HOLD HARMLESS AND INDEMNIFICATION

CONFIRMATION

I (We), ______________________________, do hereby confirm that my (our) child,

____________________________________, may participate in any and all activities, such as canoeing, swimming, hiking, camping, etc., to include field trips to other churches both in and out of state, and do indemnify and hold safe and harmless the Mountain Park Baptist Church and Boarding Academy, its pastors, directors, and staff against liability arising from any such activity. This release is for the entire period of my (our) child’s enrollment in Mountain Park Boarding Academy, _____________________

____________________, 20___ through _____________________, 20______.

I (We), ____________________________, do further confirm that any activity that we do not want my (our) child to participate in is indicated on this document. ______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________ ____________________________________

Date Signature

____________________________________

Signature

Seal

___________________________________

Notary Public

My commission expires:

___________________________, 20____

Survivor Comments

So basically, this says that if the students of Mountain Park are taken off campus and have a bus accident because their drivers aren’t trained to drive the large commercial buses, it’s not the school’s fault? And you can’t hold Mountain Park responsible if there were an accidental injury, even life-threatening, during one of their outings- which is totally possible since there is nowhere near enough staff to keep a proper watch over the students. In fact, on choir trips, the staff often consists solely of Mr. & Mrs. Wills, or Mr. & Mrs. Gerhardt.

Summer of 1993, we took a camping trip to the Great Smokey Mountains. We slept in tents, hiked in the woods and bathed in the cold streams. Sounds like great fun? It really was. But, look at the safety of this. The students were broken up into groups of 5 to 8 and each group was assigned a leader- another student of relatively the same age- who was to lead the group on these hiking excursions and other fun activities. I remember one of my group’s hikes- we got lost in the woods twice, had been out for well over 2 hours, and wouldn’t have made it back to the campsite if we hadn’t finally found the road leading to the main entrance of the campgrounds sometime later. Does the leadership they placed over our group of students seem adequate for a group of teenagers going out into the woods? What about canoeing? Is water safety taught to the staff members or group leaders prior to the event? No.

And if you’re wondering what kind of trained and qualified staff members they have in charge of your child, look at a letter I received recently from a previous Mountain Park staff member, who claims in this letter to have been on staff for a year: “Subject: Grow Up: My name is Kevin Harbaugh. I was a student at Mountain Park from 98-2000 and stayed on as staff for a year after that. I don't know what you are trying to prove with capitalizing on every little mistake or flaw of the ministry. If you want nothing to do with God then go on your own way and leave those alone that do want to do something for him. Grow up and get a life – with or without Christ. That is your decision. A little about myself. After I left Mountain Park I messed up bad. In the last two years I got arrested 6 times and got charged with 8 felonies and almost 20 misdemeanors. I just got out of prison last Saturday after serving 6 months of a 61 month sentence. Although this time has brought me closer to God, I still have a long ways to go to have the relationship with Him that we both desire. However, no matter how far I have got from Christ I always knew I was His and appreciated those who led me to Him and the peace I have found through Him. Quit crying about what you refuse to accept and move on.”And this is the upstanding citizen they had in charge of their young men? Set as an example? And we have had confirmation from other previous students that he was on staff. I am puzzled at his attempt to dissuade my efforts on this site after telling me about his prison time. Mountain Park’s success rate is obviously at work there.

Another point I’d like to make from this permission form- the outings mentioned to other churches both in and out of state. This is a rather important concept most parents fail to understand. In 1987, Bob Wills was instructed NOT to remove any students from the Bethesda Home for Girls. According to articles printed in the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion Ledger, the acting pastor of the home was asked on several occasions where Wills and a number of the students were. They were told that they had gone on tour with the choir, and he was not certain when they would be back. In all, I believe the estimated number of girls who were removed was 137. (This was listed in court documents of the case of M. I. Minor, a lawsuit decided by the Mississippi Supreme Court in January 1988. In this case, Wills was found in contempt of court.) These trips were against a court ruling, and were made under the guise of taking the choir on tour. What is to stop the school from using the same such tactics for removing students from the premises during the current court case?