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Articles about how Bill Gothard mishandles the Bible to support his legalistic viewpoint.

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Tales from Training Centers

Category Archives: Tales from Training Centers

What Have You Done with My Daughter?

14 July 2012, 06:00

Moderator

My first experience with anything Bill Gothard was the Eternal Vision program. My then 18-year-old daughter, who had for years rejected God, had been amazingly touched by God in a Denny’s parking lot. This girl was beaming with joy, sleepless from excitement, and so new and fresh. I urged her to visit some people we […]

Creating a Rebellious Heart

21 March 2012, 06:05

Moderator

Two short months before leaving for Russia, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel Europe with my mom, both grandmothers, and my aunt. It had been a lifelong dream of my 88-year-old grandmother, and I relished every second of it. One of the days that had the most impact on me was the trip […]

My Year as an LIT

7 March 2012, 06:48

Moderator

At the age of 15, I had already been heavily enslaved to a serious eating disorder for five years. According to my psychologist/counselor at the time, the eating disorder was accompanied by Borderline Personality Disorder and clinical depression. He prescribed three different medications that gave me headaches and made me more irritable–they didn’t really solve any […]

Contradictions and Confessions

22 February 2012, 06:00

Moderator

The Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) Training Centers (TCs) seemed to be a breeding ground for hypocrisy. Especially for those who were in leadership. I will admit to being a part of that group. I was a staff member and I did things that were against the rules. All the time. If you happened […]

Forced Fasting

8 February 2012, 06:30

Beverly

In daily life at the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) Training Centers and Headquarters, it was always understood that the kitchens were to be closed on Sundays. The explanation I was given when I first arrived at the Indianapolis Training Center (ITC) in 1995 for my year of service with EQUIP was that the […]

Sensitivity vs. Callousness

24 January 2012, 06:00

Moderator

Callousness Sometimes Won The leadership at Advanced Training Institute (ATI) training centers could be incredibly insensitive in dealing with personal tragedies and misfortunes. Especially if those situations affected, in any way, the performance of one’s duties at the training center. Sometimes, just the fear that leadership would misunderstand or react insensitively to a situation could […]

Snooping, Spying, and Snitching: A Training Center Status Quo

10 January 2012, 06:45

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Former ATI students share stories of how they were watched, spied on, and tattled on regularly At Advanced Training Institute (ATI) training centers, students and staff quickly learned not to expect privacy in any activity. E-mail, telephone conversations, and even letters and packages from home were monitored for contraband and for forbidden contacts, especially with […]

Training Center Christmas Memories

27 December 2011, 06:48

Moderator

Recovering Grace asked former Advanced Training Institute (ATI) students what they remembered about the Christmas holidays — and the preparations for them — at the various training centers at which they served. While some of the students had pleasant memories, others remembered stress-filled weeks of onerous, highly-detailed work, culminating in large events that they were […]

PTSD for Christmas

20 December 2011, 06:00

Moderator

Moscow, Russia. December 1995. — I sat in the lobby of the Moscow Training Center (MTC) orphanage, watching the snow fall. The red carpet and chandeliers cast a cheery glow upon the white blanketed view beyond the windows. I could sit and watch the snow fall for hours. As one unaccustomed to snow, I was […]

My Life in ATI, part three

13 December 2011, 06:00

DavidA

Courtship? After ALERT, our family moved to North Carolina. I had a crush on a girl back in Texas and told my Dad about it. My Dad thought that our personalities were not compatible, but I was insistent, so he told her father about it. The girl’s father said that they would be attending a […]