Tag: spa

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Breaking Evangelical Stuff Featured News

Ravi Zacharias Molested Both Mother and Daughter, Says Newly Revealed Co-Owner of Spa

The co-owner of Ravi Zacharias’ infamous Touch of Eden spa has broken her silence and publicly revealed details of her experiences with the late disgraced apologist, alleging that he molesteded her, her daughter, and a dozen of employees. This woman was one of the victims who served as an anonymous source for Christianity Today after they broke the story wide open, about three weeks after we reported it.

In details revealed exclusively to the Roys Report* Vickie Blue, who co-owned the spa with fellow business partner Anurag Sharma from 2004-2007, explains how Zacharias exploited her spiritually in order to violate her physically. She says that she has stayed silent for over a decade because Zacharias threatened to ruin her if she told anyone, explaining:

Ravi kept talking about an anonymous donor that he could get limitless money from. He said, ‘I can keep it going and make your life miserable until you die.’

After Ravi died she discovered Raviwatch.org and contacted Steve Baughman in May 2020, sending him a letter accusing the apologist of being a sexual pervert and explaining her role in the spa. This was the beginning of the end.

Blue explains that Ravi used to come to her for massages at a spa she owned back in 2000. They struck up a friendship and he spiritually counseled her through some trauma and child abuse. He became a mentor to her and she came to view him as “the closest person to God other than Jesus.” He in turn confided to her that his marriage was in shambles and was “all business,” being desperately unhappy.

He quickly began taking liberties with her, asking for sex and wanting a “happy ending,” declaring “it’s my reward. It’s part of my therapy, my relaxation.” She refused, and he still masturbated in front of her anyway, repeating this pattern between 50 and 100 times over the course of years, delighting in his deviltry and sexual perversions. [Editor’s note: Ravi was engaged in this for literally decades.]

  • Vicky Blue with her daughter Becca
  • Email originally sent to Steve
  • Shareholder certificate for Touch of Eden
More pics at julieroys.com

Still, she excused his actions, justifying it and rationalizing it by surmising that he must be doing it because he was in love with her. She soon became his business partner when he proposed the joint venture with her, co-owning Touch of Eden with him for three years. Ultimately the business failed miserably and left her destitute.

In 2007, Blue’s daughter Becca, a massage therapist working at the spa, revealed that Ravi had molested her, along with several others. Hearing this, Blue sought to extricate herself from the business and the mountain of debt she was in, even as Ravi and Anurag sought to convert it into a spa specializing in Ayurveda, which has Hindu roots and influences.

To me, [Touch of Eden] was a Christian place, I told them, ‘No, that’s with all the chakras and Hindu religion. I can’t do that here…Absolutely not.’

They went through with it anyway, as we have documented here. Julie Roys explains that Ravi came so close to being exposed back in 2008.

About a year later, Blue said one of the former aestheticians at Touch of Eden approached her about suing Zacharias. Blue said she told the aesthetician that she would testify on the aesthetician’s behalf but was afraid to sue Zacharias because of the threats he had made to destroy her. Blue said the aesthetician never filed a lawsuit.

In 2011 Blue’s daughter Becca died. Shortly after Ravi contacted her asking for a massage in his home. She agreed, wanting to talk about her daughter with anyone as she was lost in her grief. Ravi used this opportunity to try to sexually molest her once more. She confronted him, he got angry, and that’s the last contact she had until she learned of his death and contacted Baughman with her story.

Blue said she believes that what has been kept in the dark has now come to light, noting “God is cleaning up this entire mess.”

[Editor’s note: We are on record that Roys can be great when she wants to be and isn’t grinding her ax to use against John MacArthur, the result of a seemingly personal vendetta. That’s when her journalism gets really shoddy. But for stories like this or James MacDonald, she has been on point and has done very good work.]

[Editor’s note 2: The Ravi Zacharias scandal shows Why Our Reputation is in the Toilet.]

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Church Cursed Headlines Evangelical Stuff Featured

Southern Baptist Critics Suggest SBC Sexual Ethics Caused Spa Shooter Rampage

It didn’t take long for the critics of complementarianism to capitalize on the tragic death of 8 people by massage parlor shooter Robert Aaron Long.

Discovering that he had been baptized in a Southern Baptist church two years prior to going on his rampage, and without knowing how active he was in his church since, Rachael Denhollander, retweeted by the usual simping suspects like Kyle J. Howard and Dwight Mckissic suggested that there was a direct line from what SBC pastors and seminary heads teach about biblical sexuality and the decision for this deranged man to go put some bullets in some heads. Even Auntie Beth Moore gave the status a hearty ‘Amen!’ to that accursed logic.

She, very crassly, writes:

Of course, when we consider the millions upon millions of men who have been part of the SBC over the last 180 years, compared to the amount of deranged sex-addled idiots who have gone on killing rampages because they were trying to eliminate places of temptation for their sex addictions, on account of the specific teachings of the SBC, it’s pretty clear this is little more than the most unkind way to twist a knife in the teachings of the church and make them bleed a little.

It’s illogical, opportunistic, and has no basis in reality. For those making the charge, however, that’s probably the point.

Bonus despicable comment.



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Featured News Scandal

Longtime RZIM Staffer Describes how Senior Leadership Obfuscated Ravi Sex Scandals for Years

A longtime employee of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) has released an Op-ed in the Christian Post detailing how the Board of Trustees and Senior leadership obfuscated, covered up, and/or swept under the rug accusations and information about the late apologist’s perverse appetites.

Carson Weitnauer, who has worked at RZIM for the last seven years and functions as their their “Innovation and Ministry Partner Specialist” describes a history of close ties and a sense of honor he felt by interacting with Zacharias and other apologists, and now the sick feeling of betrayal he has after the team investigating the allegations confirmed that the rumors were true.

In August 2017, the ministry team at RZIM was informed that a greedy couple in Canada had identified Ravi as a target for extortion – and felt no scruples in falsely accusing Ravi. Taking advantage of his friendly, even naïve, approach to people, they had conspired together to defraud him of millions of dollars. Through prayer meetings and regular updates on these “Satanic attacks,” we managed to get through this trial with renewed unity and commitment to our mission.

As we sometimes heard troubling details that suggested Ravi was guilty of what he had been accused of, it was a relief to hear that his incriminating emails were taken out of context, that exculpatory material had been reviewed by the board, and that his courageous RICO lawsuit had put an end to their falsehoods with a non-disclosure agreement.

We gave thanks that Ravi’s bold leadership had freed us to focus once more on the ministry God had called us to. Convinced of this narrative, I served at RZIM with great passion and joy, and then wept and grieved for weeks when Ravi’s health unexpectedly declined, followed by his death in May of 2020.

Though Weitnauer says he was relieved to hear the emails were taken out of context, we wonder what “proper context” would possibly justify Ravi threatening to kill himself if Lori Ann Thompson told her husband about their relationship?

Weitnauer states that he became convinced in Sept 2020 that “Ravi had personally and repeatedly lied to me and others in the ministry about his relationship with her” and confesses that like others, his “longing for the approval of others” kept him from “asking hard questions and accepting the painful truth much sooner.”

As he was coming to the understanding, the bombshell report that we first published exploded in the public. These were new allegations that Ravi was importing masseuses into his spas and was sexually molesting them, a story uncovered by Steve Baughman.

Weitnauer continues:

As I discussed these revelations with colleagues at the ministry this fall, I have often felt discouraged. A senior leader took the initiative to email me, saying, “While I agree that we should remain transparent with the truth, I don’t think repeating potential lies or passing on judgment are qualities we want to embody at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.”

And despite an obvious conflict of interest, members of the family have actively spoken out in Ravi’s defense, while Ravi’s daughter has guided us through this crisis with the unwavering support of the board and senior leadership. Yet the day after I asked her a series of questions about the non-disclosure agreement between the Thompsons and the Zacharias estate, two senior leaders challenged me on the propriety of my questions. Unfortunately, I have heard similar stories from other colleagues within the ministry. It is only a matter of time before their voices are heard.

While I believe most of my colleagues are not only talented but earnestly committed to serving God, we have been badly misled by our secretive board and senior leaders. If the damage to our witness can be repaired at all, it will take a humiliating acknowledgment of our complicity and shame, as well as an earnest and sacrificial repentance. We will need to implement new processes and learn how to build a culture that cherishes accountability, transparency, and humility.

We could not agree more that the board acts in secrecy and has no transparency whatsoever, being a major part of the problem. What have they done to this point, other than hide cover-up, and lie?

After we broke the story about the allegations, RZIM sent us a statement saying that it was virtually impossible to investigate the claims. This was strange, given that his accusers were still alive, including his business partner who has made the accusation, and in fact still lived in the same city as RZIM headquarters.

Consequently, the ability to investigate was not “virtually impossible” but rather “imminently doable.” They just didn’t want to, and it was only when a larger news source like Christianity Today picked up the story three weeks later that they were forced to do so.

One of the challenges with this organization is that the Senior Leadership of RZIM and the Board are staffed with several of Ravi’s family members, but we have no idea which ones or how many, as RZIM does not make this public, recommending a drastic overhaul of the apologetic organization. This is why it’s not sufficient to investigate just Ravi but rather the board that helped hide and conceal his potentially criminal misdeeds.

Weitnauer agrees.

…RZIM must change its name, remove Ravi’s material, repent for its many failures, and provide a restorative response to the harm that Ravi’s victims experienced. The depth of complicity by the board and senior leadership in this cover-up must be clearly established. Finally, an organization with credibility in the survivor community must be hired to do a thorough assessment of the organization and its culture, and their proposals for reform will need to be implemented.

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Evangelical Stuff Featured Scandal

An Unhappy Ending: Johnny Hunt and the Ravi Zacharias Spa

Earlier this year Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) hired a law firm to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct that had been leveled against it its deceased namesake.

This week that firm reported that “credible evidence” indicates that Ravi Zacharias indeed “engaged in sexual misconduct over many years”. Accusations of (among other things) credentials fraud and sexting plagued Zacharias towards the end of his life and career. To those who had followed the downward trajectory of his ministry, this latest report came as no surprise.

It’s abundantly clear that Ravi Zacharias opened his own massage parlor (or “spa”) and commenced to ask his employees for sexual services. This latest confirmation of his behavior has left reasonable people asking, “Why would a Christian minister open an establishment like that in the first place?”

Consider the optics. Does it seem like a good idea for any man in Christian ministry to open a business where he is required to take off his clothes to receive services from women? It did to NAMB Vice President, mega pastor, and former SBC President Johnny Hunt. The baptist luminary actually traveled to Alpharetta to speak at the space’s grand opening.

Shouldn’t Hunt, a pastor of 1000s of people have had enough to sense to say, “Hey, Ravi, I think this is a bad idea”? Apparently not. Hunt himself is reported to have traveled from Woodstock to Alpharetta to receive services at Ravi’ spa (legitimate ones, there are no reports of Hunt asking for or receiving “Happy Endings”). Hunt apparently suspected nothing. The same goes for all the Zacharias supporters in celebrity Evangelicalism who adamantly defended Zacharias from these accusations until investigators hired by his own organization finally confirmed them.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Men like Johnny Hunt are terrible judges of character and shouldn’t be trusted to run anything, much less churches or mission boards. Ravi’s influential friends promoted and vouched for him until they couldn’t. The lesson to be learned is to trust evidence over the endorsements of famous preachers by other famous preachers. Chances are that the pastoral candidates who have come to your church over the years have been endorsed by no one else but other pastors who make their living in the same business. But where is the endorsement of Christ?

The reputation of Jesus will survive the information age, but the reputations of millionaire, good-ole-boy, jet-setting celebrity preachers may very well wither like so many cockroaches under a flashlight and in a cloud of Raid.

Make sure your flashlight batteries are charged and that you always have your can of bug spray and Bible in hand.

Editor’s note. This article was written by G. Seth Dunn and originally published at Pulpit and Pen, with this addendum below:

*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.

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Evangelical Stuff Featured Scandal

Manager for Ravi Zacharias Spa Goes Public with Further Accusations

Ravi Zacharias’ legacy received another blow after one of his past employees has publicly come forward with new allegations and corroboration against the late famed christian apologist.

The latest allegations center around Jivan Spa, a wellness center he co-owned between 2009 and 2015, located near RZIM headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga. As we have already reported, he regularly went there for massage therapy and while on the table he would touch the women without their consent, monkey about with his draping and robes in an effort to expose himself, masturbated in front of them, and asked for sexual favors and “physical release.”

As things stand, four women have come forward with accusations of sexual impropriety, four people have corroborated the accounts, and two others acted as witnesses, for a total of ten people that we know so far. Of these ten, we know the identities of five.

Whereas much of the reporting has been done based on unnamed sources whose identities and employment were verified, one of the corroborators to the allegations has come forward and revealed her identity.

Emily Belz of World Magazine has released an article detailing her conversation with the former manager of Jivan Spa, Anna Adesanya, who worked at the wellness center from 2009 until 2012 and who spoke on the record, describing how one of the employees, a massage therapist, came to her upset that Zacharias had asked for perverted services. They write:

Adesanya told me Zacharias would come in regularly, maybe once a month. She remembered an incident around 2009 in which a massage therapist came to her and said she was uncomfortable treating Zacharias anymore because he had asked her for ‘more than a massage.’

Adesanya, who was unfamiliar with Zacharias’ apologetics ministry, said she took the information to Zacharias’ spa business partner, Anurag Sharma, and asked that they talk to Zacharias. She said the two met him at his office at RZIM, where Zacharias showed them his back X-rays as a way of explaining his need for therapy. Zacharias had spoken publicly about his chronic back problems from an injury decades earlier. 

‘He did not admit it—he became defensive,’ said Adesanya. ‘He said, “Who is this girl, what is she trying to do to me?'”

After the meeting, Adesanya said, Sharma fired the therapist who had complained. Zacharias continued coming for regular spa appointments. (Sharma did not respond to repeated requests for comment.)

Adesanya said no other therapists complained to her about Zacharias during her tenure. But she said Zacharias only went to certain therapists and often brought his own massage therapist, an Indian woman, and they would occupy one of the rooms for therapy sessions. ‘I would often have to wonder, because they would be in that room for hours. At most you’re going to have a therapy session that’s going to last an hour and half, maybe two hours tops,’ Adesanya said. ‘It would exceed two hours, if not three. … But it was never anything that was spoken of.’


While RZIM initially told Protestia when we brought these allegations forward weeks ago that they were “virtually impossible to investigate,” they have since changed their tune and are now launching a full investigation.

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Conspiracy Featured News

RZIM Reportedly Cutting 10% of Staff and Forcing Employees to sign NDA’s

RZIM is reportedly in the process of cutting 10% of its staff members and forcing all outgoing employees to sign Non-disclosure Agreements (NDA’s) designed to force the silence under the threat of punitive monetary damages and legal threats of any exiting employees.

The move from the company, which has nearly 50 employees and brings in $37,000,000 a year in donations, comes after the passing of ministry figurehead and leader Ravi Zacharias earlier in the year, as well amidst new allegations unearthed by Julie Roys of Ravi’s sexting scandal, (which we covered in 2018 here) and allegations from Ravi’s business partner that he was sexually harassing staff at some spas he owned a decade ago.

RZIM has up to this point denied the allegations but has not elaborated further. When we asked them about the latter allegations, they said in a statement that it was “virtually impossible” to investigate, even though with the accusers and victims being in the same city and willing to talk, it is imminently possible and quite easy- only a phone call or an uber away. Sadly, RZIM has shown a refusal to address any wrongdoing on the part of Zacharias, and as a result, bring reproach to the name of Christ.

Wishing to kneecap the ability of the staff to say any damaging information that may hurt the ministry, or which may reveal the presence of more victims, Protestia has learned that human resource protocols are being revamped to prevent existing and outgoing staff to comment publicly on any inner workings at RZIM or from addressing any information the may know about the brewing scandals. In these cases, ministries will frequently withhold severance due to the employees if they don’t sign or will entice them with large cash payouts if they do sign.

RZIM has infamously utilized NDA’s in the past, most recently when they continue to enforce one against Lori Anne Thompson, the woman at the center of the sexting scandal, who has repeatedly reached out to RZIM publicly and privately to beg them to release her, but to no avail.

While there may be some reason for businesses to have employees sign NDA’s, it is far less common in Christian circles, with NDAs frequently being used as a tool, with Geoff Robson rightly noting that they silence victims, protect perpetrators, and ‘eschew a gospel-shaped response to sin in favor of a secular response to sin‘.

We at are still in the process of investigating RZIM and these allegations, and will update accordingly.