Walking for the Forgotten Ministry - yet another cult in Idaho

[hoipolloi]

This story came across my Twitter feed today and I sure hope it doesn't end in tragedy.

Haven't heard of this group before now but it sounds like a lethal mix of fundie beliefs + sovereign citizen shite + patrio-misogyny with a big dollop of Q-Anon.

Quote

 

Lee Jennings just wants to see his son.

The 45-year-old says he has spent nearly $150,000, attended dozens of court hearings and endured “character assassination” all in an effort to spend time with his 3-year-old River Jennings.

River is with his mother, 42-year-old Sarah Stanley, who refuses to tell authorities where they are located other than they have been “granted sanctuary in a safe house” provided by Walking for the Forgotten Ministry.

“We are being hunted down by corruption, greed, wickedness and evil and I have a duty as my son’s God-given mother to protect him,” Stanley tells EastIdahoNews.com....

Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer is the man behind Walking for the Forgotten Ministry and Veterans on Patrol based in Tuscon, Arizona. He tells EastIdahoNews.com Stanley and River are in one of “dozens” of safe houses he’s been operating in secret across the country for the past seven years....

The minister, who is not a veteran, has posted conspiracy videos on social media about sex trafficking and veteran homelessness. He claims to have run nine homeless shelters and helped 14,000 immigrant children who were “dumped” on his property in Arizona. He asks his followers to send money to assist in his “rescue operations.”

“We have over 300 members across America involved in walking for the Forgotten Ministry,” he tells EastIdahoNews.com.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by hoipolloi
Fixed typo

[bea]

I think we’re going to see more and more of this brand of crazy. People are going to take their kids and their families and go live in places where others share their delusions.

During the last year or so, I started learning about QAnon (I’ve had a long-standing interest in cults and extreme beliefs) and a lot of these people have become completely disconnected from reality. There’s a good dollop of MAGAts with the same problem. They’re really, truly under the impression that their batsh!t beliefs are the real world. Sex trafficking from pizzeria basements, mole children, shadow governments run by George Soros, it’s a one-size-fits-all big tent conspiracy theory.
I’d have thought that we’d see people falling away from QAnon after the predicted events failed to happen. But the same thing is happening with QAnon that has happened with other cults when the apocalypse failed to materialize - they’re doubling down on the crazy.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Qanon is built on anxiety about missing children, but the majority of missing children are in the exact position that this "ministry" is enabling -- kidnapped by a non-custodial parent. How they don't see the irony, I don't know.

[Howl]

18 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

Haven't heard of this group before now but it sounds like a lethal mix of fundie beliefs + sovereign citizen shite + patrio-misogyny with a big dollop of Q-Anon.

 EastIdahoNews.com published Nate Eaton's feature length article on March 3 detailing Lee Jennings' fight to see his son and the crazy that is "pastor" Michael "Lewis Arthur" Meyer.  (Nate Eaton's name may be familiar -- he broke the Lori Vallow/Chad Daybell story and reported extensively both in print and on major TV shows). 

 ‘They’re in a cult.’ Father fights to see his toddler son as mother refuses to say where they are 

Michael Meyer then left this voicemail at the East Idaho News newsroom: 

Spoiler

“Mr. Eaton, I want to know why you continue to pursue a woman and child in our safe house program. Do you want to get other women and children harmed? Are you interested in children getting hurt? Is that what your goal is? I’d advise you to remove your Facebook post; otherwise, you’re going to be seeing a whole lot of attention you don’t want. This woman is in protected custody. You are putting her life in danger, Mr. Eaton, and I’ll be knocking on your front door in a few days with a camera and a lot of people, your personal house, if you do not get off of her back. Leave her alone. Goodbye, Mr. Eaton. See you soon.”

In response, Nate Eaton filed for and received a restraining order against Michael Meyer, but in order for the restraining order to activate, it has be be served on Michael Meyer who is here there everywhere and, apparently, nowhere. 

Eaton then published this story on March 11: Pastor linked to mom and toddler in hiding threatens judge, attorney, reporter and shows up in Idaho Falls

These articles reference the long criminal history of Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer,  a crazy, criminal, con-man, wing-nut scam artist, "pastor" behind Walking for the Forgotten Ministry and Veterans on Patrol.  When Meyers makes the news, people send him gift cards in support.  By the way, Meyers has never been in the military and has no training as a "pastor" but it all makes a perfect cover to bring money into his operation. 

Here are two deep dives into Michael "Lewis Arthur" Meyer

From Operation How Do You Sleep?  Exposing Lewis Arthur and Veterans on Patrol:  Pedophile Networks and Rape Trees – The Strange Saga of Lewis Arthur

Steller column: Nobody is stopping activist's intimidation, vigilante tactics

The "help women kidnap their children" gig seems like an offshoot of his regular scam.