Last week, a Michigan woman came forward with a bombshell story, accusing International House of Prayer Founder Mike Bickle of sexually abusing her, beginning when she was 14. Now, that woman, identified by her maiden name Tammy Woods, has released the following letter, addressed to Mike (and Diane) Bickle.
Woods said she wrote the letter on Jan. 30, after realizing she could no longer keep the alleged abuse secret. Woods told The Roys Report (TRR) that she never sent the letter. But the process of writing it was cathartic, and eventually helped her come forward to her pastors, lawyer Boz Tchividjian, police, and the Kansas City Star. Woods’ sister contacted TRR this morning, asking if we would publish the letter, showing her sister’s “heart and her appeal to make things right.” After confirming with Woods that that was her wish, we agreed.
January 30, 2024
Dear Mike (and Diane) Bickle,
With the conclusion of our church’s 21-day fast and season of earnestly seeking the heart of God, it is with a heavy heart and sober mind that I now enter the arena. Please know, it’s been a long time and long struggle coming.
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I send this letter not as a threat, power play or in a spirit of vindictiveness as a woman scorned; rather as an appeal to you to meet me in the arena and responsibly own bygone chapters of the story. I understand that you asked my forgiveness decades ago and even as recently as this past fall, and I indeed forgave you with all of my heart; even helping you in the present crisis in the spirit of Proverbs 17:17. I made a vow in my young heart to cover you all the days of my life, because I believed you when you took initiative to right the ship and cut things off for the sake of righteousness and those we love. Though I felt utterly abandoned by you at 16 years old, I believed you and I resolved to take those chapters of the story to the grave. For 43 years I have done just that and I have covered you in love.
In 1996, as a young mom, you gave me an anguishing final goodbye endeavoring to never speak with me again. For the sake of all that is right and true, I agreed with you and I dove headlong into the Word of God, where Jesus began the tedious and tender process of piecing my shattered heart and identity back together and grounding me in His love. For five years I did not speak with you, as the Lord held my heart and drove my roots deep into His. It was only when you returned to St. Louis in 2001 that our lines of communication opened again; this time surrounding the House of Prayer. Seeing you again reopened old wounds, but my roots were deep by then and I was anchored firmly in the Lord’s love and strength. From that time on, we were able to engage as distant friends and co-laborers in the prayer movement. I had great respect for and admiration of who you emerged to be and all that the Lord was accomplishing in and through you. I was deeply grateful for your tangible help in my own personal storms of life and ministry, as well as the Lord’s overarching redemptive work and protective covering. I loved that my children affectionately called you “Uncle Mike”. We made it! . . . or so I thought.
This past fall, however, everything changed, though not immediately. Initially I refused to believe anything that was said against you because I had an altogether different frame that no one but Jesus could see or understand. I knew personally your moral failure and wrestle and repentance when I was just 14 years old. I knew your gratitude to the Lord first and foremost and to me for a clean slate and second chance. This is where I thought we left off. And in the personal pursuit of Jesus’ healing, sans professional counseling or the confidence of another human being, I vehemently covered you in love. Therefore, no human being was more defiant in the face of the accusations against you than I. I knew the gift you had been given and I was confident you would never squander that before the Lord.
In all these years, no one has inquired into my past with you (save for my sister’s insinuations and open confrontations against IHOPKC.). The more wholeness I gained in heart and the more notoriety you gained in being a godly and generous man, the further we journeyed from those dark chapters. It would have remained so to the grave just as I vowed, had I not read (REDACTED)’s detailed victim statement. The parallels took my breath away as I realized I had the screen play to her feature film. I told this to you. Even still, at your own confession of misconduct, I resolved to cover you though no longer as much for your own heart as for my own family and personal heart. I ardently wished to stay off of the radar and out of the drama.
As this 21-day fast progressed, the Lord began to tenderize my otherwise armored-up heart. He led me to re-read a book called Daring Greatly by Brene Brown that encourages the owning of our stories and the embracing of vulnerability for the sake of authenticity. I felt His gentle but firm nudges. In the last number of weeks, I have outright lied to three loved ones when I was asked a direct question about my past with you. Others have baited me with concerned texts to which I “<3ed” away with a “thank you, all is well” reply. But all is not well with my soul nor should it be. I cannot live my life as a liar. It chafes my soul. When I vowed to take your inappropriate relationship with under-age me to the grave, I did so to cover you in love. Whether that was an example of trauma bonding by a victim of clergy sexual/emotional abuse, I cannot say, but my heart was postured to forgive and cover because I believed everyone deserves a second chance. And for all intents and purposes, it seemed as if you took yours to thriving and God-glorifying measures. But unfortunately, as I, along with the world, have discovered, this was far from the perceived reality.
You continued grooming and exploiting and cover-up(ing) with slight variations and apparently more honed maneuvering. This is not a falsity but a well-worn and recognizable rut in your life that only the eyes of a 43-year long friend, sadly turned victim, can recognize. I can no longer cover you in love because it was never covering, was it. Please filter this properly . . . I am not betraying you in this letter because the covering I once offered to you was given to a man who in actuality never existed. Your sons didn’t grow up with an incarcerated father, and for this I am grateful, as you should be too. But I cannot and will not live as a liar before the ones I love because what was once covering is now complicity in an anguishing, pride and denial driven cover-up regardless of what investigative reports imply.
Please do not conclude this to be defamation of character, attention seeking, gold digging or vindictive revenge. We have too much history for such impositions. You have said over and over throughout the years and in this crisis that you trust my judgment. Please trust me now. This letter is the culmination of a 21-day fast and a resolve to live in light and truth instead of shadows and lies. I step into the arena not with a smoking gun of bravado hoping to take down the great man of God and his legacy, but with a bleeding heart as one masterfully duped, and an appeal to my mentor, friend and abuser — please own these chapters in vulnerability, humility and repentance. Please free the others from their life sentence of shadows and lies. Please allow us to faithfully wound as former friends instead of scripting our cover-up as pawns to be manipulated. Please let us exhale together in closure.
My name is not Jane Doe; it was Tammy Woods when it all began. This is not meant for law craft fodder or social media fuel. It’s a wounded heart offered in honest confession to my spiritual leaders and family and extended across the miles, decades, plot twists and contexts in earnest appeal to you, the son of a boxer — this is a technical knockout; please throw in the towel; please do what is true and honorable before the Lord.
With hope,
Tammy Woods
English 
Spanish
31 Responses
Tammy Woods has been gifted with the grace and guts from the Holy Spirit to speak the truth in love and appeal to a fellow sinner and follower of Christ. This letter comes at an opportune time to silence the noise caused by the enemy to rape the Bride of Christ as a whole. Worldwide, we feel the pain of the Lord Jesus and the whole Body. When the problem is diagnosed properly through God’s Word, the Great Physician will be able to apply the proper remedies to heal all wounds, hopefully before His 2nd Coming. Love in Christ.
Dear Lord God Almighty. These words. This is searing and balm-invoking and ravaging and restorative and honestly, I have rarely, if ever, read anything more raw and real and just dripping with both forgiveness and maturity.
It is strait-laced.
It’s like a hidden sign to a pool of mercy. Unbelievable.
I am slack-jawed at the grace of God thru the words, tears, and truth of Tammy Woods.
Amen, well put C Sessom
Wow, what an amazing and heartbreaking letter. It is abundantly clear this is not offered with any motive other than love and righteousness. May the spotlight of truth reveal all the darkness and lies!
What a beautiful, precious letter written from a pure heart! This is real Christ-life love & behavior. I pray God works a wonder in all those involved in this for His Glory & for the benefit of everyone. I’m deeply moved by Tammy’s letter. God will bless her for doing what is right.
Surely, anyone who will not take this letter to heart is living in a fantasy world, or part of a cult that has truly brainwashed its members. The courage it must have taken, the clarity of her thoughts, and the sincerity of her intentions puts to rest any uncertainty about Bickle’s guilt. It is past time for a third party to investigate and uncover everything.
Very impressive letter for its humility, clarity and insight. This is what truth and light look like: refreshing.
Having followed the former members of IHOPKC on social media for some months I can say that the charismatic church with its abhorrent practises is due for a shake-up. With charlatans like Steve Strang and Todd Bentley weighing in this week I think people had best find their way out of the New Apostolic Reformation mess. Strang had the gall to call this lady the ‘latest “accuser’ when any person who is half-decent in character can recognise that Bickle is one of those apostles/charismatic celebrities who have a special standard and rule book for themselves superior to the Hoi polloi. Strang is a misogynist and Bentley with his false backdated prophecies should not be in ministry.
“There is none righteous, no not one. You who judge another are guilty of the same sin. Judge not lest you be judged. Who are you that judges another mans servant, before God he stands or falls, and God is able to make him stand. Let him that is without sin cast the first stone. Mercy rejoices against judgment. You are called to be doers of the law not judges of the law. Christians are the only ones in nature that kill their own.” Mike’s sins are between Mike and God who is the only Being in Heaven or on earth qualified to judge them or him. I’m not saying Mike is innocent of the accusations against him. I’m just saying God will sort it out on the day of judgement. Let’s leave it with Him!
There’s a huge difference between not judging a serial pedophile rapist and accusing him of breaking a human law. Her original silence and forgiveness allowed him to destroy other people’s lives. Bickle’s fruit is rotten because his vine is poisonous. He betrayed her, he betrayed his Savior, and he betrayed his church. Jesus had harsh words about causing a child to stumble. Bickle’s repeated actions prove he never repented of his sins. He just wanted her to keep quiet.
I hate that ‘mike bickle smile’ .. it MASKS so much.
Robert,
I encourage you to spend more time in the Bible. Start with 1 Corithians 5: 12-13: It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”
@ Robert – you failed to include the rest of the context in your quote of Matthew 7. Let me do that “Mat 7:16-20 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? (17) “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. (18) “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. (19) “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
So one is called to discern (judge) an individual by his/her fruits according to Jesus since He is the One who stated it.
@robertjohnson – but the thing is, Mike’s sins are not only between him and God.
Robert, your response is not biblical. Something we taught our kids when receiving an apology. “I accept your apology and I forgive you. But what are you going to do to make amends”. If you are truly sorry you should want to make amends. “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing.” So David purchased the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” (2 Sam 24.24)
The concept of making things right is woven throughout scripture. It is in fact why Jesus was crucified. No mans sins are a private matter- especially ministers in the church. I suggest you consult scripture on this. Jesus did not abolish the moral law!
That is why Paul teaches “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” (1Cor 5.11ff). Further, we are certainly required to judge those within the church. “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? “(1 Cor 5.12)
Paul was not making this up or being novel. It is based on the moral law of Moses to which Jesus says He completed, and Paul passed on.
There are numerous passages in scripture where God holds leadership in the church to a higher standard, physically, morally, sexually. Ministers of all people should know that in the heat of the moment to call on God and submit to him. That act of submission places God in charge, not me, not you, not anyone else.
Jesus warned us not to trust in the flesh anyone, even those in the ministry; we all are broken and daily seeking to draw closer to our Savior.
Tammy has done the right thing by not letting sin slide by.
There is grace not only to the victims, both to the body and to the fallen in holding accountable fallen believers. How much more so leaders in the church who deny or fail to acknowledge the truth? Abusing your 14 year old babysitter may not rise to the level of sleeping with your father’s wife, for which Paul in 1 Cor. 5 called for delivering the man to Satan so that his spirit be saved. But maybe his call to not associate with the sexually immoral as well as others who continue in their sin is still grace. “Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?…Purge the evil person from among you.”
Robert, you are misusing the Scriptures to say we or victims shouldn’t do anything?? What about what Micah said. Love mercy, do justice and walk humbly before God. Both the teachings of Moses and Jesus taught humility, repentance, restitution and punishment if needed. You should go back and read what Jesus said in Matt. 7 and look at context. He is speaking tongue and check. He obviously spoke judgement to the religious leaders in Matt 23, and went into the temple and turned over the tables. Was Jesus the only one? No! Jesus followed the examples of Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Elijah, etc. Also, as Paul said and gave an example in Corinthians. While we don’t judge those outside the church, we do judge those inside the church and if necessary expel the wicked one among you. The Law of Moses, the prophets, Jesus and Paul are all in agreement on this. If MB would come forward and be completely honest and be willing to suffer the consequences for his actions. He would receive mercy and could be restored to the body but not to ministry, Never!
To add some additional context to the verses you cited, please also consider 1 Cor 5:9-13:
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God [l]judges. Remove the evil person from among yourselves.
We all live under the rule of law in this country and those who take the responsibility of being leaders in churches, schools, medical establishments, institutions of all types are MANDATED REPORTERS. This means that if you hold such a position, know of abuse and do not report it to authorities, you have broken the law. Not only were the authorities not informed of the abuse of minor child Tammy Wood by Bickle, he, a minister, was the alleged perpetrator, and NO ONE IN THE CHURCH WORLD REPORTED HIM. He should have gone to trial and had severe consequences for being a serial groomer and abuser of a minor child. How he was able to get away with this stuns. It means many, many people assumed the best of him, even when they saw questionable behavior. He deliberately used that trust for salacious purposes. That he even pursued her in school – at her locker(!) – and took her in his car and no one questioned it shows how easy it is for a person assumed to be a moral leader can get away with anything. The kids knew he was a ‘creepy pastor’, but the adults were willfully clueless.
A textbook misuse of Matthew 7. We are called to be Watchmen. All of us. Paul plainly says we are to judge those within the church, so any attempt to use Matthew 7 as a blanket statement that we are not supposed to call out people who are engaged in sin, especially sexual sin, is always a mis-application of those verses. You don’t let leaders abusing their power and doing things wrong to skate. Paul is exceedingly clear on this.
Robert Johnson, you are partially correct but mostly wrong and insensitive and possibly ignorant to the damage than he has caused.
Mike’s “sins” are not between him and God alone. His sin is very wide and far reaching, well let’s just call it what it is, in Mrs. Woods case, the sexual abuse of a minor. She was an innocent child.
He should be in prison.
And in the words of Jesus, people like him belong at the bottom of the ocean with a rope and milestone around their neck.
As a pastor, he should be protecting the sheep, not sexually abusing them. Mike Bickle is a charlatan and a coward and many other names I will not say in this comment thread. I hope he repents and bears fruit of true repentance!
As true followers of Christ, we should call these wolves in sheeps clothing for what they truly are and “expel the immoral brother”. 1 Corinthians 5:13
I truly hope Mrs. Woods and all MB’s victims find lasting peace and healing.
I believe Jesus is pulling the king pin. The veil of deception that has shrouded the church for many years, will be pulled down to expose the abomination of desolation that has been standing in the Holy Place for several decades.
Oh my! … Such rich and textured layers to your words, Tammy. This thoughtful, heartfelt, incisive, merciful, authentic, Christlike appeal to Mike seems like the best opportunity so far in this “time of finding out” (cf: Psalm 32:6) for him to come into and walk in the light. Your voice and your story have been and are truly and urgently needed by him, his family, and the many children of God who have ever come under Mike’s domineering influence.
Isaiah 55:6-7
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Why did God expose King David publicly? Why does God tells us to go to someone 1:1, then bring 2-3 people with us? Why does Scripture also tell us to expose evil and have nothing to do with them? (Ephesians 5:10-11). Why does God tells us that if we ignore sin in others (known sin), and we say nothing to them, their sin goes onto our record and God holds us accountable for their sin? (Ezekiel 18) With thanks to Tammy and the Roys Report for following and honoring Scripture, calling us to be warned about the wolves in sheeps clothing, and so-called shepherds that fleece the flock. And with prayers for all of Mike’s enablers at IHOPKC, who have violated Scripture in Ezekiel 18, in Ephesians 5, in Matt. 18, in James 5 etc.), who are not held responsible for their sin of silence and Mike’s sins.
How wonderfully instructive! How do we treat the offender? When it escalates, He instructs us to “tell it to the church”. I don’t think Jesus meant the Board or the ELT because the organized institution didn’t exist. He used the word ecclesia. I wonder if it isn’t more like a family intervention. If the sinner won’t listen to the ecclesia treat him like a tax collector. A seemingly vile label is used for this now ex-brother who refused to listen even to the ecclesia, the congregation, the family intervention.
This positions the offender outside the family (ecclesia), that exists within the world without being like the world. It is a world where the governing authorities hold the sword and not for nothing, Paul says. The authorities have the sword for a reason and are appointed to deal with crime. The ecclesia deals with the sins of “family” members inside the ecclesia and the governing authorities exist to deal with crimes both inside and outside the church.
Like I see Tammy remembering, I also cannot afford to forget, how Jesus treated the persons; those tax collectors and sinners. In particular how he treated one tax collector named Matthew, who recorded these instructions to us; and he recorded the sermon on the mount when Jesus said, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…” I wonder if that is less metaphor and more remedial. We cut things off when they are cancerous and threaten our physical lives. How much more important when the risk is eternal.
How do we treat the offender? Like Tammy did. Like Jesus.
That is an incredibly mature and beautiful (in spite of the awful context) open letter. It was powerful and filled with inexplicable love – as Christ loves. Our Lord has clearly marked this wounded woman for this trying moment. May the Lord grant peace and such strength as exemplified in this open letter to all the victims.
Keeping in mind the mature, educated, wisdom and biblical filled Bickle was not that 40 years ago. Certainly no excuse but a space for perspective.
Wes, you are right, there is no excuse. Even outside of any given level of belief, decent married human beings / parents don’t sexual pursue minor children. It is also against the law.
It’s not often that I look at such a letter as this and come out of it anything but re-broken, re-grieved, re-embarrassed at the wrongs men calling themselves our brothers have permitted themselves to fall into toward the weaker around them, usually but not always our sisters. In this case, I am all those things, too, but more and better, too.
This is how wholeness confronts an unrepentant perpetrator. Tammy Woods, I have no more words to say to you than, “I salute you.”
Mike Bickle, as much as some people may have said (and they have)
that they have benefited from your words and actions (and to all appearances they have),
time’s up (well and truly, and far past time’s up).
It’s Job 42.6 time for you (your divine vision is not a whirlwind but the Jesus-born strength of a former victim made strong in her healing)
and I (as one who “benefited” from your words and actions in time past)
call on you to embrace the repentance, the dust, the ashes — and on-going transparency — lest worse befall you.
Tammy, I was profoundly moved by your letter. I understand the conflict of being wounded and yet deeply believing in all that Jesus has provided – repentance, forgiveness, restoration, and a changed life – and painfully offering that to an offender. I also understand the devastation of finding out it wasn’t “real” for the person who hurt you, and how that realization threatens to unravel your own testimony of the redemption of the suffering – the beauty from the ashes that now seems to be a façade. But your testimony has not been threatened. It’s all been real work that the Spirit did in YOU. Not in your offender, but in you. Your letter makes that so clear, and for that I praise God. Lifting you up, sister.