Chapter 2:
Please, let me be very clear, I am not accusing or offering my opinions about this group, sect, cult?? All these terms have been used in many printed and legal publications to describe them. I am following a hunch that has resurfaced from many years ago.
I also do not wish to engage in conversation about this, simply because it would be opinions, my hope is, if you are interested you will read some of the links and come to your own conclusion. (links will be in the last chapter)
My hope is also that this will bring home to each of us how blindly we all accept so much without question, easily placing trust in the well-programmed rhetoric
spoken as truth from behind a facade that promises peace and love.
Wowza! The more I dig the more “enlightened” I become.
Harken back to the 80s when it appeared this group was dissolving, I moved on and forgot they ever existed, knowing only the little bits from news sources.
Dissolve they did not, instead, they went abroad and became well entrenched in almost every country.
There are hundreds of accusations/charges against them /mostly for child abuse and child labor law abuse…this is what ran them from this country in the ’80s.
A very high profile case involving 214 children taken from the group’s members by the state of Vermont. (1984)?
(here is the confusing point for me….with so many charges, investigations, etc., only one that I can find where they were actually found guilty, and that is somewhat unclear…that was in Berlin…yes, that Berlin!
In 2006 written records state they made the entry back into the US, they now have beautiful locations all over the country, seems every state has at least one, some have 2, 3 and 4 locations.
Another sticking point for me…..It is written when the leader of the group made the decision to leave the US he/they were broke and deep in debt.
(how does one go abroad and immediately prosper to the point of major abundance/return 30+years later and do the same in the US.)
**Tune in tomorrow for the answer to that…well, at least what appears to be the answer.!!
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Chapter 1:
I was dressed and on the road early this Saturday, Sept.26-2020
I was anticipating breakfast at the Yellow Deli just a hop and skip from Sage Hill. It dawned on me halfway there they do not open on Saturday!
I was glad I had coffee before leaving home, breakfast would be a toss-up!
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This local jaunt will take a few days to walk through or relay via a keyboard.
I remember the activity around the said deli in the 1970’s-information and updates were hard to get back then, not like today where a keystroke can bring thousands of years to the forefront just like that.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered A Yellow Deli sitting in a small rural town just a few miles from me in Tennessee.
I thought years ago they had all just poofed away in a haze of salty news stories and accusations that left one wondering….
Check-in tomorrow for another chapter.
Actually, it’s a long and winding road that began in…..
A Short History of The Yellow Deli |
The early ’70s would not have been such a special time in the Chattanooga area without The Yellow Deli. Remember those luscious fruit salads, great sandwiches, fresh salads, and homemade desserts? Something about its warm, rustic atmosphere drew people like a magnet. And who can forget the heart-felt invitation at the bottom of the hand-drawn Yellow Deli menu: “We serve the fruit of the Spirit… Why not ask?” Somehow God’s love had been communicated to our hearts in such a way that all we wanted to do was pass on the love, joy, and peace spoken of in the New Testament. Our Savior meant everything to us, so working together to serve the best food in the best atmosphere, with all of our hearts, seemed a normal response. The fruit of the Spirit was produced naturally from the good tree of happy believers working together. |
Bea I am going to leave my email address here in case for whatever reason your posts are censored. Last night I couldn’t sleep because I kept reliving my time there….
Thank you Terri, I’ll safeguard your email.
I’m so grateful nothing bad happened to you while you were there and it seems it was a learning experience that served you well.
Many get caught up and never get out.
I think God had other plans for you my friend.