My own theory is the horrors of daily life among Puritans and Pilgrims who brought those Midieval ethics to this hemisphere. Where do they get these ideas from ?? Parents need to read these stories before sending their children to be tortured! For more information about Bruce, please read the About page. All first-time comments are moderated. In a locked-up basement where they never see the light of day, as a prisoner and that's over. But dozens of. Oh, your holy book mandates it? Our children are being molded by our character whether we like it or not. Local courts promote the homes as an alternative to juvenile detention, and facilities can collect a variety of state and federal grants. A good society limits the behaviors of its members only as much as is necessary for the health and well-being of the group. Hephzibah House is a small private boarding school in Winona Lake, Indiana, a small town about an hour west from Fort Wayne. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and You have this sense of total isolation: Theres no way out of it, youre there for the rest of your life.. A reform school in Kosciusko County, facing allegations of neglect and abuse from former students, has closed. I could not believe myself. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. This five-part, 75 minute series explores the brutal cult of ignorance promoted by Ron and the late Pattie Williams. I soon learned that I could control men with my eyes, voice, body movements and dress. You are using an out of date browser. "The number of victims that have come forward is about 300," Kumar said. So, it was a team effort by thousands of people across the country.. That same year I tried something else. They would have these horrible illnesses or sicknesses and they would be made fun of or treated like garbage, but for things like that we were given forced pelvic exams or forced anal exams and that doesn't make any sense to me.". (Rapiers ex-wife Dee told me she sent Guy to recover at her mothers Texas home before returning him to his parents.). There was no horseback riding. Our humble work began in 1971, when the Lord called my wife and me to begin this unique ministry. The school cooperated in providing information, but their information was different from hers.. Words 14-year-old brother, Doug, was sent there soon after for stealing a neighbors Playboy magazines. He taught us that when a young girl began menstruating it was God's sign to the papa that she was ready to be married. Hephzibah House told 16 News Now the Department of Child Services visited in January and nothing was found. After leaving Hephzibah House, Karen Glover ended up becoming both an addict and a sex worker for a time. This rating has decreased by -9% over the last 12 months. The girls could have said anything. His psychology is messed up and he probably feels like a freak, but disguises it with the sinister behaviors. Instead, he offered to put me in touch with two pastors who had daughters there. Sexual Abuse in the Name of God: New Bethany Home for Girls, Teen Group Homes: Dear IFB Pastor, Its Time for You to Atone for Your Sin, NPR Story on Mack Ford, Sexual Abuse, and New Bethany Home for Girls in Arcadia, Louisiana, Black Collar Crime: Pastor Eddy Noelsaint Accused of Rape, Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Youth Pastor Josh Henley Sentenced to Forty-Five Years in Prison for Sex Crimes Against Children, Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Student Ministry Leader Vernon Willis Accused of Inappropriately Touching Church Girls, Evangelicals are an Existential Threat to the United States, Some Atheists Think I was Stupid for not Deconverting Sooner, Black Collar Crime: Catholic School Teacher Verity Beck Accused of Murdering Her Parents, Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Evangelist Chris Brooks Accused of Assaulting His Wife, Why I Write The Black Collar Crime Series and Will Continue to Do So Despite Criticism from Evangelicals, Dr. David Tee Thinks Everyone Who is Not a Christian is an Atheist, Bruce, I Pray You Will Have Your Eyes Opened and the Truth will Guide You, Dont Dress Like a Whore if You Dont Want to Get Sexually Assaulted Says Lori Alexander. Be willing to resist the pressures of the world and disobedient Christians. That guy Ron Williams is totally warped. The role she played was not and is not the role of a woman who is a keeper at home. Mary Kumar is a survivor of a lockdown reform school for the wayward. We were not saved until we were in our late twenties. Hephzibah House tells 16 News Now there are currently four girls enrolled at the reform school. 5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bathroom w/ 2728 sq ft home built in 2019. Through the years, the ministry has changed locations a few times and altered its outreach programs to meet the needs of the day, at various times publishing periodicals and . Search one of the largest collections of foreclosure, bank-owned, 2nd Chance Foreclosure, Short Sale, and luxury properties available online. One of the greatest shocks our girls go through is to have their pants taken away! Hephzibah Children's Association has an overall rating of 3.2 out of 5, based on over 22 reviews left anonymously by employees. When I go shopping I try to take real care concerning my looks because it reflects on my husband. The girls found themselves at a remote compound bordered by a rural highway and ringed with barbed wire. A woman greatly influences and brings out the Godly qualities of her man by her actions and words. Anita Bryant is a prime example of what the Bible condemns. Back in Maryland, Jeannie Marie was unaware of her daughters plight. I had a lot to crucify in my life. Copyright 2023 The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser Powered by Flywheel. Then your deity is perfectly evil. We must repent of what we have done. Some of these very critics were there when I was here, and I counseled them. Thank you so much for posting this! Thats sick. They included former Indiana Rep. Mark Souder (Hephzibah House), Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt (Reclamation Ranch, Rachel Academy), and North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx (King Family Ministries), who testified: This bill is not neededThe states and the localities can handle these situations. It still is a struggle 10 years later. Thank god!. Rants, Musings, and Mental Meanderings of a former Conservative Christian Mother. Her letters went unansweredonly one of Roxys replies got past the academys censors. No, I do not know how it is! But the thing that makes my stomach churn is that these horrible ideas of how girls and women should behave, the ideas about how to raise and discipline a child, and the banality of the infractions that got the girls sent to the place in some casesthese are all celebrated by some versions of Christianity. How can you be a keeper at home rearing your children loving your children, and your husband and at the same time leading a movement across the nation? Lesbianism among teenagers is common and routine. If you still have retained your figure then you are attractive and you are defrauding men and you will stand in judgement before the Lord for causing a man to stumble (11 Corinthians 5:10). I just knew that when certain lobbyists would stand up to say, We have a concern about how this affects faith-based institutions, the bill was immediately amendedit was a very Republican legislatureor it would immediately die. They pled no contest to false-imprisonment charges and received suspended sentences and probation. Perhaps you are wondering how you can have freedom of movement in a dress. The schools effects on Roxy were striking, Jeannie Marie told me. Pastor Dave Halyaman is an assistant Director of Hephzibah House, and Assistant Pastor at Believers Baptist Church in Warsaw, Indiana and has held these positions since 1990.Brother Halyaman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from California State University Los Angeles in 1978, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Theology from Hyles-Anderson College in 1987. Follow Bruce on Facebook and Twitter. She says students were expected to do heavy labor in addition to their Bible-based education. It has long been my goal, as well as the goal of over one hundred to two hundred other girls, to expose the things we had to endure while in Hephzibah House's care in the hopes of protecting . Shut down Hephzibah house. Then-prosecutor Tommy Rountree said deputies raided the ranch after an escapee alerted them to beatings, isolation cells, and armed staffers who would go hunting for runaways.. A mother is the primary Influence on her daughter. Other girls? Imagine eating a bowl full of greasy kettle chips, sitting in a cold room shivering in your dreadful uniform, knowing that was to be your nourishment until supper ocurred at least 5 or 6 hours later. In 2007, she sent her 14-year-old daughter, Kelsey, to the Circle of Hope Girls Ranch in Humansville, Missouri. Still, without proof of a crime, law enforcement officials say little can be done. Your next investment or dream home is just a click away. Recently Sold . A traveling chorus from New Bethany. Culottes can be worn for recreation. They draw a lot of attention to the feet, ankles and leg. He earned the certificate in Biblical Studies in May, 1977, and the Master of Divinity (cum laude) from Grace in 1979. Please let me get a hold of this scum that beat babies. I want to please the Lord not man. Hephzibah Home is a residential treatment program for children ages 3 to 11 and it includes two units, The Treehouse and The Clubhouse. JavaScript is disabled. The girls call her a Holly Hobbie doll. Ben Williams says this is just one step in the healing process. Interviews with a half-dozen former students indicate that most of the girls were merely rebellious teenslike Frye, who at age 14 began resisting her strict Baptist parents. Click here for the CNN report on abuse at Hephzibah House. It's us but for your ears. I want to be different from the dress of the world. As I listen to their questions, handle their problems and study the Word for answers, I see that the Bible holds us responsible as mothers for our part in helping or harming our children. ERA has definitely won a battle among Christian women. I was proud and haughty at my catch but filled with doubts and suspicions afterwards. Shoddy work by both agencies. I am going to use myself as the prime example. Being bisexual is common. Dr. Williams is also Pastor Emeritus of Believers Baptist Church, an independent, fundamental, separated church fellowship under which Hephzibah House operates. When that could've been easily fixed with Metamucil or putting us on a better diet," she said. Are you on Social Media? But let us look at ourselves Mother. Inside a Religious Reform School: Survivors of Hephzibah House: With Phil McGraw. I have personally heard Ron Williams present the "ministry" of Hephzibah House on three separate occasions. The effects of a pants-wearing mother is just as devastating on a boy. Girls at Hephzibah House are housed for a minimum of fifteen months, and during that time attend serviced at Believers Baptist three times a week. Some think that women do not really make sense. After a housemother bandaged Angelas arms, Rider said, she heard the girl being beaten down the hall. *, In March 2010, the House passed the Keeping All Students Safe Act, a bill that would have banned the use of seclusion and physical or chemical restraints by any school that benefits from federal education money. Spanking -- To my knowledge they no longer spank, however this is so they will continue to receive students in my opinion. He said he didn't even remember the particulars just that it had something to do with my loyalty to him. There is so much wrong with what this woman wrote, beginning with the assertion that little girls are purposefully sexual temptresses. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? Kalie, Susan, and Gabby say they want to raise awareness about Hephzibah House, where they claim they experienced abuse that still haunts them to this day. In some cases she is neither dressed in a proper manner nor under her husband. Just as important are the fruits of her marriage: the children. Hephzibah House told supporters the facility that once housed troubled teen girls will now be a Christian Camp for those suffering with PTSD. The mission headquarters has been located in Winona Lake, Indiana, since 1971, the year of its organization. Inexpensive, too! I am a former student of Hephzibah House in Indiana. I was very unsubmissive and I grew worse as the day progressed. Would you want us to not do that [give pelvic exams] ? But back at the hive, Roloffs wards were often subjected to days in locked isolation rooms where his sermons played in an endless loop. It is a Netflix Original, meaning that the streamer has global rights, including in Korea. Because it's going to help them heal. We never got the food we should have recieved, I am sure of it. Mother, you can avoid this by rearing her properly, or perhaps cleaning up your own life first and then cleaning hers up. The assistant director of Hephzibah House is speaking out after a two-part series aired on Dr. Phil earlier this month about the boarding school. (Please read Who's to Blame For the Tragic Death of IFB Missionary Charles Wesco?) That some of these Evangelical churches have even the barest shreds of a good society within them is happening in spite of, rather than because of, the teachings of the religion; and those teachings have a terrible effect on young people, on women, and on the rest of us when those people get political power in our government. When Rider tried to apologize, Angela asked why she hadnt just let her die. My soup is threatening to come back up. Perhaps you live a decent Chrlstian life, but why are you allowing your daughter to live like a strange woman? I too came from a church that supported "the Double HH Ranch" and am absolutely appalled at the things I am hearing about this place. They are softer, sweeter and submissive. She had posted her phone number for anyone wanting to talk, drawing a cautious but earnest call from Word. After a heated school-board meeting where parents demanded an investigation, Amelia headmaster George Martin went online to solicit stories from New Bethany alumni. Then your holy book is evil. I hope after the Dr. Phil expos that Indiana officials will finally bring to bear on Hephzibah House the full weight of Indiana law. Three weeks ago, Dr. Phil featured Hephzibah House on his daily TV talk show. graduated from Hyles-Anderson College in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Pastoral Theology. Lets not tell them or maybe we should- that Indian Indians think pants are more modest than skirts. We use a pattern that makes a culotte that looks exactly like a pleated skirt yet has plenty of room for movement. Id never visited those homes, but you took at face value that people were doing good things. I came across this documentary about Hephzibah House yesterday and wondered if anybody here has seen it Then there's this story from a Williams son: That wasa little bit interesting. The school reopened the next year in Walterboro, South Carolina, under a new administrator, Olin King. When it comes to paddling the girls too hard, the school said they have not used corporal correction for years. I remember thinking that it was funny that we had a great relationship with all the other missionaries we supported, but never once in the 13 years we attended there ever saw Ron Williams or had his ministry presented or shared with our congregation.