By Collin Poetting:
Contact Collin.

1. Why was Damon Keller from Arkansas beaten for a week because he was acting mentally retarded? [Sources have been unable to determine whether this particular student actually had mental deficiencies.] Why was he given ice cold showers and punched in the face? Why was he repeatedly beat down because he didn’t want to act right? Why did you stand there and smile when this was going on? You told us that he deserved it.
2. Why was Joe Moore dragged around the track on the ground for an hour?
3. Why did you hit Nick Heebler 36 times with the paddle?
4. Why do you think that all gays should not be allowed to live?
5. Why did you use the word nigger so abundantly? You told us that "niggers are below us" defend that one.....
6. Why do you live better than 90% of the parents that send their children there?
7. Why did you fight a student on your back porch? I remember that night well. Nick had a black eye and Debbie came to the boys dorm asking us to break up your fight.. FIGHTING KIDS? You’re a big man.
8. Why were we allowed to physically punish our students? I.e.: beating them up, having others punch them in the gut, give them bruises?????

Questions asked by Micah Foxx:
Contact Micah.

BEN WALTERS' abuser confessed to me that he had been hitting him in the chest, throwing logs at him, and at one point even put him over hot ashes to make him perform the acts they he wanted him to...when I confronted you about this you did nothing and even pushed me into the score keys in the school room. Why did you do nothing about this?

These questions were posed to Sam Gerhardt, currently the operator of Mountain Park, by a former Student named Nadia Shea on 10/06/02, he has failed to respond to any of these legitimate questions:

Contact Nadia.

This is in no way an attack on you but I have a few questions regarding your responses and Mt. Park. Please reply to me as I've never been able to get an answer before.

I am looking for the truth. I did attend Mt. Park. I did not learn anything that positively influenced my life while I was there. The techniques used to help children find God actually repulsed me and made me run the other way. Before I attended Mt. Park, I was a regular church attendee, participated in the youth group, choir and bell choir. After my experience there, I refuse and still refuse to attend church.

My 2nd day there, there was the "standardized" test. I know I was ranked one of the highest scorers there. However, the PACES I was placed in were Multiplication for math and cursive writing for English and the various other religious history and social studies PACES. When I left my local school, my course load was Physics, Calculus, Orchestra, Auto Shop, AP IB English Composition II, and Latin. I also did very well in school, maintaining a 3.3 GPA. Why was I not placed at the appropriate education level? Or do PACES not actually go that far? I find the education system there is a joke and the school purposely placed me at such a low level for reasons I cannot fathom. Maybe you wanted to break my spirit, make me feel like dirt or that I was stupid? Or is the thought process to tear someone down first before building them up again? What an awful way to help teenager.

" If there is an interest in the true story stay tuned to this site as we encourage those to be heard!" This is a direct quote from you on another post. Are you saying the children who actually attended your schools and experienced them first hand don't have the true story?

" Too bad that no one wants to hear the good side, the true side, of the story. Give us a call." Another quote of yours. What are the sides? Once again you emphasize the "true side" of the story. Is the true side of the story only the one that flatters the school and puts it in a positive light? That doesn't seem quite fair.

Question about the murder: While I was attending the school, I knew that boys weren't even allowed razors, much less knives. How did the murderers gain access to the knife? Is it true a worker gave it to them? Do you not accept the responsibility that the tragic event could have been possibly avoided if your workers were actually trained employees to help trouble teens and not merely kids themselves who graduated and stayed there? And the awful event should deter other parents from sending their kids there, why would you think it wouldn't. You don't need to be in a lockdown facility to learn about God, his scripture, and to learn faith and obedience. (Female and Male students were not allowed to speak, so she did not know they were actually allowed pocket knives with up to a 4 inch blade.  This type of blade was used as the murder weapon in the killing of 16-yr-old Will Futrelle on March 25, 1996. The male students are still allowed to have pocket knives, according to the Parent Handbook, page 54 in the Optional Items allowed for Boys section, even after the murder.)

A child was MURDERED there by the hands of other children. It doesn't matter what the law says. You guarantee parents a safe environment for their children. It's painfully obvious that the safety was compromised.

"There was no knowledge that these 2 were capable of such actions by anyone prior to the act." What environment were these children in that caused them to snap? Do you not think that the restrictive, and confining atmosphere of the school contributed to the breakdown of the two children?

And lastly, to address an email you sent another student.
"We remain amazed at the ludicrous lies being told by those who are misinformed or simply blind! Many lives have been transformed by the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ through the work of these ministries. Many who post negative statements on such sites as this would give testimony to having trusted Christ as Savior while attending Mountain Park Baptist Church. Micah made a couple of professions. Chris made a profession of faith as well. Angie, Collin, and so on - All made professions of faith in Christ. The brainwashing did not happen at MPBC but by that which influenced your need to come to MP in the first place and by that which was returned to after MP. "...as a dog returns to his vomit..." is how the Scriptures put it."

Once again.. Ludicrous lies. I find it hard to believe so many people who experienced your school 1st hand who have had no other or very little contact with each could come up with such cooperating allegations. Instead of belittling the accusations, you should answer them in a straight forward and simple manner. I'm confident that many lives have been saved and/or changed through Christ. It had nothing to do with you. It had everything to do with a person and their "personal" relationship with God. Yes, many students did give testimony while attending MP. A lot of them felt pressure to do so. Many felt they would be outcast from the small secluded society that is MP and so desperately wanted someone to love them that they followed like sheep. MP took advantage of that pressure and fear and used it to keep children in line. (Students are not allowed to keep in contact once they have left MP. Addresses and phone numbers are not allowed to be exchanged. No explanation has ever been offered to the students for this rule. It is only in the last year that many have been coming together via online groups and searching. The stories of their abuse and manipulation stay the same.)

As defined by Merriam Webster, brainwashing is: "a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas" and "persuasion by propaganda". Do you deny that you didn't try to mold all of these young people into the image YOU had for them? Do you deny that you didn't want all of your students to hold religion close to them and tried your best to have them do so by using religiously influenced school work, memorizing verses, and attending religious lectures (or "sermons") several times a week? And what would happen if a child refused to do so, they were given some sort of negative reinforcement that what they were doing was wrong and bad. I'm sorry, but I never had anyone try to do that before I attended Mt. Park, no matter what my life style was. (Children are not given a choice in attending services at MP, even if they were not previously of the Independent Baptist faith. If they refuse, they are paddled until they submit, or held in place in a chair, even being tied, in the church hall throughout the sermon.)

I apologize for this being so long but I would like an answer. Honestly, my feelings towards MP are of great animosity and I do hope it does get shut down. I will not curse, or scream, or attack you but I will never encourage any parent to consider it as an option. I just hope you can walk a mile in another person's shoes and gain their perspective and glean what wisdom you can. I feel that Mt. Park does not provide the special individual attention that each teen needs. You try to solve a problem by medicating the populance and not distinguishing or addressing the symptoms of each individual, thereby causing more problems than curing them.

Nadia Shea

A Conversation between Sam Gerhardt and a former student:

These emails were sent between Sam Gerhardt and Angela Collier in March of 2002:

To: mpba@semo.net

Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 5:38 PM

Subject: address correction for MP Messenger

Here is my updated address for the messenger-

4884 S Darlington
Apartment 310
Tulsa, OK 74135

Thank you,
Angela (Landers) Collier

Their reply:

----- Original Message -----

From: Gerhardt

To: Angela-sbcglobal

Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 9:50 AM

Subject: Re: fiction or truth?

How is your project to "set the record straight" coming along? [At this point, I had not even begun construction on my website, it was still in the idea stage, and Mr. Gerhardt only knew of this from coming onto an online support group where I had mentioned my idea using another former student’s password. His comment was only meant to provoke]

To: Gerhardt

Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 3:56 PM

Subject: Re: fiction or truth?

Quite nicely, actually. We see you've taken the 90% success rate claim off your website. Good call. Is that the fiction you were referring to? Because we're not making anything up over here.

Their Reply:

----- Original Message -----

From: Gerhardt

To: Angela-sbcglobal

Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 4:47 PM

Subject: Re: fiction or truth?

THAT IS A CORRECTION THAT WILL NEED TO BE TENDED TO.  I DID NOT KNOW THAT THAT WAS NO LONGER THERE.  THOSE WHO REMAIN WITH US FOR AT LEAST 2 YEARS WHO HAVE THE SUPPORT FROM HOME DO NOT USUALLY RETURN TO THE OLD LIFE.  THE SUCCESS RATE IS VERY EASILY 90%.

THEY DO NOT ALL LIVE FOR THE LORD, BUT THEY DO GO ON TO BE DECENT PEOPLE.  ARE YOU NOT A DECENT PERSON?  EVEN AS AN OUTSPOKEN ENEMY OF THE SCHOOL CHOSEN BY YOUR PARENTS, THE SCHOOL FROM WHICH YOU GRADUATED, YOU WOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF A DECENT PERSON, WOULD YOU NOT?  ARE YOU NOT A SUCCESS?  ARE YOU A FAILURE?  YOU MAY NOT HAVE THE CONVICTIONS OF THE BIBLE BUT YOU ARE AN OVERALL BETTER PERSON BECAUSE OF THE DIRECTION YOU RECEIVED FROM MOUNTAIN PARK.  WHERE WOULD YOU BE HAD YOU NOT COME TO US?  WOULD YOU HAVE GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL?  WOULD YOU EVEN BE ALIVE TO CRITICIZE US?

ANGELA, YOU USED TO CALL MY DAUGHTER ALL OF THE TIME.  YOU CONSIDERED HER YOUR FRIEND.  GET HONEST AND ADMIT THAT ALTHOUGH AS AN ADULT YOU HAVE CHOSEN A DIFFERENT PATH, AS A KID MP LOVED YOU AND DID ALL THAT WE COULD TO DIRECT YOUR LIFE TO A BETTER PLACE THAN IT WAS BEFORE.

I AM AMAZED!

FOR TEENS,

BROTHER GERHARDT.

My reply:

----- Original Message -----

From: Angela M. Collier

To: Gerhardt

Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2002 5:19 PM

Subject: Re: fiction or truth?

Ok, first of all, I would be alive and would have finished HS without MP. I was an honor student at home who was sent to MP by parents who didn't want to be parents. I had never been out partying with friends; I had never even been on a date before MP. I had been in church since I was a child. I went every Sunday. I still do. Yes, I wore pants, yes, I listened to secular music- and so did your family before you came back to MP. I wasn't a bad person or in trouble before I went there. But I will tell you I hated all things Christian for a long time once I got out because of the way I was treated at MP. And Love??? Where is the love in what you do? Demeaning young people. Making them feel worthless to make yourselves feel better: there's no love in that.

Yes, I considered Rachel my friend, that fact does not mean I agreed with your school. Friends don't always have to agree on things. People have different opinions, that doesn't make them bad people.  And no, I haven't spoken to her since I left there. I asked how she was several times, but I haven't spoken to her in over 8 years.

 You are claiming a 90% success rate- what exactly is this based on? Most people who come out of your school get right back into the same things they were into- and most get into worse- once they are able to. I have spoken to many people who say they had never tried drugs before MP, and did after- some still do, heavily, some don't. I personally don't. Some are alcoholics; some are now completely estranged from their parents for being sent to MP. You make sure the parents are completely in your trust before they are allowed to bring their kids- you tell them to expect their children to lie to them to try to get out. You tell them kids make things up about the treatment there. So when parents are still hearing the same thing years later, and the kids are in therapy for the anger and self-esteem issues, the inability to cope in society, what do they do then?

Yes, I believe intervention is necessary in a lot of these cases, but MP is not it. MP is not an answer to anyone's problems but yours. You and your entire family are getting rich off the suffering of teenagers. You say in your website that the students' mail is not censored- that is one of the worst lies I've ever heard. I can prove that it is. What do you call the big black marks through letters that their family and friends have received? And censoring also includes the threat of punishment or ridicule for speaking their true feelings. I couldn't tell you how many times Mrs. Wills or Mrs. Debby railed on students for writing things in their letters that were true but they didn't want said. A student wanted to go home. A student wanted to get out. A student saw or heard another student being beaten or ridiculed for something they shouldn't have been. The staff are racist pigs. The staff demeans us and threatens to tell our parents to keep us there longer if we don't submit to their abuse. Yeah, we know about the censoring. Because if most of those students were allowed to write their true feelings and their true experiences, they wouldn't be there long. But you know, according to you, it's all for their own good.

Yes, I'm a decent person. I'm a good mother, and a Christian woman. But that has nothing whatsoever to do with the 2 1/2 years I spent in MP. Although you'll never admit that anything good that happens in our lives is of our doing and isn't the product of the repression and abuse. You'll also never admit that the bad things that happen in our lives aren't the result of not living by your rules. There are many former students out there who hate MP as well, and still have good lives and are decent people. They don't live by your rule, that doesn’t make them wrong.

This email will probably do no good. You'll never take responsibility for the dozens and dozens of young adults out there who are suffering emotionally and some even physically because of what was done while they were students of MP. You'll never admit your practices are wrong. Your religion isn't the problem- except the racist additions to the Scriptures. You still preach against twisting Scripture out of context don't you? Well, the Tower of Babel is not a reason for racism and segregation. Your religion isn't the problem- your methods are. Abusing, demeaning, and silencing the hearts, minds, and mouths of those abused in the name of "Helping bring teens to Christ" is unacceptable.

You're not amazed, don't try that line. You know what you do.

For Survivors-

Angela M. Collier

His reply:

----- Original Message -----

From: Gerhardt

To: Angela-sbcglobal

Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2002 9:31 AM

Subject: Re: fiction or truth?

I am terribly sorry that you feel the way that you do.  We will all stand before the Lord to give an account.  I am not perfect, but I am prepared to stand before God with this ministry.

Brother Gerhardt