Hello everyone! We are so excited to hear story after story of how God is using our website to bring healing and hope to those affected by Bill Gothard, IBLP, and ATI. Not a day goes by that we don’t receive an email or comment sharing with us how God is working in people’s lives.

One such comment came from Katie:

Another one from Elisabeth:

Stories like these are the reason we do what we do. There are literally tens of thousands of people who have been exposed to the spiritual abuse and manipulation propagated by IBLP and ATI, and they all have personal journeys that must be taken. Some are still caught in the trap, and we want to rescue them. Some have realized that they are trapped, but don’t know how to get out. We want to walk this road with them. Some have escaped, but still have daily struggles with the truth vs. the lies. We want to help them figure things out.

NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY

Of course, not everyone is happy with what we’re doing. Many of those still caught up in the legalistic teachings of Bill Gothard are extremely defensive of him. The irony is, EVERY SINGLE ONE of us on the Recovering Grace leadership team were once in that place. Many of us worked with and knew Bill personally. We once would have vehemently attacked this very website. Because of our history, we are aware of and even expecting certain kinds of attacks.

THE BITTERNESS CARD

The most common kind of attack from those still caught in the trap has typically been something along the lines of “You all are just bitter. You need to move on with life and quit attacking a godly man.”

The “bitter” accusation is one with which we are all too familiar. Within the Gothard world, bitterness is used to describe anyone who feels negatively towards the organization, whether such negativity is justified or not. It is a word used all too freely to describe those who have sought to expose Gothardism for what it is.

The truth is that we are not bitter. In fact, many of us behind the website hesitated to engage in this project simply because we HAD moved on. We had dealt with the pain and had begun to live a new life in Christ. However, when faced with the reality that there were many more still hurting, we felt like we had to do something to help.

So…we’re not bitter. We’re not simply “rebellious young people” trying to stir up dissension. Rather, we are all adults who want to make a difference. The average Recovering Grace leader is in their mid-30’s, married with kids, and living a grace-filled life with diverse ministries and fulfilling jobs. Yet, we know the damage Gothardism can cause, and we want to help.

We appreciate your continued support, thoughts, and prayers as we continue on this journey. As always, we ask that you continue to spread the word about Recovering Grace and what we are doing over here.

Grace and Peace,
The RG leadership team