268: April Avila | "Good Girls Don’t Have Bad Things Happen to Them" (And Other IFB Lies)
Preacher Boys Podcast
Eric Skwarczynski
4.5 • 737 Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2023
⏱️ 97 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
April Avila is one of the featured interviewees in Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals, a new four-part docuseries exposing the predatory and insidious behavior within the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) Churches, and the struggles of survivors to find justice. Featuring first-hand accounts from survivors, church defectors, and activists, Let Us Prey offers crucial insight into the troubling culture within the IFB and the stronghold the churches have on its members. All four parts of Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals premiered across two nights Friday, November 24 and Saturday, November 25 starting at 9/8c on ID.
Since its inception in the 1950s, the IFB has evolved into one of the dominant religious forces in the United States today with an estimated 8 million believers spread out over 6,000 churches across the country. Let Us Prey uncovers the dark innerworkings behind the IFB’s cheery and virtuous exterior by exposing depraved secrets and violence that have existed within their churches for decades. Rituals oriented towards “breaking a child’s will,” mind control and torture are only the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lurks accusations of rape and physical abuse of members, including minors, at the hands of IFB figure heads.
Anchored by the testimony of survivors who have come forward to tell their stories and seek justice, Let Us Prey explores the deep pain and lifelong trauma they experienced. Survivors and IFB defectors Ruthy Heiler, Kathy Durbin and Amanda Householder, among others, share their accounts of abuse at the hands of church leaders and the violence, manipulation and suspected cover-ups of other members. Also featuring key independent voices, including Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Sarah Smith – one of the first journalists to uncover IFB’s tangled web of abuse allegations and unregulated teen boarding schools – Let Us Prey offers a deeper understanding of how those within the IFB have continued to operate unchecked for years. Through powerful, emotional testimonies and archival footage, Let Us Prey reveals the sexual abuse of IFB members and the insidious efforts to cover up pastors’ abuse and silence survivors.
Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals is produced for ID by ITV America’s Good Caper Content, with Emmy Award-winning Director Sharon Liese, who created the series, serves as the director. Liese is a critically acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker, whose recent Emmy Award-winning documentary short, The Flagmakers, was Oscar shortlisted and nominated for a Critic’s Choice Documentary Award.
Use #LetUsPrey to join the conversation and follow on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube for exclusive content.
✖️✖️✖️
Support the Preacher Boys Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/preacherboys
Purchase a Preacher Boys shirt, mask, sticker, or other merch to rep the show! https://www.teepublic.com/user/preacher-boys-podcast
✖️✖️✖️
CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:
- preacherboyspodcast.com
- https://www.facebook.com/preacherboysdoc/
- https://twitter.com/preacherboysdoc
- https://www.instagram.com/preacherboysdoc/
To connect with a community that shares the Preacher Boys Podcast's mission to expose abuse in the IFB, join the OFFICIAL Preacher Boys Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1403898676438188/
This episode is sponsored by/brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/PreacherBoys and get on your way to being your best self.
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/preacher-boys-podcast/donations
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Trigger warning. This podcast contains descriptions of various abusive situations. Listener discretion is advised. |
| 0:09.2 | You are listening to the Preacher Boys podcast, a podcast shedding light on decades of mental, physical, and sexual abuse within the independent fundamental Baptist movement. |
| 0:20.4 | The testimony shared on this podcast are told from the personal experience and perspective of the survivors. |
| 0:26.8 | Not all legal outcomes are known or final. |
| 0:29.8 | Any suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. |
| 0:34.4 | Now, here is your host, Eric Squarsinski. |
| 0:38.4 | Hey, everybody, hopefully by now you've tuned in to let us pray the four-part documentary |
| 0:42.5 | series about abuse with an independent, fundamental Baptist churches. It premiered on |
| 0:46.6 | Investigation Discovery. It's streaming right now on Max, formerly known as HBO Max. |
| 0:51.8 | And one of the featured people in it was April, who I'm interviewing |
| 0:54.5 | today. You're going to hear our conversation about her experience at Faith Baptist Church in |
| 0:59.1 | Wildemar. We talk a little bit about the documentary. This was recorded before either of us had seen it. |
| 1:03.9 | So we get to talk about what our biggest fears and biggest hopes for the series were. |
| 1:07.9 | And I just hope you really enjoy this conversation. April's become a good friend, |
| 1:11.2 | and I'm really excited to share a bit of her story with you here on the Preacher Voice podcast. |
| 1:16.4 | Enjoy the episode. I feel like we've already done an interview because we've talked a ton |
| 1:23.0 | and have met in person a couple times in various states for something everybody knows about now for this documentary. |
| 1:33.1 | So I feel like I've interviewed you before. |
| 1:35.4 | So this is going to be a little weird going back to the very beginning and coming through this story in a show format. |
| 1:41.4 | But before we kind of dive into everything that's happening now, take me back |
| 1:47.3 | to the very beginning of your story and the very first time that you were introduced to the |
| 1:52.8 | Independent Baptist Movement, Faith Baptist Wildemar, like that whole interesting world. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Eric Skwarczynski, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Eric Skwarczynski and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.