Jennifer Flemming statement of support

Michael Travesser / Wayne Bent at sunset

I'm Jennifer Flemming AKA Hannah. I am 26 years old and was one of the Seven Messengers or Seven Virgins along with A.S. and L.S.

I want to share my heart with you about Wayne Bent AKA Michael Travesser, and also about A.S.

In 2006 Michael had a meeting with the young people in the Land and shared with us that God had shown him that we might have something to do with the Seven Last Plagues of Revelation. Michael asked us to go to God and inquire whether He had something for us to do regarding the plagues.

I only wanted to do God's will, and after praying for a couple of days I suddenly realized that it was strongly on my heart to be one of the Seven. I knew that God had given it to me and at no time did I feel pressure from Michael.

After all of the Seven realized our calling from God, we started having meetings. These were very sweet times together, praying and sharing our hearts with one another. During these meetings I got to know the other girls better and we became closer. I had spent some time with A.S. and L.S. throughout the years, but we became even closer during this time. I came to know in a deeper way what they were going through.

My heart really went out to A.S. and L.S. I had been through my teen years not long before and I could really relate to what they were going through. The teen years of any girl are very rough. Hormones are rushing through your body and your brain is going through a lot of maturing. My teen years were very hard, not only because of what happens naturally to teen girls, but also because my father died when I was nine and my mother emotionally checked out. I felt like I had nowhere to turn and no one to talk to about what I was going through. So, my heart really went out to A.S. and L.S. because it seemed to me that they were not getting the kind of support that they needed from their parents.

In the trial it was said that A.S. was suicidal because of Michael, but it was not Michael that made A.S. feel that way. She had a hard childhood and her family life was a far cry from being perfect. In the summer of 2002 I spent several weeks with A.S., L.S. and their parents in the mountains on a work project. I remember taking the girls on walks and spending time with them. This was long before anything happened with Michael, and the girls seemed to be fearful, lonely, and troubled. It seemed that their parents were somehow unavailable to them emotionally and it hurt my heart a lot. I tried to reach out to the girls and spend time with them.

During her testimony A.S. said that she was afraid, and it was insinuated that Michael was the cause. Since I had some background with A.S. and L.S. during their teen years I recognized that A.S. was going through a lot of normal teen girl emotions, problems and feelings. The other girls and I tried to help her as much as we could. We would sit and talk to her for hours and help her through her difficulties and the things that she was feeling. But it seemed she started closing herself off from us more and more and nothing appeared to be helping her. She was insecure and confused about a lot of things which are a normal part of every teen girl's growing up. It didn't have anything to do with Michael. Michael was always helpful, caring, sensitive, and gentle with all of the children and teens no matter who they were.

A.S. told the Seven Messengers that she had felt like committing suicide and that she had talked to Michael about it. She said that Michael had tried to help her with this long standing problem and that it hurt him very much that she would feel like that about herself. He had told her to come to him and he would hold her hand and help her through it. The last time she visited with him about her suicidal thoughts, he had told her that if she ever attempted suicide she would need to leave the land and go home to her parents in Clayton. One evening some of us girls had gathered and A.S. joined us, she was noticeably troubled. During the conversation she told us of how she had attempted suicide by leaning over a porch railing and holding her breath. We encouraged her to go and talk to Michael about it, which she finally did. He felt that it would be best for her to leave the Land and live with her parents for a while, feeling that a change of living circumstances might benefit her. I know Michael felt her pain and desired to help her.

I went through my teen years in the church and I can understand what it may look like to people who have had no exposure to us. It may look like we are brainwashed and made to do what Michael and the church wanted, but that is not what happened with me and my friends. We had some of the same pressures that most teens go through, but we had support, love and help. Michael as well as the other older people in our church were always there for us and we knew that we were loved and cared for by everyone.

A little while after God chose me to be one of the Seven Messengers, I woke up one morning with a strong desire on my heart to go and lay naked with Michael. I wasn't interested in sex. Sex never even crossed my mind. I was feeling the need to be healed from all of my pain, hurt and walls of protection.

Because my father died when I was so young I felt he had abandoned me. Emotionally I was unable to trust men and I tended to close myself off from people. But I knew that Michael was different and that I could trust him. I was certain that God had put it on my heart to be naked with Michael and that I wouldn't be hurt. Naturally it was not easy for me to seek him out in this manner, but I had a driving force in me that could not be turned aside. I knew that Michael was going to be the instrument through which God would heal me, even though it seemed to go against all of my natural tendencies, protections and desires.

I went to Michael on the morning of August 2, 2006 and told him what was on my heart. He asked me what I thought it would do for me and why I wanted that. I told him that I wanted to be free and healed and I wanted to trust again. Most of all I didn't want to hide from God and I knew that If I could have the experience of being naked with Michael it would remove my walls of self protection which seemed to shut people out and most of all shut God out. Michael then said he would do that for me. So I went into his bedroom, closed the door, undressed and laid on top of his bed. He then came in and laid down beside me fully clothed. He put his hand on my sternum and talked to me for awhile. He also put his hand on my stomach because that is where a lot of people hold stress. He told me that he loved me and accepted me for who I was. He told me that I would never again shut people out and that I could trust God. I felt the healing go right into me and I soaked it up completely. Michael never touched me inappropriately or sexually in any way. There was NOTHING sexual about the whole experience at all.

At a later time I was again sent by God to be with Michael. This time we were both unclothed at my request. I had the same sweet non-sexual experience I'd had before, only the most powerful inner healing — being loved, cherished and accepted. I saw and felt the Son of God in Michael; he was the channel through which God's healing love came to me. In none of my experiences with Michael did I see his naked body. He was always covered, nor were our private parts ever touched. The power of this experience was not in viewing one another's naked body, but in the yielding, vulnerability of hearts free from human walls and barriers against God. This was not a careless or casual experience, it was focused and purposed. There were no subtle sexual undertones. Both times I was with Michael I felt God's presence in the room very much orchestrating our time together. Again, there was NOTHING sexual about the whole experience at all.

I was raised in an environment of moral purity, both in my family and within the church. Sexual impropriety has never been a part of my life. The experiences I've had with Michael have been consistent with my convictions in this area. At 26 years of age I have kept my sexual purity which I believe to be reserved for marriage.

A.S. laid naked with Michael on the same day, August 2, 2006, a little while before I did. Later she told me her experience was similar to mine except that she was with Michael a shorter time. He talked to her about what she was going through and tried to make her feel comfortable about herself. He told her that she was loved, accepted and cherished also. A.S. told me that her experience with Michael was very beneficial and that it helped her a lot, and she also told me that there was nothing sexual about her experience either. She seemed to be helped and much freer after laying naked with Michael.

God did some very powerful things in the Land for us and I know that the healing incidences with the minors which put Michael in prison, are very much a part of those. Michael only and always followed his instructions from God and never went against God no matter how it looked or felt to him naturally. He never broke any laws, he just offended the natural heart of those that don't have God's Spirit.

I am so thankful that Michael always followed his instructions from God and never turned aside from the path before him. He has healed me and given me a completely new view of life. I am a totally different person because of his healing touch, and am very grateful to him for everything that he has done for me. My heart is that this innocent and loving man be exonerated and restored to his family.


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