Kidnapped for 6+ years- Held captive in India ViralExposure Booster ZumaFunder.com

I was kidnapped and taken from my father when I was almost 10 years old.

That was 6 years ago. My name is Luther Powell.

***What started out to be a supposed 3 week adventure turned into a 6 year ordeal of torment.

Purpose of my campaign:
To raise legal funds to pursue those involved.
To raise funds for summer reconnect with my Dad.
To raise funds to help with medical expenses incurred.

The first few pictures show me prior to being kidnapped. I have also included a couple recent pictures now that I am back home with Dad.
There is so much that I have gone through emotionally and physically throughout my experience, but I will refrain from elaborating completely for the purposes of this campaign. Members of my maternal family were lured into a cult, and forcing me into this mess for all these years. The leader of the cult was a manipulative control-freak that preyed on the weakness of his ‘peers’. Unfortunately 6 years of my life and time with my dad were stolen from both of us. My dad spent countless resources working with different agencies attempting to safely recover me. Overseas and under the control of this cult, every move I made was watched, and manipulated through abuse. I had tried several times to reach out to my dad, and once from a rusty internet Café in a town we were passing through. This attempt ended badly, of course, with several more restrictions. The entire time I was taken, my father was not given any details as to what city I was living in, nor updated on my life at all. The Cult paid off a local school with bribes to take me in, which is a very common way of getting things done in a third-world country. I kept journals while in India along with the details of my horrific experience. Not given food for several weeks as a ‘spiritual practice’, demonic practices and other crazy rituals involving self-harm were forced upon my life. My food intake was severely restricted, and every holiday including my birthday was a thing of the past.

While kept in India, I had missed out on a family memorial for my Grandfather, who I was extremely close to. Some of my best memories were shared under the roof of my grandparents. I had cousins, uncles, aunts and relatives, including my dear Grandmother, who I call my prayer warrior, all hoping I could make it out of this alive. My father and I have always had an amazing bond, which makes it unimaginable the stress he must have undergone as well.

Through a series of events that my dad, my extended family, and I can only deem as God ordained, I have recently been reunited with dad and family.

Prior to being kidnapped, my Dad and I were working on a used Mercedes cargo type sprinter van, equipping it with camping materials and the like, as we were planning to go on a trip across the United States. We really wanted to visit the State Parks and bond together, having a wonderful journey and letting the road take us to our next destination. We were all packed up and ready to go on our trip, when I was taken. We were also working on a vintage muscle car, repairing it and fixing it up to be my very first car. Both of these vehicles were sold to help support the search and bring me home. Now, we are focusing on our lives together, now that we are finally reunited.

My dad recently suffered from a series of health complications, including a 15 day stint in the hospital with heart and kidney problems. He is still in and out of Afib, with medical bills racking up. No surprise that the medical specialists pose its much to do with the years of stress. Taking a trip that we were supposed to take all those years ago, and living and enjoying life is really something that we both need right now.

My hope is that we could raise funds for the continued legal battle to bring those involved to justice. Resources from the campaign will also be used to acquire a replacement RV vehicle, travel expenses, my dad’s leave from work, legal fees and medical expenses, keeping in mind our adventure/trip will be for about 3 months. This would allow for my dad to take a leave from his work, so that we can simply focus on each other and create positive memories along the way. The ideal trip would also consist of us stopping at each state where my extended family resides.

We are both stuck in talking about how bad things were that I am doing this campaign so that we can work on the healing process together.

I realize that without knowing me or my dad, this may seem a hard story to fathom, but I can guarantee along with theGoFundMe Guarantee that everything is 100% true. Anyone out there who could contribute to the fund I would just like to say thank you In advance. Hopefully with some help, we can make this happen and I promise that I will update all with pictures of our travels and our progress reports. I have been learning social media skills and am hoping to post on various formats our travels and updates, should you decide to help this dream to come true.

To those who may be in the media or press, my father and I have been approached for interviews regarding all of the events over the last 6 years of our separation, and what I would like to say is that we have yet to do this. However after a summer spent traveling and bonding, I think we may be ready for more public in-depth interviews. We both could only wish to be a positive influence on others who may be suffering something similar.

Would you please consider dontating to help me?
I also would appreciate the sharing of my campaign with others, I would be grateful 🙂

For more info: http://https://www.gofundme.com/kidnapped-for-6-years