How You Can Help

There have been those who have asked if they could help with this ministry. This section was added to address the subject.

PRAYER IS NUMBER ONE

The greatest thing anyone could do is to pray for me, this ministry, those who help, and those who come in contact with us. Besides this web site ministry, we also have an online support group, Christian-Koinonia. Since the start of the support group in May of 2000, it has taken precedence over this web site as it involves direct and continual interaction with people.

HELPING BY SENDING OLDER UPC/APOSTOLIC PUBLICATIONS

I would especially be interested in receiving any year version of the UPC's Ministerial Manual. (I have copies from 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1969, 1975, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, & 2002 through 2023). Any older UPC church directories would also be appreciated. (I already have ones from 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1972/1973, 1975/76, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990-1992 as well as from 1999 to 2023.)

Older copies of the Forward magazine or similar publications may prove helpful.

Any of these may be mailed to the P.O. Box given near the end of this page.

HELPING BY SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCE

One may also help by sharing their experience in an unhealthy church setting. I would like to include more experiences dealing with how people have recovered after leaving their former group and how they have gone on in their walk with God. I prefer experiences that focus on spiritual abuse, erroneous teachings, and the effect of these as opposed to those that may appear to be just lashing out at people.

HELPING BY WRITING AN ARTICLE

We are always looking for articles to post directly to the web site. If you feel you are able to address any of the issues involved (those concerning spiritual abuse as well as those specific to UPC teachings), please feel free to submit such for consideration. You may remain anonymous or use your name or only your first name. Unlike other sites, we will also consider the writings of current UPC/Apostolic church members.

Since mid 2016, we have also hosted a multi-author blog, where people are free to register and blog about things somehow related to spiritual abuse and erroneous teachings.

HELPING BY SPREADING THE WORD

You may help by telling others about the web site and support group. If you operate your own web site, a link from your site to this one is appreciated. You do not need permission to link to any pages on this web site. However, we do not give permission to copy our pages directly onto another site.

HELPING WITH LINKS

Links continually change, so you can help by informing us if you find a link that is no longer valid. We are always looking for new articles and sites to link to which may prove helpful to our visitors.

HELPING WITH EXPENSES

Contributtions to the financial expenses of this ministry are appreciated. From our inception in 1997, I had been very reluctant to respond to this subject as all too often we have seen ministries that continually beg for money as well as ones that have misused contributions or promised all sorts of "blessings" should you contribute, or curses should you fail to do so.

For years I paid for the expenses of this ministry from my personal income by myself. Regardless of whether anyone financially contributes to this ministry, we will continue as long as possible. The site was never set up to be a "for profit" one. Even with donations, expenses usually exceed our income.

In 2000, we obtained our own domain name and had the site hosted by a Christian ISP and later moved to HostGator. There are times when information or books are mailed to people at no charge. In 2007, we gave away numerous books and Bibles in an effort to help members of the online support group and have continued to do so almost two decades later. There is the cost of Internet access, postage, post office box fees, and office supplies, as well as the cost of the books and other material that we provide at no charge. There are also other costs.

The first way you can help is by placing orders through the links provided on our main page and book pages. We joined the associate's program with Amazon.com in 2003 and they pay us a small percentage on any orders placed through our links to them. It's important to use the links on the website in order for us to receive the proper credit for your order. Any items already in your cart will not count, nor will items that you have saved for later. You would have to remove them and then add them again after accessing via one of our links. Helping in this manner, you would receive the items you desire and help this ministry at the same time, without making a direct contribution or spending more. Please see the book page for links to place orders, as well as our Amazon storefront where we list many books, films and TV shows related to spiritual abuse, cults and unhealthy churches. We have a separate section there for UPCI and Oneness related material. You might also take advantage of special offers on Amazon, including free trials. You do not have to purchase any of the items you click on from our pages in order for your order to count. You just need to access Amazon via one of our links and then choose whatever you wish to purchase.

The second way you can help is by sending a direct donation. We have an ongoing fundraiser through GoFundMe that may be accessed here. Like PayPal, they take a small fee from any donations.

You may also send any contributions to Lois Gibson, P.O. Box 300682, Waterford, MI 48330. Please note that credit card donations can only be made through GoFundMe.

We are very appreciative of the faithful monthly support which was provided to us during 2002, 2003 and 2007-2008 by Christian Challenge in Pineville, Louisiana.

Donations are not tax deductible as we are not registered as a non-profit organization.

You may also write me at the email address displayed in the image. No correspondence that seeks to debate will be answered as I have no desire to debate. Understand that due to the volume of mail and other commitments, not every email may be acknowledged or answered. If you are in need of support or a place to safely discuss various issues, please consider joining our private online Facebook group as it is not possible to privately correspond at length with everyone that seeks help.

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Page added July 27, 2002 & updated October 26, 2023

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