harder it is to leave – you think you are an evolved being and the outside world is meaningless….” (emphasis added) It becomes clear that as time passes, a WOFF member is “cut off from the world, with no newspapers or anything, the beliefs of the group were all we (they) had.” Being cut-off from others can occur while a member is working out in the world. The fear of being found not walking in God’s ways as defined by the rules of WOFF is so thick and real for members that they dare not venture out and seek help from outsiders! For other former members, does that describe the WOFF-life of fear?

   What would any good comparison to WOFF be unless Nick’s story included a court battle over custody of the son? Nick made a decision to not return to the group. And yes, Nick had his son grabbed from him by his wife and taken back to the compound. “An eight-month court battle ensued, during which time Nick made contact with the anti-cult expert Graham Baldwin, who runs Catalyst, a charity that helps cult victims get their lives back.” This was my first time learning about Graham Baldwin. More about his work can be found here: www.catalystcounselling.org.uk. The son now lives with his father. “Nick kept a diary during his stay with the group, something that is helping with Paradiso, the film script he is working on, about his experiences in a cult…”

   After reading this source article, it was evident that the practices of WOFF, as directed by the leader Jane Whaley, are not very original, but in fact follow the patterns of other destructive groups. Please, don’t be deceived by the big houses, fine clothes and nice cars. Members of WOFF are awash in many destructive practices which rob them of the freedoms that others in this country enjoy every day.

   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 378.