Meet the neighbors: Tyra's Family

Meet Tyra and her two sons, JD and Trenton! 

We have known Tyra for about as long as we have been in our community. She has medical experience and when we first met her she was working at a dialysis center. Due to reasons we don't quite know, she left that job and now earns income by driving for Uber. We have shared a number of meals together in the common areas of the community. When Adelaide was pregnant with Ellette, it was Tyra and Hema (meet Hema here) that hosted a baby shower for her with all of the community.

JD (19) is a prep cook at a fine dining asian restaurant downtown and enjoys being creative with food. He and Daniel have spent time in the kitchen and at the community grill making good for lots of people. Regrettably, from what we can tell, a good bit of JD's income also goes to helping pay the bills for the family. Trenton (15) is still in high school and is busy with sport and musical activities. Both JD and Trenton have been engaged with the Salvation Army's church and their men's discipling group. The boy's father is involved in their lives and lives in Columbia with his new wife.

We have been struggling in prayer for this sweet family for quite a while now. When you first meet Tyra and begin talking about God and Jesus, she is all onboard and can articulate tenants of the faith. Over the 2 years of knowing her, however, we have realized she is struggling to remain grounded in the true Christian faith.

She is being led into a cultish movement by an older charismatic lady ("Mrs. Rease") and her family. This family has enticed Tyra by providing a sense of belonging. When Tyra talks about Mrs. Rease, she gets as excited as if she was talking about getting to meet Jesus in person. Two tactics Mrs. Rease and her children are using to keep Tyra under their thumb is giving her prophecies and visions, and also continued empty promises of moving elsewhere (sometimes it's Chicago, NYC, Tennessee, or somewhere in Africa. It depends on the day and Mrs. Rease's whim) to build a commune all together. We also suspect that Mrs. Rease her family is taking financial advantage of Tyra, but we cannot prove it. At the very least they are providing very poor financial advice.

Our attempts to pull Tyra back to Biblical Christianity have been numerous. At one point we worked hard to start a bible study with her and other residents based solely around her schedule, but she attended one time and did not come back. Adelaide has spent countless hours actively listening and saying, "I'm not quite sure that's in the Bible." Once Tyra gets excited about what she believes, there is no stopping her. I offered to disciple her sons since I was a man, but after praying about it with Mrs. Rease, Tyra decided she did not want "too many hooks in her son's ears."

Some of the physical needs we know Tyra has, and have been trying to help with as we can, are as follows:

- Rides for herself and her kids

- Car maintenance

- Financial stability

"I thought she drives for Uber? Shouldn't she have a reliable car?" Her car is regularly breaking down and in the shop. On numerous occasions we have given her rides to/from various maintenance shops. It is also not uncommon to see her and her sons carrying groceries from the store because their car does not work.

Attempting to minister to this family has been draining. At one point we had to seek guidance from our close knit support group. Do we stage a bold intervention with her and explain that Mrs. Rease is basically leading a cult? Do we say nothing and just continue to love her as a friend? With prayer and Biblical guidance, we settled on a course of action. We will do everything we can to maintain a consistent relationship with her and continue to be present in her life, but we will avoid direct confrontation about this leader that she loves so much. We have to strike a balance between standing upon Biblical truths but not be so confrontational that she will cut us off completely. The way to eventually pull her out of this, we believe, is being "present" as each one of Mrs. Rease's empty promises fall through, and helping her put the pieces back together one day.

Who is it you have been agonizing in prayer over because of their clear falling away from Biblical principals? Who is that one person being drawn away by the enticements of this world? Does it seem like there is no bringing them back? Do you struggle with deciding between putting your proverbial foot down or just going along with it? I encourage you to strive to find the middle ground of being present in their lives-- not affirming, not judging, just being with them. Then continuing in prayer, hope that one day they will turn back to Christ.

Would you join us in prayer for this sweet friend of ours? Would you possibly like to help meet some of her physical needs? Can we join you in prayer for someone?  Let us know!

In Christ,

Daniel Maggard