I was one of the first girls at rebekah home for girls. When i got there it was just Brother Lester Roloff's home for unwed mothers and wayward girls. I was sent there in 1968. When i got there it was a cluster of trailer houses with a little shed in the center and a small long building that the meals were prepared in. The Weatherfords ran the home at that time. they had 2 sons that lived there with them. There were 10 - 12 girls in each trailer house. the food we ate had to be baked or boiled. for dessert we had a choice of sliced pineapple, peaches or pears with or without cottage cheese. we were only allowed raw goats milk or water to drink. we had to wear dresses or skirts only. we had to get on our knees and sit back on our feet and if our hemline didnt touch the floor, 1st time they ripped the hem out of our skirt. second time you got 2 lashes from a razor strap across the back side of your thighs. no shorts or pants of any type or length was allowed. we were not allowed choclate, sugar or caffiene. we went to public school then. i was in West Oso High. we were not allowed to leave the school grounds and there other girls at the school from the home to tell if they saw you off school grounds. one girl in my trailor wanted to walk down to a store and wanted me to go with her. i refused to go so she went to the weatherfords and told them i was smoking at school. i got 10 lashes from a razor strap. i had blood welps from my lower back to the top of my knees. one of the kids at school saw the welps on my legs and told the counselor at school. i was called into the office at school and was asked about the marks on my legs and i informed them i couldnt talk about it. the same girl from my trailer went to the weatherfords again and told them i had told the school about the whipping i got and i recieved 10 more lashes. when you got lashes from the razor strap, mr weatherford took to his bedroom and whipped you there. and then told you you were to tell anyone about it. i was not allowed phone calls from home or mail for a month. another time i got whipped, same girl from my trailer told the weatherfords that i had chocolate bars and chips. nothing was ever found but i got the razor strap anyway. one of the girls in my trailer ran away from the home. she was caught and brought back to the home. she got beat with the razor strap and locked in a little shed in the center of the compound. it had 1 very small window in the shed. during the summer it is very hot in corpus and there was no shade around the shed. she was in the shed for 3 weeks. and the weatherford will tell us all, during bible study, that if we try to run we would be put in the shed. i made friends with one of the pregnant girls there. she 7 months pregnant. she got caught eating sugar cookies and got the razor strap. she had to go to the hospital and she lost her baby.the weatherfords kept us in such fear. it was the worst 1 1/2 years of my life. i have so many horror stories of my time at the rebekah home. I was there when when the foundation of the Home was poured and watched the home being built.i went home 1 month before the girls moved into the dorm.
