The following narrative was submitted to me from Jon Smith. He originally intended for this to be a comment to the post “Who Joins, Who Leaves?” I asked permission to present it as a separate post and he agreed. He tells his story and exit drama in a straightforward manner while including a respectful tone for those who were not instigators of the intense emotional drama. Your comments are welcome.
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I appreciate this article, for it highlights that not everyone came to Word of Faith Fellowship for the same reason. I know people have very different backgrounds, events in their lives and just plain circumstances that have drawn them to WOFF. Although my association with Word of Faith was not nearly as lengthy as most of the current and former members of this group; I still feel like I was there long enough to get a good view of their practices and of the questionable things which became evident during my time there. So, I’d like to share what drew me to Word of Faith and what led me to leave this group of people.

My first introduction to Word of Faith was while serving in the Armed Forces and stationed at a base in Southeastern Georgia. I had been married a little over two years to my now ex-wife. Before the events that took place in Southeastern Georgia, I was stationed in Southeastern Connecticut and lived in the town of Norwich, CT. There my wife visited a church that was unlike any church she had ever encountered due to their strange method of praying which she described as “powerful.” I attended this church a time or two, but felt like the church was just a little too strange for my liking. My wife, however, continued to attend regularly until I was transferred to Southeast Georgia. Once settled in Georgia, my wife and I attended several churches until we found a non-denominational church that we both agreed on and attended fairly regular. My wife met a couple from that church who had recently attended a church seminar at a church in Western North Carolina. The husband of the family we met was from the town that this church was in and his mother attended the church and had convinced him to attend. From their description of this church and the “powerful” prayer they were doing there, it sounded familiar to the church my wife had attended in Norwich, CT. We found out later that it was. The church was Heart to Heart Ministries and led by Bobby Valentine, husband of Leigh Valentine who was/is closely associated with Word of Faith Fellowship. After the great things this family had to say about this church, they convinced my wife to travel with them to NC and attend the next seminar at the church. This church usually holds 4 or 5 seminars a year. My wife agreed and attended the seminar.
Continue reading From a WOFF survivor in response to “Who Joins? Who leaves?” →