November 21
I have known John Paul for quite a long time. This is going to be long, and I'll be up front with you on this. But in all fairness to John Paul, and to myself, I feel that it is necessary to explain everything without leaving out any details. Many times when details are left out, the story comes out sounding very different from the way the event's actually occurred. I don't want to mislead anybody by leaving out details, or exaggerate them either. I will give you the story just as it occurred. So with that in mind, I will tell you what has happened.
About four months ago, Doug Addison came to San Antonio to give a seminar at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship on Bandera Road. At the end of the seminar, he gave a special invitation to sign up for Streams classes. A special offer was made exclusively to this church to buy one class and get one class free. That was a hard deal to pass up. I missed the sign up because people were praying for me, and by the time they were done, Mary had already left for the night. So I waited until the next morning when Mary Virginia came by the church to pack up all the Streams products. I found her outside by her car, and it was then that I filled out my class registration form and gave her my money, which was $110, I believe.
During the Doug Addison conference, everything was cool. There were never any problems. I even spoke with the head pastor of the church who I think is named Randy. I had a long discussion with him, and everything went fine the whole time I was visiting his church.
The only time a problem arose is when I went back to the church three or four months later to attend the Streams class.
I got to the church a little bit early on November 13, and when I walked in the door, the first person I saw was Mary Virginia sitting at her table working away at her computer. She said to me, I've been informed that you're not allowed to attend this class and they have refunded your money.
I said very calmly to Mary, What?! What are you talking about??? What's going on? I haven't received any refund. I have a registration receipt to take this class! Why are you doing this? Mary could not give me an answer. All she said is, I don't know. I'm just doing what I've been told to do.
I left the building and went to my vehicle to call a friend of mine to tell him what happened. I was very, distraught and confused. I felt that I had as much right to attend this class as everybody else. Why was I being treated so differently?
A while later I went back inside the building. The class started at 7:00pm. I went back in at 7:30 through the back door mainly because that was the shortest route to the restroom from where I had parked. From there I went inside the sanctuary where class was already in session and I sat down in the back so I would not disrupt the class. Not even two minutes went by when two men (one of which was Mary's son, and I think the other was Randy, the pastor) came to me and asked me to go outside with them. I quietly followed them out into the hallway. They told me I had to leave. I asked why, and still no solid answer. Just you have to leave. I told them I wanted my money back if I couldn't stay. They wouldn't give it to me. I left through the back door. But after I took a few steps out into the parking lot, I thought to myself, Wait a minute! They didn't give me my money back! They are telling me my money was sent in the mail. I didn't get it, so they are lying to me just to get me to leave. I thought if I didn't get my money right then, that I wouldn't ever get it because Streams has stolen money from me before; when I returned product to them, they never gave me a refund OR offered to replace the product I returned. They just kept my money. I was afraid that would happen again so I turned myself back around, went back into the church for the third time and requested that they give me money back right then. They didn't do it.
At this point, I was inside the building standing at the front door of the church. Mary and the other men were next to me. I told them again, I don't know why you're doing this, but I just want my money back and I'll leave. Mary got very rough with me. She said, if you won't leave, then I'll have to bodily remove you. Then she grabbed my arm very tight and started to shove me out the door. I told her not to touch me; that it was assault. Her son told her to stop and she did. Then they threatened to call the police on me.
Mary went over to the phone in the foyer and called 911.
I was furious that I was being ostracized, ripped off spiritually and financially, and being treated this way by professing Christians without any rational or reasonable explanation. (There really is no good reason to treat somebody this way - ever). I flew out the back door in a rage (it takes a lot to get me that pumped up I am normally a very quiet and even tempered person). Randy and the other guy (Mary's son?) followed me all throughout the business complex. It was dark outside when this happened. I didn't want to be followed. I was going to get in my vehicle and leave. But they were following me, so I tried to lose them, and lose them I did. But when I came back around the other side of the complex, there they were again, and so was a police car.
The cop said they had been told that I was harassing people at the church, and that I had been in and out of the building a dozen times. All of this was greatly exaggerated which only amounts to being a BIG FAT LIE! If this is what was told to the police, then I know without a doubt this lie was told to Streams Ministries as well. And they are going to believe it. I never harassed anybody I just asked for my money back. I only went inside the church three times, not a dozen as they alleged.
The cop wrote me up for a criminal trespassing warning (!), and said if I ever came back that I would be arrested. Great! This is what I get for going to church??? This is what I get for wanting to learn how to Hear The Voice Of God? This is what professing Christians do to show others how much God loves them? - they rob from them spiritually and financially? Shove them out the church doors and kick them to the curb like a garbage can; call the police on them, and threaten to put them in jail? That's wonderful! That's the kind of church every non-believer is looking for!.
I want to know whose voice all of them were listening to that day. Were they listening to the voice of God or to Satan? God wants me in church. Satan doesn't. God wants me to learn how to hear His voice. Satan doesn't! Jesus would never shove anybody out of church, steal from them, call the police on them and threaten to have them arrested and put in jail.
After the cop was through with writing a criminal trespassing warning on me, I left, but not very quietly. I went by the front of the church and blew my horn as I drove by in anger against this injustice and in protest. Then I called my friend back and told him what had happened. He advised me to make a report with the police that my money was not refunded at the time I was asked to leave the class so there would be something on record I could fall back on. So I followed his advice and called the police from the H.E.B. Pay phone down the street from the church. I have never picketed against any business or church, but I was so angry that I decided to make a sign that said, Streams Ministries stole my money twice! I didn't want to get into any trouble, so I called the police again and asked if I could stand on the sidewalk with my sign without there being any problems. I was told that would be alright, as long as I didn't cross the property line. I asked the officer to explain to me where the property line was so I wouldn't overstep it.
The following day (Friday, November 14), I quietly stood outside for an hour between 8am and 9am with my sign. I never said a word to anyone outside or to those who were passing by. Some people even honked their horn at me to show their support! For some reason, somebody at the church called the police on me again. I don't know why or how standing on the sidewalk, far away from the church could be such a threat to them that they felt such a need to call the police. But they did. The police told me I had to leave. They made up some story that the other officer misinformed me about it being legal to stand on the sidewalk with a sign. The officer said I couldn't picket on a state highway, and all the signs posted along the road had been authorized by the city. And if I wanted to picket, I had to get a permit
I left the premises as requested by the officer. As I was walking down the sidewalk, I looked at one of the telephone poles and noticed a wooden stake was nailed to it, obviously from what used to be a sign. I wanted everybody to know what had happened to me, so I stuck my cardboard sign between the stake and the telephone pole so it could stay there and continue to cry out for justice, even while I was gone.
The next day, I noticed a big bruise on my left arm from where Mary had grabbed me.
I had made a comment to Mary before the police came. I said to her, Do you know how rejection makes me feel? I paused. Then I said, It makes me feel like wanting to end my life. She replied by saying, Well if that's what you want to do, then go ahead and do it! It's your choice. At this point, their agendas and following orders should have taken the back seat. They should have said, Whoa! Wait a minute. We don't know why we're being asked to do this to you Tammy. But we're concerned and maybe we should sit down and talk about this. But these people did not show any compassion and not one ounce of concern for me at all. All they cared about was their own agenda, following orders, and getting me out the door.
If I had sinned, or if they thought I sinned, they should have done what the Bible says and brought two or three witnesses with them. If I didn't listen, then they could have brought me before the churchyou know that scripture. So does Mary, her son, Pastor Randy, and any minister for that matter!
People like this make people outside the church hate Christians. I am a Christian, and it has created a great distain in my heart for church in general and for Christians too.
John Paul has done nothing but bully me around. Even when he is not around, he uses others to bully me around and do evil against me.
I came to San Antonio Vineyard in a spirit of peace. All they did was come at me in a spirit a hate, discord, and division. They provoked me to anger and instigated the problems, which turned it into what it became.
The Body of Christ is supposed to be ONE body. But how can it be ONE, and how can there be unity in the body of Christ when people are causing strife and division?
John Paul has turned dozens and dozens of people against me people who don't even know me. I don't know why he has it out for me. I don't know what I ever did. As far as know, I did nothing to deserve this. Everyone follows John Paul's commands, despite the fact that what he tells them to do conflicts with what the Bible teaches on how to treat other people. It mystifies me that he uses other people to perpetuate evil against me, and they just go along with it as if it is okay.
I don't understand how people can blindly follow somebody's orders when they are so obviously wrong and in opposition with the Bible; and when the orders are in contradiction of how a true Christian's character should be and how they should conduct themselves according to the way that Jesus taught us.
John Paul keeps passing the buck off onto me, making me look like the bad guy to everybody. Since nobody knows me, they are all going to believe this fallacy simply because I'm a nobody. John Paul tells them to kick me out of church, and because of who John Paul is, they will automatically assume it's because I'm a bad person. So they just obey his commands without any questions. Now I can hardly go anywhere because he has unjustly attached a stigma to my face and my name. Now there's mud on my face, no matter where I go. Even though it's not fair, and it's slander, gossip, and it's not right, I know how people talk and spread the word around, even if what they are saying isn't true.
A friend of mine told me a story about Jim Jones you know, that guy in the seventies. He told me that Jim Jones would single out individuals in a crowd, shine a spotlight on them, and have them forcibly removed from the building. The person would then be ostracized and alienated from the group. When he told me this, I thought whoooa! This sounds very familiar. Because that is what is happening to me!
John Paul has done nothing but bully me around. I don't have a clue why he is being so vicious and doing such hateful things towards me. I have some ideas, but no evidence to prove whether or not it is true. My theory, suspicion, opinion, beliefwhatever you want to call it. About why John Paul is treating me so un-Christ-like is this: He has always wanted to be in the position he currently has all of his life. He's got what he wants now. And now that he's there, he is afraid of losing it. So he will use any means he can to plunder and remove anybody that he feels is getting in the way or that he feels threatened by. He needs this position of power to prove his value and to increase his feelings of self-worth because he is a very insecure man.
A ministry that cares for people does whatever they can to help people. A ministry that cares about people helps them grow in Christ. A ministry that cares about people doesn't rob them, shove them out the church doors, leave bruises on their body, call the police on them, or threaten to have them arrested and put in jail. John Paul doesn't care about ministry. He doesn't have a ministry. What John Paul has is a commercialized business that only cares about money. Christ-centered ministries don't intentionally cause harm to another person over and over again, and do the work of the devil.
What I have told you in this letter is only icing on the cake. There is so much more, but it would take volumes to explain it all because it goes so deep. If I told you everything that John Paul has done to me, you would be in shock and in utter disgust.
I don't write people off immediately just because they wronged me. God doesn't do that to us when we hurt Him. But perhaps to my own detriment, I give people more chances than they deserve, and they take advantage of me.
My intention of this letter is not to do harm to John Paul, as he has done to me. He has been ruthlessly mean to me, and he needs to have somebody in authority help him see that what he is doing is not in line with scripture so he will stop. He can't keep on doing these kinds of things to people because it's WRONG!!! (Proverbs 10:9).
I have been wanting answers for a very, very long time. I have tried to do what the Bible says to do when someone has sinned against me, but without any resolve. I have tried to confront him in love. I've tried to be patient, kind, gracious, long-sufferingthe whole bit. But nothing ever gets resolved, and nobody will help me. Nobody wants to go with me as a witness to John Paul I guess because they believe he can do no wrong. How can I take two or three witnesses if nobody will go with me? How can I bring it before the church, if I can't even get through the first step?
I have not been given any respect. Sometimes when I say I want to end my life, I really mean it. Other times it is because I get so exasperated because people are not listening to me. I get angry because I WANT TO BE HEARD and nobody will listen to me! I just want to be heard. I want answers. I want resolve. I want my ALL my money back, and I want someone to listen TO ME instead of everyone taking sides with John Paul.
This experience has make me feel shoved off, shut out, alienated, and discriminated against. Many Christians turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to me as if I don't even exist. It makes me feel invalidated, non-existent and like nobody cares, especially when nobody will listen to me.
Nobody will explain why I'm being treated like the Samaritan Woman. When people won't listen, it makes me feel like God won't listen to me either, and that He doesn't care about me. Furthermore, when professing Christians act as those whom I encountered at San Antonio Vineyard and John Paul and his group, it makes me call into question everything about God and the Bible.
Streams Ministries abruptly removed me from their e-mail list about three years ago. It was a real blow, and I don't understand why they did it. All the sudden I started getting their e-mail newsletter the past four months, which informed me of the events that were coming up. I was confused about why I was back on their mailing list. If they didn't want me in church or at conferences where I could learn more about God, then why were sending me e-mails notifying me of these events?
Streams Ministries had at least 3-4 months prior to the class to contact me by e-mail to tell me not to come, AND to send my money back, AND THEY DID NEITHER! Why did they wait until the day of the class to tell me I couldn't be there???
As I said before, John Paul has caused so much division. He has caused so much hurt inside of me, that I don't even know what to believe in anymore. He and other Christians have almost completely turned me off to church, I haven't attended a service in over a year. I only go to conferences occasionally. I don't trust Christians - I hate them, and I don't have much trust for the church anymore. Too many Christians have been so mean, and done the same things to me over and over again. I don't even want to give money to another minister again. There are a lot of jerks in the world, and most of them are in church.
I believe all of the people I mentioned in this letter should admit what they did is wrong and apologize to me. While you are standing at the altar, and therefore remember your brother has ought against you, lay your sacrifice down at the altar, go ye therefore, and be reconciled to one another. If you have sinned against somebody, the Bible says to go to him or her. God never made it an option.
It would also be good if they would never follow anybody's orders no matter who is giving them - when the orders are obviously in direct conflict with the Bible.
I don't want anybody else to be hurt.
The day before Easter of this year :
I was driving through Shreveport on my way back to Texas. There was a conference going on at a local church in which many guest speakers were teaching. I went inside, paid my $20 for the day, and sat in on one session. After the morning session ended, I had planned on coming back for the evening session.
As I was leaving the church, a man came to me and told me he needed to show me how to get out of the parking lot (like I'm too stupid to figure it out myself!). When I got near to my vehicle, I turned around and saw at least 10 men standing in front of me. This mob of men followed me outside, all there for little me, to tell me to leave the premises. Why did they need so many?
I asked why they were doing this, and what I did. They didn't know, and couldn't give me any answer.
November 1999:
A few months before November, Streams Ministries was advertising on their website the transfer of a deed to the land they had received in North Sutton, New Hampshire. They were inviting everybody to come celebrate with them upon the mountain.
Nobody was ever excluded from this event, and invitations were not necessary. They wanted everyone who wanted to come, to be there except me.
But before I continue on with this part of the story, I need to fill in a little bit more background.
I was enrolled in computer school at the time, with only about three weeks to go until completion. I had asked for a leave of absence, and it was granted.
Part of the reason I wanted to take time of is because my cousin in Michigan was getting married, and I wanted to go to the wedding. The other reason is I felt that when I finished school, I would have to take a job right away. Then I wouldn't be able to take a vacation for quite a while due to being commited to a new job. So I got a leave of absence from school to take the opportunity to go to my cousin's wedding, and do sightseeing along the way. I packed up everything I needed into my car. I had planned on being away from home for only a couple of weeks.
Part of my sightseeing itinerary included stopping at the Streams Ministries Celebration in North Sutton, NH - that turned into a major fiasco!
As I said, everybody was invited to this celebration, except for me. I didn't think it was right for Christians to give preferential treatment over another person, so I went anyway, because it wasn't that far of a drive from my cousin's wedding in Michigan.
The land that John Paul was given in New Hampshire is situated out in the woods, about ten miles away from the city. When I pulled up to where the event was taking place, there were people everywhere. I saw John Paul at his car, and I stopped to say hi to him. He turned around and told me to leave. I had already driven at least 2500 miles to get there, and now he was telling me that I couldn't be there!!! Everybody else could be there, except for me.
I thought that somebody with any sense at all, who is trying to get people to partner up with them and grow a healthy ministry would see how eager I was to be a part of their ministry. Even though they had previously told me to not come, you would think that anybody with a heart would have allowed to me stay and join the group anyway. There were other people there who had driven quite a distance to be there, just like I did. But the distance I drove, and the expense I incurred to get there to be with them meant nothing to John Paul.
When I went to start my car up to leave, it decided it didn't want to go anywhere. It broke down right in front of John Paul's mountain! I took this as a sign from God that He wanted me there.
Certain individuals, per John Paul's orders, would not allow me to even come close to all the other people. I don't know why. I don't have a catchy disease. I'm not scary looking. I'm not dangerous. I'm not walking around with a bomb taped to my body. Maybe I'm too ugly? I don't know. When my car wouldn't start, I walked back to where all the people were to tell somebody I couldn't leave because my car wouldn't start. John Paul stopped me and I had to explain why I couldn't leave. He could have said I could join them, but instead he threatened to call the police on me, which he never did.
Since my car wouldn't start, I stayed for the entire event, but down at the bottom of the mountain, while everybody had a great time celebrating on top of the mountain, without me.
The day went on, and as the sun began to set, the temperature began to fall, and people started leaving. It was a very brisk November evening. Later on, everybody had left, except for John Paul, and a few of his staff. Besides them, my car was the only one that remained. They were very aware that I was having car problems, but they did nothing to help me! They all left me there, in the middle of the woods, with temperatures dropping down into the low 30's that night.
After they all abandoned me out in the middle of the woods, I waited a while, and nobody came. I didn't have a cell phone to call for help. I tried to start my car, and it finally started, and I was able to leave and get somewhere to get it fixed.
May or June 1999
I was living in Southern California at the time, which is where I had lived all my life until my entire life fell apart. I saw John Paul at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim. I never had any issues with him while we attended the same church. He knew my name, would say hi to me, and was always friendly toward me. He even gave me a hug - his friend told me that John Paul doesn't usually do that.
Later on, I found out that John Paul was speaking in Mission Viejo, CA in July, and so I went. The meeting went fine. John Paul even prayed a wonderful prayer for me.
I had been away from the Lord for quite a long time because I had been hurt very much by the church. I only went to this meeting of John Paul's because I knew him and trusted him. I gave my life back to the Lord at this meeting.
John Paul's friend, Brian, encouraged me to attend more of JP's meetings. When I learned that JP was going to speak again in Los Angeles, I went.
Everything seemed fine between John Paul and myself. I had written John Paul some letters. I asked him if that was okay. He told me it was not a problem. When I asked him if he got my letters, he told me he did. But when I asked him if he remembered specific points or questions I had asked in the letter, he couldn't remember anything I said. I think he was lying to me. I don't think he ever read my letters.
It was shortly after this meeting in Los Angeles when everything took a turn for the worst, and John Paul got weird on me. That's when he abruptly had me removed from his e-mail newsletter, told me not to come to the celebration in New Hampshire, and began to ostracize me. To this day, I can't figure out what ever happened to give him any reason to treat me so ugly and rotten, and he won't talk about it or tell me what the problem is.
Shortly after I gave my life back to the Lord, John Paul made me a promise that if I went back to church and attended a home group, that I could be an intern with Streams. I did what he said to do, but I don't think he ever intended to keep his promises. He lied to me about this too.
After the Celebration in Sutton, NH, I went to my cousin's wedding in Michigan. It was there that my uncle handed me a letter from my mom. Basically the letter, I took all of your things out of your room and the garage, put it all in storage. Here's the key, don't come back. I'm not sorry for what I did.
She said something about John Paul contacting her. He denies it. I don't know who is telling the truth.
Since November of 1999, I have had nowhere to live. I've been sleeping in my car through torrential downpours, tornado warnings, sleet snow, and sub-zero freezing degree temperatures. I have tried and tried to get my feet back on the ground, but I keep getting knocked back down again. No amount of effort seems to change my plight.
I finally got a job and worked it for a year-and-a-half. I put up with a jerk-boss for a long time just so I could pull my life back together. That job ended around the 4th of July of this year. He stole $500 from me out of my last paycheck.
John Paul stole $110 from me for the class I paid to attend in San Antonio. There was another time that I ordered product, wasn't happy with the quality, so I returned it to Streams. They kept the product AND my money. They never offered to replace it with something else they just kept my money.
I've been robbed. I have nowhere to live, and this ministry, and other people are robbing me.
How can any church help anybody when they run them out of church and steal their money?
There are many other things that have occurred, but this is most of what has happened.
Well, this has turned into quite a loooooong letter. I'm sorry. But I don't know how I could make it any shorter. I have to give all the details or none of this would make any sense.
Now I have presented nearly all the facts. It's up to you how you want to take it.
That's all for now.
Thank you for taking the time for allowing me to express myself.
Sincerely,
Tammy Davis
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