Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)

[ginger90]

Screenshot from a video:

[Trillium]

4 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Screenshot from a video:

What a bizarre flex. Does she think non-Christians only have coke fuled orgies or something? 

[crazy8s]

What a joy for an 18yr old man. Junky kiddy skeeball in a random church fellowship hall. Sad for Sammers🙁 

Seriously Jill non christians have played those same junky games - but at the time they enjoyed playing such games they were 6 yrs old.

[oliviabenson]

5 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

What a joy for an 18yr old man. Junky kiddy skeeball in a random church fellowship hall. Sad for Sammers🙁 

Seriously Jill non christians have played those same junky games - but at the time they enjoyed playing such games they were 6 yrs old.

That’s why Sammers has dead eyes. He is bored to death.

[crazy8s]

a correction to above - it was Gabriel playing skeeball in the video. Gabriel will be 17 in july i think. Sammers was waiting for his turn.

[SMama]

Just now, crazy8s said:

a correction to above - it was Gabriel playing skeeball in the video. Gabriel will be 17 in july i think. Sammers was waiting for his turn.

Equally disturbing.

[oliviabenson]

[oliviabenson]

I saw the whole Instagram story. Their fun time was boring me to tears.

 

wonder how many more people she got in that church to sell plexus for her?

[GeeGolly]

I was momentarily impressed. I thought the Skee-ball game was homemade. It was obviously short lived as I scrolled down and saw the box.

I'm going to go off now and play poker while watching porn and day drinking, because I feel the need to have fun.

[SMama]

1 hour ago, oliviabenson said:

Sure, what your malnourished children, who do not even grow adult teeth for months need is candy, lots of candy. 🤦🏽‍♀️

 

[libgirl2]

Just now, SMama said:

Sure, what your malnourished children, who do not even grow adult teeth for months need is candy, lots of candy. 🤦🏽‍♀️

 

Kids do deserve a treat, but kids also deserve nutritious food, not pizza and other junk, especially Jill's awful creations. 

[Minivanessa]

1 hour ago, Trillium said:

What a bizarre flex. Does she think non-Christians only have coke fueled orgies or something? 

She probably does. Heaven knows how indoctrinated she is in fundie dogma. On one level, she doesn't live a sequestered life; they travel, shop in regular stores, and definitely patronize mainstream restaurants including fast food outlets. But on another, she's posted crazy sh*t dissing women who are in Walmart with their kids and no male chaperone, so who knows what's in her mind. 

I read the memoir of a woman who grew up in the IFB world and left it with her husband as a young-ish adult. I was a bit astonished when I read her account of the big adjustments she had to make after they left IFB. Here's what happened about public school for their young kids:

Quote

Our new friends arranged for us to meet with the principal, who gave us a thorough explanation of the curriculum and assured us that a number of teachers in the school were fellow members of Willow Creek Community Church. Joseph and I were astonished at how rational he was and how nonthreatening the place seemed. I couldn’t shake the images the IFB pastors had painted in my mind about public school—of orgies on elementary playgrounds and condoms being handed out by teachers around every corner. But the principal assured us that no such thing was taking place. Four weeks into our arrival, the children started their first day of school and soon they were happily ensconced in their new classrooms, able for the first time to interact with peers in an educational setting.

     -- Zichterman, Jocelyn. I Fired God: My Life Inside---and Escape from---the Secret World of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult (pp. 207-208). St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition

That's why I really don't know whether Jill thinks non-Christians are into wild stuff all the time, or she knows better and is just parroting one of the old tired fundie talking points in order to create SM material.

[Tasya]

On 4/13/2023 at 7:25 AM, ginger90 said:

Her kids' eyes are absolutely dead and it's extremely sad. Even Samuel who is a "man" and should be by their ideals fully embracing their idealogy looks like he hates everything about his life. 

Only Janessa looks happy, and that's because she's still experiencing life as a spoiled "baby". 

[Minivanessa]

31 minutes ago, Tasya said:

Her kids' eyes are absolutely dead and it's extremely sad. Even Samuel who is a "man" and should be by their ideals fully embracing their ideology looks like he hates everything about his life. 

Only Janessa looks happy, and that's because she's still experiencing life as a spoiled "baby". 

And, these appearances are their dad's official job. He and Jill are registered with a missionary clearinghouse which I assume is IFB-affiliated. We call them grifting trips - and of course Jill brings her own special version of crazy brazen greed to the situation. But AFAIK these appearances at churches, conferences, revivals, etc., are the Rod family's bread and butter. David is the "official" speaker/preacher, backed up by his lovely wife who is allowed to do music things and to speak to women-only groups (because preaching to an entire IFB congregation requires testicles), and by his musically talented kids. 

I've read somewhere that David has committed to print church flyers and tracts at cost, i.e., no profit, and that when Jill/David ask for donations for paper etc. for the printing, beady eyes will be cast upon them if they come right back and ask for more, without it being clear they used those funds for printing. 

I doubt that David is prohibited from running a for-profit printing business along with the at-cost church stuff, to bring in money to support his family. IMO he's too lazy or incompetent or ornery or special (take your pick) to do so. Instead he just hauls his dead-eyed kids around to liven up his church appearances, and Jill hawks Plexus night and day. 

I'm imagining the Rod family as less obnoxious. If David were more energetic and pleasant, and his wife not a raging narcissist, they would still tour around and appear at churches and events, for which they would be paid expenses plus I assume an honorarium or "love offering." They might be given a meal or two by the church members, or entertained at the home of the pastor or someone local. It would still be a lifestyle supported by "love offerings" and reimbursements from churches, but unless they were constantly posting Jill-type sh*t on social media, it wouldn't look so much like grifting. Especially if David could be bothered to get out of the recliner and make some money at a side job or business of some kind.

But, the Rods are what they are: The Rodrigues Family Serving Jesus - with a side of Plexus. The grift is loud and proud and right out front. 

EDITED to add: Has Jill posted an actual GoFundMe for her own family since the infamous Nurie Car Wreck GFM? I know she did that GFM for her parents. But I have wondered if she got some pushback from inside the IFB world over the Nurie GFM, or was otherwise discouraged. Because she strikes me as someone who would start a GFM at the drop of a desire for - just about anything you can buy. 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jeeves

[merylinkid]

59 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

And, these appearances are their dad's official job. He and Jill are registered with a missionary clearinghouse which I assume is IFB-affiliated.

We only see what the Rods do because Jill is a raging narcissist.   I wonder if the other families who do this for a living are just as sad and the kids just as miserable.  We don't know because we don't see them regularly not being a part of that religion.   

But from what I have picked up from the IFB, all the parents are pretty controlling, the kids are expected to perform on demand, and they all travel in packs interacting mostly only with those of like beliefs to protect them from the ebils of the world.   So I imagine the kids probably have the same dead eyes as the Rodriguii and the same hopelessness because their terrible parents don't properly care for their children.

[oliviabenson]

1 hour ago, Jeeves said:

And, these appearances are their dad's official job. He and Jill are registered with a missionary clearinghouse which I assume is IFB-affiliated. We call them grifting trips - and of course Jill brings her own special version of crazy brazen greed to the situation. But AFAIK these appearances at churches, conferences, revivals, etc., are the Rod family's bread and butter. David is the "official" speaker/preacher, backed up by his lovely wife who is allowed to do music things and to speak to women-only groups (because preaching to an entire IFB congregation requires testicles), and by his musically talented kids. 

I've read somewhere that David has committed to print church flyers and tracts at cost, i.e., no profit, and that when Jill/David ask for donations for paper etc. for the printing, beady eyes will be cast upon them if they come right back and ask for more, without it being clear they used those funds for printing. 

I doubt that David is prohibited from running a for-profit printing business along with the at-cost church stuff, to bring in money to support his family. IMO he's too lazy or incompetent or ornery or special (take your pick) to do so. Instead he just hauls his dead-eyed kids around to liven up his church appearances, and Jill hawks Plexus night and day. 

I'm imagining the Rod family as less obnoxious. If David were more energetic and pleasant, and his wife not a raging narcissist, they would still tour around and appear at churches and events, for which they would be paid expenses plus I assume an honorarium or "love offering." They might be given a meal or two by the church members, or entertained at the home of the pastor or someone local. It would still be a lifestyle supported by "love offerings" and reimbursements from churches, but unless they were constantly posting Jill-type sh*t on social media, it wouldn't look so much like grifting. Especially if David could be bothered to get out of the recliner and make some money at a side job or business of some kind.

But, the Rods are what they are: The Rodrigues Family Serving Jesus - with a side of Plexus. The grift is loud and proud and right out front. 

EDITED to add: Has Jill posted an actual GoFundMe for her own family since the infamous Nurie Car Wreck GFM? I know she did that GFM for her parents. But I have wondered if she got some pushback from inside the IFB world over the Nurie GFM, or was otherwise discouraged. Because she strikes me as someone who would start a GFM at the drop of a desire for - just about anything you can buy. 

I think Jill asked for $ to buy Philip a car and do repairs on their cars. 

[Salacious Kitty]

7 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I think Jill asked for $ to buy Philip a car and do repairs on their cars. 

Not a GFM though. Just begged in the churches.

[ginger90]

The car accident GFM raised $2,852.

Putting what Nurie wrote on the page in a spoiler since it’s long.

Spoiler

“Hello, my name is Nurie Rodrigues.  I am 19 years old and the oldest of 13 children and my parents are in full time ministry.  We LOVE serving the Lord together as a family!  We have a Printing Ministry and we also travel and sing as a family.

Yesterday (Thursday - June 14, 2018), I and my 16 year old sister - Kaylee (pictured above)- were en route to a pro-life Crossroads Pregnancy Center where we volunteer.  

The car was VERY hot, making the steering wheel burning HOT!  My sister and I were trying to turn the AC all the way up in the car to cool everything off.  We had JUST left home and were nearly at the end of our curvy, West Virginian road; when I looked down at the AC to make sure my sister Kaylee had done it right.

It was at that DREADFUL moment when I took my eyes off the road for a second, that the road curved to the left with the DEEP ditch straight ahead.  I knew in an instant, I was in trouble.  The car brutally smashed into a boulder rock and it created a COMPLETE turn over of the car INTO the ditch!!

We landed UPSIDE down with the air bags projected and I was TRAPPED in my seat belt UNDER water!  My sister Kaylee was knocked unconscious.  I struggled to get out, but could not.

I began to think this was the day I was going to meet my Maker.  Yet, I had a desire to live.  I began to faint, when my sister Kaylee woke up!!  Praise the Lord!  She called my name and did not hear me answer.  So, she began to reach for me.  She found my buckle, unbuckled me, and quickly pulled me out of the water.  GASP!  I was thankful for air!

We found a way out of our open car window.  We suffered MUCH bruising, cuts, and stitches and staples had to be administered to patch us up.  However, we were BEYOND grateful to still be alive!!

My parents quickly made their way to the scene of the accident with TEARS of joy we were okay.  

I am SAD to say though, that I totaled my parents’ vehicle.  They did NOT make me feel bad about this at all, but assured me it was our LIVES they were GRATEFUL were spared with no major injuries!!

However, their car insurance will not cover this accident due to it being an older car and ONLY having collision insurance.  

As you can imagine, I feel TERRIBLE about this!!  My heart and mind INSTANTLY began swirling of ways that I could raise some money for my faithful, hard-working, forgiving, sweet parents.  

Being in the ministry is already an intense life of faith.  God is good to always take GREAT care of us and my Dad ALWAYS makes sure the bills are paid and there is food on the table.

However, the expenses in our home, with 13 children and being in full time ministry…….well, it leaves NO extra money to buy a car!!  

This summer, our family (unexpectedly) has an entire trip out West planned due to needing to drop off my brother Timothy to Bible College.  We have meetings in churches along the way that our family will be singing at, but this trip was a step of faith for us.  We were scraping our pennies already to afford this trip.  Now, we are VOID a car, with ONLY our big van left.

The car was a tow behind car that we brought with us on trips as an errand car once we were hooked up with the RV at various churches, etc.

Also, it was an errand car for us grown children and for my parents.  It helped save LOTS in gas, as opposed to taking the BIG van to run small errands in town.  

I would love nothing more to SURPRISE them (especially my dad) by raising enough money to help him purchase another MUCH needed car!!

Please prayerfully consider what you could do to help me make this happen!  **Remember, your investment would be eternally rewarded, as we are a FULL time ministry family and striving to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a PASSION!!

With a Heavy Heart and Humble PLEA to Help Me,

Nurie Katelin Rodrigues

 

[merylinkid]

17 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

nto a boulder rock

She is mother's daughter.    So they got into an accident because Nurie was NOT paying attention while they were off to a pregnancy center to scam women who think they are getting an abortion.    Totally at fault and yet want others to buy them a new car.   

I have my opinion on which side the Supreme Being was that day.  

[SMama]

IIRC there must have been some criticism of the GFM, although I don’t know from where. Nurie posted a somewhat rambling explanation about the amount she requested, $35,000. She said it was an amount off the top of her head not knowing how much vehicles actually cost. Their phones needed to be replaced as well as some instruments. I hope I’m not conflating that with another grift.

Edited April 14, 2023 by SMama

[Westiepeach]

You will never convince me that Nurie wrote that piece. Between the random caps for emphasis, and the "boulder rock" reference, and how "... my Dad ALWAYS makes sure the bills are paid and there is food on the table..." that has JillPM's fingerprints all over it.

[ginger90]

Here’s Jill’s descriptions of the accident:

https://rodriguesfamilyministries.com/main/?p=3614
 

Nurie’s video ( it’s on Facebook, not sure if it’s elsewhere)

https://m.facebook.com/100006850878192/videos/i-share-my-heart-about-the-accident-please-click-on-this-link-if-you-want-to-hel/2054930671411942/

[floridamom]

They only have collision insurance? Why don't their parents engage in proper employment in which they will be paid a steady salary so they can afford proper auto insurance? The Lord wants us to provide properly for our families.

[mythoughtis]

2 minutes ago, floridamom said:

They only have collision insurance? Why don't their parents engage in proper employment in which they will be paid a steady salary so they can afford proper auto insurance? The Lord wants us to provide properly for our families.

I’m quite sure what she meant was only liability- to pay for the other car in a at fault two car accident.   Collision would  have covered their car after the deductible 

Edited April 14, 2023 by mythoughtis

[SMama]

3 minutes ago, floridamom said:

The Lord wants us to provide properly for our families.

Their Lord wants others to provide properly for their family.

[oliviabenson]

The Lord Daniel doesn’t want them to use seatbelts either. Who needs them pesky things?

[ginger90]

37 minutes ago, SMama said:

Nurie posted a somewhat rambling explanation about the amount she requested, $35,000.

For the accident the amount set as a goal was $20,000.

Edited April 14, 2023 by ginger90

[crazy8s]

Then someone was guilted into gifting Nurie a car and Jill posted they put the donation money towards a tow package so they could haul it behind the RV. I believe Jill stated they needed more than $3,000 for that and more donations towards that would be needed.

[Salacious Kitty]

Yup. I was just coming here to post that the end result was a grifted car. Pretty new, IIRC. 

[oliviabenson]

Didn’t the rods also grift a house? 
 

Grift is going great for them.

[Notabug]

35 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

Didn’t the rods also grift a house? 
 

Grift is going great for them.

Yes, they started out in upstate New York.  At some point, David got into a dispute with the leadership at their Baptist church and the Rods were asked to find another church.  Rumor has it that he felt the church was too liberal and wanted the leadership to crack down hard on the sinners.  Since they not only left the church, they left the state; I have a feeling there was more to it than that like an eviction or CPS on their tails

They decided to leave NY and move to West Virginia and were living in their RV.  Lots of posts from Jill begging the Lord to help them find somewhere for all of them to live-11 or 12 kids at the time.  Lots of lamentation about how they were suffering for their devotion to Jesus.

Finally, a post from Jill!  Not only did they find a house, but it was GIVEN to them by some wonderful Christian.  From the photos when they moved in, it was a nice house and quite large on a decent sized piece of land.  They eventually sold that and used the proceeds to purchase the Ohio barndo, it seems.  That move came as a surprise to the followers, Jill didn't brag about it or beg for donations like she did with the prior move.  We know she'd gotten in trouble because the kids weren't meeting the requirements for homeschooling in WVa and also that CPS had been out to check them out at least a couple of times.  My money is that there was concern that they were going to get in legal trouble and maybe at least some of the kids sent to foster care so they decided to sneak on out of WVa.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Notabug

[BradandJanet]

It's good that Nurie and Kaylee were able to get out of the car and to the hospital in less time than it took to read that long-winded retelling of the accident. 

The writing is one-hundred percent Jill's. And I'll bet David was plenty pissed at Nurie for wrecking the car. He doesn't seem the kind, forgiving sort. 

[ChiCricket]

On 4/13/2023 at 11:10 AM, libgirl2 said:

Most of the time, all the girls are. No rhyme or reason. There are nice and modest clothes out there, even if you go to Goodwill. 

I'm sure they don't buy the stuff when it's "full thrift store" price..they probably wait until it's put on sale.

That's when the thrift stores offer anything nobody has wanted to buy in a certain time frame dirt cheap.

That's why they have color coded price tags, so they know how long it's been sitting unsold. (so it's clothes that are way out of fashion, stretched out, worn out and so cruddy nobody else wanted to buy it.) 

Source: having a husband who will never pay "full thrift store price", but always waits until everything crappy is put on sale, and drags it all home.🙄

Edited April 14, 2023 by ChiCricket

[farmgal4]

1 hour ago, Notabug said:

Yes, they started out in upstate New York.  At some point, David got into a dispute with the leadership at their Baptist church and the Rods were asked to find another church.  Rumor has it that he felt the church was too liberal and wanted the leadership to crack down hard on the sinners.  Since they not only left the church, they left the state; I have a feeling there was more to it than that like an eviction or CPS on their tails

They decided to leave NY and move to West Virginia and were living in their RV.  Lots of posts from Jill begging the Lord to help them find somewhere for all of them to live-11 or 12 kids at the time.  Lots of lamentation about how they were suffering for their devotion to Jesus.

Finally, a post from Jill!  Not only did they find a house, but it was GIVEN to them by some wonderful Christian.  From the photos when they moved in, it was a nice house and quite large on a decent sized piece of land.  They eventually sold that and used the proceeds to purchase the Ohio barndo, it seems.  That move came as a surprise to the followers, Jill didn't brag about it or beg for donations like she did with the prior move.  We know she'd gotten in trouble because the kids weren't meeting the requirements for homeschooling in WVa and also that CPS had been out to check them out at least a couple of times.  My money is that there was concern that they were going to get in legal trouble and maybe at least some of the kids sent to foster care so they decided to sneak on out of WVa.

I was 99% sure that the Rods were gifted a house, but there’s a Rodrigues snark page on IG that swears the Rods bought that house.  I’ll say this much for Jilly Bean:  She has grifting down to a fine art.  I mean, she grifted a HOUSE, for Pete’s sake!  

[oliviabenson]

39 minutes ago, farmgal4 said:

I was 99% sure that the Rods were gifted a house, but there’s a Rodrigues snark page on IG that swears the Rods bought that house.  I’ll say this much for Jilly Bean:  She has grifting down to a fine art.  I mean, she grifted a HOUSE, for Pete’s sake!  

Yasssss I am a fine artist at grifting and selling plexus!

-Jillpm Rodrigues 

[crazy8s]

God also provided them with the van and trailer. God providing = grifting.

 

https://rodriguesfamilyministries.com/main/?p=321

[Westiepeach]

Well, God certainly loves them best, no?

[oliviabenson]

4 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

Well, God certainly loves them best, no?

Yaaasss he does

[Salacious Kitty]

28 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

God also provided them with the van and trailer. God providing = grifting.

 

https://rodriguesfamilyministries.com/main/?p=321

Kaylee in a Hello Kitty shirt! I figured that worldly shit was verboten. Especially back then. 

Also the genesis of referring to the shirts as "blouses." 😂

Edited April 14, 2023 by Salacious Kitty

[BradandJanet]

God gave them a van that fit the size of their family. Then, Jill and David decided to outbreed the van's capacity, necessitating more pleas for new stuff. 

God must find these people absolutely exhausting. 

[Salacious Kitty]

11 minutes ago, BradandJanet said:

God gave them a van that fit the size of their family. Then, Jill and David decided to outbreed the van's capacity, necessitating more pleas for new stuff. 

God must find these people absolutely exhausting. 

They had the RV by the time Amy had her accident in 2015. I wonder when (and how) they came by it?

[crazy8s]

6 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

They had the RV by the time Amy had her accident in 2015. I wonder when (and how) they came by it?

From June 2015 - This entry in the Rod blog is a lovely piece of fiction by Jill. But in it she claims when the lord called them to ministry in WV, they gave up their rental house in NY and bought the RV.

"We then began to pray about what was the next step for us.  David felt that God was leading us to branch out and start our own Family Ministry named – Rodrigues Family Ministries.  Which involved the following:    We call them the 3 “p’s” –   Printing, Praising, & Preaching.  We purchased a 38 ft. long RV, gave up our rental home, and went on the road full-time.  We sing and play several instruments as a family and that is what the “praising” stands for.  We are raising support to eventually get a house and garage and start our own printing ministry to print Gospel tracts and Gospel Portions and that is what the “printing” stands for.  David preaches as he has opportunity to when we travel and that is what the “preaching” stands for.  The 3 P’s!!"

https://rodriguesfamilyministries.com/main/?p=2061

 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, crazy8s said:

God also provided them with the van and trailer. God providing = grifting.

 

https://rodriguesfamilyministries.com/main/?p=321

God didn't give them that people they tricked did. 

[merylinkid]

4 hours ago, Notabug said:

Yes, they started out in upstate New York.  At some point, David got into a dispute with the leadership at their Baptist church and the Rods were asked to find another church.  Rumor has it that he felt the church was too liberal and wanted the leadership to crack down hard on the sinners.  Since they not only left the church, they left the state; I have a feeling there was more to it than that like an eviction or CPS on their tails

They decided to leave NY and move to West Virginia and were living in their RV.  Lots of posts from Jill begging the Lord to help them find somewhere for all of them to live-11 or 12 kids at the time.  Lots of lamentation about how they were suffering for their devotion to Jesus.

Finally, a post from Jill!  Not only did they find a house, but it was GIVEN to them by some wonderful Christian.  From the photos when they moved in, it was a nice house and quite large on a decent sized piece of land.  They eventually sold that and used the proceeds to purchase the Ohio barndo, it seems.  That move came as a surprise to the followers, Jill didn't brag about it or beg for donations like she did with the prior move.  We know she'd gotten in trouble because the kids weren't meeting the requirements for homeschooling in WVa and also that CPS had been out to check them out at least a couple of times.  My money is that there was concern that they were going to get in legal trouble and maybe at least some of the kids sent to foster care so they decided to sneak on out of WVa.

And of course when it was time to move rather than passing the house along to a family in need or returning it to the original owner, they took the profit and ran.

[Salacious Kitty]

4 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

And of course when it was time to move rather than passing the house along to a family in need or returning it to the original owner, they took the profit and ran.

I expect nothing less from these criminals. 

[MaryAnneSpier]

Yeah, I wonder how the owner of the house who gifted it to the Rods felt about them pocketing the profit rather than forwarding it to another needy family. Rather tacky in my opinion. But there are people who feel a gift, after given, has no strings to the giver, so the recipient can morally do as they please with the gift. 

[CalicoKitty]

Maybe the former owner was just glad they were moving.  And hopefully learned a lesson about falling for grifts.

[BradandJanet]

16 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Kaylee in a Hello Kitty shirt! I figured that worldly shit was verboten. Especially back then. 

Also the genesis of referring to the shirts as "blouses." 😂

Also the genesis of Kaylee's brothers and sisters taping snotty signs on her back while she was washing dishes and Jill was laughing and taking pictures.  

Jill: "Adorable Kaylee gets teased all the time by her loving family when she wears this cute blouse."

[ginger90]

She SEVERELY laughs at her children all the time. Eggs fell out of one of their bags during the egg hunt. She laughed at her the whole time she was picking them up.

[xwordfanatik]

That constant tittering about things that aren't funny would piss me off.  Did the kids get to laugh at Mahmo when she fell down the stairs?  I doubt it.