Daily Schedule for an International Meeting

These meetings occur mainly in eastern Europe (probably for financial reasons). Generally, they rent a building for this (e.g., a school), preferably with its own gymnasium. Here is the day’s schedule from one of these meetings:

Midnight – 4:00 AM Topical discussion
4:00 – 6:00 AM Sleep
6:00 – 7:00 AM Wrestling in most cases (exception for sleeping)
7:00 – 10:00 AM Topical discussion
10:00 – Noon Sleep
Noon – 1:00 PM Prayer / Study / Bible (exception for sleeping)
1:00 – 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 – 5:30 PM Hiking
5:30 – 6:00 PM Supper
6:00 – 7:00 PM Wrestling in most cases with two assigned hiking partners
7:00 – 8:00 PM Study / Bible / Housekeeping Chores / Washing (exception for sleeping)
8:00 – 10:00 PM Sleeping
10:00 – 11:00 PM Housekeeping Chores / Bible / more wrestling, optionally a half-hour of singing
11:00 – 12:00 Wrestling (7 x 30 minutes) [goal for the day’s total]

Remarkable in this is the completely scheduled day with a total lack of individually chosen free time [activities], and the fragmentation of sleeping time, which makes a longer continuous sleep, necessary for refreshment/recovery, nearly impossible – and so weakens a person’s psychological defenses. In this way, a person is more easily made susceptible to subliminal manipulation. Likewise, there are no times in which a person can simply be alone. Through the continual harnessing of a person to the group’s activities, he or she has no chance to consider things from a psychological distance, and to reflect on what is happening in and with oneself.

A former member additionally described: “The schedule was, however, not intended in a way that everyone participated in everything … a person could select the best time management for himself … one day with prayer, another time with singing … the hiking and at least half of the topical discussions were required … but basically, very little sleep and personal time was scheduled.”