Newspaper Page Text
May 21, 2008
PAGE 7A
^Reporter
Cult
and kid were banned
because they were also
names for pagan gods.
They didn't celebrate
Christmas on Dec. 25
because of the date's asso
ciation with paganism. And
members of the cult were
required to turn over 30
percent of their income to
sect leaders.
Ariyl said this is how life
works inside the House of
Yahweh cult, founded by
Yisrayl Hawkins. Born as
Buffalo Bill Hawkins,
Hawkins started the House
of Yahweh in 1980 just
three years after he was
fired as an Abilene police
officer for having an open
beer in his patrol car. He
later moved the group to
rural Clyde, Texas so they
had room to celebrate
week-long Old Testament
feasts, according to the
Associated Press.
Before her family joined,
Ariyl said her mom sent
her to the compound as a
14-year-old to scout out the
House of Yahweh and see if
she liked it. "I told mom,
'this is what you're looking
for.'" So they moved into a
trailer at the House of
Yahweh compound and fell
under the teaching of
Yisrayl Hawkins. Ariyl said
for a kid it was fun at first,
with public showers for
everyone, bonfires at night
and long feasts. But the
dark side was evident too,
as the leaders began to
brainwash her family. Kids
are forced to work 14 hours
a day in the fields, the on
site slaughter house, print
ing press or cannery, and
couldn't play with toys. TV
was banned. Her parents
had to spend $120,000 to
store up seven years worth
of food for the tribulation,
the period of end-time suf
fering prophesied in the
Bible.
Women were forced to
wear long sleeves, long
dresses and veils. Women
and men sat on opposite
sides of the 1,200-seat
sanctuary, divided by an 8-
foot wall, and women
couldn't speak unless spo
ken to. And while cult lead
ers deny it, prosecutors
and Ariyl say the men took
up multiple wives.
In fact, when Ariyl was
17, she was given as a vir
gin bride to Yedidiyah
Hawkins, the No. 2 elder in
the House of Yahweh.
Yedidiyah Hawkins was
like a son to the founder
Yisrayl Hawkins, said
Ariyl, so it was a big deal.
A little more than a year
later, Ariyl gave birth to a
daughter, but not without
hardship. Ariyl had to be
rushed to the hospital
while giving birth and
almost died because the
House of Yahweh frowned
upon pre-natal care, or any
outside medical care. In
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fact, the House of Yahweh
is now under investigation
for the wrongful death of a
cult member and friend of
Ariyl's who died while giv
ing birth.
Even after birthing their
daughter, Sarah, Ariyl
could only see her husband
four times per month, and
not at all while she was
menstruating.
Later, Fuentes learned
that she wasn't Yedidiyah
Hawkins' only wife. She
said members were told
that polygamy was OK and
that if they didn't like it
they could leave, but would
be eternally damned. Still
just 20, she admits to lash
ing out in revenge by hav
ing a one-night stand of
her own. That led to the
birth of her second child, a
boy named Ben.
She and Hawkins also
had another daughter,
Ruby.
Meanwhile, since House
of Yahweh members had to
support themselves, Ariyl
went to work at the Pizza
Hut in Abilene. There she
met Phillip Fuentes.
Phillip said he had no idea
what the House of Yahweh
was and couldn't believe
what members tolerated.
"How could people live
there?" he remembers
thinking.
But he liked Ariyl, and in
October 1999 he helped
her make the decision to
leave. A co-worker agreed
to let her have an apart
ment she had vacated and
Ariyl cut her ties with
House of Yahweh.
Members of the cult, even
members of her own fami
ly, shunned her. Her moth
er never accepted her after
she left, she says. She had
to fight to get custody of
her two daughters, Ruby
and Sarah, from her par
ents. And her son has
refused to leave the com
pound. Her dad died in
2003 and mom died in
January.
Phillip Fuentes has fami
ly in Thomaston so the
couple married and settled
in Forsyth, between his
work in McDonough and
family in Thomaston.
Sarah is now 14 and
attends Banks Stephens
Middle School, and Ruby is
at T.G. Scott. Ariyl said
Sarah gets confused some
times trying to understand
what's happened with her
father, Yedidiyah Hawkins,
who's now in the national
news facing charges of
bigamy, sexual abuse and
welfare fraud. Ruby doesn't
remember much about the
House of Yahweh, said
Ariyl. Her son, Ben,
remains in the House of
Yahweh.
Things started to unravel
for the cult in February,
when authorities charged
Yisrayl Hawkins, the
group's 73-year-old leader,
with performing polyga
mous weddings and forcing
about 40 children - some
as young as 11 - to work
at his 44-acre compound.
With legal troubles encir
cling them, some authori
ties in Texas fear Hawkins
will lead his group to a
tragic end like David
Koresh, who urged his
Branch Davidian followers
to set their compound on
fire and kill themselves in
1993, when federal author
ities tried to end a 51-day
siege. Survivors blame the
deaths on federal agents.
Concerned about a simi
lar confrontation, police did
not arrest Hawkins until
nearly three months after
obtaining the warrant,
when they spotted him
driving through town.
Bail was initially set at
$10 million, partly because
of a perceived threat in a
sermon.
"I'm not asking much out
of you; I'm just asking that
you be willing to die rather
than leave this house,"
Hawkins told his congrega
tion in November.
It's another reason Ariyl
said she's glad she got out.
She said she met David
Koresh one time because
Hawkins admired and
insisted on meeting with
him.
Fuentes said she's now
helping Callahan County
District Attorney Shane
Deel prosecute her ex-hus
band, the No. 2 leader
Yedidiyah Hawkins, for
polygamy.
When the lawyer for
House of Yahweh was on
"Nancy Grace" on CNN
last week, arguing that
that leaders never prac
ticed polygamy, she just
had to laugh.
"That's a crock!" she said,
It's taken her nine years
but she said she's finally
healing some and learning
to trust again. Her chil
dren have gotten involved
at Maynard Baptist
Church and in February,
convinced her to attend
church for the first time in
almost a decade. She said
she's found the pastor, the
Rev. Marvin Lee, to be a
refreshing change from the
controlling leaders she was
used to. At House of
Yahweh, she said she
learned to view God as the
meanest, most evil dad she
knew.
"I told my husband, if he
says anything about fire
and brimstone, I'm leav
ing," Ariyl recalls saying
before their first visit. "But
he wasn't yelling and bang
ing on the podium and I
thought, 'I could really lis
ten to him.'"
Her past beliefs made her
flinch, though, when Lee
announced in his South
Georgia drawl how happy
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continued from page 1A
he is that he can eat BBQ
sandwiches since the Old
Testament prohibition
against pork no longer
applies. So she did what
she could never do at
House of Yahweh, she
approached the pastor
about it. He invited her to
sit down in his office to
talk, another thing never
allowed in Abilene, and she
says she learned how
Christ's mercy has
replaced the Old
Testament law. She asked
about the tithe, and Lee
assured her that God
wanted her to give freely,
and that she wouldn't be
kicked out of the church no
matter what she gave.
"I said, 'Holy crap, a
leader of a church who's
not demanding half my
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