Moreover, when Vuolo thinks back to who she was while attending IBLP conferences, she believes it would have benefited her to have an example of someone who followed Jesus, but not Gothard’s teachings. “That would have been so helpful for my younger self, wrestling through the fears I did,” she said. She also believes that a book will convey her story more effectively than a video or “little snippets” on social media could. “I wanted to have it in a book. That way those who have been harmed by this teaching could get a copy.”
To people who are currently in a situation like the one Vuolo has come out of, she says, “This journey of walking out of something, the only world you know, is the hardest thing you will ever do, but it’s also the most beautiful thing because God can use this. He can use the brokenness that you’ve walked through. And the pain that you’ve experienced that no one else knows, God knows. And he is there as a loving Heavenly Father with open arms to embrace you as his child.”
“I want that for everyone,” said Vuolo. “I want them to love Jesus more and to work through the pain and the hurt that they’ve experienced and come out stronger on the other side.”
