itstimetomoveon (itstimetomoveon)
06-10-2005, 05:45 PM
Preston,
I love to hear your stories. Was I in Maine at the time? Though I remember many of my own red flags, I sometimes wonder how much I blocked out just to be semi-sane. I shared something recently with someone close to you. I related an incident which happened to her. She did not remember what I was talking about. I went into further detail and the memory came back to her. I think these memories are an important part of the process of exiting. It puts missing puzzle pieces into their proper place. It defines for us a picture of the Holy Spirit speaking to us all along. It increases our faith and we can trust the Lord for the future as we can see He was our gentle caretaker in the past.
Itsahokes/Melanie, Your daughter's impression was also my first impression of Carl's preaching. I thought he just strung a bunch of adjectives in a row but he was not saying anything! You must be thrilled to know you will never have to attend another "family" event in Baltimore.
Jayso, I have not touched (or looked at) a slice of Roman Meal Bread after leaving Lee Dorm over 26 years ago! I lived on it.. I was pregnant; a high risk pregnancy at that, living in a cinder block room.. with a loft bed and a ladder. Try climbing up and down a four times a night when you are eight months pregnant! We had no health insurance, no money.. I went through the hospital clinic.. received horrible care.. I was a month overdue and in eclampsia (not pre.. the real deal) before they finally took the baby. I was so gravely ill they did the c-section with general and did the initial cut before I was under.. I know how it feels to be cut with a knife. These are the memories I unfortunately did not block out... that and the mashed potatoes served with what looked like gray dryer lint mixed in!
ericlaw (ericlaw)
Intermediate Member
Username: ericlaw
Post Number: 407
Registered: 3-2005
Posted From: 217.20.126.133
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:11 am:
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Jayso,
I thought "I love you Jesus, yes" was one of CHS's own creations? If you heard it in a Baptist church, that would be interesting. Yes, the rest of the songs are widely used, it just funny to reflect back on them. It is also interesting how most of them are not in use anymore in GGWO. They had a major song service change about 7 or 8 years ago.
As for the "real words", CHS made up some, and misused many. The Hypostatic Union is an accepted Theological concept dealing with Christ's complete humanity and complete divinity. But other words were misused, like corporateness, and their meaning greatly stretched. He often would string together terms to baffle and WOW people. Like this, "Meditation on the propitiation, in the sanctification of memorization leads to the mastication of the revelation of the finished work."
joyce (joyce)
New member
Username: joyce
Post Number: 19
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 65.175.245.20
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:40 am:
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Jeannie, your story is horrible! I knew things at the "dorm" were sparce, but good lord, what were they thinking??
When we moved to the Berkshires, we were the first ones to actually BUY a home in a real neighborhood and pay taxes like the rest of America. We occasionally would have Bible school students over for coffee and dessert. Students would walk through our modest 3 bedroom ranch, oogle at a "real" stove and fondle the refrigerator! One lady once said after noticing of all things a silver spoon rack I had on the wall: "How can you live like this when there are so many missionaries living so poorly and have nothing to eat?" I replied: "Easy, just watch me." We were always lead to feel guilty because we didn't give it all to the ministry. You all know what I'm talking about.....
But, I, too, have to embrace those years and take what I learned from them and go on. Being reunited with some from the past helps to validate what I thought had been stolen from me.
anon_brief (anon_brief)
Intermediate Member
Username: anon_brief
Post Number: 403
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 205.188.116.72
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:56 am:
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One question comes to mind over and over again when I read comments like Joyce's -
If the missionaries got so little financial support, where did the money go?
herroyalhighness (herroyalhighness)
Advanced Member
Username: herroyalhighness
Post Number: 630
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 24.97.250.114
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:06 am:
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Come now...you've heard of Swiss bank accounts, right? It should not come as a surprise to anyone that monies given for one specific purpose often found their way to -- well -- another purpose!! Like that couple that sold the house they built with their own hands and gave proceeds to TBS only to find out that they actually bought the lights for the softball field!!!
How did $500,000 suddenly appear in the checkbook when Alan Lang had to be paid off? (Oh, I forgot, it wasn't a pay off....!)
david_munson (david_munson)
Intermediate Member
Username: david_munson
Post Number: 142
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 63.159.208.52
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:16 am:
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mrsdrysdale;
thank you.
Sometimes I just need a break from the seriousness of it all.Love hurts.
Baruch Habbah Hashem Adonia,
Dave}
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1064
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:23 am:
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Good Question Anon!
We were we thinking, Joyce!..lol No wonder my parents were horrified I joined the Bible Speaks! I never allowed them to see Lee Dorm or they would have surely carted me away on the spot.
What made this experience more awful was I had left the ministry three months prior and moved back to West Springfield and had a lovely little apartment near the center of town... within walking distance to my parent's house. I had convinced my husband to leave.. but he eventually went back to Lenox without me. I loved my husband, I was pregnant with our first child and when Becky Cromwell paid me a visit.. I was easily convinced to return to Lenox. I called my parents from a pay phone with Becky by my side.. telling me what to say to them. And I returned to Lenox and Lee Dorm. Unfortunately, I did not realize I was already marked by all. Most of the women in the dorm barely spoke to me. There was one woman who befriended me.. Marsha Slater.. she became my life long friend. She saw me for who I was.. and she also read books!! No one was reading "books" back then! We secretly passed books between us. Crazy to think life was really like this in Lenox.. that even reading was looked down upon. After giving birth to my son, I refused to go back to Lee Dorm and we moved into a wonderful apartment in ranch house in Lee. This was 1979 and you are right, Joyce.. living off campus was unheard of for the most part. The Bakers eventually bought that home in Lee.
preston (preston)
Junior Member
Username: preston
Post Number: 26
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.169.190.139
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:35 am:
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Lana,
It wasn't Art that CHS was speaking of at that time, no doubt he was one of many. If I get permission from other parties I will post more info on it. I have no doubt this person is reading FACTnet, and I love them dearly.
Oh my word, Jeannie. Even I can recollect Roman Meal bread. I still can't pass it by in a grocery store without wanting to squish all the loaves.
lana (lana)
Intermediate Member
Username: lana
Post Number: 107
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 209.240.205.61
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:56 am:
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Preston, Thanks, Do you remembe Pat Addato?, her name is Pat dykty now. They are in Balt. She sang. I can't get over 80 posts. I am on webtv. Love Factnet.
preston (preston)
Junior Member
Username: preston
Post Number: 28
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.169.190.139
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 1:10 pm:
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80 posts... you've got 6 or so left then, Lana! (sorry to waste one) My address is posted in the email thread.
I remember the Dykty's Dykties? Dyktyses!
itstimetomoveon (itstimetomoveon)
Junior Member
Username: itstimetomoveon
Post Number: 34
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 205.188.116.72
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 3:08 pm:
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Roman Meal Bread
Good things stand the test of time . . . like Roman Meal bread! When you see the Roman Meal brand on our bread products, you can be sure they're premium quality and the perfect balance of good taste and nutrition. It's been that way for more than 90 years. Roman Meal Company and its trademark centurion logo set the standard of excellence in Natural Whole Grain Goodness.
(Message edited by itstimetomoveon on June 09, 2005)
mrsdrysdale (mrsdrysdale)
Member
Username: mrsdrysdale
Post Number: 88
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 141.151.8.89
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 3:43 pm:
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Jeannie...I think you and I will always have those fond memories of the gray mashed potatoes!....I was shocked when I read your story about the loft bed and being pregnant...that was not right at all.
Joyce..good answer "easy just watch me"..what a stupid thing to say to you.
misil (misil)
Member
Username: misil
Post Number: 79
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.251.145.210
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:15 pm:
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ericlaw,
how about this one chs made up a couple years ago: practical relative affinity in divine imputation, he made that a message title
itsahokes (itsahokes)
Member
Username: itsahokes
Post Number: 68
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.128.21.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:24 pm:
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Lee Dorm: I lived in there as a single person and then as a married one. So disgusting and filthy with bugs crawling everywhere. I have a picture I'd like to post somewhere when I find it again (unpack)- of the "bed" we were given. Two cot size iron bed steads pushed together. No box springs. One with a FILTHY mattress and the other with a torn in half foam piece with jagged edges, half the size of a twin. Apparently they needed the other half for someone else.
And we worked for the place, and had to beg for the extra half piece of foam.
lana (lana)
Intermediate Member
Username: lana
Post Number: 112
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 209.240.205.61
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:33 pm:
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I think CHS worked on "denial of self", was to get you nearer to God. That was to humble your flesh. Instead, it was to bring us into submission to him.
itsahokes (itsahokes)
Member
Username: itsahokes
Post Number: 69
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.128.21.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:40 pm:
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Steve: Yes, stale drivel. So, Mt. Zion was beautiful in it's elevation. That I can imagine. God being beautiful for situations is extraordinarily vague and meaningless to me. Thanks for your insight.
jim_kennedy (jim_kennedy)
Intermediate Member
Username: jim_kennedy
Post Number: 198
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 172.142.235.194
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:07 pm:
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My first job in Lenox was with ServiceMaster. We'd leave campus after after wolfing down our breakfast at 6:00 am and drive to either Worcester or Hartford Connecticut. (Bruce Graham could take a turn on an icy mountain road in the dark at 50 mph steering with his knees while he took the lid off his coffee, Emmy Lou Harris "Roses In The Snow" blasting on the stereo.) After working like dogs all day the race was on the make it back before the cafeteria closed.
Sometimes I was so hungry I couldn't stand it, I'd be dizzy. And then that sinking feeling when you saw what they were serving: a 1&1/2 egg omlett with nothing in it and a lettuce salad. We were like hungry predators, scavenging the tables for leftovers. I liked to sit with families/mothers with little kids because you knew they wouldn't finish everything. "Is he going to eat that?"
The snack bar out back became my salvation, I spent every spare nickel there.
Jim
anon_brief (anon_brief)
Intermediate Member
Username: anon_brief
Post Number: 405
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:15 pm:
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Sounds like the TBS version of the company store.
lalalu (lalalu)
Junior Member
Username: lalalu
Post Number: 26
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 70.95.14.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:31 pm:
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I remember Lee Dorm...those horrible iron beds, no box springs just wood and a thin mattress on top. The rooms smelled horrible and they were dark. And the bathrooms...no curtains on the stalls...like pooping in public. The shower was disgusting.
I remember thinking: 1) Why the heck did they put us way out here far from everything, far from The Body, overgrown shrubs, bugs, and no food. 2) When would I get to eat or how would I get to services with no car? 3) No important people lived there.
I bunked with a girl named Karen. Don't remember her last name...I was in her wedding too...she had a bunch of bridesmaids. Later, I bought a car from her at a car dealership for $1,000. She was a car salesman but I don't remember if I made the check out to her or the dealership. The car, an orange Cricket, was constantly in the shop, waiting for parts. I think the name "Cricket" says it all. I sold it to David Huff less than a year later, for $50. I would have paid him $50 to take it!
On another occasion, Karen Simone and I lugged our laundry to the laundromat down the hill in Lee. I didn't know that I put my laundry in a washer full of sand. When it was done, my clothes were wet and sandy. Worse than they went in! Ugh. During the second washing, the power went out and it was storming, so now my clothes were soaking wet, sandy, and soapy. Karen and I had a good laugh. We always laughed a lot.
Fond memories of Karen...not of that dorm.
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1067
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:37 pm:
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OMG Itsa, the bed sounds horrifying!
Jim K, any thoughts on Roman Meal Bread?
Lee Dorm, 1979: We all had dorm jobs, mine was to prepare Sunday morning breakfast. I was to work with a very large and loud woman, who didn't like me much. She ordered me around that kitchen like a drill sergeant (Why did I let her? I was so defeated in my spirit, I had lost my voice and my anger) She ordered me to prepare the bacon and bake it on these huge metal trays. So there I would be.. trying to lift these huge trays, spilling over with bacon grease..out of a hot oven in the latter months of my pregnancy. We served the bacon with a massive amount of poached eggs (and of course Roman Meal Bread.) The site of a poached egg today will raise the bile.. How I dreaded Sundays.. I wish I could go back and rescue this girl now..
jim_kennedy (jim_kennedy)
Intermediate Member
Username: jim_kennedy
Post Number: 199
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 172.167.182.176
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:50 pm:
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Dear Mom,
Don't worry, it's not a cult. How do I know? They keep telling us it's not.
love, Jim
ps. Jeannie, to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet...smothered in ketchup lol.
misil (misil)
Member
Username: misil
Post Number: 80
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.251.145.210
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:55 pm:
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thank you all so much for posting on this thread. i wondered for a couple days if anyone was willing to help get a picture of the lenox times. i hear so much from so many trying to defend lenox and its good and balancing to see the other side of the story from the ones that lived it.
i have been wrestling with this whole issue for a couple weeks now. i have been trying to make sense of it all. here i see real people not trying to hide their real selves that are getting closer to God but are still very much flawed, and not afraid to admit it or show it at times, THIS IS REAL CHRISTIANITY. we are all in a process of growth at diffrent areas of our lives in Christ. and i have known that christians still have sin in their lives. it has always seemed to me that christains want to be perfect NOW,and that is not ever going to be the case. the unfortunate thing is that ggwo people try to put up a front in front of the church that they are living next to perfect lives and though i have known it not to be true for me i always wondered why i couldnt be as spiritual as the next christain.i mean i pray i fellowship with God and i am mindful of him. i also still sin and get convicted, and i repent alot. however i do after 13 years of failing, falling and getting back up, know that i can trust God for everything in my life. and that is bringing me contentment like i have never known. i will be leaving greater grace for good because i just dont see a caring spirit for the nobodys. i dont see equality among believers, and i dont see transparency among elders. for that matter i dont see any onenes among elders. i think pst schaller has an evangelical gift along with pst scebelli. but, i do not see them as pastors of the church. i still see alot of lifting up the ministry and the leaders, and only lifting Christ up as a secondary cause. if they truly put the past couple years behind them then it would be a mute point, but we hear every service and after rap about the EVENTS that lead up to where we are now.i also hear subtlties of grandizing self over other affiliates that have left like "we will never join the new association". do they not know that never is a very pridful word, elevating themselves to a higher call then the new association.
i wonder if they realize that they are very pridful of what they have done or do they think they are boasting in the lord. do they not know that boasting in the lord is about what he has done in your life personally and what a great salvation we have. not what a great ministry we have biult. i always thought it was Christs ministry and we were just fortunate enough to have been given grace to even be part of it.
im rambling so i will stop now.
i will soon be writing a letter and posting it on ggwo discuss. because i am a nobody and that letter hasnt been there yet, i will also include my reall name in it because i think i owe everyone who reads it at least that. whether i be right or wrong God will have to learn me that as well. Hes been faithful so far.
thank you all, really, i couldnt be as strong as i am without you all.
misil (misil)
Member
Username: misil
Post Number: 81
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.251.145.210
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:59 pm:
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oh and daved,
i think carl says that because hes warped, and just wants to look to people like he has a higher understanding than anyone else, so we should listen to him alone as the authority. but really, I dont know what his name is. But i call him God.
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1068
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 7:06 pm:
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For Misil:
They build the front parts like St. Mark's or Westminster Abbey.
But as if to fool the Lord, they leave the back parts shabby.
Lalalu,
I blocked out the bathrooms and showers. Have no memory of taking a shower there. I have one memory of the men's bathroom though. The men's bathroom was closer to our room, so during my many nightly bathroom trips my husband would come with me and guard the door as I used the guys bathroom. One night I looked down and saw a huge, huge black furry spider and I came out of there so fast that I practically knocked my husband over!
We also sold everything we had to just live. Though my husband had a full ride because he played basketball for the college, we were as poor as dirt. We sold his Toyota to some guy for $125, even though when the guy test drove it the stick shift came out in his hand. I remember selling the fiddle to Brad Conant for $35, that was a sad day...
lalalu (lalalu)
Junior Member
Username: lalalu
Post Number: 27
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 70.95.14.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 7:43 pm:
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I think there were 2 Lee Dorms. One was too far away to walk, had no cafeteria, single-story building, was closer to the mansion where Chet Farmer and others lived, and was closer to the hub of Lee, Joe's Diner, and Bob & LuAnn's store. You could walk to those places from the dorm. This dorm later became a guys dorm. I lived there before I lived in the other Lee Dorm...at least, I think the other dorm was in Lee.
The other Lee Dorm was closer to Lenox, within walking distance, had a cafeteria with a fooz ball table, and I remember the dorm had 2 stories, and a better parking lot. In that dorm, I bunked with Enrica who had a car. I also had a tv in my room. Woooo...I risked ridicule for that. The tv was given to me when my grandfather died. It was an old small, black & white tv that I attached a coat hanger to so I could watch Lavern & Shirley and Happy Days. This dorm was sunnier and livelier than the other Lee Dorm.
2goforward (2goforward)
New member
Username: 2goforward
Post Number: 17
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 70.17.31.206
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 8:47 pm:
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It was 1980. We were newley weds. Having just returned from our honeymoon, we were told our living quarters were to be a small 1 room (about 12x12) in a West Campus building. We shared a bathroom down the hall with about 5 other couples. It was a nightmare. We had a mattress on the floor for our bed. An electric hot plate in the corner was the "kitchen". Our neighbors were a couple, Jim and Karen Ball (she was 9 mos pregnant). Since we had the only TV (color at that!), Jim would always stop over in the evenings to watch hockey games w/ my husband from our "living room" which doubled as the bedroom--our mattress on the floor. As I had no where to go, I would be hanging out in my bathrobe; needless to say I was livid, both at Jim Ball and at my husband for his insensitivity.Thank God those days (and that marriage) are long gone. Just another example of how wonderful "body life" was at 40 Kemble St.
itsahokes (itsahokes)
Member
Username: itsahokes
Post Number: 70
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.128.21.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:09 pm:
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Ericlaw - "meditation on the propitiation, in the sanctification of memorization, blah blah blah." Those were the types of sentences which made me think he was just of unusually low intelligence. Otherwise, he would have been embarrassed to say things like that.
whatsup (whatsup)
Junior Member
Username: whatsup
Post Number: 47
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 24.63.42.109
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:14 pm:
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LALALU, could you please post your email address....thanks
david_munson (david_munson)
Intermediate Member
Username: david_munson
Post Number: 155
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 63.159.112.42
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:15 pm:
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Does anyone remember Priscilla Richmond?
Dave}
mrsdrysdale (mrsdrysdale)
Member
Username: mrsdrysdale
Post Number: 89
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 141.151.8.89
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:53 pm:
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I remember cooking spam in a popcorn popper! That little popcorn popper got a work out that summer! We cooked all kinds of stuff on that thing.
I also remember a bunch of us girls getting together every thursday night to watch "Hart to Hart". Glad it wasn't on tv on a wed night...we would of missed church.
pressing_on (pressing_on)
Intermediate Member
Username: pressing_on
Post Number: 383
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 151.196.9.25
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:35 pm:
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David
I knew Priscilla Richmond. We were friends for awhile. Last time I saw her was in Pittsfield 16 years ago. Her and her mom never moved to Baltimore.
Wonder how she is doing now.
lalalu (lalalu)
Junior Member
Username: lalalu
Post Number: 28
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 70.95.14.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:36 pm:
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Whatsup...noticed you didn't post yours. I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
david_munson (david_munson)
Intermediate Member
Username: david_munson
Post Number: 163
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 63.159.120.117
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:39 pm:
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pressing_on ;
She is my sister.Herdaughters name is April.She lives in North Carolina now.
I talked with her just the other day.She has an unhealthy view of Pastor.To quote"my pastor is never wrong I informed her that it would be wise to examine everything that is said,according to God's Word.
It saddens me to see anyone put a man on a pedistle,let alone my own kin.
I told her that as far as I'm concerned ,according to God's Word,I have just as much of an annointing as any pastor.
Talk about flipping out!You'd have thought that I had just announced that I was Satan incarnate.
She tried real hard to convince me that if I didn't have a pastor "over me" I was subject to onslaughts by the devil.
You better get covered by a pastor.
I am covered by the Lord himself,led by the Spirit of the Lord,I responded.
I told her that God is no respector of persons.
I pray that she can see the truth that we are believer priests.
God bless,
Dave}
offshore (offshore)
Member
Username: offshore
Post Number: 100
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 64.222.226.249
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:06 am:
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Lalalu,
I met Karen Yukabovich at the Jesus ’75 Festival in Florida.
She had hitched across country and was on her way to a Hindu Temple to study Maharishi Mehesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation. She saw all the cars heading to a huge field with lots of Jesus Freaks and it looked appealing to her. I met her at dusk as we sat next to a camp fire together and talked for hours.
She spent the week with us and she told me all about TM, and I told her all about Jesus. (Those were the golden days of soul winning).
She became a Christian but had absolutely nowhere to go.
Stupid me, I told her about this Bible College I had heard about in So Berwick, Maine.
To my shock, she actually wanted to go, so we drove her to Maine!
I had never even been to So Berwick before nor did I know anyone there. I remember taking her to Telephone Time and thinking, “I’m glad it’s her, and not me, that‘s going to live in this place”
The first person that greeted us in the cafeteria was Miriam O’Leary. She came over and said, “I LOVE you. Can I have a dollar?”
She later went to Lenox and married Rick Hymen. I was in her wedding along with 20 other couples, but I don’t remember one thing!
They later moved to Florida and I think joined the Florida ministry for a while.
Karen was such a salesperson, so unique, and fun loving. She always reminded me of a cross between Jodi Foster and Liz Taylor.
Karen, if you’re reading, Email me.
jayso (jayso)
Junior Member
Username: jayso
Post Number: 34
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 69.205.150.205
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:57 am:
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Jeannie, I forgot about the grey mashed potatos. That was a treat. I am remembering too much about living in the Lee dorm! This was the one closer to Lee, up the hill from the village. There were two dorms there. One was called "Lee Manor" where Chet Farmer, Stan Ashby and some married couples/families stayed. The other was just "Lee Dorm" and it was for men. What a horrible dump it was! The living was as spartan as could be. The smells were disgusting and it was unsanitary.
Jack Leonard was the "dorm leader" at the time I was there. He did his job very well. There was a big gym room which was filled with bunk beds of snoring students! The bathroom was full of mold and mildew. I hated showering there, but had no choice for a while. The only good thing about the Lee dorm was getting to know a good bunch of brothers!
When I first arrived in Lenox, I had a '65 Lincoln Continental (w/suicide doors). I remember about 12 guys getting into the car heading to and from 40 Kemble! When classes started, I got a '64 Ford station wagon and piled in 18 guys for the trip to Lenox!
Not that I want to defend the living situation at TBS, BUT... there were a lot of people who were behind on their room and board payment of (at that time) $35/a week. Jobs were not easy to get and if they could be had, the pay was minimum wage. Transportation was bummin' a ride and many jobs were far from Lenox (ie: Georgeport truck stop).
Many people who could not find work, volunteered their time for a tiny stipend and room, board and sometimes tuition. I remember winter of '77 in Lenox was COLD. Just heating all the buildings must have been very expensive. I don't know what the finances were at that time, but do know a lot of students were skipping their bills! It may have been possible that even if CHS' life style was brought down to the "Lee Dorm lifestyle", the ministry could still not afford to pay all the bills for heat and feed 1000 people. I often thought of that while in Lenox.
We were all told we need to "go to the cross" in every aspect of our lives. Submit or "answer to P. Stevens"! There was even talk about "laying all at the apostle's feet". Many of us gave whatever we had to the ministry. Unfortunately a lot had NOTHING and earned nothing.
Perhaps Jack Leonard knew more about possible financial problems that hit TBS '76 - '78. Most of the buildings; even Folkene were in BAD shape. It took a lot of work to make them even barely habitable. Granted they became worth millions in the late '80s, but when TBS got the property it was almost all derelict.
Sorry for the long post, but I am having floods of memories from the Lenox daze! -Jay
jayso (jayso)
Junior Member
Username: jayso
Post Number: 35
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 69.205.150.205
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 1:14 am:
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Eric, "I love you Jesus, YES... I love you Jesus"
Maybe CHS wrote this song, it may have "leaked" to:
Victory Baptist Church, Stottville, NY '78
Agapé House, Hillsdale, NY '77-78.
These churches were near Lenox (Gt. Barrington area at NYS border). Even when not in church members of the Baptist church would sing during fellowship outside of church... like in the car! No need for radio - we sang choruses and hymns!
Maybe someone from Lenox taught them the song!?
I remember singing this song these two places. Also the BUBBBUBUBUBUBBUBLING one and almost all the other TBS songs (NOT 40 KEMBLE ST!)! Some of the songs were great. Do you remember "Sheltered in the arms of God"? or Heaven came down and Glory filled my soul? Great stuff - not a GGWO trademark either!
preston (preston)
Junior Member
Username: preston
Post Number: 29
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.169.190.139
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 9:39 am:
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Ok, I've read all these traumatic experiences about the bathrooms and showers at Lee Dorm. But unless you face these things from the ah-- unique perspective of the four year old... let's just say its no picnic for the little kid, either.
But, hey we had toys; poison ivy, caterpillars, rusted steel drum containers...
jasper (jasper)
New member
Username: jasper
Post Number: 14
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 70.17.31.206
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 10:13 am:
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Offshore: Karen & Rick divorced years ago. The last I knew, Karen was no longer going to church anywhere, certainly not to Pastor Kelly's. She has 2 daughters in their late teens-early twenties, and as of my last knowledge of her, she is still single and quite successful in business. I believe Rick married his secretary, long ago, the one he left Karen for. I knew her to be a sweet girl, but very easily influenced in almost any direction.
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1071
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.9
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 10:37 am:
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Preston, I remember.. it was no picnic for kids and pregnant women.. I think eight of us gave birth that spring of 1979...
I don't know if you remember this but some mornings it was just you and I in the dorm? (I refused to go to Carl's morning class) Those were my best memories of Lee Dorm...
wj_hunt_big_bird (wj_hunt_big_bird)
New member
Username: wj_hunt_big_bird
Post Number: 17
Registered: 3-2005
Posted From: 68.171.196.252
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 10:55 am:
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well , i learn more and more about that place every time i read fact net. i lived in that dorm in the fall of 1976, and i remember all that stuff that you all have said. Some of the things i forgot , some i made sure i forgot,and others just won't go away, but that is the way it is so i live with it, but unfortunatly it all lives on in infamy anyway.
Jeannie ,i was very suprised to hear that steve got a fullboat to play basketball, do you know, i got nothing , absolutly nothing, i had to work at the puppet factory and in the summer at service master just to stay a month behind ,and for those who don't remember i was the guy that was at the puppet factory forever, at least parts of three years. also to let you know , Steve wasn't the only tall rebounder on the team i was also the tall rebounder (6'5"). I worked all day , came home ,went to practice then to night school. ON the nights of games i would go even if i missed class. The real kicker is that my last year chs offered me a scholership if i would fail and come back the next year, all the time knowing i wouldn'd be eligable to play. That was my life at tbs.
mrsdrysdale (mrsdrysdale)
Member
Username: mrsdrysdale
Post Number: 90
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 141.151.8.89
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 11:50 am:
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I worked at the puppet factory too.........for about a month. I couldn't take it anymore and I quit. I worked nights at ServiceMaster for awhile too. Then I worked at a motel in Pittsfield (near pricechopper) until I started my career as a secretary!
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1072
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.9
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:02 pm:
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Bill,
I think Steve was offered a full ride because Berkshire Christian had accepted him with a full basketball scholarship. CHS wanted him and offered it to keep him from going to Berkshire Christian. And you are right, he was not the only tall rebounder on the team.... but he was the one who had the temper and fouled out most frequently. So he is probably remembered for that.
I remember those long rides on cold school buses to away games. You guys played all over the place.. St. Joseph's in Vermont, Skidmore.. I can't imagine how tired you must have been on the day after the away games.
I forgot about the puppet factory... it seems so surreal to read about that time in our lives. Working in a puppet factory sounds like a scene out of some dark fairy tale!
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1073
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.9
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:25 pm:
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Those bus trips and games are actually very fond memories. It was on these trips we watched the budding romances of Shawn and Mel, and Kevin Elwell and DeeDee. It was on these bus trips that Marcie Stevens would share her wisdom about marriage and family... We would also hear about the latest heart Brad Conant had broken.. completely oblivious of course! Becky and Jim Cromwell always had us laughing.. can anyone other than me still hear Becky saying "Ohhh, Jimmm."
TBS/GGWO did a good job of separating friends and family but this shared history cannot be taken away. It is so redemptive to share that history here.. at least for me it is...
I love to hear your stories. Was I in Maine at the time? Though I remember many of my own red flags, I sometimes wonder how much I blocked out just to be semi-sane. I shared something recently with someone close to you. I related an incident which happened to her. She did not remember what I was talking about. I went into further detail and the memory came back to her. I think these memories are an important part of the process of exiting. It puts missing puzzle pieces into their proper place. It defines for us a picture of the Holy Spirit speaking to us all along. It increases our faith and we can trust the Lord for the future as we can see He was our gentle caretaker in the past.
Itsahokes/Melanie, Your daughter's impression was also my first impression of Carl's preaching. I thought he just strung a bunch of adjectives in a row but he was not saying anything! You must be thrilled to know you will never have to attend another "family" event in Baltimore.
Jayso, I have not touched (or looked at) a slice of Roman Meal Bread after leaving Lee Dorm over 26 years ago! I lived on it.. I was pregnant; a high risk pregnancy at that, living in a cinder block room.. with a loft bed and a ladder. Try climbing up and down a four times a night when you are eight months pregnant! We had no health insurance, no money.. I went through the hospital clinic.. received horrible care.. I was a month overdue and in eclampsia (not pre.. the real deal) before they finally took the baby. I was so gravely ill they did the c-section with general and did the initial cut before I was under.. I know how it feels to be cut with a knife. These are the memories I unfortunately did not block out... that and the mashed potatoes served with what looked like gray dryer lint mixed in!
ericlaw (ericlaw)
Intermediate Member
Username: ericlaw
Post Number: 407
Registered: 3-2005
Posted From: 217.20.126.133
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:11 am:
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Jayso,
I thought "I love you Jesus, yes" was one of CHS's own creations? If you heard it in a Baptist church, that would be interesting. Yes, the rest of the songs are widely used, it just funny to reflect back on them. It is also interesting how most of them are not in use anymore in GGWO. They had a major song service change about 7 or 8 years ago.
As for the "real words", CHS made up some, and misused many. The Hypostatic Union is an accepted Theological concept dealing with Christ's complete humanity and complete divinity. But other words were misused, like corporateness, and their meaning greatly stretched. He often would string together terms to baffle and WOW people. Like this, "Meditation on the propitiation, in the sanctification of memorization leads to the mastication of the revelation of the finished work."
joyce (joyce)
New member
Username: joyce
Post Number: 19
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 65.175.245.20
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:40 am:
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Jeannie, your story is horrible! I knew things at the "dorm" were sparce, but good lord, what were they thinking??
When we moved to the Berkshires, we were the first ones to actually BUY a home in a real neighborhood and pay taxes like the rest of America. We occasionally would have Bible school students over for coffee and dessert. Students would walk through our modest 3 bedroom ranch, oogle at a "real" stove and fondle the refrigerator! One lady once said after noticing of all things a silver spoon rack I had on the wall: "How can you live like this when there are so many missionaries living so poorly and have nothing to eat?" I replied: "Easy, just watch me." We were always lead to feel guilty because we didn't give it all to the ministry. You all know what I'm talking about.....
But, I, too, have to embrace those years and take what I learned from them and go on. Being reunited with some from the past helps to validate what I thought had been stolen from me.
anon_brief (anon_brief)
Intermediate Member
Username: anon_brief
Post Number: 403
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 205.188.116.72
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:56 am:
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One question comes to mind over and over again when I read comments like Joyce's -
If the missionaries got so little financial support, where did the money go?
herroyalhighness (herroyalhighness)
Advanced Member
Username: herroyalhighness
Post Number: 630
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 24.97.250.114
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:06 am:
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Come now...you've heard of Swiss bank accounts, right? It should not come as a surprise to anyone that monies given for one specific purpose often found their way to -- well -- another purpose!! Like that couple that sold the house they built with their own hands and gave proceeds to TBS only to find out that they actually bought the lights for the softball field!!!
How did $500,000 suddenly appear in the checkbook when Alan Lang had to be paid off? (Oh, I forgot, it wasn't a pay off....!)
david_munson (david_munson)
Intermediate Member
Username: david_munson
Post Number: 142
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 63.159.208.52
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:16 am:
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mrsdrysdale;
thank you.
Sometimes I just need a break from the seriousness of it all.Love hurts.
Baruch Habbah Hashem Adonia,
Dave}
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1064
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:23 am:
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Good Question Anon!
We were we thinking, Joyce!..lol No wonder my parents were horrified I joined the Bible Speaks! I never allowed them to see Lee Dorm or they would have surely carted me away on the spot.
What made this experience more awful was I had left the ministry three months prior and moved back to West Springfield and had a lovely little apartment near the center of town... within walking distance to my parent's house. I had convinced my husband to leave.. but he eventually went back to Lenox without me. I loved my husband, I was pregnant with our first child and when Becky Cromwell paid me a visit.. I was easily convinced to return to Lenox. I called my parents from a pay phone with Becky by my side.. telling me what to say to them. And I returned to Lenox and Lee Dorm. Unfortunately, I did not realize I was already marked by all. Most of the women in the dorm barely spoke to me. There was one woman who befriended me.. Marsha Slater.. she became my life long friend. She saw me for who I was.. and she also read books!! No one was reading "books" back then! We secretly passed books between us. Crazy to think life was really like this in Lenox.. that even reading was looked down upon. After giving birth to my son, I refused to go back to Lee Dorm and we moved into a wonderful apartment in ranch house in Lee. This was 1979 and you are right, Joyce.. living off campus was unheard of for the most part. The Bakers eventually bought that home in Lee.
preston (preston)
Junior Member
Username: preston
Post Number: 26
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.169.190.139
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:35 am:
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Lana,
It wasn't Art that CHS was speaking of at that time, no doubt he was one of many. If I get permission from other parties I will post more info on it. I have no doubt this person is reading FACTnet, and I love them dearly.
Oh my word, Jeannie. Even I can recollect Roman Meal bread. I still can't pass it by in a grocery store without wanting to squish all the loaves.
lana (lana)
Intermediate Member
Username: lana
Post Number: 107
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 209.240.205.61
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:56 am:
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Preston, Thanks, Do you remembe Pat Addato?, her name is Pat dykty now. They are in Balt. She sang. I can't get over 80 posts. I am on webtv. Love Factnet.
preston (preston)
Junior Member
Username: preston
Post Number: 28
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.169.190.139
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 1:10 pm:
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80 posts... you've got 6 or so left then, Lana! (sorry to waste one) My address is posted in the email thread.
I remember the Dykty's Dykties? Dyktyses!
itstimetomoveon (itstimetomoveon)
Junior Member
Username: itstimetomoveon
Post Number: 34
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 205.188.116.72
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 3:08 pm:
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Roman Meal Bread
Good things stand the test of time . . . like Roman Meal bread! When you see the Roman Meal brand on our bread products, you can be sure they're premium quality and the perfect balance of good taste and nutrition. It's been that way for more than 90 years. Roman Meal Company and its trademark centurion logo set the standard of excellence in Natural Whole Grain Goodness.
(Message edited by itstimetomoveon on June 09, 2005)
mrsdrysdale (mrsdrysdale)
Member
Username: mrsdrysdale
Post Number: 88
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 141.151.8.89
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 3:43 pm:
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Jeannie...I think you and I will always have those fond memories of the gray mashed potatoes!....I was shocked when I read your story about the loft bed and being pregnant...that was not right at all.
Joyce..good answer "easy just watch me"..what a stupid thing to say to you.
misil (misil)
Member
Username: misil
Post Number: 79
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.251.145.210
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:15 pm:
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ericlaw,
how about this one chs made up a couple years ago: practical relative affinity in divine imputation, he made that a message title
itsahokes (itsahokes)
Member
Username: itsahokes
Post Number: 68
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.128.21.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:24 pm:
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Lee Dorm: I lived in there as a single person and then as a married one. So disgusting and filthy with bugs crawling everywhere. I have a picture I'd like to post somewhere when I find it again (unpack)- of the "bed" we were given. Two cot size iron bed steads pushed together. No box springs. One with a FILTHY mattress and the other with a torn in half foam piece with jagged edges, half the size of a twin. Apparently they needed the other half for someone else.
And we worked for the place, and had to beg for the extra half piece of foam.
lana (lana)
Intermediate Member
Username: lana
Post Number: 112
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 209.240.205.61
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:33 pm:
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I think CHS worked on "denial of self", was to get you nearer to God. That was to humble your flesh. Instead, it was to bring us into submission to him.
itsahokes (itsahokes)
Member
Username: itsahokes
Post Number: 69
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.128.21.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 5:40 pm:
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Steve: Yes, stale drivel. So, Mt. Zion was beautiful in it's elevation. That I can imagine. God being beautiful for situations is extraordinarily vague and meaningless to me. Thanks for your insight.
jim_kennedy (jim_kennedy)
Intermediate Member
Username: jim_kennedy
Post Number: 198
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 172.142.235.194
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:07 pm:
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My first job in Lenox was with ServiceMaster. We'd leave campus after after wolfing down our breakfast at 6:00 am and drive to either Worcester or Hartford Connecticut. (Bruce Graham could take a turn on an icy mountain road in the dark at 50 mph steering with his knees while he took the lid off his coffee, Emmy Lou Harris "Roses In The Snow" blasting on the stereo.) After working like dogs all day the race was on the make it back before the cafeteria closed.
Sometimes I was so hungry I couldn't stand it, I'd be dizzy. And then that sinking feeling when you saw what they were serving: a 1&1/2 egg omlett with nothing in it and a lettuce salad. We were like hungry predators, scavenging the tables for leftovers. I liked to sit with families/mothers with little kids because you knew they wouldn't finish everything. "Is he going to eat that?"
The snack bar out back became my salvation, I spent every spare nickel there.
Jim
anon_brief (anon_brief)
Intermediate Member
Username: anon_brief
Post Number: 405
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:15 pm:
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Sounds like the TBS version of the company store.
lalalu (lalalu)
Junior Member
Username: lalalu
Post Number: 26
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 70.95.14.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:31 pm:
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I remember Lee Dorm...those horrible iron beds, no box springs just wood and a thin mattress on top. The rooms smelled horrible and they were dark. And the bathrooms...no curtains on the stalls...like pooping in public. The shower was disgusting.
I remember thinking: 1) Why the heck did they put us way out here far from everything, far from The Body, overgrown shrubs, bugs, and no food. 2) When would I get to eat or how would I get to services with no car? 3) No important people lived there.
I bunked with a girl named Karen. Don't remember her last name...I was in her wedding too...she had a bunch of bridesmaids. Later, I bought a car from her at a car dealership for $1,000. She was a car salesman but I don't remember if I made the check out to her or the dealership. The car, an orange Cricket, was constantly in the shop, waiting for parts. I think the name "Cricket" says it all. I sold it to David Huff less than a year later, for $50. I would have paid him $50 to take it!
On another occasion, Karen Simone and I lugged our laundry to the laundromat down the hill in Lee. I didn't know that I put my laundry in a washer full of sand. When it was done, my clothes were wet and sandy. Worse than they went in! Ugh. During the second washing, the power went out and it was storming, so now my clothes were soaking wet, sandy, and soapy. Karen and I had a good laugh. We always laughed a lot.
Fond memories of Karen...not of that dorm.
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1067
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:37 pm:
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OMG Itsa, the bed sounds horrifying!
Jim K, any thoughts on Roman Meal Bread?
Lee Dorm, 1979: We all had dorm jobs, mine was to prepare Sunday morning breakfast. I was to work with a very large and loud woman, who didn't like me much. She ordered me around that kitchen like a drill sergeant (Why did I let her? I was so defeated in my spirit, I had lost my voice and my anger) She ordered me to prepare the bacon and bake it on these huge metal trays. So there I would be.. trying to lift these huge trays, spilling over with bacon grease..out of a hot oven in the latter months of my pregnancy. We served the bacon with a massive amount of poached eggs (and of course Roman Meal Bread.) The site of a poached egg today will raise the bile.. How I dreaded Sundays.. I wish I could go back and rescue this girl now..
jim_kennedy (jim_kennedy)
Intermediate Member
Username: jim_kennedy
Post Number: 199
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 172.167.182.176
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:50 pm:
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Dear Mom,
Don't worry, it's not a cult. How do I know? They keep telling us it's not.
love, Jim
ps. Jeannie, to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet...smothered in ketchup lol.
misil (misil)
Member
Username: misil
Post Number: 80
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.251.145.210
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:55 pm:
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thank you all so much for posting on this thread. i wondered for a couple days if anyone was willing to help get a picture of the lenox times. i hear so much from so many trying to defend lenox and its good and balancing to see the other side of the story from the ones that lived it.
i have been wrestling with this whole issue for a couple weeks now. i have been trying to make sense of it all. here i see real people not trying to hide their real selves that are getting closer to God but are still very much flawed, and not afraid to admit it or show it at times, THIS IS REAL CHRISTIANITY. we are all in a process of growth at diffrent areas of our lives in Christ. and i have known that christians still have sin in their lives. it has always seemed to me that christains want to be perfect NOW,and that is not ever going to be the case. the unfortunate thing is that ggwo people try to put up a front in front of the church that they are living next to perfect lives and though i have known it not to be true for me i always wondered why i couldnt be as spiritual as the next christain.i mean i pray i fellowship with God and i am mindful of him. i also still sin and get convicted, and i repent alot. however i do after 13 years of failing, falling and getting back up, know that i can trust God for everything in my life. and that is bringing me contentment like i have never known. i will be leaving greater grace for good because i just dont see a caring spirit for the nobodys. i dont see equality among believers, and i dont see transparency among elders. for that matter i dont see any onenes among elders. i think pst schaller has an evangelical gift along with pst scebelli. but, i do not see them as pastors of the church. i still see alot of lifting up the ministry and the leaders, and only lifting Christ up as a secondary cause. if they truly put the past couple years behind them then it would be a mute point, but we hear every service and after rap about the EVENTS that lead up to where we are now.i also hear subtlties of grandizing self over other affiliates that have left like "we will never join the new association". do they not know that never is a very pridful word, elevating themselves to a higher call then the new association.
i wonder if they realize that they are very pridful of what they have done or do they think they are boasting in the lord. do they not know that boasting in the lord is about what he has done in your life personally and what a great salvation we have. not what a great ministry we have biult. i always thought it was Christs ministry and we were just fortunate enough to have been given grace to even be part of it.
im rambling so i will stop now.
i will soon be writing a letter and posting it on ggwo discuss. because i am a nobody and that letter hasnt been there yet, i will also include my reall name in it because i think i owe everyone who reads it at least that. whether i be right or wrong God will have to learn me that as well. Hes been faithful so far.
thank you all, really, i couldnt be as strong as i am without you all.
misil (misil)
Member
Username: misil
Post Number: 81
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.251.145.210
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 6:59 pm:
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oh and daved,
i think carl says that because hes warped, and just wants to look to people like he has a higher understanding than anyone else, so we should listen to him alone as the authority. but really, I dont know what his name is. But i call him God.
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1068
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 64.12.117.12
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 7:06 pm:
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For Misil:
They build the front parts like St. Mark's or Westminster Abbey.
But as if to fool the Lord, they leave the back parts shabby.
Lalalu,
I blocked out the bathrooms and showers. Have no memory of taking a shower there. I have one memory of the men's bathroom though. The men's bathroom was closer to our room, so during my many nightly bathroom trips my husband would come with me and guard the door as I used the guys bathroom. One night I looked down and saw a huge, huge black furry spider and I came out of there so fast that I practically knocked my husband over!
We also sold everything we had to just live. Though my husband had a full ride because he played basketball for the college, we were as poor as dirt. We sold his Toyota to some guy for $125, even though when the guy test drove it the stick shift came out in his hand. I remember selling the fiddle to Brad Conant for $35, that was a sad day...
lalalu (lalalu)
Junior Member
Username: lalalu
Post Number: 27
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 70.95.14.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 7:43 pm:
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I think there were 2 Lee Dorms. One was too far away to walk, had no cafeteria, single-story building, was closer to the mansion where Chet Farmer and others lived, and was closer to the hub of Lee, Joe's Diner, and Bob & LuAnn's store. You could walk to those places from the dorm. This dorm later became a guys dorm. I lived there before I lived in the other Lee Dorm...at least, I think the other dorm was in Lee.
The other Lee Dorm was closer to Lenox, within walking distance, had a cafeteria with a fooz ball table, and I remember the dorm had 2 stories, and a better parking lot. In that dorm, I bunked with Enrica who had a car. I also had a tv in my room. Woooo...I risked ridicule for that. The tv was given to me when my grandfather died. It was an old small, black & white tv that I attached a coat hanger to so I could watch Lavern & Shirley and Happy Days. This dorm was sunnier and livelier than the other Lee Dorm.
2goforward (2goforward)
New member
Username: 2goforward
Post Number: 17
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 70.17.31.206
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 8:47 pm:
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It was 1980. We were newley weds. Having just returned from our honeymoon, we were told our living quarters were to be a small 1 room (about 12x12) in a West Campus building. We shared a bathroom down the hall with about 5 other couples. It was a nightmare. We had a mattress on the floor for our bed. An electric hot plate in the corner was the "kitchen". Our neighbors were a couple, Jim and Karen Ball (she was 9 mos pregnant). Since we had the only TV (color at that!), Jim would always stop over in the evenings to watch hockey games w/ my husband from our "living room" which doubled as the bedroom--our mattress on the floor. As I had no where to go, I would be hanging out in my bathrobe; needless to say I was livid, both at Jim Ball and at my husband for his insensitivity.Thank God those days (and that marriage) are long gone. Just another example of how wonderful "body life" was at 40 Kemble St.
itsahokes (itsahokes)
Member
Username: itsahokes
Post Number: 70
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.128.21.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:09 pm:
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Ericlaw - "meditation on the propitiation, in the sanctification of memorization, blah blah blah." Those were the types of sentences which made me think he was just of unusually low intelligence. Otherwise, he would have been embarrassed to say things like that.
whatsup (whatsup)
Junior Member
Username: whatsup
Post Number: 47
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 24.63.42.109
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:14 pm:
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LALALU, could you please post your email address....thanks
david_munson (david_munson)
Intermediate Member
Username: david_munson
Post Number: 155
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 63.159.112.42
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:15 pm:
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Does anyone remember Priscilla Richmond?
Dave}
mrsdrysdale (mrsdrysdale)
Member
Username: mrsdrysdale
Post Number: 89
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 141.151.8.89
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 9:53 pm:
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I remember cooking spam in a popcorn popper! That little popcorn popper got a work out that summer! We cooked all kinds of stuff on that thing.
I also remember a bunch of us girls getting together every thursday night to watch "Hart to Hart". Glad it wasn't on tv on a wed night...we would of missed church.
pressing_on (pressing_on)
Intermediate Member
Username: pressing_on
Post Number: 383
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 151.196.9.25
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:35 pm:
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David
I knew Priscilla Richmond. We were friends for awhile. Last time I saw her was in Pittsfield 16 years ago. Her and her mom never moved to Baltimore.
Wonder how she is doing now.
lalalu (lalalu)
Junior Member
Username: lalalu
Post Number: 28
Registered: 2-2005
Posted From: 70.95.14.218
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 10:36 pm:
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Whatsup...noticed you didn't post yours. I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
david_munson (david_munson)
Intermediate Member
Username: david_munson
Post Number: 163
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 63.159.120.117
Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2005 - 11:39 pm:
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pressing_on ;
She is my sister.Herdaughters name is April.She lives in North Carolina now.
I talked with her just the other day.She has an unhealthy view of Pastor.To quote"my pastor is never wrong I informed her that it would be wise to examine everything that is said,according to God's Word.
It saddens me to see anyone put a man on a pedistle,let alone my own kin.
I told her that as far as I'm concerned ,according to God's Word,I have just as much of an annointing as any pastor.
Talk about flipping out!You'd have thought that I had just announced that I was Satan incarnate.
She tried real hard to convince me that if I didn't have a pastor "over me" I was subject to onslaughts by the devil.
You better get covered by a pastor.
I am covered by the Lord himself,led by the Spirit of the Lord,I responded.
I told her that God is no respector of persons.
I pray that she can see the truth that we are believer priests.
God bless,
Dave}
offshore (offshore)
Member
Username: offshore
Post Number: 100
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 64.222.226.249
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:06 am:
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Lalalu,
I met Karen Yukabovich at the Jesus ’75 Festival in Florida.
She had hitched across country and was on her way to a Hindu Temple to study Maharishi Mehesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation. She saw all the cars heading to a huge field with lots of Jesus Freaks and it looked appealing to her. I met her at dusk as we sat next to a camp fire together and talked for hours.
She spent the week with us and she told me all about TM, and I told her all about Jesus. (Those were the golden days of soul winning).
She became a Christian but had absolutely nowhere to go.
Stupid me, I told her about this Bible College I had heard about in So Berwick, Maine.
To my shock, she actually wanted to go, so we drove her to Maine!
I had never even been to So Berwick before nor did I know anyone there. I remember taking her to Telephone Time and thinking, “I’m glad it’s her, and not me, that‘s going to live in this place”
The first person that greeted us in the cafeteria was Miriam O’Leary. She came over and said, “I LOVE you. Can I have a dollar?”
She later went to Lenox and married Rick Hymen. I was in her wedding along with 20 other couples, but I don’t remember one thing!
They later moved to Florida and I think joined the Florida ministry for a while.
Karen was such a salesperson, so unique, and fun loving. She always reminded me of a cross between Jodi Foster and Liz Taylor.
Karen, if you’re reading, Email me.
jayso (jayso)
Junior Member
Username: jayso
Post Number: 34
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 69.205.150.205
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:57 am:
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Jeannie, I forgot about the grey mashed potatos. That was a treat. I am remembering too much about living in the Lee dorm! This was the one closer to Lee, up the hill from the village. There were two dorms there. One was called "Lee Manor" where Chet Farmer, Stan Ashby and some married couples/families stayed. The other was just "Lee Dorm" and it was for men. What a horrible dump it was! The living was as spartan as could be. The smells were disgusting and it was unsanitary.
Jack Leonard was the "dorm leader" at the time I was there. He did his job very well. There was a big gym room which was filled with bunk beds of snoring students! The bathroom was full of mold and mildew. I hated showering there, but had no choice for a while. The only good thing about the Lee dorm was getting to know a good bunch of brothers!
When I first arrived in Lenox, I had a '65 Lincoln Continental (w/suicide doors). I remember about 12 guys getting into the car heading to and from 40 Kemble! When classes started, I got a '64 Ford station wagon and piled in 18 guys for the trip to Lenox!
Not that I want to defend the living situation at TBS, BUT... there were a lot of people who were behind on their room and board payment of (at that time) $35/a week. Jobs were not easy to get and if they could be had, the pay was minimum wage. Transportation was bummin' a ride and many jobs were far from Lenox (ie: Georgeport truck stop).
Many people who could not find work, volunteered their time for a tiny stipend and room, board and sometimes tuition. I remember winter of '77 in Lenox was COLD. Just heating all the buildings must have been very expensive. I don't know what the finances were at that time, but do know a lot of students were skipping their bills! It may have been possible that even if CHS' life style was brought down to the "Lee Dorm lifestyle", the ministry could still not afford to pay all the bills for heat and feed 1000 people. I often thought of that while in Lenox.
We were all told we need to "go to the cross" in every aspect of our lives. Submit or "answer to P. Stevens"! There was even talk about "laying all at the apostle's feet". Many of us gave whatever we had to the ministry. Unfortunately a lot had NOTHING and earned nothing.
Perhaps Jack Leonard knew more about possible financial problems that hit TBS '76 - '78. Most of the buildings; even Folkene were in BAD shape. It took a lot of work to make them even barely habitable. Granted they became worth millions in the late '80s, but when TBS got the property it was almost all derelict.
Sorry for the long post, but I am having floods of memories from the Lenox daze! -Jay
jayso (jayso)
Junior Member
Username: jayso
Post Number: 35
Registered: 4-2005
Posted From: 69.205.150.205
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 1:14 am:
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Eric, "I love you Jesus, YES... I love you Jesus"
Maybe CHS wrote this song, it may have "leaked" to:
Victory Baptist Church, Stottville, NY '78
Agapé House, Hillsdale, NY '77-78.
These churches were near Lenox (Gt. Barrington area at NYS border). Even when not in church members of the Baptist church would sing during fellowship outside of church... like in the car! No need for radio - we sang choruses and hymns!
Maybe someone from Lenox taught them the song!?
I remember singing this song these two places. Also the BUBBBUBUBUBUBBUBLING one and almost all the other TBS songs (NOT 40 KEMBLE ST!)! Some of the songs were great. Do you remember "Sheltered in the arms of God"? or Heaven came down and Glory filled my soul? Great stuff - not a GGWO trademark either!
preston (preston)
Junior Member
Username: preston
Post Number: 29
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 69.169.190.139
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 9:39 am:
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Ok, I've read all these traumatic experiences about the bathrooms and showers at Lee Dorm. But unless you face these things from the ah-- unique perspective of the four year old... let's just say its no picnic for the little kid, either.
But, hey we had toys; poison ivy, caterpillars, rusted steel drum containers...
jasper (jasper)
New member
Username: jasper
Post Number: 14
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 70.17.31.206
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 10:13 am:
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Offshore: Karen & Rick divorced years ago. The last I knew, Karen was no longer going to church anywhere, certainly not to Pastor Kelly's. She has 2 daughters in their late teens-early twenties, and as of my last knowledge of her, she is still single and quite successful in business. I believe Rick married his secretary, long ago, the one he left Karen for. I knew her to be a sweet girl, but very easily influenced in almost any direction.
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1071
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.9
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 10:37 am:
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Preston, I remember.. it was no picnic for kids and pregnant women.. I think eight of us gave birth that spring of 1979...
I don't know if you remember this but some mornings it was just you and I in the dorm? (I refused to go to Carl's morning class) Those were my best memories of Lee Dorm...
wj_hunt_big_bird (wj_hunt_big_bird)
New member
Username: wj_hunt_big_bird
Post Number: 17
Registered: 3-2005
Posted From: 68.171.196.252
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 10:55 am:
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well , i learn more and more about that place every time i read fact net. i lived in that dorm in the fall of 1976, and i remember all that stuff that you all have said. Some of the things i forgot , some i made sure i forgot,and others just won't go away, but that is the way it is so i live with it, but unfortunatly it all lives on in infamy anyway.
Jeannie ,i was very suprised to hear that steve got a fullboat to play basketball, do you know, i got nothing , absolutly nothing, i had to work at the puppet factory and in the summer at service master just to stay a month behind ,and for those who don't remember i was the guy that was at the puppet factory forever, at least parts of three years. also to let you know , Steve wasn't the only tall rebounder on the team i was also the tall rebounder (6'5"). I worked all day , came home ,went to practice then to night school. ON the nights of games i would go even if i missed class. The real kicker is that my last year chs offered me a scholership if i would fail and come back the next year, all the time knowing i wouldn'd be eligable to play. That was my life at tbs.
mrsdrysdale (mrsdrysdale)
Member
Username: mrsdrysdale
Post Number: 90
Registered: 5-2005
Posted From: 141.151.8.89
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 11:50 am:
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I worked at the puppet factory too.........for about a month. I couldn't take it anymore and I quit. I worked nights at ServiceMaster for awhile too. Then I worked at a motel in Pittsfield (near pricechopper) until I started my career as a secretary!
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1072
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.9
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:02 pm:
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Bill,
I think Steve was offered a full ride because Berkshire Christian had accepted him with a full basketball scholarship. CHS wanted him and offered it to keep him from going to Berkshire Christian. And you are right, he was not the only tall rebounder on the team.... but he was the one who had the temper and fouled out most frequently. So he is probably remembered for that.
I remember those long rides on cold school buses to away games. You guys played all over the place.. St. Joseph's in Vermont, Skidmore.. I can't imagine how tired you must have been on the day after the away games.
I forgot about the puppet factory... it seems so surreal to read about that time in our lives. Working in a puppet factory sounds like a scene out of some dark fairy tale!
jeannie (jeannie)
Senior Member
Username: jeannie
Post Number: 1073
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 152.163.100.9
Posted on Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:25 pm:
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Those bus trips and games are actually very fond memories. It was on these trips we watched the budding romances of Shawn and Mel, and Kevin Elwell and DeeDee. It was on these bus trips that Marcie Stevens would share her wisdom about marriage and family... We would also hear about the latest heart Brad Conant had broken.. completely oblivious of course! Becky and Jim Cromwell always had us laughing.. can anyone other than me still hear Becky saying "Ohhh, Jimmm."
TBS/GGWO did a good job of separating friends and family but this shared history cannot be taken away. It is so redemptive to share that history here.. at least for me it is...