Iron Sharpens Iron: Leslie Wagner-Wilson: The Jonestown Suicide-Massacre: A Survivor's Testimony

A few months ago, one of the survival of the Jonestown Massacre was interviewed on Iron Sharpens Iron and the mp3 has recently became available.  Here is the description!

Leslie Wagner-Wilson, author of "Slavery of Faith", will address the theme: "The Jonestown Suicide-Massacre: A Survivor's Testimony".

Tomorrow (Wednesday, November 18) marks the 31st anniversary of the "Jonestown Suicide-Massacre" in a remote jungle settlement in Guyana, South America. 918 United States citizens died that day. An estimated 93% of those who died were African American. It was the largest number of American civilian lives lost in a single event "(before September 11, 2001, during which there were 2,974 fatalities on American soil, out of which there were 2,669 American lives lost: 2,266 civilians and 403 among the FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority Police Dept.)". This included United States Congressman Leo Ryan and his entourage. His assassination marked the first and only murder of a U.S. Congressman in the history of the United States.

After surviving sixteen months in the armed jungle compound and through daily prayer amongst a world of madness, our guest Leslie Wagner-Wilson, then twenty one years old, escaped Jonestown walking thirty odd miles through the jungle along with nine other members of the cult on the morning of November 18, 1978. Strapped to her back was a 40-pound care package - her son, later to be known as the youngest survivor of Jonestown. After reaching a small outpost that night, she would be told that Congressman Leo Ryan and four of his entourage had been assassinated along with a Temple defector. Within the next two days she would be told that all of the residents of Jonestown had died, including her husband, mother, brother, sister, niece, nephew, sister in law, brother in law and friends she had grown up and loved since 13.

Since Jonestown, Slavery of Faith also chronicles Leslie's return to the U.S. under a veil of secrecy in fear of the “death squads”, her fight to maintain faith in her darkest hours; suffering Post Traumatic Stress, survivors’ guilt, drug addiction, a family suicide, redemption and finally forgiveness. All the while holding on to the only thing she knew was true-God. It shares her journey through psychological and spiritual jungles to reach a place of remembrance—- to “live their love and not their deaths.”

I have given this a listen and I am amazed. Her testimony is nothing short of miraculous. I'm so sorry that her family was killed but the story of how she survived is amazing. She also spoke about although it wasn't reported often that most of the victims were black. We are talking about 0ver 900 civilians killed almost at the same time. I've seen documentaries. Listened to the news. However nothing like hearing it from someone who was there. I thought Jim Jones started out orthodox, but Leslie testifies that he wasn't and they were so brainwashed and so caught up they couldn't see it.

Iron Sharpens Iron: Leslie Wagner-Wilson: The Jonestown Suicide-Massacre: A Survivor's Testimony