Updates
Wendy Hinman, formerly from the Huntington Beach Assembly, was
interviewed in May 2023 by the 'Nations' podcast about her family's cult experience. Here are some of the highlights:
• At minute 15:09 the discussion turns to her Assembly experience. She says, "I really think cults come out of a desire for community."
• 23:40 They talk about legalism and mind-control.
• 27:05 They discuss the four main characteristics of a cult.
• 36:10 Regarding child-rearing Wendy says, "I think all of my kids should be in therapy till the end of their days for what they endured."
~
March 2023
Dawn (Geftakys) is interviewed on the "Tell Us
Something We Don't Know" podcast in an episode called "Born in a Cult". Dawn certainly tells us a few things we didn't know before about
the Geftakys clan.
~
December 2022
Marilynn Mathias at 83 is interviewed by a pastor. She and
Gerald were pillars in the Tuscola Assembly from the very beginning. About 25 minutes into the video she describes her Assembly experience. Her testimony
is full of grace, and truth.
~
• August 15, 2022 A new page
on 'Assembly Damages' brainstorms a list of injuries and losses that happened to people in the Assembly. Comments are open so more can be added.
Lee Irons' review of Elizabeth Esther's book complements the list.
~
June 17, 2022 Gretchen Ward from the Assembly
in Omaha was asked
by the International Cultic Studies Association to write an article for publication in their journal in 2020. ICSA has graciously given us permission to link to
Recovery for My Children and Myself. Gretchen details her many efforts to get help for
her eight children after
they left the Assembly in 2004. This is a timely consideration in view of Betty's death. She was responsible for introducing the damaging family dynamics and
treatment of children in the Assembly.
~
May 30, 2022 Betty Geftakys died.
She had been declining over the
past year and died in her sleep at Plymouth Village assisted living facility in Redlands.
~
March 8, 2018 Dawn Smith gave a
TED Talk about the group she grew up in. Daniel Teater
posted it
on his Facebook page, where it has gotten several comments. Dawn told a
little story about her Dad, Tim Geftakys, on the Moth. She is quoted on the "All the Wiser"
site, and was interviewed by the media after her
presentation at the University of Regina 2020
Leadership Forum.
~
May 22, 2017 David Geftakys died from kidney failure. At his request there was no funeral. He was buried in the Philippines.
~
August 10, 2014 George Geftakys died.
He is buried at Riverside National Cemetary. Elizabeth Esther Geftakys
Henderson wrote about her grandfather's passing on her blog.
Her memoir, Girl at the
End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future, also came out in 2014.
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• Note: The word 'cult' is used on this site in the sociological sense, referring to the practice and conduct of the group, not beliefs or doctrine. More »»
