Things that make you go hmmmmm

Here is another interesting thing that happened as I started looking into all these things about House of Prayer.

As you recall (or can look up on these blogs), church member Cesar Vargas was quoted in a newspaper story as he vehemently denied the church is a cult. In that story he was quoted to say:

“We know several people that left our church have been making prank calls to several places,” he said. “The fire marshal was called and told a bunch of lies about the safety of the church. He came out, inspected, and everything was fine. Several church members have had Child Protective Services called to their home for no reason, no nefarious activity or child abuse/neglect has been found. We were able to obtain copies of the phone complaints, and we recognize the voices of former members. We are considering soliciting the help of local law enforcement.”

Immediately following that story I got an email from a concerned wife of a former pastor of House of Prayer.
The email was dated 7/7/2017.

Hi Patty,I had a concern not even sure if it's true or not, but how was it even possible that law enforcement and Social Services turned over tapes to HOPCC of people calling, is this possible? and isn't that a breech of people's safety and welfare for the law enforcement to do such a thing? I mean that would prohibit people from calling out child endangerment cases because of something like this. I

She wanted to know if it could be true that somehow members of HOPCC got audio tapes of calls made to DFACS.

I replied 7/8/2017:

I am not sure about how Child Protective Services works....if the calls go only to CPS I am not sure how they are handled.

I found a document online that explained exactly who and how people may or can access information on child abuse complaints and cases. This document is VERY specific and on page 19 states the requirements for the state of Georgia. 
You can view that document here:
Child Disclosure Act

In the email I went on to explain how open records can be requested for police reports  and also how certain documents, when used in court can be found through a public records search at the count clerk's office. I even said that I thought Cesar said that as a scare tactic and that I highly doubted the HOPCC folks actually had audiotapes from DFACS.

Remember what Cesar Vargas said:

"We were able to obtain copies of the phone complaints, and we recognize the voices of former members."

VOICES...AS IN AUDIO. Well it turns out they may have gained access to items they shouldn't have had access to. Fox 28 news reporter Robert Catanese broke open the story at the beginning of this year:

Liberty County DFCS employee dismissed after internal audit

It could very well be that HOPCC had inside information for however many years Marshel Webb was employed there. 

The former pastor referenced in the Fox 28 story was calling to report on the abuse he had heard that happened to Lynette Rosario and the other girls while in Stuart Florida with Rony Denis. If you have yet to hear that, here is the link:

Interview with Lynette Rosario regarding beatings

So much more to come. Sorry it's taking a while but my work has kept me busy. Still need to tell you Arlen's story and also how the church may be getting funded by the city of Hinesville. Yep, you read that correctly. Stayed tuned.

How many homes does a church need?

One of the main things that most former members of House of Prayer allege (and is something that most people already somewhat familiar with this place already knows) is that House of Prayer owns roughly 200 plus home in the Hinesville, Liberty County area.

Now they don't own every home in the name of the church. They avoid that as much as possible but there are a few listed under House of Prayer.

So what?

Well here is what usually happens.
The church convinces a member  to sign over their house to the church. Their "Go-To" specialist in this arena is Anthony Oloans. So he gets Power of Attorney under the various "Property management companies" they have.

The people get to remain in their home and now pay their mortgage to Oloans and company. In the meantime the church is re-financing and getting all the equity out of the house. They often let the home go into foreclosure, and then purchase the home under the name of another church member and continue the vicious cycle.
In other words they tend to pocket as much of the money they can for the "church" but primarily for Rony Denis, who is supposedly renting a mansion in Stuart Florida (where he beat the girls) and has not one but two Rolls Royce.

It is alleged that Oloans has forged signatures and has bought homes in the names of church members without their knowledge.

The first property management firm the church ran under Oloans was called People Helping People. As I noted in my real estate fraud story in the newspaper, that company was placed on the Fort Stewart Off limits list in 2011 and remains there today.

Anthony Oloans is named as an officer under a company called Centex Management and also Union Park LLC.
Union Park LLC

Centex

This research is still underway but you can easily look on the County's property tax site and find what I did.

Union Park LLC owns 10 homes to include the one that Rony Denis' was residing in until the stories and the heat made the coward run for cover and out of sight. That house is 428 Willow Oak.
Union Park owns:
310 Floyd Street
401 Club Dr.
634 Varnedoe
701 Little John
819 Forest
412 and 428 Willow Oak
2033 Andover
605 Georgia
1804 Blair Ct

And these are just the ones under Union Park. Multiply this by the hundred or so members that may have houses under their names.

I'll be posting some more on this after I get a chance to scan documents this weekend.

But I also think there is some fraud going on. As one example, Arlen and his former wife Christy A Bradeen recently went through a divorce after he "Escaped" and his wife and daughter chose to listen to lies Rony said about him and stay at House of Prayer.

Anyone can look this up in public records. Again I am only posting portions that need to be posted as the whole file contains personal information on both parties that aren't relevant to this particular issue.

Under the name of Christy A Bradeen there are two properties:

800 Forest

1818 Blair Court

Well okay people tend to own more than one home at times.
But how did she get the loans under her name?

According to court records Christy Bradeen testified that she has never earned a paycheck or has held a job for the last 30 years or more!!

Yet she is clearly listed as the owner.

I asked Arlen about this. He said that during the discovery portion of his divorce his lawyer showed him Christy' s paperwork for the home loans.

Those papers noted that said she she earned $12,000 PER MONTH as being part of the ministry...doesn't say what church....and again no W-4's, W-2's or tax returns.
Yes she has a bank account but noting that would show she would qualify for the loan amounts of these two high priced homes.

Also if you've been following this blog House of Prayer practices under the principles of Old Time Holy Pentecostal. There is NO WAY they would allow a woman to run a ministry!

Also both of these homes are currently under foreclosure proceedings.
Hmmm.

Think about what would happen if Rony Denis pulled the entire church group to Augusta (where there is already another branch of HOPCC) and let all 200 home go under after pulling all the equity out of them!

How can everyone in ministry suddenly all be gay?

Some of the emails I started to get (everyone in the office got) were to point me in the right direction and prove that the church was not a cult.

This is a touchy post as it mentions the gay-lifestyle. Please remember these are not my views but the views of those in House of Prayer as taught to them based on their interpretation of the Bible or by their leader Rony Denis.

In no way am I condoning their interpretation and this post is not an open invitation to share your personal views of that lifestyle. I love everyone regardless of race, religion and sexual orientation. 

There is plenty of hatred already in the world. It is also not for me to judge.

In fact I’ll start and give credit where credit is due. As I’ve said before not everyone in House of Prayer is a bad person or manipulator or a greed mongering leader.

Many are just folks who truly believe they are in a place of worship that is serving God.

I got one email from CJ Vargas that was dated 7/3/2017 and it starts out talking about the good things he and the church have done:

“I have been a part of the food bank/homeless ministry, nursing home ministry, and are beginning our jail ministry soon. I would love to invite you to one of our next community outreach events so that you can see firsthand the good things that God is doing right here in our community. We go into lower income areas Hinesville and surrounding areas to bring spiritual relief because many of these people seem to be neglected and forgotten. From time to time in some of the worst areas of town you see us talking to those who are hurting and forgotten. In the worst trailer parks in Hinesville and the surrounding area you will find us ministering. We are a church made up of people who were bound by the power of Satan, but have now been set free. We are free to serve God, not a man.”

Then he lost me a bit when he worded his next sentence in the following manner (And I think he was GUIDED by Denis on what to write):

“We love people from all walks of life. In our church you see whites, Negroes, Latinos and Asian. There are even some that were formally gay, truly we are a church of all nations.” 

Again this was written in 2017 and I just thought it harsh to see that he used the “N” word instead of the more commonly used African American. Maybe since they practice Old-Time Pentecostal he used that word which was used a lot in older times. I also think he meant to say formerly gay not formally.

CJ went on to write:

“This is another point of confusion about our church. We are not “anti-gay”. We believe the Bible’s teachings about traditional marriage, just like we believe its teachings regarding murder.

The Bible says:

“Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers themselves with of mankind, ……I Corinthians 6:9

That is what this is all about Ms. Patty. There were some ministers who were living very ungodly and did not want to be exposed for their immoral closet lifestyle. They were here for over 12 years, and could not accept the Biblical standards for the ministry. We do not condemn Gays or gay people, but we love them enough to want to help see them delivered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The only time we would even expose someone’s sexuality is if they are in the ministry. We will not tolerate Gays and lesbians behind the pulpit. Again, this is not because we hate them, but because we want them to be delivered. Many people in our church have been delivered from drugs and all manner of immoral lifestyles, including homosexuality.

 Again, we serve Jesus Christ, he is our leader. Denis is not the leader, it is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. It is God that does not want Homosexuals or bi-sexuals in his pulpit, just as much as he doesn’t want liars or adulterers.

 In an email from Jeff Derby dated 7/4/2017, Derby said the church is not homophobic, but the church believes it can deliver these folks out of the sin of being homosexual and that HOPCC “will never accept gay minister.”

But this is what I’ve learned:

There are at least 5 former HOPCC Pastors that were kicked out or left after challenging the church.

Denis accused all five of being homosexual or child molesters only AFTER they left or were ousted. Denis then proceeded to announce this in front of the entire congregation, including the children. He spread this lie across all the affiliates’ churches as well.

It truly believe it is a lie.

I know of or know personally at least three of the five men and they were all STRAIGHT MARRIED MEN.

One of the former pastors lives in North Carolina, still with his wife and kids. They are lucky and got out. The whole family together.

The other two men are also still with their wives who left when they did.

One man is Arlen Bradeen who I’ve mentioned before and will soon be posting his devastating story. Denis ruined his marriage of 30 years. Bradeen is now kept away from his former wife and his daughter. I’ve talked to many folks in the community, and they all say the same thing about Arlen Bradeen. He is a great guy and didn’t and doesn’t deserve what happened.

When you hear the awful Denis said about him in front of hundreds of church members and kids it will have you in tears as it did Bradeen and I when he told me his story.

And within a week of the divorce his ex is already paired off and about to marry a man Denis chose for her.

Go back for a second a look again at what CJ Vargas said:

There were some ministers who were living very ungodly and did not want to be exposed for their immoral closet lifestyle. They were here for over 12 years, and could not accept the Biblical standards for the ministry.

The only time we would even expose someone’s sexuality is if they are in the ministry. We will not tolerate Gays and lesbians behind the pulpit.

The truth is the only time church members were told or learned that these “ministers were gay,” was after they were kicked out.

I know the pastor of 12 years that CJ was talking about. CJ and this former pastor had an exchange of words during a town hall event that I was there to cover. And it is well-known that Denis dislikes the man and the others who are trying to show people what is really transpiring behind those hidden walls.

And how is it that each and every person they throw out of that church is gay?

Come on!

“Gay” is something Denis has taught everyone to fear. So once Denis removes someone from the church he labels them gay KNOWING the church members will not want to associate or even with that person even if they were best friends…even if they were siblings…..even if they were husband and wife.

Just another form of control, manipulation, deceit and fear-mongering.

Definition of a master manipulator from Psychology Today: Most manipulative individuals have four common characteristics:

1.      They know how to detect your weaknesses.

2.      Once found, they use your weaknesses against you.

3.      Through their shrewd machinations, they convince you to give up something of yourself in order to serve their self-centered interests.

4.      In work, social, and family situations, once a manipulator succeeds in taking advantage of you, he or she will likely repeat the violation until you put a stop to the exploitation.

Here is a nice picture of Rony Denis mocking former members.

Letter from a grieving mom

Email I received about HOPCC from a woman who pretty much lost her son to the “church”

Dated 10/18/2018 the names of the people involved have been redacted for their protection

Dear Patty, 
I saw your article dated May 20th 2017 concerning the House of Prayer Christian Church (cult). My name is… and I live in…

Eight years ago my youngest son…had been stationed in Washington state Army base and had just exited the Army on terminal leave after having served his time. 

He was living with an army buddy and his wife in Washington. My son has 3 older brothers and one older sister and all the kids had attended Christian Church since they were born. But I didn't believe in pushing my kids to give their lives to Jesus. I wanted it to be their idea and I always prayed for them. 

My son called me 8 years ago (as he routinely did) and told me he wanted to accept Christ as His Savior. I told him how happy I was about his decision and that maybe he could do so over the phone with me. He said "No mom ... I want to go to a Church and do it." So I told him to go ahead and do so, and to call afterward & let me know how it went. 

I didn't hear from him for several days. Then he called me and told me he was living at House of Prayer Christian Church in Washington in the single men's house. He told me he had given his life to Jesus there. His conversion sounded genuine. But in the next few weeks I was noticing changes in him ... things he was telling me set off alarms in me. 

I want you to know, Patty, that my son and I had a very close relationship. He was a very low keyed, sweet and thoughtful son and he loved and cared about me. Let me share just how sweet he was. When he was stationed in Afghanistan in a camp at the foot of a mountain and he would wait in long lines just to call me; to ask how "I" was doing. He wasn't my only concern. I was a mother of three sons in the Army at that time, in Kuwait and Iraq as well as Afghanistan. As a child, he would leave me little love notes ... on my bed, on counters, etc. 

He was the child that cheered up our family and made us laugh. He was a comedian as a baby. As a teen and adult, he could say just one word or utter a short sound and have the whole room laughing hysterically. Everyone liked him and he had friends who were all ages from kids to adults, both male and female and all races. Everybody liked him. He would do anything for anyone who needed help. He was well liked by anyone he came in contact with. 

My son’s phone calls from Hopcc started to worry me. He sounded mean and angry and was questioning whether our family were really Christians. He began talking about women and how they should dress. His calls would often have me in tears. I told him that I believed he was in a cult. He started to cry and asked me if I wanted him to leave and come home. I said yes. But just as he was packing, one of the men in the singles house saw him packing and went to fetch a "pastor". The pastor ran and intercepted my son; 'love bombing' him and convincing him that one of the ladies in the Church was interested in him.

After that point, my son stopped calling regularly and when he did call, he was angry and judgmental and was trying to convince me that I shouldn't wear pants or make-up, or I'll go to hell. He questioned whether me and his dad were really Christians. Then, his calls began to dwindle off. If I called him, he was mean and told me that the family needed to come to Georgia and join Hopcc. I told him we have a Church already. My son told me if we didn't come, to Hopcc that we were all going to Hell. Patty, I kid you not. 

Finally, a few months ago, the cult told him to cut me off completely. They have spies that look around on the internet to see what people are doing or saying about the cult. Since I've been very active along with the ex-members, they must've noticed and told my son he had to cut me off.

My son seemed very nervous on the phone that night and I had the sense that there was someone near him, trying to get him to do what they said to do. He was breathing nervously and hesitant. Finally he raised his voice in a mean tone and told me to leave him alone and not contact him anymore. He was calling me "Ma'am" instead of "Mom". "Ma'am" is what the cult members use when talking to females. I knew he was forced to do it, because he has never been a mean person. 

Patty...Rony Denis had my son marry a …….woman who had 3 kids from 3 different fathers, about 5-6 years ago. My son is a very handsome man and could've married anyone he wanted. Rony Denis the leader practices putting couples together, or breaking them apart and marrying them to someone else. I'm not sure the marriages are even legal. Everything Rony Denis does is about control. I was told by one of the pastors who was thrown out of the cult a year ago by Denis, that Rony Denis matches couples up strategically to maximize control over the people. 

He marries people he has less control over with people that are completely devoted to Denis. Married couples are not allowed to talk about the leader in a negative way. Even the children are taught to tell on their parents if the parents talk negatively about Denis. If Rony Denis tells one person something, they are not allowed to tell their "spouse" what they were told. 

Rony Denis also practices planting false memories into the members. He tells them they were molested by their mother or father, and many other similar scenarios, and he makes them admit it in front of the entire congregation. Anyone who pisses Rony Denis off is accused of being homosexual. Rony has a fixation on sexual perversion. He is very charismatic and fakes being divine. A master manipulator. 

He commits real estate fraud. He gets members to buy a house in their own names. Then Rony gets the members to rent it out and collects the rents for his own use, until the houses go into foreclosure. From what I've heard, some of the members pay the mortgages and some don't. 

The children go to "school" on site and ex members have told me that they aren't taught by teachers; just anyone they can put in there.
Ex members have shared that Rony Denis has requested that the men get vasectomies
and passports.  

Patty? This whole situation has slowly killed me. I don't have a life; not like most people do. Every second of everyday my mind is on getting my son back. I cry a lot. Rony Denis is a sick, perverted, mentally disturbed master manipulator. 

One of the Pastors was thrown out many months ago for standing up to Rony Denis in front of the entire congregation. Rony accused him of sleeping with 500 men and told him to get out. Then Rony had the whole congregation dance that the Pastor was leaving. This Pastor has a wife and daughter still in the cult and he's been concerned that Denis will put his wife of 30 years marriage, with another man. This Pastor has become a help and support to all the ex-members and to myself. He has a house that can serve as a safe place to go for any members who wish to leave the cult. The members have been informed of this during the protests. 

(This actually is what happened. She is speaking about former Pastor Arlen Bradeen, who was kicked out around March 2018. Arlen has since been championing the fight against Rony Denis with the help of other former members and little ole’ me. Bradeen was still in the middle of his divorce when his wife introduced him to her future husband as they entered a divorce hearing. His divorce was signed 7/23/2019. And on 7/30/2019 he learned his ex-wife had applied for a marriage license with her newly SELECTED husband. I will be sharing Arlen's story later as well).


Your article from May 2017 seemed to reflect that the information you were given about the cult was limited, unclear and incomplete, due to fragmented information given by ex-members. I thought I would make things a bit more clearer. This cult has affected many lives, having broken up families, marriages and friendships. The waves of pain and destruction are not just limited to the Cult members or ex members. In the last 8 years, I have cried and agonized over the loss of my wonderful son. I've become a shell of a person. If you are a mother, you would know that when a mother's child isn't okay, mom can't be okay. 

She is somewhat correct as I had just started to learn about this cult in May 2017. This is just one email but this is the common theme in ALL the conversations I’ve had with former members.

Denis and other church leaders isolate the family that remain inside from having any contact to family on the outside. They are isolated from most of the outside world as only higher church officials are allowed to have Smart phones and that is primarily to check on what “WE” (former members and I) are up to. They are told that having access to the internet, and social media is a direct path to sin and going to hell.

And it is true that Denis tells the entire congregation that people tossed out are either homosexual or child molester. That will be a more in-depth post for tomorrow.

Stalk me much!

Thought I would place the three audio recordings I've shared so far in one spot. Also added some new information as to how they stalked me and why there hasn't been anything in print (SO FAR) since 2017.

Posted June 30

I recently spoke with a brave young lady who is now 18 but was a member of House of Prayer from the age of 3 until she left at the age of 16. Lynette Rosario said church leader Rony Denis frequently took 3 young girls and his daughter on trips to Florida along with a few other top church officials. The parents of these young girls trusted Denis with their children. These girls were around 11 to 15 years of age when Denis allegedly beat them with a belt just because these teenage girls were speaking with boys. On a second trip he made the girls sleep in the attic in their own urine and feces. You will hear my voice and that of former Pastor Arlen Bradeen (He is NO LONGER with HOPCC) and more importantly, in her own words, the things Rosario went through at the age of 15. I have her permission to use this audio. This is just part one of our conversation.

Interview 1 with Lynette Rosario

Posted July 16
Here is my second audio snippet where I talked to a brave young man named Andrew. I edited this audio to just cover some information about what he experienced as he left the church, what the church does to those that leave, his relationship with his dad (still in the church) and he does introduce us to how (or better yet how not) the church school benefited him. In the audio it is me, Andrew, former member Gladys and former member Arlen.

Andrew

Posted July 22

Here is more of my conversation with Lynette Rosario. She was a member of House of Prayer from the age of 3 until she left at the age of 16. In part one posted lower on this page thread she talked about church leader Rony Denis' beatings. In part two she talks about how her mom talked her into leaving, how Denis made her feel, her struggles with education after being taught by the church school and what she would want people to know about House of Prayer. You will hear my voice and that of former Pastor Arlen Bradeen (He is NO LONGER with HOPCC). I have her permission to use this audio.

Interview 2 with Lynette

If you've been following the blog and postings. The last story we did in the newspaper alleged that the church was committing real estate fraud.

A few days or two prior to that last story, I had already noticed that cars were driving slowly by my house and my neighbor's house. I soon learned that my neighbor was also a former member who got herself and her three kids out of that church. She has since moved out of Georgia.

In the days that followed this story and the story about their school being unaccredited church "spokespeople" CJ Vargas and Jeff Derby inundated me and ALL of my co-workers and boss with emails. Some with information about the stories saying we got all the information wrong or they were lies told to us by the former members.
Others were nothing but Bible Scriptures and a few were from Derby's twisted mind and although he thought he was just being funny and sarcastic, they painted a pretty good picture of what he thought.
Nearly every weekend for two months there was a Grey Nissan with that would park at the end of the cul-de-sac (my house is the second house in from that spot). 

Sometimes they would park right in front of my house and just sit in the car. At times they sat there while I mowed the lawn. Once or twice I would walk up to the car, tap on the window and ask what do you want? Sometimes I would let my Shepard Blood Hound mix and later on my Pitbull/Boxer mix (and sometimes both) out to greet my new guest and say hello. They must not like dogs though because they would take off when my dog would try and greet them through the driver's side window. My other neighbors started watching my house while I was at work. They would send me photos saying, "The God Squad is here again."

They were trying to intimidate me. Trying to shut me up. 
You'll note that at the end of the real estate story it said:

The Courier reached out to Oloans to respond to questions about PHP and Centex and the allegations. The following day the Courier received an email from HOPCC media spokesperson Cesar Vargas who said Oloans, under the advisement of his attorney, would not speak to anyone from the media concerning any issues.

I called Anthony Oloans ONE TIME prior to us going to print with the story. I spoke with him no more than 30 seconds and asked him if he or his attorney would like to reply to the allegations.

Here is an excerpt of the final email I got from "church spokesperson" CJ Vargas. It started out by attacking the newspaper (He used the words Fake News before Trump did)...we would do anything to attract subscribers...we have low circulation...stuff like that...which is true for the print version but not our online readers..then this:

Email dated July 14, 2017

Patty, we will never accept homosexual preachers, nor people whose conduct is totally unbecoming of true Christianity. Patty, you are a better christian than the people who are telling you lies about the church. Some of these same people have been trying to come back to church. They are telling you one thing, then behind the scenes telling us something completely different. You are being used by these people.
The church has nothing against you or the paper, I love you and the church loves you.  I, Cesar Vargas, nor the church have any intention to take you guys to court for any matter. We want to end this peacefully and friendly.
In closing, I have been advised by legal counsel to no longer write or communicate with the media. That means this is goodbye.
Any phone calls or contact with church members or preachers from this day forward will be looked upon as a form of harassment. No more information about the church will be given, and this will be my last email. Our church is open to anyone who would like to come, if you would like to know more about the church please come in and visit.

I called Oloans so they could give their version of the TRUTH and suddenly I am the one harassing them? They've been parked at my house for months, yet I am am harassing them for ONE phone call to allow them to give their side of the story....COME ONE.

Derby sent me an email too:

From this day forward if you like to I can direct you to our legal team in Atlanta.  I can also have someone talk to you from Alliance Defending Freedom. 

I am still waiting on information as to who are their attorneys and who I should call regarding these issues.

And that is also why there has not been a "newspaper" story since. In the principles of ethical journalism you should always try and reach out and get the other side of the story. Even if the other side of the story ends up being nothing more than a "no comment."

This is also when I discovered that churches are protected from having to reply to any Open Records Requests or Freedom Of Information Act.

So that is why, after gathering information for two long years, I decided I would just put the information I've been collecting out here. These are from interviews with former members, new documents that are just starting to come to light. More and more courageous people willing to step forward with their truth. I am merely passing the information along and at times offering my opinion. It is up to you to draw your own conclusions.

I'll be posting some emails I got from former members and I have to place a phone call so I can speak with one person who left the church 2 months ago. She wants to talk more about the education system (or lack thereof). And another person who said he called DFACS after he learned about Lynette Rosario's beating and how that opened a whole new can of worms that was actually featured recently on Fox News 28 in Savannah.

I posted this on my timeline 7/2/2017
Don't you just hate it when somebody who's supposed to be the leader sends his cronies out better yet sends his little puppets out to do the work of real men come on dude you want to take me on take me on in person don't send you a little juvenile puppets to do the job. I mean come on you have the ability to lead a church yet you don't have the ability to take me on face-to-face what a wuss. PS thanks for the confirmation that you are the ones scoping out my house... and you're not the only one that was recording the conversation tell your little puppet thanks for the heads up telling me that some of your church members are very high on the city officials list checking into that accordingly. A smear campaign is a two-way street let's see who wins

Inside I went

The day I covered the protest at House of Prayer, May 2017, I had never heard of that church or that group. Out on the street I met with Gladys Jordan and Jenessa Wright and others. They were former members, some of who left on their own after learning what church leaders were up to. Others who were cast out because they asked too many questions and questioned church leader Rony Denis.

Photo: Cesar (CJ) Vargas confronts his mom, Gladys Jordan in May 2017. She was trying to tell him to leave because it was not a true church. He disagreed and is still in House of Prayer.

Later I would start to learn more about the power, greed manipulation, and abuse and mind control that revolves around the House of Prayer. Denis has many minions doing his bidding. I would soon learn more about his higher ups like Pastor William Pilkington and all his helpers like Jim Benton, Jeff Derby, Anthony Oloans, Gerald Robertson and others.

But on that day I was there to cover the protest. I listened to Gladys and her friends and took photos and video. They claimed the church was really a cult and Denis and others in power were manipulating and brainwashing the members while also profiting by taking control over their homes and finances. As a reporter I walked up to the church members to get their side of the story and to also allow them to respond to the allegations former members were making against the church and its leaders.

I met with Jim Benton and Jeff Derby and Jordan’s son CJ Vargas outside. I interviewed them to allow the church members to respond to what the protestors were alleging.

After the interview Jeff Derby asked if I would like to go inside so I could see for myself that it was a normal church. I looked around and saw a deputy, who was working as off-duty security that I knew well.

“They want me to go inside and see things for myself,” I told the deputy. “If I ain’t out in ten minutes will you come get me?”

The deputy said yes and in I went.

Throughout out my many years I’ve been inside many different religious buildings. I’ve attended Temple with my Jewish friends, went to Catholic Church as a child, been to many Baptist, Presbyterian and many other Christian churches. I’ve even attended a service with a group of Jehovah Witnesses.

I knew that these church members practiced under the principles of old-style Pentecostal. I had seen that before too. People speaking in tongues, the singing, chanting…women wearing long attire to cover their bodies…keeping their hair long and tied up in a bun. Women on one side of the church, men on the other.

Yeah I’ve seen that in person and on TV.

And when I stepped inside that’s exactly what I saw. Women on one side, men on the other, chanting, speaking in tongues, people reading scripture.

Jeff Derby walked me toward the first set of pews. Suddenly everyone started to come toward me. People wanting me to testify or giving me their testimony. They swarmed around forming a circle with me stuck in the middle. I started to get nervous and more importantly I started to feel afraid for my safety.

This was the first place of worship that I’ve been inside of where I felt uncomfortable (Let me remind you all…I am a paranormal investigator…I hunt ghost and scary stuff).

I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz suddenly being surrounded by the Munchkins of Munchkinland who had never seen a regular sized person before. And in this version the Munchkins weren't nice.

As they kept gathering around me and getting closer, Derby kept asking me if I thought they were a cult.

I thought to myself if I don’t say the right thing right now I’ll end up like Nicolas Cage did in the end of the movie “Wickerman.” (He was burned to death by a group of fanatical people practicing some weird type of paganism if you didn’t know).

“Looks like a regular church to me,” I said. As if right on cue the front door opened up and their stood the deputy checking in on me.

I bolted out the door, thanked the deputy for keeping their promise and stood outside trying to calm my frazzled nerves and composure.

I knew there was some truth to what the former members were saying so I stayed the course and kept on top of what former members were alleging.

The next and pretty much last story that ran in the newspaper was this:

Real Estate fraud allegations leveled at church leader

Posted online July 16, 2017, 10:30 a.m.

Several former members of House of Prayer Christian Church, now called A Place of Prayer, allege that many high ranking church members and church founder, Rony Denis are involved in real estate fraud and forgery.

Former members Gladys Jordan, Frederick Irwin and others, as well as former HOPCC pastor the Rev. Ray Yorke allege that Denis convinces vulnerable church members into buying homes.

Those houses are then turned over to a property management company run by church member Anthony Oloans via a power of attorney. Oloans is a minister of HOPCC and Denis’ "right-hand man," according to Yorke and several former members.

Oloans has declined comment on the issue.

Former members allege the homes are often used to provide quick cash for the church through refinancing and lines of credit loans. They allege some homes are also allowed to go into foreclosure, ruining the homeowner’s credit, especially those who leave the church. Foreclosed homes are often bought by other church members at and again managed by Oloans.

On hopcc.com, a website created by Yorke for former members, Irwin calls the system a "real estate money factory." He said it started in 2004 or 2005 when Denis refinanced his house.

"The ease of this process…creating quick cash through a refinance and taking out a 2nd mortgage….gave birth to an idea in his mind," Irwin wrote." "‘If I get brothers & sisters who trust me to use their credit and buy houses in their name we can use the same manipulation process for inflated appraisals, refinance the loans, take out home equity lines of credit and create lots of quick cash ‘for the church."’

Irwin said it was Denis’ plan to create a mortgage department, a building crew and a property rental department that was called The People Helping People Group.

Oloans was one of several managing members of a company called People Helping People Group, which included Irwin. Other managing members included Denis and his wife Marjorie and current church officials Gerard Robertson and David Reip.

"People helping People is an organization began by the House of Prayer," Yorke said during a town hall meeting June 21 while addressing the fraud issues and addressing current members of HOPCC who attended the meeting. "It is corrupt and it is used to also to cheat servicemen…"

Yorke said People Helping People has been blacklisted by Fort Lewis. It is also on the off limits list at several other military installations to include Fort Stewart.

Fort Stewart’s Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board off limits list released May 30, includes People Helping People Group and its subsidiaries: Executive Home Rentals, JHS Investments, JT Enterprise, JZS Investments and Peach State Rentals.

According to Ron Elliot, Fort Stewart PAO, the AFDCB said PHP and its subsidiaries have been on the list for a long time. However it was not clear why they were placed on the list. The Courier did find evidence that the companies have been on the list as far back as 2011.

Oloans is now listed as the manager for Centex Management LLC in Allenhurst. The corporation formed in 2006. Reip is listed as the registered agent.

Yorke said opening new companies under different names has been common. He pointed to HOPCC recent change of name and added that, "It looks like they are trying to hide by changing the name of all their churches."

The Courier reached out to Oloans to respond to questions about PHP and Centex and the allegations. The following day the Courier received an email from HOPCC media spokesperson Cesar Vargas who said Oloans, under the advisement of his attorney, would not speak to anyone from the media concerning any issues.

It was after this ran that STUFF GOT REAL.

In my next post I’ll talk about how some folks from HOPCC church tried to intimidate me by stalking me at my house (YES THEY PARKED IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE MORE THAN ONCE), the calls they made to my boss and the newspaper owner, and TONS of emails some of which contained stuff that showed the true racists and hateful words they say about the rest of US and former members. I'll also explain why this has been the last story in print.