Testimonials

The 157 testimonials document the crime, deceit, evil, and affect of events that revolved around Frederick Drummond and the now defunct Church of our Savior (COS). Most are first hand, eye witness, experiences. Many are justifiably intense. There can be no denying, many of these testimonials were written from deep pain. They are available by request. To gain access to the testimonials, you must be a former member of COS, researching, law enforcement, minister, etc. Email cosnews to gain access. Note, if you would prefer immediate access, there are a few sites that have a subset of the testimonials such as Ezekiel2225.

To those hurt, there is nothing spiritually incorrect with getting help from a therapist, psychologist, or other professional healer. If you seek out a professional, perform due diligence and know who you are visiting before ever visiting. Check their credentials, are they in good standing, what is their reputation: RESEARCH first. And, you are paying them to perform a service. If you don't like them, don't feel you are getting better, or they seem not right, try another professional. You are not "stuck" with the first one you try; it may take a few before you find the right fit. But, with the right professional, you can gain years of healing in a less amount of time. There will be tears. You may want to bring a friend to drive you home the first few times...

Healing and righting your life needs to be your top priority. But, on a lower priority, you will eventually think about forgiveness. I personally believe it is good to forgive; which in some cases could be a lifetime process. Here is some keen insight from "A Cult Survivors Handbook":

The first step for cult abuse survivors is to tell their story and connect with their outrage about the abuse. While these feelings are coming to the surface, it will be impossible to forgive the people in the cult. False forgiveness will only weaken victims' boundaries, prevent them from telling their story and thereby prevent healing.

If you have been abused, sometimes a well-meaning friend or counselor may advise you to forgive someone or something. But only do it if you want to. Follow your gut feeling in the matter of forgiving a perpetrator. You are the only one who can know how much you were hurt and when you're ready to forgive. Forgiveness is not important. If the abuser is a psychopath, he will not appreciate your forgiveness anyway, but just laugh at you. Ultimately the healing has to take place within the individual, it cannot be forced from outside. Aggressive therapies to induce forgiveness or confrontation with the perpetrator can be destructive. Often the overt abuse has stopped, but subtle abuse lingers. Cults may even try to control their ex-members in covert ways.

The words above, "Forgiveness is not important" are counter intuitive to me but the author might be correct. However, "Follow your gut feeling in the matter of forgiving a perpetrator", is perfect, sound advice. You'll know when you're ready to forgive, no one else will know that time.