1/5 John D. 1 year ago on Google
TRIGGER
WARNING:
This
post
contains
mentions
of
psychological/emotional
abuse
and
asking
minors
to
strip.
This
may
be
a
long
post
detailing
my
experience
at
potential
church.
I
am
now
20,
and
I
started
going
to
this
church
when
it
was
still
called
Flamingo
Church.
My
family
enjoyed
the
programs
they
had
for
me
and
my
siblings
and
the
preachings
of
Pastor
Troy.
My
parents
are
devout
Christians
and
wanted
us
to
spend
our
summers
in
summer
camp.
We
usually
went
to
the
Christ
the
Rock
Community
Church
summer
camp
at
another
local
church,
but
this
year,
the
dates
lined
up.
The
scheduling
of
the
day
only
leaves
room
for
about
six
hours
of
sleep
a
night
and
plenty
of
activities
that
bring
you
to
a
point
of
almost
dangerous
exhaustion.
They
would
stress
staying
hydrated
and
would
feed
us
horror
stories
about
kids
having
heat
strokes.
After
bringing
us
to
a
point
of
near
complete
exhaustion,
we
are
given
just
a
couple
of
hours
of
free
time,
usually
used
towards
more
physical
activity.
Then
after
this
eventful
day,
at
a
time
where
we
are
most
vulnerable,
sermons
will
include
perspectives
that
evoke
shame
and
fear.
Many
students
would
crack
and
break
down
at
the
end
of
the
week
during
this
time.
On
the
last
day,
after
a
very
emotional
and
physically
exhausting
day,
we
are
finally
given
the
phones
we
weren't
allowed
to
have
all
week
at
our
shared
military-like
bunker
with
over
20
beds
in
one
room.
One
of
the
students
blasted
a
Juice
WRLD
song,
and
many
of
the
guys
sang
along
because
he
was
very
big
at
the
time.
The
leaders
heard
us
and
decided
to
punish
us
for
listening
to
secular
music
after
"the
transformative
week"
we
had.
They
made
all
of
the
boys
of
all
ages
gather
in
one
bunker,
even
those
that
had
not
participated,
and
made
us
do
push-ups,
sit-ups,
jumping
jacks,
planks,
and
leg
raises
until
you
could
only
hear
groans
of
agony
late
into
the
night.
I
looked
to
my
side,
and
my
best
friend,
who
was
tougher
than
anyone
I
knew,
was
breaking
down
in
tears
and
being
ridiculed
for
"not
giving
maximum
effort"
during
the
workouts.
After
we
had
been
humiliated
and
defeated,
they
took
the
older
boys
outside
in
the
cold
out
in
the
woods
surrounded
by
the
campsite
we
were
in.
We
were
still
covered
in
sweat
and
wanted
nothing
more
than
to
go
back
upstairs
where
the
older
boys
were
staying.
One
of
the
leaders
said
he
didn't
think
we
learned
our
lesson
and
asked
all
the
older
boys
to
take
off
their
sweat-drenched
shirts.
After
he
examined
all
of
our
bodies
without
shirts,
he
said,
"now
take
off
the
pants."
One
of
the
boys
next
to
me
said
he
didn't
have
underwear
on,
and
the
leader
left
him
alone,
so
I
said
the
same
thing,
lying
just
to
be
spared
from
the
embarrassment.
He
then
said,
"I
can
see
your
underwear
under
your
pants."
He
then
called
me
forward
and
called
me
a
liar
and
asked
another
older
leader
to
speak
to
me.
I
broke
down
in
front
of
the
older
leader
and
told
him
I
didn't
feel
comfortable
stripping
in
front
of
all
these
men.
I
was
now
having
a
full-blown
panic
attack
and
falling
apart,
with
tears
falling
down
my
face.
He
understood,
and
he
told
me
that
it
was
okay
and
that
I
wouldn't
have
to
and
to
control
my
breathing.
The
older
leaders
talked
amongst
themselves
and
decided
we
had
enough
and
let
us
go
upstairs
to
sleep.
In
the
morning,
we
went
to
our
buses,
and
they
drove
us
home.
They
never
acknowledged
what
they
did
to
us.
To
save
face,
they
texted/called
all
of
the
boys'
parents
to
scapegoat
one
or
two
pastors
and
say
that
they
were
removed.
I
wonder
how
many
people
they
permanently
pushed
away
from
Christianity
that
night.
Along
with
this
horrendously
traumatic
night
that
I
am
still
healing
from,
I
think
their
practices
of
collecting
offering
and
tithes
are
ridiculous
and
prey
on
those
that
do
not
have
enough
to
donate
to
Pastor
Troy
and
his
wealthy
family
so
they
can
afford
more
expensive
cameras
to
emotionally
manipulate
others.
Please
find
a
smaller
church
with
more
accountability
and
trust
within
your
community.
No
man
of
God
would
order
his
church
to
sweep
this
under
the
rug
in
the
manner
in
which
they
did.
