ÚNASE A NOSOTROS EL 20 Y 21 DE MAYO PARA LA CONFERENCIA DE RESTORE

María
De Muth

escocés
McKnight

Screenshot 2023-01-13 at 1.50.18 PM

Naghmeh
panahi

Reportando la Verdad.
Restauración de la Iglesia.

Woman Claims Mike Bickle Sexually Abused Her When She Was 14

Por Julie Roys
mike bickle woods
Mike Bickle preaches at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City in Feb. 2023 (Source: Video Screengrab)

A Michigan woman is accusing International House of Prayer founder Mike Bickle of sexually abusing her 43 years ago, when she was 14 and Bickle was pastoring a church in St. Louis, the Kansas City Star reported.

The woman, Tammy Woods, told the Star that Bickle began abusing her in the early 1980s, when he was the pastor of South County Christian Fellowship, where her family attended, and Woods was Bickle’s babysitter.

According to Woods, Bickle’s abuse began with kissing, but progressed to fondling and Bickle moving on top of her “until he released.”

Woods, who’s using her maiden name, is the second woman to tell her story of alleged abuse by Bickle to the media.

The primary alleged victim, “Jane Doe,” told her story exclusively para El Informe Roys (TRR) last November, and weeks later, the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) permanently separated from Bickle. Doe claimed Bickle used prophecy to sexually abuse her from 1996—1999 and said the abuse included everything but intercourse.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Healing What’s Within” by Chuck DeGroat. To donate, haga clic aquí.

mike bickle
Mike Bickle preaches in an undated photo. (Photo: social media)

Similarly, Woods told the Star her abuse never included intercourse.

However, she said she wanted to make something clear, given a report of IHOPKC’s third-party investigation, which published last week. That report stated that Bickle admitted he had sexual contact with another woman in 2002—2003 but claimed it involved “her touching me but not me touching her.”

“He did touch me,” Woods told the Star. “And so he moved my hand to touch him sexually. And he did touch me in return.”

Woods also told the Star that Bickle told her that he believed his wife Diane would die and “we could be together”—something Doe reported that Bickle had told her, as well. However, unlike Doe’s account, Woods said Bickle never said God had told him that.

Woods, who’s now a mother and grandmother, told the Star that she stayed silent all these years because she believed she was Bickle’s only victim. However, after reading the details of Doe’s abuse, she said she could no longer stay silent.

“Holy mackerel, I was duped,” Woods recalled thinking. “The parallels took my breath away. Literally.”

Last week, Woods told her husband, her pastor, and some family members about the abuse, the Star said. She also reportedly filed a report with the St. Louis police.

TRR has filed a request for the report from St. Louis police but has not yet received it.

Woods said she hopes that by speaking out, she will help “others to find their voice” and realize they “don’t want to have a life sentence of shadows and lies. We don’t want to be given a script, like we can be manipulated as some pawns.”

TRR reached out to Bickle via email for comment but did not hear back.

We also reached out to IHOPKC for comment. IHOPKC directed us to its attorney, Audrey Manito, for comment, who did not immediately respond.

However, Manito stated in an email to the Star that IHOPKC did not know about Woods’ allegations until contacted by a Star reporter. Manito added, “Information coming from another individual claiming to be a victim of sexual misconduct by Mike Bickle, remains a deeply disturbing theme.”

She added, “We note that while the timeframe of the claimed misconduct is more than 40 years ago, and decades before IHOPKC was even in existence, the claim still resonates, and even much louder so, because it is the claim of an individual who was a minor at the time.”

Manito said IHOPKC immediately reported the new information to Rosalee McNamara, who conducted the investigation into allegations regarding Bickle for IHOPKC.

Abuse started with babysitting

Woods told the Star that she met Bickle at a potluck at a church member’s home in St. Louis in the 1980s. Bickle reportedly asked Woods how old she was and was surprised to discover she was only 14. He then reportedly asked her if she’d be open to babysitting his two sons, who were both younger than 2 at the time.

Woods began watching the Bickles’ kids on Monday nights, when the couple regularly went on dates, as well as other times, the Star reported. Bickle also began mentoring Woods in spiritual things. And Woods said she began “coming alive in those things and wanting a relationship with the Lord.”

Bickle also reportedly began providing rides for Woods and her sister and befriending her parents, as well.

One time, when Bickle and Woods were alone in the car, Bickle reportedly pulled over and asked Woods if she had feelings for him. Woods told the Star that she nodded in reply and then Bickle said he had feelings for her too.

At Bickle’s request, Woods said she started calling him from a pay phone at school during her lunch hour. Bickle also began physical involvement, embracing Woods and playing with her hair, Woods said.

Then, at Woods’ home one Saturday morning, when no one else was around, Bickle kissed Woods “like a man kisses a woman,” Woods told the Star. The physical activity then reportedly progressed to fondling and other sex acts.

After every sexual encounter, Bickle was remorseful and sometimes repented in tears, asking for forgiveness, Woods said.

Despite this, the sexual encounters reportedly continued. And Woods said Bickle told her that if they were ever caught, she’d have to “own” it since he was a father and had a ministry.

Then, in 1983, Bickle moved to Kansas City from St. Louis, which devastated Woods. Yet Woods told the Star she had “made a vow to him” that she “would cover him in love to the grave.”

Woods and Bickle remained in contact throughout her high school and college years, Woods said. In 1988, Woods got married and Bickle didn’t attend because he reportedly said it would be too painful. But Bickle’s wife and sons attended, Woods told the Star, adding that Bickle called in tears the morning of her wedding “to bless me.”

The two stayed in touch during the following years, and Bickle even spoke at Woods’ St. Louis church in 1993, the Star reported.

But in 1996, while staying with Woods’ family during a trip, Bickle reportedly told Woods that they needed to completely cut things off. Once again, Woods said she felt devastated but told the Star it also forced her to “really seek the Lord.”

At about the same time as this conversation, Bickle allegedly began an inappropriate relationship with Jane Doe in Kansas City.

Several years later, in 1999, Bickle launched IHOPKC.

Then, in 2001, Bickle visited St. Louis to discuss launching a house of prayer there, and Woods said that their relationship had changed. She now had three children, who referred to Bickle as “Uncle Mike,” the Star reported. And Woods said she believed she and Bickle could be distant friends and co-laborers in a similar ministry.

“I felt this is a beautiful story of redemption and how wrong things are made right,” Woods told the Star.

Others see red flags

The Star spoke with several of Woods’ family members and her childhood best friend, Barbie Thompson, who all reported seeing red flags in Woods’ relationship with Bickle over the years.

Thompson told the Star that when Bickle and Woods became friends, Woods changed and became like Bickle’s wife, Diane, “speaking like Diane” and dressing like her.

diane mike
Mike Bickle (right) speaks with his wife, Diane, at the International House of Prayer Kansas City in Grandview, Missouri. (Photo: Facebook)

Thompson also said that Bickle would visit Woods at school, meeting her at her locker. People would whisper about Bickle being Woods’ boyfriend, Thompson told the Star, “And I’d be like . . . ‘No it’s a creepy preacher.’”

Thompson said she tried to talk with Woods about Bickle but Woods was not willing. Then, on Monday night, Woods reportedly called Thompson and said she wouldn’t protect Bickle anymore.

Similarly, Wood’s aunt, Rochelle Woods, told the Star that she felt something was wrong with Bickle’s relationship with Woods from the beginning. Rochelle Woods added that her mother once told her that she saw Bickle put his hand on Tammy Woods’ bottom and “was livid.”

Tammy Woods’ younger sister, Susan Claridge, also told the Star that she believed her sister’s relationship with Bickle was “off.”

Claridge said her sister would talk to Bickle on the phone, moving into another room for privacy. Claridge added that she once saw Bickle grab her sister’s leg and rub her thigh.

But Claridge noted that back then, “you trusted preachers.” Plus, she said Bickle not only groomed her sister, he also groomed her parents, playing racquetball with her dad and coming to the house for dinner.

Like Thompson, Claridge said she recalled her sister mimicking how Diane Bickle dressed and looked.

Claridge also said she remembered her sister being devastated when Bickle moved to Kansas City. “It was the way that you would be if you were in love with somebody who up and left,” Claridge told the Star.

IHOPKC bickle report
Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Mo., “likely” abused his power and had sexual contact with a second victim, report finds. (Photos: IHOPKC / Courtesy image)

Claridge said her parents eventually recognized that her sister had feelings for Bickle. Her mother wrote Bickle a letter, telling him to stay away from her sister, and her father drove to Kansas City and told Bickle to “leave Tammy alone,” Claridge said.

Over the years, Claridge said she tried to talk with her sister about her concerns with Bickle, but Woods wasn’t willing.

In 2012, Claridge wrote a novel, called “House of Lies,” about a woman who tried to rescue her sister from a cult. It published around the same time that Bethany Deaton, who was part of a group that had moved to Kansas City to join IHOPKC, was murdered.

en un declaración, Claridge said IHOPKC was one of five groups “with cult-like tendencies” that she studied when researching her book, but added that the book was fiction.

According to the Star, Tammy Woods called Claridge two weeks ago to tell her about the allegations against Bickle. Claridge said Woods told her that Bickle was lying, but at the time, denied that Bickle had abused her.

However, on Monday, Woods reportedly called Claridge and told her the truth, which Claridge said was a “huge relief.”

Turning point

Woods told the Star that she first learned of the new allegations against Bickle in October. That’s when Woods’ supervisor at her church in Michigan, where Woods oversees a prayer room, called Woods and informed her of serious allegations against Bickle.

Woods said she then texted Bickle three question marks. He reportedly texted back that people were saying false things about him.

Woods told the Star that Bickle also told her that if she wanted to make a statement, “you can just tell them . . . he’s the godliest man.”

Then, Woods said she read Jane Doe’s account of Bickle’s abuse, which was eerily similar to her own story. Woods then realized she had been “duped.”

Woods told the Star that Bickle started texting her more frequently and even showed her the statement he released in December, admitting an inappropriate relationship with Doe.

mike bickle confess inappropriate
On Dec. 12, 2023, Mike Bickle, founder of International House of Prayer Kansas City, confessesd to “inappropriate behavior” 20 years ago. (Photo: Mike Bickle App)

Woods said she realized that in the past when Bickle had reached out, it had been during difficult times in her life when he needed to make sure she didn’t “crack” and tell her story.

According to the Star, Woods decided to come forward because, in the past six weeks, she had lied to three loved ones who had asked her direct questions about what had happened with Bickle.

“This chafes my soul to live as a liar,” Woods told the Star. “It’s not who I am. And I thought, ‘I can’t do this.’ And then I realized he’s doing this to these younger women . . . all of them.”

Woods added, “Nobody can control the narrative of your life. No matter how dark the chapters are, they don’t define you.”

Woods said she’s now told her story to her pastors. She’s also retained Attorney Boz Tchividjian, who’s representing the primary Jane Doe and others, as her legal counsel. And she’s reported her case to police, though she said she doesn’t expect much due to the statute of limitations.

Alleged Jane Does affirm their denials

In response to Woods’ story, several women, who were alleged to be Jane Does but denied abuse by Bickle, affirmed their denials.

The “Jane Doe Group” today posted on X: “We want to reiterate, in light of Tammy’s allegation statement ‘and then i (sic) realized he’s doing this to these younger women…all of them’” that we are not Mike Bickle’s victims. We have no comment on the allegations of other women, only that we are not among them.”

Included in the Doe group is IHOPKC worship leader, Executive Leadership Team member, and one-time Mike Bickle Products Director Misty Edwards.

On Oct. 31, when allegations about Bickle first surfaced, Edwards publicado en instagram that “in my personal experience (Bickle) has only been godly. . . . I have never been sexually or spiritually abused by Mike Bickle.”

Another one of the alleged victims is April Rose, who worked closely with Bickle for years as a researcher. Rose also posted a denial on social media on Oct. 31, stating that Bickle is “one of the purest if not the purest man I’ve ever gotten to know. . . . I have found him actually to have a childlike innocence that many people might misinterpret for something else because we live in such a pornified society.”

A third alleged victim is Catherine Slezinger, who likewise stated in a now-deleted Facebook post: “. . . I have found Mike to be upstanding in honor and laser focused on the assignment that God has given to him, operating with an intense fear of the Lord. These so called evidences, regarding my life experience, are manufactured and manipulated for the sake of someone else’s agenda . . .”

Julie Roys es una reportera de investigación veterana y fundadora de The Roys Report. Anteriormente, también presentó un programa de entrevistas nacional en Moody Radio Network, llamado Up for Debate, y ha trabajado como reportera de televisión para una filial de CBS. Sus artículos han aparecido en numerosas publicaciones periódicas. 

COMPARTIR ESTE:

¡OBTÉN ACTUALIZACIONES POR CORREO ELECTRÓNICO!

¡Manténgase en contacto con Julie y reciba actualizaciones en su bandeja de entrada!

No te preocupes, no te enviaremos spam.

Más para explorar
discusión

26 Respuestas

  1. Thanks for calling this out. Although Mike Bickle’s actions are in the past, it is the current leadership at IHOPKC that refused to commission a truly independent investigation, and is counting on bluster, rather than transparency to restore trust. IHOPKC needs to restore trust by practicing true transparency (aka glasnost) through a truly independent investigation, releasing all current and former staff from any non-disclosure agreements, and getting new leadership committed to restoring trust through transparency. IHOPKC is a good ministry, and I personally know people who interned there.

    1. I beg to differ about his actions being in the past. Within the last 3 months he reached out to Tammy to be sure she was gonna stay quiet. That makes the event that began 43 years ago a 43 years of gaslighting to keep his victim silent. That is how he’s done it. Kept them close as part of his coverup.

    2. It’s a strong assumption that Bickle’s actions are “in the past”. Powerful men who get away with this rarely stop before they’re caught. So I bet it comes out that he’s still doing this- the women just haven’t processed their abuse enough to come forward just yet.

  2. Mike Bickle is done…and IHOPKC might not be far behind. I feel terrible for these women, and pray that they have found justice and healing. And as for Mike…that he truly look into himself and realize what he’s done, and repent while there is time.

    1. Mike Bickle has had decades to repent and never found a compelling reason to do so. How could anyone ever trust that any repentance he claimed was real? Frequently, all these Evangelical Pastors have to do is tearfully play their Get Out Of Jail Free because of Jesus card and they are soon back in the saddle of their congregations.
      Mike Bickle has been leading a 24/7 PRAYER MINISTRY for many years and it has yet to have any effect on his interior life, we discover. So I’d save the energy of your prayers Mr Perez, for a worthier cause than Mike Bickle.

  3. I never cared for IHOPKC when my mother went there and when my former church hired their music leader from there. Just very unsettling feelings.
    But this revelation from Tammy Woods is the real shocker as it reminded me of my former spouse and the torment and sexual abuse she was put through starting in her early teen years from yet another self proclaimed man of God. This incredible evil power that the abuser has over the abused to keep their sexual secrets is astounding. My former spouse’s abuser went to his grave with his get out of jail free card keeping him from any trouble. His wife enabled the abuse and threw her own daughter to the whims of her husband/abuser making excuses for his horrific behavior.
    Sexual sin is in a category of its own. Fear of the Lord touches the abuser to some degree but they never stop. Just move around to other victims.

  4. For what it’s worth : Several years ago, a woman contacted me who had read my report on the End Time Handmaidens and Servants cult that I was in for about a decade. ( Click on my name to access the report.) She stated that she had left a group that was lead by a man who was a former member of IHOP-KC, and that there was much immorality in the group, AND that she had heard that other men who had left IHOP-KC were leading groups where there was much immorality also. Sorry this isn’t specific, but maybe others will come forward and share more stories of the “FRUIT” of this den of iniquity that is IHOP.

  5. It is not uncommon for an abuser to have relationships with other people who are not their victims. This helps them have a deceptive smoke screen of sorts.

  6. As a minister that ministers in the prophetic, where are the so-called prophets crying out for the victims and the body of Christ? Where are the ones who are weeping before the altar?

    Oh God, we need you! Take not your Holy Soirit from us. It is time for the house of God to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and run as fast as you can from prophetic predators.

    1. The self-proclaimed prophets stick together to both bolster each others ministries and popularity, and also as mouth pieces to loudly proclaim support and denial when one of them falls into a moral snare, And almost all of them do at one time or another. It’s built in when one sees themselves as a special agent of God, better and more holy than the rank-and-file.

    1. Michael, what in the world makes him a fine man given everything that’s been revealed about him. In the evangelical church, we have the unfortunate habit of equating verbal giftedness with character. I have been guilty of this myself on many occasions. They are not one in the same and we as a church are paying the price because of it. This cascading scandal is the fruit of his tree.

    2. Michael, this man’s behavior is vile. He’s a predator of the young – for his sexual gratification. He’s behaved in a despicable way towards his wife. He’s failed his congregation and the movement he once led. This is not a FINE man. Please understand the blinders that you are peeking out from.
      Understand also, that his former church is engaging in behaviors that mask this man’s guilt. There is yet to be accountability let alone repentance. Fine is nowhere to be found, dear man.

  7. Along with Greg commenting above: I find all this talk about his wife’s impending death to be one of the most evil and atrocious aspects of this whole affair. I wonder how Diane feels about this death wish? His “God told me my wife will die and we’ll be together” smacks of “witchcraft” (spiritually manipulating the future) more than “prophecy” (edification, exhortation, and comfort” says Paul). What a grevious betrayal of the heart of Christian marriage! I do feel sorry for the young woman featured in the story who came to feel “duped“ about the special place. She thought she held, and how long it took her to understand the sad truth of her situation.

  8. Where were the parents in all of this? Seem like a dude showing up at a girl’s locker, and touching her backside in the presence of others would have sent most parents over the edge!

  9. The “wife is going to die” comment is EXACTLY the line that the offshoot Mormon, Daybell, gave to Lori Vallow before her kids got killed

  10. Glad to see the comments show that people are finally, finally believing the evidence of these victims and their families. My hope is that the continual revelations will help thousands to find the strength to leave a system of pervasive thought control. “Empty the pews,” the hashtag that circulated when the ex-vangelical movement began, has given so many of us who spent years under the leadership of dominant, self-absorbed males whose main credentials were bullying, exaggeration, tale-weaving, prophetic nonsense, and personal charisma, brand new lives. It is almost impossible now to imagine sitting in a pew, listening to, believing–and giving dollars our families needed–to these charlatans.
    Thanks to all the brave victims and their families who are giving all of us hope–and the courage to speak out. There is a great life to be had–without religion and belief. Turns out life is far better trusting one’s own understanding–the opposite, in fact, of what we were told.

  11. Thank you for your journalism, Miss Roys. It has been me and my family’s go-to in this troubling time…We are in CA yet are deeply grieved by this scandal. Mike Bickle seemed to be a godly man who had a balance between theology and charismatic flow.

    We must not HAVE ANY ‘heroes’ in the faith. Preachers, teacher, prophets…they are humans and are fallible and capable of heinous acts, such as those that have been coming to light.

    BTW- I found a picture of Miss Woods. She looks like Diane. Guess he had a type :/

Deja una respuesta

El Informe Roys busca fomentar el diálogo reflexivo y respetuoso. Con ese fin, el sitio requiere que las personas se registren antes de comenzar a comentar. Esto significa que no se permitirán comentarios anónimos. Además, se eliminarán todos los comentarios con blasfemias, insultos y/o un tono desagradable.
 
Artículos MÁS RECIENTES
Artículos MÁS populares
es_MXSpanish

Donar

Hola. Vemos que este es el tercer artículo de este mes que ha encontrado que vale la pena leer. ¡Estupendo! ¿Consideraría hacer una donación deducible de impuestos para ayudar a nuestros periodistas a continuar informando la verdad y restaurar la iglesia?

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Healing What’s Within” by Chuck DeGroat.