My parents separated for the final time when I was 12 years old. Dad went Klamath Falls, Oregon and we stayed with Mom in Red Bluff, California. At this point, Dad was drinking and using cocaine heavily. He was near death when a friend took him to a compound in northern California called I’SOT. I’SOT stood for “In Search of Truth”. I remember the first time I visited him, he was so excited about their message. Their leader was a woman named Marie Tolbert. She claimed to be a prophet of God. I noticed right away that ISOT was very similar to the cult of Jim Jones. Marie controlled every aspect of the lives of those who lived there. But the Holy Spirit gives us who belong to him wisdom and discernment and even as a young girl of 13 or 14, I knew in my heart that Marie was a fraud. I can remember telling my Dad, “She isn’t a prophet! She uses the Lord’s name in vain!” And for all of you who know me well, you can imagine that I didn’t keep my mouth shut about my opinion.

I’SOT was a children’s home for the state of California. It was in the tiny town of Canby, California, 80 miles from Klamath Falls, Oregon. Many of the people who worked and lived at I’SOT were good people. They were just lost and looking for a purpose. But the leadership of I’SOT were wicked people and they made sure the others stayed in line.

I’SOT had a school, and then down the road was a row of houses, each holding about 30 people or so. House #1 was an old two story farm house with a huge attic. I stayed here on several occasions when we visited. Next door was Marie’s house. It was a nice trailer. I was called to an “audience” with her on a couple of occasions. It was intimidating meeting with her. I remember she instructed me to accept my dad’s new wife, whom she told me God had prophesied that he should marry.

My step mother was a girl of only 19, only 4 1/2 years old than I. She was good to me and we were quite close over the next 5 years, until I got married and moved to Indiana. She had been an abused child and had been placed at I’SOT by the state of California. She became one of Marie’s “daughters” and was elevated to a place of importance within the compound. However, that was only a tool for controlling her and if she stepped out of line, she and my dad were punished.

They left I’SOT when I was 17 years old, a few months after my baby sister was born. The prophet had instructed them that their daughter was going to be taken from them and raised by someone else. This was the breaking point. They left and moved to Ukiah, California to live with another couple who had also recently escaped.

I would find out, years later, about the child sexual abuse that took place at I’SOT. I truly believe that I was never abused because they knew they couldn’t keep me silent. I never had an issue with sharing my opinion; in this situation, I believe it saved me from great harm.

So what is truth, and how does it get twisted by Satan so badly? Most of the people at I’SOT were good people, trying to help the children who had been placed there by the state of California. 1 John 4:1-2 tells us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” Seems pretty simple; I knew even as a young girl of 13 years old that Marie was a FALSE prophet. No true prophet would swear and take Christ’s name in vain!

The people who found themselves at I’SOT, seeking truth, following Marie, believed they had found truth. Sadly, they had not and many of them suffered and their children suffered as a result. Saint Augustine said, “Where I found truth, there I found my God, who is the truth itself”. Place your trust in him alone and not in the words or power of man.