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.