At just 12 years of age, Jacelly got baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses with the promise of a great life. Shortly thereafter her illusions were shattered as she was promptly sexually assaulted within the congregation and met with apathy regarding her plight. Over and over again in her life with her family and the cult, Jacelly would find herself let down and confused, wondering how people could act as they did around her. Repeating the cycles of abuse as a victim, eventually she would have to come to grips with harsh realities in order to grow and hope to live a good life.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of self-harm.
The words spoken by her therapist in rehab, “In this religion, what do you really have”, made Mackenzie look at the harsh realities of her life in the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Worried about what she would lose, she had to first take a look at what she really had. Sadly, what she had was a life that was so traumatic she developed DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) and that had driven her to self harm. Failing to receive any real help from her family and the congregation, with a mother encouraging her to cut again because she was better to be around when self-harming, Mackenzie would find help with others that were working through their own pains that finally brought real support to her life.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Like most kids growing up, Ali wanted to know that someone was in her corner. But the adults in her life had their own issues, issues that would prevent her from being allowed to have friends stay over at her house. Issues that would result in her, her sister, and her mother being moved out under the cover of darkness away from their father. Issues that never really went away, that were seen over and over again in patterns repeated that left Ali looking for a way out, ANY way out, more than once at different times in her life. Where do you find support when even an overdose of pills is met with a cold admonishment to go throw up? Jehovah’s Witnesses often grow up in an emotional desert, thirsty for real love and support.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Many Jehovah’s Witnesses are holding secrets. In Chevoy’s life, the secrecy around her father’s actions meant that she would have to learn to find her voice in order to heal. Now she’s sharing her story, shining a light on what once lived in the darkness.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Struggling in school with dyslexia, struggling at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses because her family was looked down on as being spiritually weak, and severely abused at home, young Michelle had no safe place to go for relief. Pushed into a caregiver’s role later in life, she would once again find that Jehovah’s Witnesses weren’t safe as they would fight and steal to maintain control of her parents and family if necessary. In the end safety could only come from Michelle taking care of Michelle.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
When we lose the ones we love, we say some words. We remember them. We reminisce about the good times, and it’s for the memory of the ones we lose as well as for ourselves. Sarah was not given a proper funeral. This was due to her status of being Shunned (Disfellowshipped) from her religion, and as her husband I’ve not had closure. Because of this I’ve carried a burden and words unspoken for the last few years, and no one knows her full story – her struggles and final moments. Thank you to Michael Shemwell for helping me work through my loss and for putting together a way to remember Sarah and share her story.
Sarah Nelson Harding will always be remembered by many as the light in the room, and the life of the group! She had such energy, and fun about her, a love for life and desire to grow. She was very artistic and expressed her feelings through drawing and painting, and had a wide range of loved music that was close to her heart to cover all of the emotions.
She was adventurous and outgoing, and more so than I thought I ever was! Nearly every amazing memory I have was with her, and she only graced my life for less than 5 years. We polar plunged in the Fox River in the middle of a Chicago winter, and dove from the tops of cliffs into Cenotes in Mexico!! We rode a catamaran in the Caribbean and went Skydiving (indoor though)! She introduced me to karaoke and my own love of music, even meeting a political figure while singing karaoke one night, which turned into a dear friend of ours! She had a way about her, even when she sang in front on a crowd of strangers, she had no inhibitions and would belt out Journey as if she was on tour!! I would never have known that someone could sing so beautifully and be out of key!! Every time, she would get standing applause from the entire room!!
We had a practice of eating healthy and being active, and that woman was very strong! Her red hair gave her the nickname of Red Beast!! And I was Uber Beast, to follow suit with the nickname and not necessarily because I was fit.
She couldn’t have children of her own, but she fiercely loved her niece and nephew, and her friends children that she referred to as her minions! But she would have been a wonderful mother had she had the opportunity.
Sarah had so much life ahead of her! And I miss her every day, as many do. I can only imagine the pain in the heart of her family and friends that willfully shunned her and caused her great pain. They believe they were doing what God wanted them to do. I do not blame them. Rather, I encourage them to be WILLING to ask questions and seek answers. Shunning someone you love does not feel good, because it isn’t. Someone else is telling you to lose your natural affection for someone in order to blackmail them to come back on hands and knees for an offense that you are not allowed to know the details of. Don’t be manipulated.
Truth does not mind being questioned. A lie does not like being challenged.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
For Shunned Podcast listeners that want to see the montage at the end of the episode, you can view that as a standalone here on the YouTube channel without having to watch the entire video above:
College is not the place for a Jehovah’s Witness youth. That message was received by a 7 year old Lin, the very first time something seemed like it wasn’t quite right to him. However, when a scholarship to Emory University would open for him later in life, he would have a choice to make. Jehovah’s Witnesses discourage their youth from obtaining a good education, even seeing such as dangerous.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Trigger Warning – This episode deals with abuse and suicide.
Born in raised in a family that looked the part of good Jehovah’s Witnesses, Nicole knew the truth. Her father was a violent alcoholic, her mother suffered from dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities), and her escape was to spend time with another JW family on weekends that put her in the clutches of a sexual predator. When she reported what happened, she was threatened with disfellowshipping and shunning if she cooperated with the police. Sadly, this is just the beginning of a life spent dealing with cycles of abuse, and Nicole has had to put in a lifetime worth of effort to rise above circumstances while learning what a healthy life can be through it all.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
Some people that were Jehovah’s Witnesses simply hated every second of it. Jael is one such person. From an early age she knew that it wasn’t for her, but her mother let her know that she would never help her out if she wasn’t a JW later in life and that pressure was intense. Because of that Jael would find herself going in and out of the cult. In the end she finds that continued exposure to the cult only leads to drama as couple from the local Kingdom Hall tries to steal her uncle’s estate from the family. Sometimes it is okay not to fit in with the people that you’ve been exposed to in life.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
At the age of 11 or 12 Nia saw something happen that many Jehovah’s Witnesses see, one of the teenagers in her congregation was disfellowshipped. But what she also experienced was her mother’s reaction, a reaction that lacked care or compassion for the person that was now seen as lost, a reaction that lacked any real care for Nia as well. “Don’t you EVER embarrass me the way she embarrassed her mother!”
And there you have a relationship summed up in one quick remark, a relationship that would leave Nia trying desperately to earn her mother’s love, a love that should be natural and without conditions based on a particular cult belief system, but a love that Jehovah’s Witnesses lack. If a person has to earn that love through performance based measures in a cult, that love can just as easily be lost. In this episode you’ll follow Nia’s journey from a little girl trying to earn her mother’s love to a woman learning to love herself.
The new song that Nia chose to represent her story is Pray by Sam Smith.
Support the show by donating to the cause on our Patreon page, Patreon.com/shunned
Are you struggling in some area of life? Feeling stuck? Need an accountability partner or some encouragement? Need to talk to someone that understands cult life? Reach out and let’s talk. I have affordable programs to help as a certified life coach. Click HERE for more information.
Want more resources? Go to my other website exjwHelp.com
You can listen to the Shunned Podcast Spotify playlist here for all of the songs chosen by guests of the show.
This podcast was made possible by my original podcast This JW Life. You can find it on any podcast app or on YouTube. It is a 9 part series about life as Jehovah’s Witnesses designed to help you understand how it worked in one comprehensive story and to help you process your own if you came from that environment.
