The Other Side Of The World

By Syran Warner

Painting of Melissa Parker by Jahera, Kenya

Is The Body’s Australian sect a means to expand the group internationally or an elaborate goose chase primarily designed to keep secrets?

There are a few extreme stories of children being separated from parents who joined an unorthodox religious group that started in Alaska commonly known as The Body. The issue was a concern even before the core began migrating on a mysterious pilgrimage seven years ago that’s created tremendous physical barriers.

Today, the organization is headquartered in Tonasket, Washington with a smaller sect on a prolonged mission assignment near the town of Tumut in Australia. As a history of the group has come further into focus, there have been allegations of coercion that have all been very similar in nature and have been told with such frequency that it’s become increasingly difficult to imagine all the separations are simply a matter of personal choice or coincidence.

In the organization, which former members have referred to as a cult, the leader seems to have repeatedly created untenable instability in relationships by apparently choosing one devoted parent in a family he wants to keep inside the group while forcing the exit of the other. The divorce rate in the group has been very close to 100% and it seems every case explored between couples associated with The Body has ended with extraordinary hostility. There are also an unusually large population of kids who haven’t had contact with their mothers in years for such a small group, and in spite of formerly loving relationships at home. What’s been repeated in public records sounds like a tragedy and the results appear to be devastating. This documented cycle has become harder to ignore in 2022 as now some family disputes have turned members into criminals in the eyes of the law.

Chris C during an arrest in Washington.

Earlier this year, The Body made headlines after a former member named Carrie C was miraculously able to recover children she lost due to a separation at the end of her time in the group. When the court orders for her legitimately restored custody weren’t honored, Carrie was able to reunite with her daughters with the aid of police in Okanogan County, Washington. The child rescue went viral after video of active member Chris C being arrested for violating Washington law was released on TikTok. In the video Chris repeatedly refers to the children being taken from his care as his “property” and at one point calls his daughters “things.” The rescues were a victory for the reunited family that desired to move past The Body’s influence permanently and for other former members who were concerned for the children’s wellbeing. The story also kicked up some awareness for the group at large, but the recoveries in Washington are not the end of the line on this issue. There are other dramatic instances of separations known to be active that are every bit as troubling.
For instance- What happened to Melissa Parker? Will she ever see her six children again? What is going on in the group’s very small Australian sect?  

Melissa Parker, By Jahera

Melissa Parker was raised to place God above all and submit to the authority of men. In reflection, it may have simply been bad luck that she knew two of the men who sources and court documents indicate would go on to rule her world by the time she was just five years old. It’s likely that Melissa was always set up to be at a disadvantage when it came to getting out of The Body, however the situation evolved.     

Parker has been in group since it formed in 2003 in Nikiski, a small village on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. Of the original set of women in the group, in 2022, she’s the last one remaining.

By her 20’s, when the “church” was picking up steam and changing directions, Melissa was married to a man named Craig L who she’d already had two of her children with. Her mother and stepfather, a man named Gary P who has been second in command in The Body from the start, lived close by and provided some financial support, starting with earnings from a successful satellite installation business. Melissa hardly knew independence. She married the first man she dated. She left all her decisions to her husband, Gary and, to a greater extent, God.

The men in The Body circa 2014. Marc far left, Gary far right, Craig right center.

Gary P has cast a long shadow in Melissa’s life as an influence of extremes. Melissa trusted that he could set up her simple dream of having a big Christian family in Alaska and let her stepfather control very important decisions. The only work she had ever done as an adult was accounting for the books of a fishing company that Gary owned on paper but that supported her and her husband’s family income as if it were their own business. In Nikiski, Melissa and Craig lived a modest life full of devotion to God, fishing, and family. They hosted bible studies at their home with Melissa’s parents and a few other families they’d met at a local Nazarene church.

Melissa was pregnant again when God showed up in the form of preacher Marc B and he took over the Christian group. Marc was an old friend of Gary’s and from the stories of Marc’s introduction to the bible study, it’s likely Gary had been planning this overhaul since the homebased faith group began in Melissa’s living room. Marc B had been a deacon at a controversial church in Marshall, Texas with no connection to the “last frontier” outside of his bond with Gary. He seems to have arrived with aspirations of running a new religious enterprise he based on obscure Christian and Jewish teachings learned from the pastor who some say groomed him in Marshall.

Looks like Marc.

Ten years into her experience with The Body, Melissa had her sixth child, a baby girl. Her family was more tightly knit than ever. The underground “church” they were all members of was thriving too. The Body was accruing resources. Melissa’s husband Craig had brought more people to the organization after recruiting Chris C and Carrie C, a young couple with family assets from a packaging business owned by Chris’ father that would aid The Body. Others were joining the group as well. The Body ballooned to about 30 people. As it happened, some of the new members were in America on foreign visas.

Melissa’s youngest daughter and Craig at the fishing site.

A young woman from Australia named Katie Q had arrived after being introduced through a friend she met while attending a Christian college in Colorado. Soon after she committed to Marc’s teachings, Katie convinced her parents to move from Australia to Alaska too so that they could see the truth of the “prophet” for themselves. By then, everyone on the inside was devoted to the man Gary had introduced to Nikiski on a level beyond ordinary Christian faith. From the leader’s own “scripture” we know that by the time Melissa had given birth to all her children, Marc was presenting himself as more than minister. The story is that the preacher knew God personally and he was actually the only way to know God on earth. To his flock, According to statements from former members who’ve discussed the topic openly, Marc B was seen as Christ in the flesh. Around the time Marc began declaring his own prophecies, the group had pooled their money together for land that leadership proclaimed to be an opportunity to grow the church. Members were giving up their savings and trusting Gary P to fulfill Marc’s version of Zion in Alaska while believing leadership would also be providing a financial return on investment from income the oceanside property could produce.

It was at the point when The Body had gained some financial independence that Marc was going on 40 day fasts in a yurt on the land. One former member has referred to the property that housed the yurt as “Sought Out,” which also happens to be the name of a religious corporation leadership once owned. Marc claimed to have ascended to heaven on one fast. On the next, in 2014, he claimed to have literally gone to hell and taken back all that was “defiled” from Satan. These supernatural journeys created the basis for what’s been seen as the most destructive aspects of an alleged cult that’s been said to have devastated the lives of virtually everyone devoted to Marc B and The Body. Leadership made big swings after that.

The Body was full of families who were married before ever becoming members, which wasn’t always in Marc’s best interest. This would become a serious obstacle for the families after God supposedly spoke to Marc and gave him instructions to end all “earthly covenants,” which is on tapes some of Marc’s supporters believe have been doctored. In the group, state issued marriages were essentially rendered meaningless in the eyes of God. From the outside there appears to have been a plan in motion when reflecting on this “prophecy.” The timing happened to be remarkably favorable for leadership. Both Marc and Gary were having affairs with women from the “church.”

A drawing of Katie, the Australian connection. Art by Loserhands.

There was another woman in The Body named Leanne D who Marc claimed was biblically relevant, and he began spending most of his time with her in 2014. The preacher (a formally educated bible student from the Nikiski area refers to as a “false prophet”) called Leanne, who is 20 years younger than him, “the bride of Christ.” Once, Marc supposedly healed Leanne and revived her from the brink of death in a “miracle” that many in the congregation claim to have seen in person and believed to be proof of Marc’s divine power.
The details of that story are medically unlikely in the extreme.

Some former members have indicated that Marc may have brought Leanne into leadership to help him perform a ritual known as “washing” that allegedly leads to members being molested by leadership. Leanne was all in, and she was the classic younger woman in the affair. That’s known. The problem was that Marc was married with three children and Leanne was married with two.

Leanne’s husband Jarrod had been devoted to Marc too, but it seems the braintrust at The Body wasn’t interested in keeping him around long after his wife had been anointed to biblical status in service of a man with obvious control over his followers. They were “sleeping together.” Leanne was kept. The husband and children were cast out and shunned. That’s what happened.

Looks like Leanne, AKA “Ruthie.”

When Jarrod got kicked out Marc told everyone on the inside it was because the apostate “had a demon” and “blasphemed the Holy Ghost.” This also comes up in recordings a judge allowed in court that some of Marc’s supporters claim was dubbed or otherwise faked. He instructed the group to sever all contact with Jarrod and his kids. Marc also unambiguously called for Jarrod’s death in conversations that were recorded at a mens meeting. Leanne was already using Marc’s last name before he was divorced, per court discovery. Marc’s daughter turned on her mother Lois after the ousting and made statements to a lawyer that indicated abuse after it came out (from Marc) that apparently mom had a demon too.

The only person Marc would listen to when it came to these decisions was Gary P, the man who introduced the “con artist” to Alaska in the first place, and Gary did nothing to stop the destruction of his own family. First, Gary divorced his wife Cathy, the biological mother of Melissa Parker. She had a demon too. Then Gary suggested that Melissa Parker, his stepdaughter, should leave her marriage. Before Melissa’s husband Craig was kicked out by leadership, which was recorded, Marc allegedly spoke openly with him about how he shouldn’t have a problem if he and Gary (Melissa’s stepdad) had sexual intercourse with Melissa, the mother of all six of the source’s children.

A documentary about The Body.

Nikiski is a sparsely populated town near the small city of Kenai. This is where the courthouse is located that everyone in the wide jurisdiction settles civil cases in. It’s been said that an employee in the Kenai records room noticed all the divorces coming from Nikiski at the same time seven years ago. She noticed that some of the people in these cases were related. The clerk told a few civilians about this strange boom in separations involving supposed members of a Christian bible group. At that point, the investment property was full of tents and yurts. There was even a small house on the land built by members in the construction business. You can see an authentic teepee that once housed a husband and wife with five children on a video that surfaced on YouTube. Before Craig said anything to the press, there were rumors.

The teepee on the compound, YouTube.

Craig tried to save his marriage with Melissa Parker. She was his wife of 20 years, his best friend. She was the mother of his six children. However, Craig maintains he couldn’t have any kind of constructive conversation with her about their family. Melissa had been told that Craig had a demon. It’s remarkable how many “demons” were running around in Nikiski by the start of 2015.

There would be no reconciliation. After nearly 20 years of marriage, Melissa filed for divorce. Before long, Melissa would take her youngest children and leave to stay at another member’s house. Gary P fired Craig, his son-in-law, from the fishing job that was his only real source of income. Melissa would make statements in court that indicated she drained the joint bank account to pay off company bills when that subject came up.

Craig became increasingly desperate. Melissa wanted full custody of the kids and Craig felt very strongly that the group wasn’t an environment conducive to raising children. Behind the scenes, Marc and Gary had seemingly prepared some blackmail on Craig to aid in Melissa’s divorce case. Craig became a “predator” through word of mouth to those who supported the “church” and when Melissa took the stand in her divorce case, she indicated that her husband had been raping the kids. It’s known this was after being shown an unsettling police report from 2000 in a case involving her husband that had been dismissed, but what Melissa said when she spoke under oath was much different than anything in the report and the adult children don’t believe what their mother claimed to reflect their experiences in any way. It’s possible Melissa knew well that the stories she told in court were fabricated, if they were fabricated. It’s possible God told her to say what she said and Gary participated.

Melissa and Craig had six kids and the divorce quickly became a messy situation. In court, dad said mom was in a cult; mom said dad was a child molester. It was a bizarre case that would include a parade of alleged cult members taking the witness stand.

Notes from a divorce.

It seems as though Craig got it worse than the rest of the four adult exiles in 2014 and 2015, even though there are no happy stories among them. This was apparently due in part to Craig talking to a reporter at the local newspaper about his experience. For three hours Craig described The Body in detail. He was open about what he claimed to be the ritual of “washing” and described leadership stripping him naked and molesting him. He told the reporter he’d done some research into cults online that opened his eyes to what he’d been a part of for the past 12 years. He told stories about how he’d been exploited.

Craig also told a story during the interview alleging that, before he was kicked out, Marc convinced him to go to the local police station and report himself for the thoughts he had while masterbating, which sounds like the kind of “thought crime” Marc allegedly looks for in a ritual called “repentance” that other former members have claimed was all about blackmailing targets. Some believe the incident at the police station was “brainwashing” for the sake of creating a record useful to Melissa Parker in the custody case that Craig didn’t understand he’d ever have to fight. As you might imagine law enforcement didn’t take Craig seriously or detain him for any crime. Looking into Craig’s 30 years of records in Alaska, the chief offense he’s been guilty of is driving without a seatbelt.

When Marc found out Craig was speaking out and talking about what was going on in The Body on record, Marc fought back with what some would call “smear tactics” and others believe was as simple as alerting locals to a child predator. Members of the group started posting on Facebook that Craig was abusing kids. Marc went on a message board and referred to an apostate, who it’s safe to assume was Craig, as an “active child molester.” Katie Q, the first Australian in the group, used connections at a local radio station to influence a story against Craig that was eventually taken down by editorial. When Katie eventually was ousted from the group herself a few years later she referred to the story as “one of the cult’s tactics.” The newspaper article Craig was sourced for never came out.

In spite of efforts that could be seen as a means of silencing a victim, Nikiski is a small town and some of what Craig was saying in his defense leaked to neighbors who trusted he was telling the truth. The group was no longer the biggest secret in town.

A post from Marc B in 2015.

As Craig and Melissa’s divorce was moving through the system, judge Charles H had a vicious and complex dispute on his hands. If Craig was a child molester, he shouldn’t have the kids. If Melissa was in a destructive cult mixing sex and the bible, she shouldn’t have the kids. Grandma and Grandpa down the street weren’t an option. Grandpa remains a leader in The Body, and grandma was divorcing him after she was kicked out of the group and shunned by Melissa. The obvious resolution on the table may have been foster care at a certain point, but the case was resolved in a manner highly prefered by the actual children out of nowhere.

Ultimately, the judge wasn’t convinced Craig was abusing his kids. The case had dragged on with many witnesses and vastly different arguments before abruptly closing. Craig gave his lawyer recordings he had of Marc preaching about sex and calling for the death of an ex-member and after the the tapes were played in court a few times Melissa’s decision was settled regarding the defense The Body was openly paying for. Melissa would no longer have custody of any of her six children. Melissa signed over all parental rights and was then ordered to pay a hefty monthly child support bill.

Sources have indicated that Melissa abandoned her children to follow The Body to the end of the earth, but it’s worth considering how much the decision to pull the plug came from her own free will. Being the mother of six was Melissa’s entire world before Craig got kicked out.

Looks like Melissa, Ruthie, Marc, X, Gary, X.

After the custody battle was settled, Melissa held onto the youngest child, a two-year-old, at another member’s house, and kept the girl well past the date the she was legally supposed to be handed over to her father. Craig had a right to be concerned. There was fear Melissa might run and at the time, members of The Body seem to have been living in very cramped quarters to save money. It’s been alleged that members were packed in basements and garages. Address records do little to dispute those claims.

In addition to sharing the last days with her daughter under the roof of another family in The Body, she also happened to be roommates with the young Australian woman, Katie Q, who had convinced her parents to come to America for God. By then, Katie’s father, Peter Q, had become an elder in the “church.” Katie’s mother was concerned about the group and Marc B, which led to another divorce. From the sounds of it, the episode left the former Mrs. Q shunned in an extreme environment thousands of miles from home. 

According to Craig, on the day Melissa finally handed over his two-year-old daughter, the delivery was totally unexpected. The story is that Melissa left the toddler in the driveway of the home she raised all her children in, and that she did it in silence. Melissa apparently left a box containing toys and medication next to the car seat the child was in. Then she left without knocking on the door. That moment, seven years ago, was the last time Melissa saw any of her six children.

Looks like Melissa with the 2-year-old left behind.

According to sources, The Body started planning their first migration at the time when divorces were getting settled and rumors were intensifying in Nikiski about a “cult” that was believed to hold nude ceremonies where members genitals were “washed.” Marc and Gary were some of the first to go on the pilgrimage. Leanne D joined in the beginning too, but she had changed her name to Ruthie B, which regardless of the intention, has made it more difficult to trace her roots back to the family she left behind.

Two parcels of land owned by members were sold for well over a million dollars each before the exit from Alaska was complete. What money from the sales didn’t go to Gary’s ex-wife in his divorce left the group with a lot of money that never made it back to investors who’d been dispatched. When the nearly 1.5 million dollar property was purchased on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, few noticed the group had split the scene in Alaska, and no one in the Pacific island chain knew anything about the stories floating around Nikiski.

Nikiski to Kauai

Melissa Parker was one of the members with a commitment back home that prevented her from joining the rest of the newly flush-with-cash “church” on the beach. Per Melissa’s divorce, she had child support payments north of a thousand dollars a month, but she was allowed to defer them in an agreement with the court so long as she attend a college program that would allow her practical access to the means necessary to make payments in the future. Melissa likely survived on an allowance from her stepfather during her time in school. He’d provided for her in the past.

Melissa was stuck in Alaska while separated from her church, family and children during the first migration. It seems like she didn’t have much of a choice as she was attached to a hefty monthly fee and would create state documents wherever she went. At the same time, Marc and Gary were renting P.O. Boxes in a tropical paradise but otherwise keeping their names off of records that would connect them to property or leave financial traces behind.

Looks like Katie Q in Hawaii next to a horse.

Kauai is still something of a mystery. The group was primarily centered on the island for over two years, but they had become even more reclusive than they were in Nikiski. It’s known that during this time there was a minor whose family orchestrated a flight for them to get back to Alaska and away from The Body and Marc. There are a few vague phone recordings describing island life from a member that were made while they were in Kauai. It’s known they became “sovereign citizens” during this period. A few Facebook pictures have survived. There’s not much.

The group left Hawaii in 2018 on the next pilgrimage. There are rumors the local religious community in Kauai more or less pushed them out of the territory, but those stories have yet to be substantiated.

Postcard.

Rural and red northeastern Washington with hundreds of acres of mountainside property makes logical sense as the destination The Body wound up in next. Marc B and Gary P are both from Washington and the area is a great place to aquire large parcels of land, where people are generally left alone, religious freedom is firmly protected, and “sovereign citizen” concepts won’t ruffle too many feathers.

Tonasket likely wasn’t chosen for the quality of it’s schools or the nightlife it has to offer. It’s a town without its own police force where land can be flipped without nosey neighbors asking questions about a compound someone might build, if that were their desire.

In the fall of 2018, the first properties were purchased in cash. Construction began with more ambitious projects than had been conceived during The Body’s previous ventures. Permanent structures were favored over tents and teepees. Horses were acquired. Building permits were allegedly ignored.

Marc has written about Zion in some of his “scripture” and it seems very possible that the new Tonasket land was plotted out with the concept of Zion in mind. It seems as though there were just a few items that needed attention before the house was in order.

Random YouTube Rip

By the time The Body showed up in Tonasket, there was an established “SovCit” philosophy in place with the potential to “restock the pond” when it came to membership. Theoretically. Some members realigned themselves in the Pacific Northwest a few hours from Tonasket in moves that may have been strategic for a group that’s had its cover blown before. There were a few roster shake ups made between the time The Body left Alaska and when they established themselves in Tonasket too. Some long standing members met unceremonious exits.

A man named Ted R who’d been in the group for almost its entire history and supposedly made the largest individual financial contributions was shown the door as his wife stayed in the group with one of his children. Property records indicate Ted signed over assets to his wife before his exit, which has the potential to explain how members of The Body with long-lapsed employment histories have been able to acquire so much property in cash and then pay for improvements to significantly sway values. In Ted’s story, there’s family separation.

Carrie C was of no use. She left two children behind when she met her exit and they took years to recover. Police records explain that her youngest was gifted to another couple in the group, astonishingly enough. In Carrie’s story, there’s family separation.

Katie Q, the young Australian, seems to have lost the value she provided in other environments. She was kicked out. Her marriage was over. Her father Peter Q, an elder in The Body, stayed in and severed contact with his daughter. In Katie’s story, there is family separation.

Observing the state of this group while it’s core made strides in Washington and the calendar flipped to 2019, it appeared the operation had never been in such an advantageous position. No one in the area knew their history. The story that they were in a group that was all about liberty seemed to check out. Tonasket was off to a tremendous start.

The problem was back in Alaska where Melissa Parker was seriously falling behind on child support payments and may have been disgruntled with her position as a lone wolf representative left in the dust. It might’ve seemed wise for leadership to simply cut bait with Melissa, as they appear to have done so many times in the past, however, you can imagine why Gary, Melissa’s stepfather, would want to avoid that outcome. What if Melissa was less of a liability and on a mission somewhere “safe” where the tab she was racking up for the very real costs of raising children would just be secret a foreign government wouldn’t pay any attention to…

Remote Control

A source in Tonasket was interviewed about his experience with Marc and Gary this spring. He’d spent time on the exclusive new land. He’d been to “church” meetings. He had established relationships with members and openly defended a man who called called his children “property” while they were removed from his care by police as “a good dad.” He confirmed their were members he’d seen on the property who said they lived hours from Tonasket. He knew how they all communicated with each other. The source seemed pretty well plugged in to current affairs.

At the same time, he’d never heard the group referred to as “The Body” before. He seemed to trust a story he heard about Marc retiring wealthy that included an anecdote about his path to riches being paved with a trucking career in which he set national records for miles driven. Another story Marc apparently told this source about his money included a detail about God blessing him with so much that he’d given away 30 cars to people in need with the knowledge that God would simply return the money later. The source wasn’t at all clear who Melissa and Peter were or that there was a mission “down under.” He was confused by that story. What was most stunning about the interview was that the source knew all about Craig, Melissa’s ex husband who’s been raising six children by himself for the last seven years.

Gary had shown off screenshots of text messages he claimed were from Craig about an inability to resist child molestation. The source had no context what a “Nikiski” was or for who Craig was. He knew Craig was an enemy who’d been kicked out because he was a bad man. The question that led to some consternation was, “if it’s real, why did a judge award custody of six kids to this monster?” Also, why would a man of God like Gary P fail to report this to police in the scenario where the confession is legitimate. Seven years. Melissa is Gary’s stepdaughter. The kids are his grandchildren.

Drawing of Peter Q by Melbourne artist Loserhands.

A source in Tumut claims that Gary was with Melissa when she arrived in Australia. It’s unclear if Melissa had any idea if the trip to see Peter Q would be anything more than a two week vacation as she didn’t arrive with a visa or the kinds of items you might bring for an extended stay. There was no official ceremony. When the paperwork was finalized Gary got on a plane and flew back to Washington.

Melissa Parker is married to the second biggest liability to The Body, who she eclipses by an eyelash. Peter, who’s old enough to be Melissa’s father, sticks out like a sore thumb, even in Australia. He’s in charge of the couple’s missionary work from what sources in Tumut have said.

The picture that’s been painted locally is of an odd married couple without much of a backstory joining churches in town, attend events, and speaking of a prophet who showed them the true way of God. From a few sources most curious about Peter and Melissa, there’s an impression young families are most often their targets. This sounds like something out of a B-movie, but a source who was able to produce an email from Peter explaining theology that bears an uncanny resemblance to previously obtained “scripture” from The Body says the micro-group was meeting for “church” at two o’clock in the morning.

When concerned congregants began communicating with members of other churches in the area and were able to relay stories about the strange, half-American duo who really wanted to get coffee and talk about the true word of God, it wasn’t long before the mission went underground. From the lack of updates in Tumut, one could assume the public facing stage of the Australian chapter is closed. Not that the mission is all that likely to end anytime soon.

Melissa owes between 40-50 thousand dollars in child support, which is a crime in America, and the penalty now has to be considered when imagining any scenario involving her making it out of Australia. Add God’s will to the equation and the calculous gets ever more complicated. How would anyone recover from this?

Tumut

“So yeah, so we suspect that Marc just didn't want Peter on the scene anymore. Didn't know how to handle him because of his Australian quirks. What was his role in the group? He didn't have one. I think Peter is a liability to Marc and that [Marc’s] glad Peter's in Australia. We thought Peter might've been sent out as like a missionary. And I think Peter thinks he's been sent out like a missionary to start a new branch here in Australia. But they just wanted to get Peter off the scene. They didn't know how to handle Peter and his Australianess. And I think also the reason Melissa is here is because they just wanted to get her off the scene as well, because she owed money to Craig, because she was a bit of a liability as well. They wanted to move her to a place where she would be completely out of the way.”

That’s the opinion of Tumut resident Paul Wallace who claims to have become suspicious of Melissa and Peter when they tried to recruit him and his wife after church a few years ago. Paul knew the names of the key players and brought up “liabilities” after doing a tremendous amount of sourced research for himself. He started with small details like Alaska, the name Parker, and some very outdated content from Peter’s public Facebook page. It should be mentioned that Paul Wallace has watched Peter and Melissa interact in person on multiple occasions and it wasn’t the scandalous age difference that led him to spend hours upon hours mining Google before he landed on a social media profile for a Nikiski, Alaska resident containing family photos of children with red hair who all resemble their mother. The mystery went deeper. Paul’s wife was unsettled when she noticed Peter had placed an online ad in a local buy, sell, trade group about a child’s car seat he was selling.

When Paul Wallace confronted Peter and Melissa about what he was hearing from people in America about their “church” the couple quickly produced documents they insisted proved a man on the other side of the world was abusing children. It would be an understatement to suggest Paul was in disbelief. A word that came up when Melissa was discussed: “hostage.” Paul recalled hearing his wife use the same word when she described one-on-one interactions with Melissa. The feeling was that even when the couple are apart, The Body is omnipresent.

It’s possible that there’s been a serious misunderstanding, that Melissa is in love with Peter, that this life was her choice, and everyone sourced is unreliable for one reason or another. It’s fair to say more questions need to be asked.

When does the mission return? Is there really a mission at all? What is The Body’s stance on eternity?