OUTSTANDING, POIGNANT, POWERFUL, UPBEAT! What a light! Lilia Tarawa intricately and eloquently describes how heaven and hell can be entwined within the cult environment.
Jim Green’s sentencing
December 8, 2018 by
With a plea deal Jim received 10 years of incarceration, followed by 3 1/2 years of probation. Word is that during sentencing he cried and apologized to M.G. for the terrible way she was treated.
Jim is the one with the heart. Yes, he was Deborah’s accomplice, he’s culpable for the abuse done, and he lied to cover things up. But my thoughts toward Jim have always been that he was duped just like the rest of us. He honestly believed that his wife received visions and prophesies from God. Per recently defected ACMTC members, Jim grew conflicted over the years because of Deborah’s demands.
Such was the case in 2005 when this article appeared in the Gallup Independent: https://culteducation.com/group/801-aggressive-christianity-missionary-training-corps/1454-general-sense-of-well-beings.html
plea deal
October 18, 2018 by
No second trial for Deborah Green. They did a plea bargain. Deborah pled no contest to first degree child abuse in the case of 12-year-old Enoch who died of the flu (autopsy suggesting sinus infection) on ACMTC’s compound. Enoch had no birth certificate, no death certificate, and received no medical care. Law enforcement had long received multiple complaints and concerns from families who hadn’t seen nor heard from their loved ones in years, cut off by command of “General” Deborah Green. Discovering Enoch’s death prompted a deeper investigation into the Greens, giving authorities reason to dig.
Deborah received an additional 18 years to her already 72 year sentence. She will die in prison. Alone. Justice served.
But Enoch’s life was far too short-lived.
all pending matters hearing
October 15, 2018 by
All pending matters hearing is tomorrow at the Valencia County Courthouse, so I think by tomorrow night it should be known if Deborah Green faces a second trial. Or not. It could go either way.
Sarah Green
October 7, 2018 by
Thirty-five years ago in my mind Sarah and Joshua Green were the lucky ones. I mean, what applied to my and other’s children didn’t always apply to them. They had hamsters, dogs, Josh had model cars, model airplanes, and Sarah collected antiques. Steve made our kids throw their fun into the garbage: Nathan his legos, Ruth her doll, Simon his guitar. Plus Sarah and Josh got away with doing things the other kids couldn’t.
But today I look back, and I realize I was wrong. They suffered immensely. Joshua because he could never break free of his mom and dad’s will, their grip, their claim on his life for their “army.” It was all he knew. If he left, where would he go, what would he do? Sarah because she had her own mind, her own dreams apart from what her mom and dad planned for her. I remember the first time she ran away as Jim and Lila prepared to leave for the Philippines. They had to cancel their flight, and after finding her the next day, they rebooked their flights, and they took her with them, and when they returned they left her there for five long months. They were going to teach her a lesson.
I can only speculate why Jim and Deborah arranged for Sarah to marry Mike Brandon, then Peter Royce, now Peter Green, when she was 17 years old. Mike was a favorite of the Green’s, a diehard believer (as into her as my ex) that Deborah received daily “words of the spirit” from God. And Peter’s family not only supported their son’s choice “to serve god,” they also financially gave to the “ministry.” So it was a win-win for Sarah to Mary Peter, plus it would keep Sarah put, at lest for awhile.
(This was Peter’s second marriage within ACMTC. His first wife, Mary Royce, apparently didn’t buy all the way in. Deborah told Peter to drive her to Reno, and to drop her off somewhere on the side of the road. She was several months pregnant. Former members say Deborah despised Mary, declaring her evil, and ordered Peter to drive to her to Reno to get rid of her.)
Sarah and Peter had two boys, plus Sarah cared for M.G. (who landed Deborah in prison on charges of mental, physical, and sexual child abuse) as her own. Sarah loved M.G. I can only imagine the conflict she endured as she watched the very fabric of her life being torn. She loved those babies, but because of her parent’s psychotic claim on her life, and now on the lives of her children, she knew that if she left, she couldn’t take her babies. Peter and her mom and dad would not have it. They’d stand in her way, block her from going out the gate. So on the most difficult day of her life, Sarah ran away, leaving her children behind, hitchhiking from New Mexico to Washington where a former ACMTC member lived, staying in homeless shelters along the way. She would later return to N.M. to try to get her kids, but to no avail.
Last month I was anxious to see Sarah again. I knew she was also subpoenaed to Deborah’s trial. I’d tried in vain over the years to find her. She was 12 years old last I saw her, and now she’s 46. Was she angry with me for exposing her mom and dad, and all the trouble I’ve caused them? Was she really going to testify AGAINST her mother?
I met her as we were being escorted to the courthouse in a car. “Okay, let’s do this, she said, “I love my mom, but she’s crazy.” And on our last night in NM, on the day she gave testimony against her mother, she said, “I felt absolutely no emotion seeing her. She’s like an empty shell.”
I gave her a card with a painting of a cactus on the front, with the inscription, I’m sorry I’m such a prick. I told her I was sorry for all the pain and heartache she’s suffered over the years, and sorry if I added to it by my lawsuit and all that occurred after.
Tears fell down her beautiful face and she flung her arms around me, holding me tight. “My mother’s a monster,” she said, “All the shame I felt, leaving my babies. I had to escape, I just had to, and there’s no way I could have taken my babies with.”
“Those memories will never go away”, I said, “but the shame, the blame, the guilt: those don’t belong to you, they belong to Deborah. ”
In the end she gave me something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Holding me tight she says to me, “thank you for paving the way.”
Back row: Deborah, Jim, Joshua, Peter (behind Filipino man), and Sarah (Circa 1983). Peter was about 10 years older than Sarah, and he currently awaits trial for 100 counts of child rape.
Sarah and my son Nate, reunited after 20 years.
Julie and Sarah.
So Sarah left ACMTC running, and she hasn’t stopped. Today at age 46 she’s a triathlete. She’s run 27 marathons, and says it’s how she copes with her past.
a narcissist
October 4, 2018 by
“A narcissist uses their religious belief to manipulate, control and dominate you through fear. They systematically take the life out of your faith and replace themselves in the center.
It doesn’t matter the religion. Major organizations such as Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish or even minor sects such as Mormon, Taoism, Confucianism, New Age, or Rastafari can be used. Even those who do not profess a belief in God such as Atheistic, Agnostic, or Satanism can be included.
It is not the type of belief but rather how the faith is used that makes it abusive.”
Christine Hammond MS, LMHC
‘Army of God’ Cult Leader Sentenced for Sex Crimes Against Kids | PEOPLE.com
September 30, 2018 by
Deborah Green of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps’ sentenced for child abuse – CBS News
September 27, 2018 by
‘Aggressive Christianity’ cult leader sentenced
September 26, 2018 by
Deborah Green told M.G she was cursed because she came from Africa, and she used her as a child slave. During mealtimes M.G. sat alone on the floor in the corner of the communal dining area, and Deborah would give her a bowl of leftover, sometimes rotting food, and she’d make her eat it within 5 minutes, and after 5 minutes she’d take the food away. If. M.G. vomited while eating, Deborah made her eat that too.
Sexually Deborah abused her, putting her finger and objects up her vagina. M.G. asked her, “why are you doing this to me,” and Deborah’s reply was, “It’s not me doing it, it’s god!”
“A weaker person would not have survived,” Judge James Sanchez told M.G.. “That means you can continue on being strong.”
Deborah Green after sentencing. Where’s her god now?
Deborah Green found guilty on 7 out of 8 counts!
September 25, 2018 by
News from the victum-witness assistant at the DA’s office tonight: Deborah Green found guilty on 7 of 8 counts! This was trial #1 for Deborah regarding kidnapping, abusing, sexually penetrating, and causing great bodily harm to a child, M.G. (The second trial will be regarding the death of the 12 year old boy Enoch.)
I had the pleasure of meeting M.G., now 20 years old, and her adoptive mother. They rushed from the courthouse in Grants to the airport in Albuquerque to meet us before our flights. We were so excited, finally we can put a face to her name. Then a beautiful young African-American woman steps off the escalator, strong and tender. Sarah throws her arms around her, tears flooding her eyes. Then it’s Julie’s turn, then mine.
M.G has come a long way since Child Protective Services took her away from the Greens 12 years ago, and she is now strong and determined to chase her own dreams. I think the saying “if it doesn’t break you it’ll make you strong” is mostly true. For her it took a loving, supportive, pro-active family, plus multiple painful surgeries and years of psychological therapy. Monsters may lurk outside her bedroom window for years yet to come, but M.G. chooses to live, to be strong, and to create a life that is meaningful to her. Her goal: to become a pediatrician. She’s been accepted into and is studying pre-med! I can’t tell you how happy that makes us feel!
“A weaker person would not have survived,” Judge James Sanchez told the victim. “That means you can continue on being strong.”
