Category Archives: Independent Fundamental Baptist

Let’s Pack Up the Victim Blaming Mentality and Leave it in the Rearview

Posted on by

1

Unless you’ve been living under a rock its very likely you’ve heard of the rape case out of Steubenville, Ohio.

Actually, the more I hear of this horrible case, the more I wish I did indeed reside under a rock.

Although there is much more to this case that can be covered in this post, the basic facts of the case is a sixteen-year-old girl was gang raped by two high-school football players, Ma’lik Richmond (age 16) and Trent Mays (age 17). The incident came into the public view as gruesome photos, videos and other online postings depicting and referencing the crime were circulated over the Internet.  Early on the victim was blamed by the Steuberville Sheriff, the football coach and others as she was “asking for it.”  As the case moved forward the feeding frenzy of victim blaming played out on that national stage on a level rarely seen since the 1960’s and 1970’s in the United States of America.
Even after the verdict, two teen girls were arrested for threatening the victim on twitter.

The media was not immune from the foray.   CNN’s Poppy Harlow  reported that it’s “incredibly difficult even for an outsider like me to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believe their life fell apart.”  There was immediate outrage. Critics labeled CNN reporter Poppy Harlow and Candy Crowley as “rape sympathizers,” because of the fact there wasn’t any mention of concern as how the crime had impacted the victim and the victims future.

As the situation with CNN where unfolding a friend and I were discussing the Steubenville case when the subject turned Evangelicals, especially those in Fundamentalist circles  and the treatment of sexual assault victims.  We discussed  cases where even if it is a child who was victimized, sadly in our churches, Christian schools and Christian colleges and University’s more often than not it is the victims are the ones blamed, berated, scorned and treated with derision.

It is the victim who is instructed to remain silent for the ‘cause of Christ.’

It is the victim who is told it is their responsibility before God to quickly and completely forgive the perpetrator while justice is often denied.

If the victim is unable or unwilling to forced to suffer in silence, all too often it is the victim who is driven out of the church while the perpetrator is met with sympathy and often excused as a “good man” that “stumbled” and “fell” into sin.

Next my friend said, “While there’s a great deal of outrage surfacing concerning the treatment of the Steubenville victim, by the media and others…. how many times do Christians treat their most wounded such as this girl, in the same–or even in a even worse ways—yet few in the church will dare stand up for the victim?  To do so, in almost every case, means such a person will be berated and shunned along with the victim by Church leaders and church members alike.  It’s time for the church pack up the moving van and leave  victim-blaming mindset of Steubenville in its rear-view mirror.”

He is right of course.  In Conservative Evangelical Christian circles, and  specifically fundamentalist circles there is often little concern for victims whose lives may crumble in the aftermath of these crimes.  If the victims life does take a nose dive, the victim is blamed as she is counseled by church leaders and Christian College counselors the victim’s life wouldn’t be falling apart if she were “letting go and letting God,” now would it?  Verses such as Philippians 3:13b “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before,” are quoted out of context if the victim shows signs of Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS) or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Often it is Nouthetic counselors who refuse to believe such conditions as RTS and PTSD are true disorders as a result of trauma. but instead label symptoms the victim may have (intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, or reliving the event) as signs the victim is just “dwelling on it, or “not wanting” to give it to God and “get over it.”

I’ve often thought to myself, if such a counselor could just live through one day of severe, complex PTSD, it would no doubt scare the Beelzebub out of such a person.  Maybe perhaps if such a counselor had to relive lurid details strewn across their own minds as something that triggers a PTSD sufferer on a daily basis, then perhaps such a counselor wouldn’t make hurtful, preposterous claims.   Few PTSD sufferers would wish that on anyone.

Another sobering reality is it is most often Christians who are lineup and surround the perpetrator while the victim is scrutinized at every turn with little  if any concern for the victims healing and physical and emotional recovery.  No one need look further than recent events surrounding  Jack Schaap  One need only read the 140 + letters written to the federal judge asking for leniency to get a picture of the lengths some will go to blame the victim.  While the same people ignored the victim whose life once bright with promise faces a future that will never be the same.  The actions of the people of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana could be used as a case study in victim blaming.

All too often we hear it’s the victims fault, (or at least partially the victims fault.)
Lest you think this is just a Jack Schaap/Hyles-Anderson problem…
How can we ever forget Chuck Phelps?
But, alas, it’s not a problem limited to Hammond Indiana or Chuck Phelps.

We’re aware of administrators at Bob Jones University telling many different victims “tell me exactly what you were wearing with the incident occurred.”

The same administrator and his wife have  repeatedly told victims they need to repent if during the assault(s) the victim felt any pleasure.

Other administrators have been known to ask both male and female victims and students sent to them for counseling about masturbation.

A well-respected Bible professor has told survivors of child sexual abuse,  ”impure children” attract sexual abuse.

Yes, folks this is just a small taste what has passed the mustard for years at 1700 Wade Hampton Boulevard for counseling of survivors of child and adult sexual assaults.

One last thing…. if women’s clothing prompts men to rape, it seems our churches, Christian Schools and Colleges hold very low standards for masculine self-control. Are men really all beasts who can’t help themselves? If not, then why must we expect women to police themselves to protect themselves from men as if men where mere male tomcats who can’t help themselves… but to romp about as  a female feline’s lissome body meanders across the garden path?

Woe Unto You Who Call Good Evil and Evil Good!

Posted on by

8

Schaap
http://chucklestravels.com/2013/03/14/sick-puppy-jack-schaap/
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Isaiah 5:20

The Prosecution’s sentencing memorandum has been published online.   LINK

A few quotes along with my (Chuckles) thoughts:

“Schaap later lied to his staff when they grew concerned about the amount of time he spent with the girl by claiming the girl was on her period and was just resting on his couch.”

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE?

Who thinks it’s normal for any pastor to know when a girl is on her period?

“Now she’s had to transfer schools, and her family was told it wasn’t safe for them to return to the church, according to letters from her parents.”

Again!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL THOSE PEOPLE?

Why was she told it wasn’t safe to return to her church? Was she being threatened or had something happened to her at church?

Are some of these people making it unsafe for the victim the same people who sat idly behind him and remained mute while Jack Schaap demonstrated masturbation at a youth conference?

Are these people making it unsafe for the victim the same folks who listened and remained silent while he said from the pulpit the vile things  contained in the video below about teen girls less that one month before he was arrested?

Starting near the middle of page 17 of the sentencing memorandum:

“As mentioned in her letters, the victim is participating in regular psychotherapy to help her cope with this incredibly difficult situation and her evolving feelings for the Defendant. Undersigned counsel has met with many victims during the time she has been prosecuting sex offenses but has never before worked with one who was groomed and sexually abused by a religious figure who expertly used his “inside track” to God to justify his illegal conduct to his victim.”

To the victim and the victims family.  We here at Chucklestravels hurt for you.  You’ve suffered enough.  Those people at FBCH were never your friends.   They aren’t Godly either.  They’re going to have a lot to answer for to their Maker.

Ezekial 34:1-10 The Message says:

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, ‘God, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones, don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays, don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd—scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered—my sheep!—exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!

7-9 “‘Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of God: As sure as I am the living God—Decree of God, the Master—because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, listen to what God has to say:

10 “‘Watch out! I’m coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They’re fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I’ll rescue my sheep from their greed. They’re not going to feed off my sheep any longer!

Sick Puppy: Jack Schaap

Posted on by

3

 

jack schaap

The Chicago Post Tribune reports.

Preacher: Sex with 17-year-old was Lord’s work

BY Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com

Former First Baptist Church of Hammond pastor Jack Schaap’s affair with a 17-year-old girl last summer not only wasn’t wrong but was desired by Jesus Christ.

That’s what he claimed in one of several letters he wrote to the victim during his crime, couching the sexual relationship as part of her personal salvation and something Jesus Christ wanted.

“In our ‘fantasy talk,’ you have affectionately spoken of being ‘my wife,’ ” Schaap wrote in one letter. “That is exactly what Christ desires for us. He wants to marry us + become eternal lovers!”

Federal prosecutors included the letters in the government’s sentencing memorandum for Schaap, which was filed Wednesday evening in U.S. District Court in Hammond.

Schaap has pleaded guilty to causing the girl to be transported to Illinois and Michigan last year for a sexual relationship. Schaap resigned from the megachurch, one of the largest in the country, last summer after church members discovered his relationship with the girl and reported it to local law enforcement.

In his letters to the girl, Schaap often discusses how he helped save her from self-destruction, helping to put her on a “better path of living — that’s what we call Righteousness.”

In another letter, he talks about how he wanted their time together for three days — which appears to reference their time in Michigan — to show her how much she matters to Jesus Christ.

The girl and her family are still dealing with the ramifications of the relationship, according to letters they wrote to the court.

The girl wrote about how she spent her entire life in the church, listening to Schaap preach three times a week and being taught that he was a messenger of God.

“He told me to confide in him, to trust him, and he made me feel safe and comfortable around him as a man of God,” she wrote. “(Schaap) preyed on that trust and my vulnerability.”

In another letter written to Schaap, she says she was shocked when he first kissed her. When she asked if it was wrong, Schaap told her it was OK.

“You told me that I was sent to you from God, I was his gift to you,” the letter says.

She admits that by the time they were discovered, she thought she was in love with him and at first didn’t admit he had victimized her.

Now she’s had to transfer schools, and her family was told it wasn’t safe for them to return to the church, according to letters from her parents. The girl writes that although she still struggles every day, she is determined to “get through this and grow from it.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster says in the sentencing memorandum that Schaap started grooming the victim in April 2012, after an administrator at the girl’s high school, run by the church, emailed Schaap about how she was “frightened, confused and emotionally traumatized” and in need of guidance.

The administrator wrote that he told the girl to let other people guide her life for now and to trust her leaders.

Schaap encouraged her to talk to him about a past romantic relationships and to view him as a friend. The two called and texted each other frequently, including 662 times in the month, before he was discovered. Phone records show he instigated contact in all but five of those days.

The government’s filing says he duped church employees into helping transport the girl across state lines, telling them the girl was “in an extremely vulnerable state” and that he needed prolonged alone time with her to help her.

However, he really took her to his personal property in Crete, Ill., and to his cabin in Cadillac, Mich., once spending 36 hours alone with her. When the employee grew concerned about the girl’s continued absence and texted Schaap, he claimed the girl had fallen asleep on his couch.

He also engaged in sexual behavior with her in his office at the church during a youth conference, according to the government’s filing.

Schaap later lied to his staff when they grew concerned about the amount of time he spent with the girl by claiming the girl was on her period and was just resting on his couch. A staff member found photos of the two a few days later, which led to the federal investigation.

Koster disputes claims in Schaap’s own sentencing memorandum that he was stressed from the church’s decreasing finances and having to work 100 hours a week to make up for fewer staff members.

“The only way (Schaap) could have been working 100-hour weeks during the time period investigated by the government is if he’s counting the many hours he dedicated to grooming and sexually abusing the victim,” Koster says in the filing.

She defends the government’s agreement to recommend a 10-year sentence for Schaap, noting he agreed to plead guilty even before he was charged.

The victim dropped her request for restitution as her doctors still cannot estimate how much help she will need to recover from the crime. Defendants convicted in such crimes are legally required to pay their victims’ medical fees through restitution.

Schapp is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning.

Facepalm

Does Timothy and Robbie (Ford) Johnson Have Amnesia?

Posted on by

14

We here at Chucklestravels have been informed, Timothy Johnson is claiming he knew of no abuse at New Bethany.

Starting with the second paragraph from the  legal document at the bottom of this post;

The purpose of this special session was the disposing of properties owned and operated by the New Bethany Home for Girls, Inc.   Having lost state and federal cases with no further recourse available it has become necessary to seek other options for holdings.

A motion was made by Timothy Johnson that New Bethany Home for Girls, Inc. be closed permanently…. (Emphasis Chucklestravels)

We present to you,  a statement from a New Bethany Survivor who contend his wife, Robbie (Ford) Johnson knew.  Tim was on the Board of New Bethany?

Tim and Robbie Johnson

Tim and Robbie Johnson

“There has been some discussion about whether or not Brother Ford ever sexually abused anyone.” 

“Yes, he did. I will tell my story on here sometime. I’ve told it to ___, but never have posted it here.” 

“He took advantage of his position of authority. His family is aware of these things. Robbie (Ford) helped me get away from New Bethany when I was in a “situation” with him. She did it out of love for her mother.”

“I do understand that if you found peace and help and had your life turned around for the better at New Bethany, it’s hard to hear him being accused of sexual abuse. But we know that we as people are capable of doing both very good and very bad things.”

:Try to understand where women here who defend Ford are coming from. It’s very painful to hear that the man you respected apparently betrayed your confidence and trust by having sexual contact with your friends.”

“And please be extra gentle with women here who talk about how Brother Ford abused them. It did happen. It happened to me.”

“I think one problem we have when we try to talk about these things here is that we were teenagers when we lived at New Bethany, and when we try to talk about it now, we return emotionally to those days. Just like sometimes when we’re with our parents and siblings, we return to the emotions we had when we lived at home.” 

“We don’t live there anymore. I hope we can talk about these things with perspective now.”

“Peace to all, “

New Bethany Survivor (Survivors name redacted by Chuckles for privacy)

New Bethany Tim Johnson Board Member

Who are we to believe?

Tim and Robbie?

….Or our lying eyes?

You decide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.
    • Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
    • Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
    • Federal Bureau of  Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls acrosss state lines?
    • It’s not too late.  Some New Bethany Survivors who allege being raped by Mack Ford, Statute of Limitations has NOT expired! nb-meme

Emeli Sande Read All About It Part 3

You’ve got the words to change a nation

but you’re biting your tongue

You’ve spent a life time stuck in silence afraid you’ll say something wrong

If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?

So come, on come on Come on, come on

You’ve got a heart as loud as lions So why let your voice be tamed?

Baby we’re a little different there’s no need to be ashamed

You’ve got the light to fight the shadow so stop hiding it away

Come on, Come on

I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out

so put it in all of the papers,I’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it

oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh
At night we’re waking up the neighbors while we sing away the blues

making sure that we remember yeah cause we all matter too 

if the truth has been forbidden then we’re breaking all the rules 

so come on, come on come on, come on,

let’s get the tv and the radio to play our tune again

 its ’bout time we got some airplay of our version of events 

there’s no need to be afraid I will sing with you my friend Come on, come on[ 

I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out

so put it in all of the papers, i’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it

ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-oh

Yeah we’re all wonderful, wonderful people 

so when did we all get so fearful? 

Now we’re finally finding our voices so take a chance, come help me sing this,

Yeah we’re all wonderful, wonderful people so when did we all get so fearful?

and now we’re finally finding our voices, so take a chance, come help me sing this
I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out

so put it in all of the papers, i’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it

ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-oh
I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out.

so put it in all of the papers,

I’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it oh

Timothy Johnson Has Blood on His Hands

Posted on by

18

In June 2012, Mechille Searles left this rock we live on before she could receive justice for the multiple rapes Mack Ford committed on her as a tender teenage girl.  See THIS POST

Mack Ford  is alleged to have physically abused and raped girls for four (4) decades.

The Editorial Board of Chucklestravels is determined to show what Tim Johnson allowed to occur for that last decade New Bethany Girls home in Arcadia Louisiana. Tim chose not to “call the law“ as he promised if New Bethany were to reopen.

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson

We could think of no better way than to just post the words of a few New Bethany Survivors speak for themselves.

Simone Jones comment

“Timothy Johnson and his wife Robbie (Ford) Johnson have stood behind Mack Ford for years. They took it upon themselves to remove the young girl who had recorded Ford assaulting her. Also after this girl was removed several other children were interviewed by Thelma Ford (Macks wife) and Nora Carter (dorm mother). He had been sexually abusing MANY of the children during that time (He had been sexually abusing children since the 70s) They promised the girls that Ford was gone and could no longer harm them.

This was the time that Ford jumped out of the bushes, with a GUN, and threatened to kill everyone there, and also threatened to burn the place down. Here he was, the very man that had been assaulting many, running around like a crazed lunatic. What a horrific thing for any child to have to witness.
Sure the children went home, but it wasn’t long before many of the same children, as well as a whole new group of children came to the home and it was open and running again.
Had Timothy and Robbie Johnson kept their word and called the authorities, we wouldn’t have a whole separate decade of survivors from the New Bethany home.

I am wondering HOW Timothy Johnson even became employed at LC? In a recent conversation with an employee of the college he stated that he had never heard of New Bethany? 4 decades of abuse in every form, DHS closing down the Louisiana boys home for abuse, another New Bethany home opened in South Carolina that was also closed for abuse (that Timothy Johnson defended), lawsuits that would make the normal persons skin crawl, and countless survivors of New Bethany speaking out. Yet, he never heard of New Bethany? I find that very hard to believe.

I hope the young men and ladies at LC are alright. I hope they know that there are thousands of us out here that are willing to help them, willing to stand beside them, willing to comfort them, and are willing to fight for them.

And Timothy and Robbie (Ford) Johnson, if you are reading this, SHAME ON YOU! You could have saved thousands of children from the claws of Mack Ford and New Bethany. I am sure that God looks down on you and weeps.”

Buried Secrets Revealed states

For decades the Survivors of New Bethany, have been called liars anytime they have tried to speak out bout the abuse they endured, while under the care of Mack and Thelma Ford and their NB Staff. Timothy Johnson was given information that supported these allegations,
(a cassette tape made by one of the victims)
instead of protecting the children, he chose to protect his father in law Mack Ford.
Now Mr. Johnson is being considered for appointment of Louisiana College President.
Please tell me if Mr. Johnson would cover up information showing his father in law to be a pedophile and child abuser, what else might he cover up?
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.
Stand Up Against Institutional Abuse, Stop the Mayham!!!

Jowrongdunno writes

I was reading the LC president’s statement and this stood out… “even if we stand alone, we will stand for what is right.”

For decades, many of us felt we stood alone. For decades, I thought I was the only sex abuse victim of Mack Ford. That was a lonely place to live in the playground of my mind. I thought the sex abuse had to be my fault because I thought no one else experienced the same and preachers, including my own father, deemed me dishonest.

People who know me are aware that I can’t lie worth squat, so why bother? Mechille’s greatest fear was that Mack Ford would die before she could obtain justice for crimes perpetrated against her.

Now, to realize that if Timothy Johnson or his wife, Roberta Ford, had kept Timothy’s word, Mechille would not have been returned to the arms of her rapist!
Mechille would likely be sitting nearby doing the happy-dance had Timothy Johnson stayed true to his word. Johnson’s personal awareness of Mack’s proclivity for raping and molesting girls did not cause him to stir and Mechille’s blood is on Johnson’s and Ford’s hands!

Timothy, “You are a direct cause for two children growing up without their mommy! Did your silence have a pay-off and was your inaction worth all the pain generated over the following decade?”

So Mechille, this one’s for you baby girl! I will keep on sharing what you told me in confidence because I know we were going public but you passed away two days before our planned outing to media and the filing of a lawsuit against Mack W. Ford, and every minion who remained silent, knowing MF was molesting children’s bodies and minds at New Bethany.

I’m glad that I do not stand alone, and that I know I was not alone, and that I never have to feel so horribly alone again. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.
    • Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
    • Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
    • Federal Bureau of  Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls across state lines?
    • It’s not too late.  Some New Bethany Survivors who allege being raped by Mack Ford, Statute of Limitations has NOT expired! 
    • nb-meme

Louisiana College May Appoint Mack Ford Son in Law as President

Posted on by

20

We here at Chucklestravels have been following with interest the seeming imminent implosion of Louisiana College if  meaningful and massive changes are not taken in short order.

Louisiana College is a private Christian College.

According to THIS, Louisiana College received the second warning from its accreditation agency, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  Making Louisiana College in serious jeopardy of losing its accreditation status.

You may be wondering why The Editorial Board of Chucklestravels has been watching Louisiana College with such interest?

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson, (Pictured left) is currently the Vice President for Institutional Development and New Projects at Louisiana College.

We found on Tim Johnson’s bio on Louisiana College website, Tim Johnson is married to Robbie (Ford) Johnson.

Tim Johnson is married to one of Mack and Thelma Ford’s daughters!

oh, but it get’s worse.

Much worse.

Years ago, a New Bethany prisoner recorded on a cassette tape her being sexually assaulted by Mack Ford, Tim’s father-in-law.

Tim Johnson removed the girl from the home, but of course, never took the girl to the police.  New Bethany was closed for a period of time after this.  Tim Johnson told Mack and Thelma Ford if New Bethany was ever reopened, he (Tim Johnson) “would call the law.”

New Bethany Home for Girls was reopened with a matter of months.  Tim Johnson never made good on that threat he made.  Girls went on to be raped and abused for another decade.

We here at Chucklestravels have documented more evidence of Timothy Johnson’s complicity with the crimes that took place at New Bethany.

Timothy Johnson was on the board of New Bethany!

New Bethany Tim Johnson Board Member

New Bethany Tim Johnson Board Member

We have been tipped off by credible sources that Louisiana College may be appointing the man who helped cover up the rapes of minors for decades by his father-in-law  may become the next President of Louisiana College as early as next week.

See Chucklestravels tag Unto the Least of These  for more information about the decades of horrific abuse at New Bethany that this Timothy Johnson chose to allow occur for another decade after he broke his promise to call the law if New Bethany Girls Home was reopened.

[

]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.
    • Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
    • Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
    • Federal Bureau of  Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls across state lines?nb-meme

     

Willful Ignorance and Brave Responses

Posted on by

29

We have people such as “Muggle” (Link to original comment) who like to  show their willful ignorance by posting comments such as the following:

Why are these “reliable” sources always nothing more than unsubstantiated, anonymous unconfirmed rumors. When and where will the victims have the courage to come forth and go on record with their stories and present their evidence? I have even read the explanations to justify the arguments that no one should expect any “evidence” to b e presented–that we should just accept all the rumors and stories as true without it. What an incredible piece of logic. Boy, that makes sense if there is any intention of seeking justice, especially in a court of law.

We have pastors such as Marc Monte call victims “psycho’s.”  Chucklestravels blogged about Monte LINK.

After another survivor, Linda Fossen, took Monte to task, I Am An Abuse Survivor – Not A Psycho LINK, Marc Monte sent Linda Fossen an email apparently trying to get Linda to help calm the storm he created.  Linda Fossen responds to Monte’s email HERE and HERE.

We have survivors who have stepped forward and allowed the Editorial Board of Chucklestravels blog to post their accounts.  LINK

One brave young lady, named Kim wrote Chuckles this morning after she read Muggle’s comment.  She asked if we would post her account as rebuttal to “Muggle.”  We are posting her account, as it was written by Kim from the comment section( LINK,) unchanged and unedited.  Sadly, it seems it doesn’t matter how many accounts people like “Muggle” and Monti read, they still find a way to deny the victims are telling the truth.  We pray. our past experience isn’t true in this case.

.

I was raised IFB – my family lived and breathed it. My mother graduated from Bob Jones University All of my aunts and uncles attended Bob Jones University. My grand-father is a well-known IFB pastor who is also a graduate of Bob Jones University. I was never given a choice. From elementary school, I KNEW I would attend BJU, or be literally kicked out of the family on my ear. My father was accused of sexually molesting little girls while in my grand-father’s church in Pennsylvania. We were packed up and moved in the middle of the night to Tennessee. My grand-father had made the connection to this other church. The pastor friend of my grand-father was another Bob Jones University ‘preacher-boy’ graduate. My grand-father didn’t believe my father was molesting the little girls. Unfortunately my father didn’t stop. My father molested me and my little sister too.
The first time I tried to tell, my mother first began to sob. Then she called my grand-father. He told my mother not to go to the police, (because those evil police and social workers will come out and investigate our home), but to call our pastor in Tennessee. My grand-father told my mother our pastor “would handle it.” My mother did call the pastor. My mother took me over to the church to talk to the preacher.
When I started to try to tell my pastor and his wife, that my father had been molesting me since I was 3 or 4, he STOPPED me! The pastor friend of my grand-father said, “Don’;t tell me. I don’t want to hear it! If you tell me, then I am required to call the police and report this. You don’t want your daddy going to prison over a misunderstanding, do you?”
I was 14. I loved my dad. I was confused. I told the pastor that I didn’t want my dad to go to jail, but I didn’t want him touching me anymore. The pastor friend of my grand-father then told both myself and my mother he had spoken with my grand-father. My grand-father was flying down. The two of them would speak with my dad. I was promised, “You need to trust us, God won’t let your daddy touch you again.”
Grandpop did fly in, I was in the Christian School associated with the church. When my grandfather showed up, he took me out of school to go to lunch. He asked what my father had done. I told my grandfather. My grandfather told me that he thought I had misunderstood my dad’s “loving on his daughter” with “evil things.” Nevertheless, my grandfather promised to speak with my father along with my pastor.
As you all probably know, it didn’t stop my father from sexually abusing me. A few months later, I tried to tell my mother once again. She called my grand-father. He got on the phone with me. My grand-father told me to stop spreading malicious lies because I didn’t like my father disciplining me. I tried to tell both my mother and my grand-father that it had nothing to do with discipline. They wouldn’t listen. That same night, my father came back into my room as usual. That night, I tried to run away. I took my parents van, along with my stained nightgown. I decided if I could get to Pennsylvania, I would be able to SHOW my grandfather the evidence, Then would he would have no other choice but to believe me. Then my grand-father would tell my mother to believe me too. (To this day, she always calls her father, asking advice for just about everything. She functions on the level of a junior high school student in this area, imo). I drove my parents van from Tennessee to Pennsylvania. I used money I had saved from babysitting our preachers kids for gas. I packed a small cooler with sandwiches and drinks like I had seen my mother do when we all made the drive to PA several times a year. I drove straight through to PA. To this day, I don’t know how I made it safely, since I wasn’t old enough to have a drivers license. I kept thinking my grand-father will help me once he see’s the evidence. He will!
Once I (finally) drove into my grand-parents driveway in PA, I breathed a sigh of relief. My grand-parents came to their front door, but didn’t come out. I thought it was strange, but I was soooo very happy that I ran, hugged my grand-parents and told them I had evidence my dad was doing those things to me. My grand-father took me into the house. My grand-mother made me sit on the couch while they called my parents. To my horror, my grand-parents told my father that I said I had evidence. My grand-father said, “I’ll take care of it.” In my naivete I still thought he meant he would finally believe me. I thought I would be allowed to stay with my grandparents. I would be safe at last! They HAD to believe me, right?
We didn’t discuss anything that night. My grand-mother kept babbling on about how hungry and tired I must be. My grand-father asked a few questions. He would then to into his home study to make a phone call and return. This went on for a few hours. My grand-mother made up the guest room for me. I slept very soundly because I knew my dad wasn’t coming in my room to molest me, while my grand-parents slept. I was safe. I remember praying. I remember thanking Jesus. Jesus had made sure that I arrived at my grandparents home safely, He had made sure to give me the idea to save the evidence to show my grandparents. Thank you, Jesus for saving my soul and for saving me from my dad, .

The next morning, my grand-parents said there was a counselor I needed to talk to. Rand Hummell was speaking at a church in the area. I was taken to talk to Rand Hummell. I told Rand Hummell about my father and the evidence I had. He completely ignored that. He told me that I had spent too much time on the internet. I had been exposed to these bad ideas on the internet. He talked about his book, “The Dark Side of the Internet.” I tried to explain that I hadn’t seen any of this on the internet. He focused on the fact that I had ran away from home. Many young girls do this because they are lured over the internet. I tried to tell him and my grand-parents I hadn;t been lured but that I had come to my grandparents house because I wanted my dad to stop hurting me. Rand Hummell told me that I needed to work on my attitude and let God work on my dad.
I was told to repent for running away, and causing so much pain. I did apologize for running away.
Unknown to me, my grand-father had not only been calling Rand Hummell. He had also made calls to another one of his pastor friends. This was Pastor Jason Casey Jason Casey is the Pastor and Director of Victorious Valley Baptist Church and Home for Girls in Sunset, SC. My grandparents asked me if i wanted to go somewhere that “would help me, and where I would be safe.”

Of course!.
I still thought I was going to be staying with my grandparents.
I was very wrong. That evening my parents flew in. My grandparents and my parents went out to dinner, where I now know they discussed how it was set up by my grand-father for me to go to Victorious Valley Home for Girls. I was sent back home to pack. Within a few days I found myself at Victorious Valley. I was made to confess that I had made up malicious lies, and repent for my causing “pain” to “many.”
Before anyone judges me for doing so, I was forced. If I didn’t repent, I was punished. Put in solitary where I was forced to listen to the preacher on tape constantly. . “Spanked,” and denied what they called “privileges,” such as showers, meals and bathroom privileges (other than when they decided I needed such things). I was a good girl, most of the girls there were good girls. It didn’t take long to break us.

Once I “graduated” from Victorious Valley I went home for the summer. As expected,in my family I attended Bob Jones University. A few days before leaving for college, I noticed my father was entering my little sister’s room. I went to college, haunted, knowing my father was now hurting my little sister. I didn’t know what to do. I was a student at Bob Jones University in 2010. One of my roommates complained that my nightmares were keeping “the room awake.” She was the Hall Leader. I was called to my dorm supervisors office and explained that I had been having nightmares. Without asking any other questions, her comment to me was, “That is the price one pays for watching Horror movies.” Was sent to the dorm counselor, with orders to not wake my roommates any more!
I finally told the dorm counselor that about my father. I told her that my little sister had told me that since I had left for college he was coming into her room. The dorm counselor gave me a copy of Dr. Jim Berg’s book, Changed Into His Image. She told me she would pass this along to the Dean of Women too. The next day, the dorm counselor called me to her room and asked why I had “lied” when she asked why I was having “bad dreams.” I didn’t know what to say. She didn’t ask, she TOLD me, “that was the price one pays for watching Horror movies.” She told me, that Dr. and Mrs. Berg were had counseled hundreds of students who were sexually abused, and I was to report to Dr. Berg in a few days. (Now remember, other than my grand-parents, my dorm counselor was the first person I had tried to tell the whole story to since I was 14,)
When I went to see Dr. Berg he asked me a lot of questions. One thing he told me was that I was not to tell anyone I had attended Victorious Valley. He then went on and said he had spoken with his wife and she would be “happy to counsel” me for the rest of the semester. Dr. Berg was not suggesting I speak with his wife, he was not asking me to consider this, I WOULD speak with his wife. The next day, Mrs. Berg and I began meeting. One of her first things she told me was that if I had any pleasure from what happened between myself and my father, God required me to repent of those feelings. That I needed to give up “control,” and a lot of other things. I started crying as I told her I was worried about my little sister.
The next morning, I went to class as usual. Upon returning I had a message to come to my dorm supervisors room. I did. She told me that Dr. Berg had called my father and told him of what I had been saying. My father denied this, of course. I was talked to by my dorm supervisor for awhile about how God expects us to tell the truth. Though tears, I told her I had told the truth. I was sent to the Dean of Women’s office and confronted again.
Miss Baker called my mother. My mother has known for years about the abuse. My mother was crying and angry because she told me, “You are tearing our family apart.” I knew my mother had called my grand-father too. I’m sure he made calls to the University and told them all about the “little family liar.”
The penalty for “lying” was 50 demerits. I was also put on spiritual probation. I accumulated a lot of demerits, for small things that added up. Right before Thanksgiving break, my hall-leader roommate turned me in for playing “un-checkable” music on my violin in my room. I was as they call it, “shipped” the next day. If Bob Jones, the Dean of Women, Dr. or Mrs Berg reported this to any law enforcement it is news to me. However, they did tell my mother, my hall-leader roommate.
I will be getting in contact with G.R.A.C.E. It’s hard for me to have any hope after all these years that Christians will believe me, but I’m going to contact GRACE anyway. I pray Jesus to whom I prayed to as a 14 year-old girl will come through this time.

Added Note:  I haven’t received the GRACE letter either.  I did receive the letter asking for $800,000 dollars.  I don’t have any money left over since I have to pay my therapist to help me recover from the mental and spiritual abuse I suffered at Bob Jones University.  I went to my dorm counselor and was sent to Dr. and Mrs. Berg who promised they would help me.   I would be dead if their brand of “help” continued much longer. ~ Kim

GRACE has established a special email address specifically devoted to Bob Jones University investigation. This email address completely separate and apart the University.  Please use this email address to contact GRACE:  grace.bobjones@netgrace.org

Please take the Confidential GRACE Survey.

Jesus Loves the Little Children….

Posted on by

2

“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 NIV

I’m sure she was a harried young mother.  With kids under 5, who wouldn’t be?  On that note alone, you might be willing to cut her some slack.  Who knows why the Child Services representative was there that day.  Those folks are not the agents of Satan so many point them out to be (at least not in the vast majority of cases).  And, their jobs are not exactly what you would consider glamorous.  In fact, I’d consider most of them pretty harried as well.  All of which makes the story even more peculiar.

The young mother was being interviewed when, one of her brood acted up in some way.  It happens, right?  I mean none of us is saying we don’t need to help our kids grow and learn.  That is, after all, why we are parents in the first place.  It’s the primary job God gave to parents.  And, especially during the earliest years, knowing how to act and react to a child is of utmost important.  So, this young mother began to address the needs of this child to learn something at that moment … but HOW she did it boggles the mind.

She excused herself from the interview, took the child to the kitchen, closed a door, and began disciplining with a belt.  In fact, she had the child go get the belt, which means it was kept specifically for that type of corporal punishment.  And we’re not talking a rap on the hands to get a youngster to pull back from danger or anything of the sort.  We’re talking a belt on legs that leaves marks and inflicts distinct pain (not just some level of discomfort).  Then to make matters worse, more punishment was inflicted when the child would not stop crying.  And remember, the social worker was in the next room!

I don’t care where you fall regarding corporal discipline for young kids – this mother was completely off her rocker doing this.  And, I suppose, it won’t surprise you to know there are strong IFB ties in this situation.  This is not a diatribe against all IFB parents, pastors, etc. but it is, once again, calling out a parent regarding how they treat a young child whom they are commanded to love and nurture.  It is also calling out those who teach that this action is not only normal but is Biblical.  The God I know weeps every time this happens.  It is only my complete faith that He is ultimately good that keeps me at my keyboard writing instead of rounding up a posse to lynch this woman, her husband, and probably half the members of their church.

Now, in the aftermath of outright stupidity, kids are in foster care, a family will have a legal battle, and lives will be changed in substantial ways.  All because somebody’s idea of “discipline” knows no boundaries.

When Jesus took a child on his lap and told all those listening about the worth of the youngest and “least of these” you had better believe he meant it.  And that carries a whole lot more weight than some “man of God” calling down bears and hell-fire on an individual who merely ticks them off with a comment.  Children are a gift – it is up to us to treat them as a gift that is precious.


C.P. Traveler

It’s Past Time IFB Leaders be Held Accountable

Posted on by

2

The other day, we saw the tweets by Marc Monte.  


Over the summer the Independent Fundamental Baptist world was shaken by the arrest of former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana–Jack Schaap.

On September 18, 2012 The Chicago Tribune reported:

Former Indiana pastor charged, signs federal plea deal in relationship with teen A former northwest Indiana pastor was charged in federal court today with taking a minor across state lines in and has signed a plea agreement, prosecutors announced.Jack A. Schaap, of Crete, and Dyer, Ind., was charged in a criminal information in U.S. District Court in Hammond, Ind., according a news release from the district’s U.S. attorney’s office.The FBI had confirmed last month that it was investigating whether Schaap, the former pastor of an Indiana megachurch, broke any laws during a relationship with a girl who was 17 last month that led to his ouster from First Baptist Church in Hammond. Schaap, 54, admitted to adultery and “improper behavior” with the teenager, leading a board of deacons to fire him last month, a church spokesman said at the time.  Schaap had a relationship between June 1 and July 30 with a girl who had not yet turned 18, and took her from Indiana to Illinois and to Michigan, according to the criminal information. Schaap took the girl “with the intent that she engage in sexual activity for which (Schaap could) be charged with a criminal offense,” according to the information.Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of several items Schaap is alleged to have used in committing the crime, including an iPad, an iPhone, a digital camera, a voice recorder and two computer flash drives, according to the information.In his plea agreement, which also was filed in federal court today, Schaap admits that he had sex with the girl, the girl was under his care or supervision, and he used a computer to persuade the girl to have sex with him illegally.  Schaap was scheduled to have his initial court appearance Wednesday at 3 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry in Hammond. As part of the plea deal, he waived his right to have the charges against him considered by a grand jury for indictment.An FBI spokesman said last month that the agency was investigating whether Schaap was involved in “an improper sexual relationship with an underage.”

In December 2012 Chicago Magazine published Let Us Prey:  Big Trouble at First Baptist Church  by Bryan Smith.  

The article showed how many Hyles-Anderson College graduates who were pastors all across the country have convictions for crimes such as Jack Schaap was convicted of.

Before the above was in the news, if you’ve been reading this blog, you’re familiar with Tina Anderson’s case.

Folks, Independent Fundamentalist would have you believe all these things are new.  Furthermore IFB pastors claim these cases are rare.

It’s past time to stop this head-in-the-sand attitude that many Christians take to avoid confronting the truth.  This is not a new phenomena. Long before  Jack Schaap “fell” or even before Tina Anderson was heard of, there was the horrific case of Esther Coombs that was highlighted on ABC News Primetime.


For too long, when confronted with the evidence they turn around and it insist the evidence doesn’t exist.
Bob Gray of Trinity Baptist Church, Jacksonville Florida died before his trial could commence.  Gray was allowed to leave the country and live as a “missionary” in Germany delaying the opportunity for Gray to face the criminal proceedings against him.  Bob Gray had accusations against him from as far back as 1949!  Yet, even  Jerry Falwell called the  serial sex-abuse case at Trinity is a mere “bump in the road.” Link

Jason Smoker chose to dump trash on a special needs man because Smoker was dissatisfied with the job the special-needs man had done cleaning out a church bus.  Smoker was convicted.  Smoker was sentenced to seven days in jail, and one year probation.  Repeated questions concerning whether Smoker was church-disciplined by Red Rocks Baptist Church have gone unanswered.

The allegations by New Bethany survivors span nearly 40 years.  Unto the Least of These

Mechilles wreath

 Yet, men such as “Concerned Pastor” not only refuse to listen, but defend, defend, defend.

We here at Chucklestravels could go on for days listing convictions and allegations of both physical and sexual abuse in IFB Churches.

Once the story is too big to deny then they complain when the media does a story on abuse; it is painting fundamentalism with “too broad a brush.”

For all their insistence and whining, fundamentalist preachers chose to close their eyes tight, stick their fingers in their ears and scream, “I’m not listening! I’m not listening!” And then go on to prepare their Sunday morning sermon series on the pedophilia scandal plaguing the Catholic Church and how this proves that Catholicism is from the pit of hell.  The Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International (*note: Chuck Phelps is the vice-chairmen) wrote the following resolution against sex abuse by the Catholic church in 2002:

02.9 CONCERNING PERVERSION IN THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD

The Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International condemns the perversion of the Roman Catholic priesthood that has recently become undeniable and widely known. We express outrage at any official hindrances to prosecution and hesitancy to dismiss from leadership not only those who are guilty of these sins and crimes, but also those who harbor them, regardless of the group responsible. Within the system of Romanism, we find many of the characteristics of the seducing spirits identified in I Timothy 4:1-3. We condemn such a corrupt and heretical system that fosters this abuse, and call professing believers to obey the command of 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.


While this blog (or anyone else) won’t  down-play the sexual abuse that takes place in any church, it should be noted that the FBFI has NEVER issued any resolution condemning abuse, physical or sexual abuse, whatsoever, from within Independent Baptist Fundamentalism. It is past time, fundamentalist leaders, pastors and their faithful members demand accountability.  It is time to stop blaming the child victim, in any way whatsoever, for the crime committed against them. It is past time, they stop “investigating,” as Chuck Phelps and others have done, when sexual assault of a child or teen is revealed to them. They need to turn it over to the authorities whose experience and training with investigating sex crimes. It is past time, for fundamentalist leaders and pastors to practice what they preach and separate from pastors and leaders in their own movement who, make the conscious choice, to allow a degenerates who rape children and teens to remain free, while sending the teens into exile in one of these IFB troubled teen homes.  No matter, what these men, who call themselves men of god “think,” they’re wrong to do such things.   They are the under-shepherd of these victims.  That is a responsibility these men chose when they decided to become a pastor.

Rape has been called “soul murder” for a reason. Our criminal justice system is not perfect, but it is responsible for investigate and prosecute these crimes. According to the scriptures, that is one thing for which government is ordained of God.

Unto the Least of These~Part Five

Posted on by

10

“Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

It’s been over four months since our last post in  our series ”Unto the Least of These.”   

Today we’re posting, with her permission, Simone Jones’s account of her stay at New Bethany Home For Girls in Arcadia Louisiana.  What follows are Simone’s words-alone.   Nothing has been added or changed by the Chucklestravels Editorial Board.

It was the summer of 1981, I was thirteen years old and had spent most of my life in orphanages, foster care, and had been shuffled around since the day I was born.Going to New Bethany, was only one of my many experiences as a child, actually I believe that it was at New Bethany that I realized that I was thrown away. I was a child, and apparently the only thing I had ever really done wrong in my life, was being born. All of the adults in my life, who were supposed to love me, protect me,and care for me tossed me aside, like a piece of damaged merchandise. These are only a few of my memories, during my stay at the New Bethany home…I was therefrom 1981-1984. 


Survival should not be a childhood memory

I remember pulling up to the gate at The New Bethany home for girls like it was yesterday. There was a nine foot chain linked fence, topped with barbed wire, and the gate had a lock and chain on it. My heart was pounding, it looked like a prison.I wasn’t a bad child, just an unwanted one. As we pulled into the gate, I kept trying to tell myself that this place couldn’t possibly be as bad as some of the other places I’d been. Could it? When I entered the front door I was shocked at the way the people looked at me,the way that they were dressed, the look in their eyes, and the things they started saying to me. Immediately one of the house mothers started telling me that I needed to get out of my sinful clothes, (I was wearing a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt) wash the makeup off of my eyes (because I looked like a whore) and get ready to be inspected, and take a shower. I turned and went for the front door. That was my very first mistake, as well as my very first beating at The New Bethany Home for girls. (I had only been there for a total of maybe fifteen minutes.) All at once, I was taken to the ground by several women, some of them weighing at least 200 pounds.I was screaming for them to get off of me, telling them that I couldn’t breathe, and that I was not going to stay there. That is when I felt the first blow of the paddle. I was shocked to say the least, I figured they would hit me a few times and then it would end. I don’t remember how many times I was hit, I just know that the pain of  being hit, while being held down and not being able to defend myself, was when I realized that this was going to be my ‘home’, until I turned 18. After about 2 hours of being held down and told that I was this horrible sinner, and that I needed God in my life, they finally got off of me. I was bruised, broken hearted and was instantly plotting on finding out the quickest way to get the hell out of this place. Next I was taken to the bathroom, with two women and one girl and told to strip. I was thirteen years old, had already lived a life of hell, in trying to protect myself,and had at least acquired some modesty. I was embarrassed, I slowly removed my clothing, with my audience standing there in front of me looking as if they were ready, and willing to attack me again, if I didn’t to exactly what they told me to do.I got everything off except my bra and panties; surely I could keep them on?WRONG! I had to remove them, so they could spray me for crabs (which I had never even heard of) and lice. Then I was told I had three minutes to get in the shower, wash my hair, scrub my filthy body, and get out. ‘We don’t waste water here at New Bethany’, one of the women told me.

After my shower, I was assigned a ‘watcher’, she was the only person I was allowed to speak to, look at, or ask any type of question about the ‘rules’. She was the only person I was allowed to trust. Many girls were only on watch for a month or so. Usually, the extreme brainwashing got to them. They were children, locked behind a fence, with the constant threat of being severely punished. For some, it was easier to just give in, and go with the flow. At New Bethany, you were expected to conform immediately, out of fear many did just that.By conforming, I mean that you as a child were expected to believe everything that you were told, get on your knees and beg God for forgiveness of your sins, and worship the owner and founder of New Bethany, Mack Ford. He was after all ‘the closest thing to God that we would ever meet’. We, as young children were whores,sinners and we should be happy that ‘someone wanted us’. He preached that from his pulpit. And if he wasn’t preaching it, one of his many other staff members, who were so-called preachers, were sure to remind us, daily.I am not sure how long I had been at the home, nor how many times I had been beaten, before a whole ‘new’ form of abuse started. Some of it I remember as clearly as if just happened yesterday, some of it is only fragments and pieces. All of it, as a child was horrifying. It is called rape.Every day before leaving the main dorms, we would all have to line up and have our uniforms checked. We had to prove that we had on a bra, camisole and a slip.Your skirt had to be below your knees and your blouse had better only show two fingers worth of skin, from your collar bone down. If your uniform was deemed inappropriate you had to go change, and you got licks because they assumed that you were trying to be like a harlot.I had passed the uniform check that morning, so what happened to me next, was to say the least confusing at first, then after the assault terrifying.Upon arriving across the road for school, we were lined up again and had breakfast. After breakfast we lined up once more to head upstairs to the schoolroom. One of the teachers would check us as we walked by her; it always seemed to me that I disgusted her. I was getting ready to find out just how badly her disgust was for me. She stopped me in the line and confronted me, saying that my skirt was too tight. She said I was to go up to the ‘office’ immediately. (The office was another room, above the school room.) I walked up those stairs slowly,thinking to myself how my skirt can be too tight? It was an ’A’ shaped skirt, it wasn’t tight at all. Not even in the waist. I knew at this time that going upstairs to the ‘office’ meant that you were going to get beaten, it happened to me frequently.It happened to me so frequently that I didn’t even cry anymore. Maybe if I had shown some type of emotion or submission to these people, what was about to happen to me would have never taken place.When I got up the stairs to the ’office’, I was met there by the principle. He gave some of the hardest licks, I was scared, but I didn’t show it. He told me to bend over the desk and to lift my skirt, I did as I was told and was prepared for the beating to begin. “No” he said. “Your slip too.” I turned and looked at him. I can’t explain to you the look in his eyes, and what I saw in them. I know now as an adult that it was pure evil. I turned back around and lifted my slip; he yanked my panties down and jammed himself inside of me; telling me, as he was raping me that I needed God, that I was a whore, and that he was going to help me find the salvation that I needed. When he was done with his “punishment”, I was sent back out to the woman who had sent me upstairs and beaten by her. She knew what he had done and she was angry with me. She was beating me, because he raped me? I had tempted him with my tight skirt. It was my fault, wasn’t it? I cannot say with all certainty that I was ever molested or raped by anyone else at the school. However, (I know) for some strange reason, that Mack Ford has never  been circumcised. I have remembered that because faint, quick thoughts of his uncircumcised penis seem to flash through my memory at times when I am sleeping; sometimes even when I am awake. I see him coming at me with his pants undone.This type of punishment was frequent for me. I hated that little ‘office’ above the school room. I hated that no matter how hard I tried, my uniform was always wrong. I hated that I couldn’t find this ‘God’, that he said I needed so badly.Shortly after this, I had received a severe beating from the house-mother. After my beating was over, I was walking down the hallway called ‘White hall’. I was headed back to my room and I was a mess. I leaned up against the wall, and broke down. I slid to the floor and just started crying uncontrollably. I felt someone touch me, I am pretty sure I jumped. But, it was a different type of touch; one that I had never felt before. Someone had their arms wrapped around me, and it wasn’t hurting me.I was being hugged? I WAS BEING HUGGED! I heard a whisper in my ear, that I can still hear to this day….”Stay strong”…..The hug wasn’t long-lasting, as the punishment for showing affection at New Bethany was severe. But that hug, and those words have stayed in my mind my whole life. ‘Stay strong’

Born to Run

I was only at The New Bethany Home for girls and boys for a very short time, before I attempted to ‘run’ the first time.All of the doors and windows had locks and alarms on them, so if you were going to try to get away, you had better make sure you were ready to make a run for your life.I waited until late at night, after the ‘floor walkers’ had made their rounds. The ‘walkers’ would have to stay up all night, and check on each and every girl, making sure that everyone was in their beds.The second I could tell that they had gone down the next hallway, I flung the window open and made my escape. The alarms were screaming, lights were flicking on everywhere. I headed towards the fence, and realized that if I tried to climb it, I would be instantly caught. So, being thirteen and very scared I headed for an old abandoned bus. I was a tiny little thing at thirteen. I think I may have been about five foot, five inches, and maybe weighed in at one-hundred pounds soaking wet.When I got on that old abandoned bus, I instantly curled myself into the tiniest ball and hid underneath one of the seats. I could hear the staff yelling and screaming, I could hear the dogs barking and I was scared half to death. I saw the light from a flashlight shining into the bus, I was trembling, I was sure to be found, taken inside and beaten half to death. However, the light came and went. They didn’t see me. I was safe. The only problem I had to face now was that I was still inside the gates,and I had to figure out a way to make it over that fence. How was I going to do that now? Everyone knew I was the one missing. I stayed in that bus all night, they never found me.By the time the morning came, I was numb from the cold, scared to death of being found, and had not one clue as to how I was going to make it out of that bus and over the fence. I guess I finally gave up the thought of actually making it. I got out from under that seat, and went to the front of the bus and just sat on the step he staff member that found me immediately took me inside with a grin on their face. It was a grin of sadistic pleasure. I was like a prize. And they were proud to have ‘found’ me.The beating that took place after I was turned over to the house-mother was just like any other beating. I would lose count after about the fourteenth lick; and that was at times only a third of the way into the beating.I attempted running every chance I got. It didn’t matter to me that I would be beaten every time. I had to get away; I couldn’t handle the abuse any longer. I was being abused in every way shape and form. Taking a chance was worth being beat.I just kept telling myself that one day, I would make it into town and somebody would save me. I learned that I couldn’t have been more wrong.The last time I ran, I was actually with another girl from the home. We had a chance and we just took off. We ran so hard and so fast that neither one of us could barely breathe. We did it, we were gone, and apparently nobody knew, until we were so far ahead of them, there was no way they could catch up with us. We ran and ran, it seemed like it was miles. It was five-mile to Arcadia, it seemed like five hundred. When we finally made it, we went into a bathroom at a gas station. Both of us were bloody from all of the briars and bushes, we were covered in dirt and sweat. But we made it! WE MADE IT! What happened next, made me realize once again that I had not one person in this whole entire world that cared about me or wanted me.We actually got to talk to the police. I was covered in bruises, from the middle of my back, all the way down to the bottom of my shins. Some of my bruises were so bad that they had scabs on them. The police officer listened to us, as we franticly told of the things that were happening to us at The New Bethany Home for girls.Then he said something that I will never forget…He said, “Well kids let’s give your  parents a call”. I didn’t have parents…He told me that he had to take me back to the home. There was nothing I could do;there was nothing that he could do.The beating I received after being taken back to the home is one that I have never forgotten. I remember the house mother’s evil grin, as the police officer handed me over to her. I was taken into her room, laid across the bed and beaten for what seemed like hours. I could hear her labored breathing with every lick, I could smell her sweat. I think at one point during the beating I must have passed out. I remember her hitting me so hard that it felt like I would break in half. I couldn’t sit down for weeks, I could hardly use the restroom, and I wasn’t allowed to speak.I never shed one tear during all of this, now as I write about it, the tears won’t stop.I never ran from the New Bethany Home for girls again I was there, and there was nothing, and no one that was going to change that.

Am I Dead?

It wasn’t until I was at The New Bethany Home for girls for a while, that I found out I was deathly allergic to bee stings. They had us work in the fields, on a regular  basis picking corn, peas, black-eyed peas, purple hull peas and digging up potatoes. It was one of the things that really didn’t bother me. At least if I was working in the fields, I didn’t have to go upstairs to the ‘office’. I was working away, picking peas, I believe when all of a sudden I felt the sting. It hurt, but I didn’t really complain. It was only a bee after all.About four of five minutes later, my vision became blurry, I was shaking horribly,and I couldn’t breathe right. My watcher asked me what was wrong; I turned to her and tried to say something. The only thing I remember her saying is “Oh my gosh!,what is wrong? Your eyes are almost swollen shut!”I remember vaguely, the hustle and bustle of the girls, and the staff. At some point someone gave me some type of shot. I think?

Then I woke up, on the sofa in Martha dorm. The girls were all talking at once, I wasn’t understanding the things that they were saying. My head hurt, my eyes were swollen still, almost completely shut. I remember asking one of the girls that was standing over me, “Am I dead?” She smiled and said, “No, but we thought you were.”Apparently, I had been on that couch for a few days, drugged with who knows what. I know that I didn’t go to the doctor. At New Bethany you could be almost dead, and you still wouldn’t receive medical attention.I was made to get up off of the couch, take my three-minute shower, and head off to church.Mack Ford preached that night. He preached about how ‘God’ had given me a chance to live, they had prayed the ‘Devil’ out of me, and wouldn’t I love to accept Jesus as my personal savior? My head was spinning, I couldn’t believe that I had almost died, and this man was telling me it was because ‘God’ had given me the chance to live, so that I could conform to Mack Fords beliefs? They had ‘prayed’ the ‘Devil’ out of me?I was stung by a bee. Not possessed by the “Devil” I looked at Mack Ford, and said as bravely as I could and said ‘No sir’. He came running at me from his pulpit, screaming and yelling that I was going to burn in hell. God had given me the chance to live; Mack Ford had made sure of it! He had after all, prayed the ‘Devil’ out of me. He then took me by the arm and began dragging me outside. He took off his belt and began whipping me with it, all the time telling me I was an ungrateful and worthless whore. He beat me for a while, and then he drug me back into the church. I guess because I didn’t scream out, or shed a tear, he decided that I was truly of the ‘Devil’. He had the house mother take me back to the dorm, and administer another  beating. The only thing running through my head was the statement that I had made earlier that day, to the concerned girl who stood over me; “Am I dead.”

Churches still send Mack Ford money.

Prior to going to the New Bethany Home for girls, the only religion I had ever been exposed to was the Catholic religion. I remember the priest speaking in a very calm voice; I remember standing, getting on my knees, sitting and the little bells. “Peace be with you.” ‘Ting-a-ling’ “And also with you” and again ‘Ting-a-ling.’ I never really understood what the priest was talking about, but I do know that I was never scared of him.The religious teachings at The New Bethany home for girls, was to say the least more of a ‘cult’ than it was any type of religion. Mack Ford was the leader, plain and simple. I believe he made up his own rules. Sure, he claimed to be ‘the closest thing to God’ that we would ever meet. But in all reality, he was the most evil man that many of the girls of the home, would ever lay their eyes on. He had created his own empire. Churches were donating him thousands of dollars, people were giving him their land, and parents were paying him thousands of dollars to ’fix’ their wayward teens Mack Ford would travel all over the country, with a bus full of girls going from church to church, claiming that he ran his home on donations only. That the Lord saw it fit for him to help these poor children. He would coach the girls on their testimonies, at times making sure to have the girl with the saddest testimony standup before the church, and tell of how she was a drug addicted prostitute, prior to coming to the home, how she had no family to take care of her, and how thankful she was to Mack Ford for taking her in and leading her to the Lord. Then he would have the girls sing their little hearts out. Many of the girls were very talented, they could sing like angels. The church members would break down, thinking that it was the Lords will to give as much money as possible. Mack Ford was raking in the dough, and people had no idea what was really going on, behind the fences of The New Bethany home for girls. Mack Ford also had two other ‘groups’ of girls, sent with different pastors, one who was the administrator/principle of the home, and another who had come to the home and preached a few times. These were smaller groups than what Mack Ford took with him. But, they were still doing the same thing. Going from church to church, telling of how the home had saved them from a life of drug addicted prostitution, and how thankful they were to Mack Ford, for leading them to the Lord. What really seemed to get to the members of these churches was how talented these girls were. Like I said, they could sing like angels, literally. Mack Ford had it all figured out. And still, not one of these churches knew what was really going on behind the fences of the New Bethany home for girls. Behind those fences children were being systematically brainwashed, children were being beaten, children were being raped, children were being sexually abused, children were being denied love, children were referred to as whores, Children had their  privacy taken, children had their self-esteem smashed, children had no emotional support, children had no choice, children were getting no education, children were being brutalized, children were turned against one another, children were lied to,children worked in the fields so they could eat, children were hungry, children were cold, children were frightened, children were told that no one wanted them,children were cut off from the outside world, and children were told that no one(except Mack Ford) loved them. Mack Ford is not God. He tried to make us all believe that he was. I guess the only thing that he will live to regret is not taking the time to realize that one day, that we would all grow up. We are not children anymore, and we remember everything. He still lives on the property that was once the New Bethany Home for girls and boys. He is sitting on a fortune that was earned by the children he terrorized for decades. I believe he has close to 300 acres, with five huge buildings on the land that was donated to him. By innocent people who had no idea, what was going on behind the fences of the New Bethany home for  boys and girls. And yes, churches STILL send Mack Ford money! The Sickening Antics Of Nora Carter (Shepard)

 Nora Carter is the monster that for the entire time I was there, brutalized, terrorized and just about beat me half to death on several occasions. She was the ’house-mother’. Nora Carter was aware of the sexual abuse that was going on, at the New Bethany home during the 80′s. She did nothing to stop it; she did nothing to protect us. We were children, and her impression was that it was ‘our’ fault. We were whores without God in our lives.She did nothing for us in the 1980′s and apparently as I’ve been told, she did nothing for the girls in the 90′s either. One of the girls, who had graduated and became staff, actually taped herself being assaulted by Mack Ford. She turned the tape over to Nora Carter, and all hell broke loose. The tape was turned over to Thelma Ford (Mack’s wife) and he was supposedly asked to leave. I’ve also been told that Robbie (Mack’s daughter) and her husband Timothy Johnson came to the home and removed the girl who had become staff, and had recorded Mack’s abuse.Parents were called, girls went home and statements were taken by Nora, by other girls/children who had also suffered Mack Ford’s sickening sexual abuse. Yet STILL she didn’t contact any type of law enforcement? This was her golden opportunity to finally do what was right. She didn’t.

Instead Nora Carter married the gardener Tom Shepherd, and went out to make sure that no one would talk about what had happened behind the fences at the NewBethany Home for girls.

Nora and Tom followed behind the group of girls that had gone home; they even had some of the girls from the New Bethany Home with them. They ended up in Washington State, trying to be ‘supportive’ of some of the girls who had been abused by Mack Ford. It is my opinion and the opinion of many others that she was actually doing her best to make sure that no one spoke out about what she had failed to report to the authorities. Nora and Tom got an apartment, reportedly paid for by the parents in this support group. They tried to start another home, and Tom tried to start a church. That failed, so they headed to Milan, Tennessee.What I have been able to confirm, in conversation with Douglass Powell, Pastor of Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church, is that Tom and Nora went on to Milan,Tennessee to a church by the name of Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church. The pastor of this church Douglas Powell and his wife had a Christian day school. It remained open for about twenty years. They had a firm belief in the division between church and state, but always allowed the inspectors to come in and inspect the school, if they asked to do so. It was after all the LAW, and they had nothing to hide.

Tom and Nora arrived in Milan TN, in a blue van with four children (reportedly from New Bethany) from Washington State, they immediately opened a children’s ‘home’ called ‘Faith Ranch’. This ‘home’ was open and running for two years. Until one day the state came and wanted to inspect the ‘home’. Nora and Tom refused.  Doug Powell did everything he could to explain to them that it was the law.  He had meetings, offered to step in and represent the ‘home’ and deal with the inspectors their self, by allowing them to come in and inspect. Nora and Tom still refused, and declined his offers of help. After much debate, as to doing things legally, Doug Powell asked Nora and Tom to leave the property. I was also able to confirm in conversation that it was then that Nora and Tom moved to Campbellsburg IN. Tom’s longtime friend, and Pastor John Lewis (Old Paths Baptist Church) invited them to come there. They stayed with church members, with 6 children in tow, until they could find a place to open another ’Faith Ranch’. In 1996, they found some property owned by Eric Wheeler, and yet another ‘Faith Ranch’ was opened. The agreement was that the Shepherds would fix the place up, in lieu of paying rent, for the use of the property. In August 1997,Tom Shepherd died leaving Nora Carter alone and in charge of the home, and the children. In September 1997 Nora (Carter) Shepherd receive $50,000.00 in life insurance proceeds from Toms death.

In March 1998, Nora Claims to have purchased (with Tom’s life insurance money) a portion of a fifty-two acre parcel of land, from an individual named Alma O’Connor. In all actuality, the pastor of Old Paths Baptist Church John Lewis, paid for almost all of it, through donations from church members. (As well as money from his own pocket.) In the summer of 1998 construction began on the building that would become ‘Faith Ranch’, and by winter the 3400 square foot three story building was completed enough that Nora and the children could stay in it. John Lewis, pastor of Old Paths Baptist Church and Nora had agreed that the top story would be used for the church. When the building was completed, Nora quit the church, claimed that the ‘home’ was hers, and even went as far as going with another church member and putting it in the name of ‘Old Paths Baptist Church INC’. A lawsuit ensued; with Nora claiming to be the ‘victim’ of ‘John Lewis’. She was attempting to sell the property on the open market for $65,000.00. John Lewis was horrified, to say the least. He refers to Nora (Carter) Shepherd as the ‘Biggest thorn in his side’ as well as doing the worst ‘demonic satanic attack’ on his church. He is devastated. His church members are devastated. They tried to help this ‘Godly’ woman, and were extremely hurt in the process The property was eventually split between Nora (Carter) Shepherd and Old Paths Baptist Church. They now have a road between the two properties. Nora (Carter) Shepherd now is the proud owner of a 3400 square foot, three story home, located in Campbellsburg Indiana on 20-25 acres. She is also the proud owner of a brand new Cadillac as well as a Suburban. Although now; it has been reportedly put into her ‘daughters’ name. This girl that Nora claims as her daughter is actually only one of the children from Nora’s home. Since leaving New Bethany, she had three (possibly four) different homes opened. Nora Carter (Shepherd) has never been held accountable for the abuse that she covered up, she concealed abuse victims, and for this you would think that something could be done? She is still living in Indiana, to this day. Not caring one bit about the children that she abused for decades, or about the children that she didn’t help, knowing that they had been physically and sexually terrorized .

In August 2010, five of us went back to that horrible dark place, trying to find some type of closure. This is for my sisters, for the survivors, and for those that we have lost.

A year ago today, we stood up to our fears 

A monster lives behind the fence 

Decades filled with tears

Secrets dark and dismal  Hidden deep inside

Scars and fear deeply embedded  

It’s from him we wished to hide 

A year ago today, we saw a different man A

coward hidden behind his fence

We spoiled his master plan

Our paths have joined us together  

From him we hide no more

Through all the torrential weather  

It’s one another we adore 

A year ago today, we walked right past that man 

An old man crumbling behind his fence

We finally took our stand 

Our intention was for healing  

But it has become so much more 

He will never again look into our eyes and refer to us as whores 

A year ago today, I held my sisters hands 

Life has a new meaning

 Since we took our stand 

 Nothing will stop us now 

From speaking out the truth 

It’s the monster who should be punished, from us he stole our youth

 Now, in my life I am doing everything that I can to help expose these types of  places. I am now a coordinator for an organization called “HEAL.” (http:// www.heal-online.org).As a child I had no voice, it was taken from me during my stay at the New Bethany home for girls. I intend on doing my best to be the voice of as many children as I possibly can. Children who are still suffering in places like New Bethany. Survival should not be a childhood memory.

P.S. Rhonda, I ‘stayed strong’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.

  • Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
  • Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls across state lines?

nb-meme