WOODLAND, WA – Chris Donald, co-founder of 33rd Company and pastor at Mercy Culture Church, need not come to his defense. The evangelist’s alleged victim, Rachel Naomi Kaiser, responded to her former Lifestyle Christianity University (LCU) classmate who attempted to expose Donald for reportedly silencing her with a lawsuit.
According to court documents, Chris Donald and The Promise Church in Woodland, Washington, sued Rachel Naomi Kaiser for defamation and harassment in 2021. The lawsuit, according to the documents, was over an accusation Kaiser made that Chris Donald sexually assaulted her when she was a student at LCU. Donald was in a leadership role at the school at the time.
Rachel Naomi Kaiser responded to the lawsuit by defending her decision to share her alleged experience with a friend and also with an intern at The Promise Church. She denied spreading the information to church plants and the congregation at large.
As a result of the lawsuit, Rachel Naomi Kaiser seemingly stopped talking about the alleged incident, but not before sharing her grievances with a man named Reece Wilkerson. Last year, Wilkerson decided to write a lengthy testimony in which he shared his side of Kaiser’s story.
“In 2021, there were several events that took place that caused a church split at LCU/Lifestyle Church,” Wilkerson said. “I began asking questions pertaining to those events and was soon asked to leave the school,” the former LCU student revealed.
“As the investigating went deeper, a woman called me and mentioned to me that she had attempted to take her life,” Reece Wilkerson wrote in his testimony. “I took my wife, and we met with her in her apartment.”
“She shared her testimony of sexual abuse by Chris Donald (currently at Mercy Culture) for years. She was close to his family and even would babysit his children. At first, I didn’t want to believe her story, but there was one key detail that raised a red flag for me. She mentioned that they (the pastors of the church) were taking her to court to silence her testimony.”
Reece Wilkerson promised to read his version of events on camera and upload the video on YouTube as unlisted. Rachel Naomi Kaiser got wind of the video and responded on Saturday (Feb. 14).
“I have NEVER given him permission to speak on my behalf regarding being sued by The Promise Church,” Kaiser shared. “I met Reece at LCU, and he seemed nice. When I opened up about being SA’d by Chris Donald (former pastor at the Promise and former head pastor of Lifestyle Christianity University), Reece was one of the few former LCU students who didn’t call me names.”
Rachel Naomi Kaiser agreed that she met with Reece Wilkerson and his wife at her apartment to share her story. Kaiser also revealed the harassment she endured at the hands of Wilkerson when she declined to meet with her alleged abuser and other church staff.
“I see Reece as a brother in Christ, but I also see him as extremely manipulative, unsafe, and abusive,” Rachel Naomi Kaiser told her supporters. “No one get[s] to claim that ‘The Lord told them’ when it is overstepping boundaries and going against the wishes of another. That is an abuse tactic used in spiritual communities to manipulate others, and it’s wrong.”
Chris Donald currently serves as director of the Spiritual Leadership School (SLS) at Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth, Texas. He also operates the church’s evangelist ministry, which is called BELONG.