[Trapped]

Unregistered,

Great observations. I think I have mentioned a couple times on the forum that a frequent comment from many trainees, after graduating after two years in the FTT and coming back to their locality, was, "I don't know how to be".

They really had been broken down. A schedule full of deadlines throughout the day, running them all over here and there, punishments for any infraction, whether a missed deadline, whether a hair on their bed, whether a wrinkle in their sheets, whether talking past curfew, whether wearing a piece of red clothing, etc.... they were punished with assignments to read the very ministry that was supposed to be nourishing to them, some of them reaching the end of their term with a large backlog of punishments. Some of them received letters in their cubbies indicating that their infraction meant that they had a divided heart or were not absolute for the Lord. Stories of leading brothers raiding sisters kitchens for things like coffee (IIRC), etc...

And any failure in this environment is heightened to the extreme because they feel like they are a failure before God. Not loving God enough, not living up to His expectations, never good enough, ever.

This is not a place where people's children go to get built up.

Too many are as you describe - they leave the FTT with mental problems or health problems they did not have before. There is a known percentage of people in the training on antidepressants or medications of that nature....known because the doctor brothers and sisters prescribe them, rather than lobby to have changes made for the sake of the trainees instead.

On the flipside, I know cell phones did not used to be allowed, and now they are. I also think they extended the allowed sleep time by 30 minutes due to so many reports of exhaustion. So no, they are not total monsters, but ...... their claim that this is the "best place for a young man in God's plan" or whatever is a complete lie.

Trapped