Hey, I’m Leona!
My goal for this blog is to share my experiences in homeschooling and my 10 years of involvement in Bill Gothard’s cult: the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), and his corresponding homeschool program: the Advanced Training Institute International (ATI). As an adult, I’ve spent the last 9 years unraveling what I grew up learning, and have since deconstructed my Christian faith. I’ve dedicated this space to sharing my story so that people with similar ones don’t feel alone.
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Homeschooling Myself
When I returned home from IBLP’s headquarters, the school year was starting and my responsibilities went from working a 9-5 job to starting 8th grade. My brothers and I were homeschooled by our parents, and though we joined competitive speech and debate clubs once I entered high school, we otherwise had very few extracurriculars and…
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Becoming Free Indeed Book Review
I appreciate Jinger’s willingness to speak out against the beliefs she grew up believing as a child, despite potential family conflict and disappointment from community who may disagree with her conclusions. She states repeatedly that she loves her family and does not share her deviation from their beliefs maliciously or to place blame on anyone…
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Stories from HQ: Volunteering at IBLP Headquarters, Part 2
I was at lunch with my godmother a month or so after returning home from headquarters, right as the school year was beginning. Teenage life felt limiting and bland compared to what felt like my glory days as a staff member. I missed it. I’d cried the hardest in my life after it sunk in…
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Stories from HQ: Volunteering at IBLP Headquarters, Part 1
IBLP sold solutions. Their slogan was “A New Approach to Life!” and it was an approach of do what we say and don’t ask questions. No wonder there were so many “problem kids” living at HQ sent there by frustrated parents who couldn’t figure out how to fix them. Human problems often aren’t curable by…
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If Bill Gothard Returns to Leadership
Recently I came across a rumor that Bill Gothard has plans to be reinstated on the board of directors at the Institute in Basic Life Principles. When I read that Facebook post, something inside my gut twisted. I suppose I’m not surprised that he would try, but the idea that IBLP leadership would let it…
Leona Left Fundamentalism 