(Shared anonymously)
My family and I read this together everywhere. We don't hide or shelter our daughter because she needs to see the world for what it is. As I read it outloud my daughter is in shock at how nothing seemed out of the ordinary when we were always around the Feldschau family or at church on Sundays. My husband had reminded me of why he stopped really going to Faith Community. I remember the day my husband said he would FINALLY go to church with my daughter and I. We had been asking him forever to go to church with us and just try it out. He had met Jon outside of church somehow and really truly liked him. When he found out he was a pastor he decided to go with us.
The first time and the second time my husband became alive when he would hear Jon preach. He felt the true passion that was being presented, and then we as a family would discuss what we took from the message after church. The first day we all went and Neal was preaching my husband said that something wasn't right, he felt something almost negative as soon as we walked through the doors. We did stay and listen to the lesson for the day but my husband was very straight forward and made it clear whe he said "he would never go back again while Neal was speaking." For multiple reasons but the most important was he didn't feel the love and compassion that Jon spoke. He said he felt lies coming from Neals mouth when he spoke. "Jon speaks truth is what he told me." I should have known then that something wasn't right. It's hard for my husband to open up about his life to people. Jon and Stacy he felt comfortable to talk to and tell his life story to.
As we read these every week my heart hurts for my friends that had to go through all this, my husband gets infuriated by the Preston's and their cult and my daughter is becoming more aware of reading people better and keeping her guard up until she can get to know people better. (She got her trusting easy from me, I an nieve and very gullible) I want to thank you for sharing these hard, triggering issue for you and your family. We need more people like you guys to speak up for the people who are too afraid to.