My biblical counsellor said I should marry my rapist: Janes experience P/6

Read Part One HERE

 

I will continue to share the story of a young woman's experience at The Master's College (now The Master's University or TMU), which is connected to Pastor John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA. I will call her Jane eventhough that is not her real name. Her story covers a number of years of her life starting when she was fifteen before she entered The Master's College.

 Jane: "I'm back on Campus thank God! I find my RD (Resident Director) and pour out all the details of what has transpired. She tells me I have broken the rules, that I signed a contract promising not to do drugs or drink and that even ballroom dancing is prohibited. "You need to talk to Rick Holland, " she says."

Jane: "Her reaction surprises me. I am horrified. Maybe I asked for this. Maybe I did come on to the stranger. Maybe this is all my fault. Maybe I have to marry him since he is the only person I have ever had sex with. I have never even kissed a boy before, but maybe that is the only way to make this right."

Jane: "These thoughts are confirmed by the female Biblical Counsellor named Sandra who has been assigned to meet with  me. "You know, marrying him will fix this whole thing," she says to me."

Jane: "She tells me all the good that will come from this rape and speaks of God's will and joyful suffering and not putting myself in situations like this again."

Read Part Seven HERE

 

 

My perpetrator will be held accountable: Jane's experience P/5

Read Part One HERE
 

 

I will continue to share the story of a young woman's experience at The Master's College (now The Master's University or TMU), which is connected to Pastor John MacArtur's church, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA. I will call her Jane eventhough that is not her real name. Her story covers a number of years of her life starting when she was fifteen before she entered The Master's College.

 Jane: "My head is starting to clear now. I know I've been raped, and fondled and used as a propped up blow-up doll date for the stranger. Good thing I know what to do! I have been trained by the best and godliest people on the planet. I will be supported and cared for, and I can get Biblical counselling right here at school. I will make it through this."

Jane: "I go to the police. They do a rape kit and stick me in a room where alternating good cop and bad cop question me and accuse me of lying. I confront them and say, "This is not how you treat a rape victim. I am studying to become a rape counsellor and this is the opposite of what you should do." They apologise and mumble something about protocol.They promise to help. It doesn't matter I have the church and my Bible College. Furthermore, my perpetrator is in the Seminary. He will be held accountable for his actions." 

Read Part Six HERE

 

I am not a rule breaker: Jane's experience P/4

 Read Part One HERE

 

 

In this post I will continue to share the story of a young woman's experience at The Master's College (now The Master's University orTMU), which is connected to Pastor John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA. I will call her Jane eventhough that is not her real name. Her story covers a number of years of her life starting when she was fifteen before she entered The Master's College.

Jane: "Now I'm in a strange bar. I can't see clearly but it seems the same group of people are here along with the stranger. I look down and wonder where this dress that I'm wearing and these shoes came from. I wear a size ten and a half shoe - it's not like I can borrow shoes from just anyone. I find out the stranger bought them and put them on me. All I can think about is that the school would not approve of these clothes or being in a bar. I'm not a rule breaker. I don't want to get in trouble. The stranger puts a straw in my mouth and insists that I drink. I do but it is alcohol and again, I just want some water. He is still trying to ge me to drink, but I refuse. I am sliding out of the booth and onto the dirty floor but I can't stop myself. The stranger and everyone else is still laughing. The bartender tells us to leave and take me home."

 Jane: "My faculties are starting to come back and I begin to understand that I have spent several days and nights in this fog. I am angry that I have been left in the care of a stranger, and am starting to think that my friends don't care about me at all. I demand to go back to my dorm but I must sound funny because they are still laughing at me. Somehow, someone took me to my dorm, or maybe I got there by myself. I wake up a day and a half later."

Read Part Five HERE

The stranger offers me a soda: Jane's experience P/3

 Read Part One HERE

 

 

 

In this post I will contine to share the story of a young woman's experience while at The Master's College (now The Master's University or TMU), which is connected to Pastor John MacArthur's Church, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA. I wil call her Jane even though that is not her real name. Her story covers a number of years of her life starting when she was fifteen before she entered The Master's College.

Jane: "Four of the seminary students live together and I know three of them. The fourth, a stranger, who I have met maybe once, sits by me at dinner and asks if he can get me a soda. I thank him and say "yes", but half an hour later I start to feel foggy. Everyone begins to discuss going ballroom dancing after dinner. I want to weigh in but my words are slurring and I can't move my legs. The rest of my friends start laughing because I am acting funny. They remember I suffered a concussion yesterday and think I need to go to bed. They urge the stranger to take me to my dorm room so I can rest. By this time he has to carry me out of the restaurant. No one thinks this is strange or seems at all concerned. I black out."

Jan; "I am drifting in and out of consciousness. I do not know where I am.The stranger is with me and is assaulting me. He will not leave me. I hear him grinding and mixing some concoction. He is forcing me to swallow more alcohol. It tastes like it has sand in it. He insists I drink more. I wake up choking and coughing. Everything goes dark."

Jane: "I am awake again and it's morning, or early afternoon. I can't tell. I'm still in this strange bed. The stranger is carrying me to the living room where the same friends and seminary students are drinking beer and watching a movie. The stranger spills a beer on me because I can't hold it right. I don't want beer. I have not had food or water in some time but I cannot articulate this. Everyone is still laughing at me."

Read Part Four HERE

 

An outing with Seminary students: Jane's experience P/2

Read Part One HERE

 

 

 

I will continue to share the story of a young woman's experience while at The Master's College (now The Master's University or TMU), which is connected to Pastor John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA. I will call her Jane eventhough that is not her real name. Her story covers a number of years of her life starting when she was fifteen before she entered The Master's College.

Jane: "I'm twenty-one. It's 2006 and I've spent almost three glorious years at The Master's College. I still have good grades and only one year to go. My professors treat me like family - two of them in particular. One of them rushed me to the hospital last year when I was sick and sat by my bed throughout the night. I have learned so much from them. I want to be a Crisis Counsellor someday and help rape victims. I have been trained to do all the right things like call the police within 24 hours, remove battered spouses from domestically violent situations, and discern the telltale signs and behaviour of someone who has been raped.Some of my professors say they don't agree with John MacArthur on everything. They want us to learn to think for ourselves. This is scandalous news."

Jane: "Spring break starts tomorrow. I was going to go home today but last night I hit my head and suffered a concussion. The doctor said I need to take it easy so I decided to stay on campus and catch up on rest and homework. Not to brag or anything but I hang out with the smart crowd, and the smart crowd hangs out with the Seminary students from The Master's Seminary. They have invited me to go to a play in town and then to dinner. I probably shouldn't but it's an approved outing as some of the seminary guys are bringing their girlfriends and, of course, there will be no drinking, drugs, or dancing. We all had to sign a contract that we would not do those three things while attending Master's. It doesn't bother me. I don't drink or do drugs anyway." 

Read Part Three HERE

 

My dream is to be a pastor: Jane's experience P/1

 

I will begin to share the story of a young woman's experience at The Master's College (now The Master's University or TMU), which is connected to Pastor John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA.   I will call her Jane eventhough that is not her real name. Her story covers a number of years of her life starting when she was fifteen before she entered The Masters' College.

Jane; "My name is Jane. Actually it isn't but my name doesn't matter. I am invisible. I have been erased."

Jane: "I'm fifteen. I just graduated high school early with a 4.0. My dad is a police officer and my mum has served the church for almost two decades as women's ministry director and children's minister. I've had a great childhood with loving parents and a nurturing church. Famous people like Billy Graham and Luis Palau are friends with my pastor. They come around here often. Everyone takes care of each other."

Jane: "I am seventeen. I am taking classes at a junior college. My dream is to be a pastor but women can't do that, so I'll go with my second choice. I'll become a Biblical Counsellor and maybe marry a pastor. I applied to all the Bible Colleges in the area and am accepted (with full ride scholarships to many of them), but all along I really want to go to The Master's College. It's the only one with a true Biblical Counselling degree. They have just started letting women into the program. I am one of two women in a room full of men."

Read Part Two HERE

Women are always the victims: Bethlehem Baptist Church P/7

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will share the final statements on the abuse of Ann Elizabeth Mekala at Baptist Bethlehem Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, previously pastored by John Piper.

Ann: "I was also told that because the main leader of the organisation did not see my co-worker as abusive and because of their close friendship he wasn't a good judge whether he was abusive or not. This was after he had served as one of "the neutral mediators" for several gruelling meetings between us."

Ann: "I suffered an emotional breakdown because I truly felt I was being abused but was told by the highest leadership that wasn't true. I felt so confused and full of self-doubt that it has taken two years to untwist all of the shame, gaslighting, manipulation and victim blaming."

Ann: "The story that was told to the staff when I left was that I had moved to start my own business and although that is what I did when I left that was certainly not the reason for my leaving."
 

Ann: "I feel the clarity now to say that what I experienced was actually double abuse. Abuse from a male co-worker but also abuse from leadership and a system that believes men over women and perpetrators with power over victims with no power." 

This is my final post on Bethlehem Baptist Church.