KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
August 5, 2025
By Josh Shepherd
Nearly two years have passed since Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, was slammed with a stunning series of sexual abuse allegations that brought down his ministry.
But to the horror of multiple victims this past Sunday, his youngest sister, Lisa Bickle Stribling, dismissed the accounts as “exotic trash.”
“There has been a narrative that has surrounded Mike’s situation,” she said. “This narrative is a false narrative. The Lord is retrieving this narrative right now . . . Concerning Mike Bickle, this is the most integrous-filled, righteous man that we know.”
She said she was speaking “on God’s behalf” at HopeCity, a prayer ministry and church led by Stribling and her husband, Ray.
She was referring to an independent investigation published on Feb. 3 that found Bickle had groomed and sexually abused at least 17 women, including some who were minors at the time.
Reaction was swift.
Deborah Perkins, an alleged victim of Mike Bickle starting about 25 years ago, when he founded the International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC), told The Roys Report (TRR) she felt “a flood of reactions” to Stribling’s message. “I felt initial incredulity at the brazen use of God’s name and the marring of prophetic utterance,” she told The Roys Report (TRR).
Tammy Woods, who was 14 when she alleges that Bickle first abused her, told TRR, “I felt anger at my personal testimony and those of other victims and the anguish experienced in bringing them forth being diminished as ‘exotic trash.’”
(She noted that Stribling likely meant to use “erotic” rather than “exotic” in her message.)
Woods, who remains involved in Christian ministry in Michigan with her husband, added, “And I felt sadness at the deep delusion being exposed and the potential it has for further great harm to God’s people.”
Elizabeth Herder, a former longtime IHOPKC staff member-turned-whistleblower, said, “Lisa’s words were patently blasphemous. She told her listeners she was speaking for God and proceeded to ramble profoundly unbiblical ideas.”
The Advocate Group, an informal coalition of former IHOPKC leaders including Herder, Jono Hall, and Allen Hood, issued a statement via Hall’s X account.
The statement notes the leaders were “deeply troubled” by Stribling’s statement and assertions that “misrepresent the pursuit of truth and accountability as contrary to God’s will.” They add: “Ms. Stribling’s message wrongly paints survivors as liars while perpetuating untruths.”
In that post and a follow-up post, Hall unpacks a theology of how a biblical commitment to truth and justice comport with a New Testament understanding of forgiveness.
“To suggest that the church should never investigate or expose wrongdoing—especially when it involves harm to others, or in this case, the sexual abuse of a minor—contradicts the scriptural mandate to protect the vulnerable and uphold righteousness,” he states.
‘Disgusting’ cover-up culture
HopeCity, a prayer room, community center, and church in Kansas City, Missouri, has sought to uphold Mike Bickle’s past reputation as a Bible teacher and prophet.
A post by The Advocate Group mentions this as an aside, stating, “Ms. Stribling’s statement likely stems from deep personal pain and a desire to defend her family’s honor. We extend grace and understanding to her as she navigates this difficult situation.”
In May 2024, HopeCity’s 25th anniversary service reflected its close alignment with Bickle, as TRR previously reported.
At that service, leaders played video clips of Bickle and disgraced prophet Bob Jones.
They also prophesied the impending fulfillment of Bickle’s “prophetic history,” a series of often-told stories that IHOPKC has said it is “reevaluating” in public statements. In a formal apology last February, former IHOPKC leader Allen Hood stated, due to “spiritual manipulation” and other “negative dynamics,” that “the ‘prophetic history’ should be permanently set aside.”
On Sunday, Stribling began her message by saying, “We are going to have a family conversation. And I’m speaking directly to the body of Christ all over the world.”
However, within 24 hours, her message was removed from HopeCity’s social media channels.
An X user with the handle Andy Hailstone commented, “Is it a true message from God if you have to delete it after a wave of pushback?”
Other leading evangelical-charismatic voices also commented on her message.
Ron Cantor of Messiah’s Mandate stated he rejects Stribling’s supposed prophetic word.
“The Bible tells us to test prophecy,” Cantor wrote. “At no point does Lisa Bickle say that she is submitting this to the Church to be tested. Instead, with an offended tone, she is rebuking the Church for seeking to hold her brother accountable for sexual sin, and that, allegedly, against minors.”
Similarly, Mike Winger, a theology YouTuber who has recently produced investigations of church abuse, stated on X, “This is cover-up culture, and it is disgusting on every level.”
He added, “Please note that she bases all of this on her being a prophetess and speaking for God. Bickle has long abused prophecy for his own purposes and what we have here is more of that, from his sister.”
And Lee Cummings, senior leader of Radiant Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, called her message “cultish propaganda and the exact opposite of a word of the Lord.”
The local minister addressed part of his X post directly to Stribling, writing, “Lisa, if nothing else disqualifies you from ministry leadership, this message does. You’re re-injuring victims and excusing disgusting sin. Mike Bickle is a false teacher/prophet.”
Shame, foolishness, and mockery
In a bizarre admission, Stribling claimed that she has no familiarity with the extensive, decades-long reported allegations against her brother.
“I have never read the story, and I will never read the story or ask questions about the story,” said Stribling. “. . . It has been reported to me, however, that the story is exotic trash. That’s what it is.”
She continued: “The story and stories like it should never be investigated by the church. I have had people ask me, does it matter whether it’s true or not? It does not matter.”
In their statement, The Advocate Group responded that her admission “undermines the credibility of her defense.”
The leaders noted, “This approach risks perpetuating a culture of denial and enablement, which has caused significant harm within the wider IHOPKC community.”
Woods referenced a Scripture in emphasizing why believers should be informed with facts and evidence. “Proverbs 18:13 makes it abundantly clear that, ‘One who gives an answer before he hears, it is foolishness and shame to him,” she said.
Herder, who worked closely with Bickle for years in cultivating IHOPKC donors, observed that Stribling’s statement about not reading the story is “a classic Mike Bickle move.”
She explained, “(It’s) intended to impress the listener and invoke the association that he has positive character traits like restraint, forgiveness, mercy, acceptance, and not gossiping.”
This tactic solidified Bickle’s “spiritual influence and control” for decades at IHOPKC, she said.
But widespread evangelical-charismatic mockery signals Stribling’s message seems to have backfired, in what Herder called an “emperor-has-no-clothes” moment.
“What Lisa spews shows the naked truth about how Mike thinks and the system he built,” she said. “This is the worldview and behavior system that survivors and advocates have been up against.”
Perkins, who condemned the manipulation, pride, and “dark delusion” apparent in Stribling’s message, said it may prove to be “a wakeup call and an object lesson for the church.”
She added: “This is not over until the One who sees the deeds done in secret has flipped over every table and His justice rolls down like a river.”
Correction: This article was updated to accurately state details of Cummings’ church and a past statement of IHOPKC.