The House of Prayer has been known over the years as a place of worship, a refuge for religious followers, a cult, and a house of severe abuse and death. From 1983-1992, the House of Prayer was based in a compound in Micanopy, Florida. “Mother Anna” ran the house with a strict observation of Old Testament practices. The followers wore long robes, attended religious services three times a day, and performed household chores to Anna Young’s specifications. When members, including children, did not measure up, Mother Anna lost the nurturing side one would ascribe to the maternal name, and inflicted beatings, or “discipline” as she called it, often doling out lashes in the specific quantity of 33; the age Jesus was when he died.

Today, Anna Young has been named a cult leader and a murderer. But, it took many years before any justice was served and it was her own biological daughter, Joy Fluker, who sought out the authorities more than two decades after the House of Prayer closed.

Several young mothers fell into the House of Prayer – it offered a place to live, childcare so they could work, and support that some of these mothers did not have at the time. When children arrived at the Micanopy home, they were separated from their parents. Mother Anna became their caregiver and eventually and tragically their abuser. Katonya Jackson and John Neal were just 2 and 6, respectively, when their mother moved them all into the compound. As a child born “out-of-wedlock”, Young described two-year-old Katonya as born in sin and possessed with demons. As recounted by her brother, Katonya was forced to run around to rid her body of these devils. When she stopped running, Young would beat her. Soon after these abuses began, Katonya started having seizures and was prescribed medication. Young continued her cruel and disturbing treatment of the toddler and it’s believed she withheld her seizure medicine. The two-year-old died in 1983 and her death certificate listed the cause of death as a seizure condition; her abuse was not brought forward to police for many years. 

Another young woman, Sabrina Hamburg, moved into the House of Prayer with her son, Marcos who was between one and two at the time. Per the home’s rules, Hamburg was separated from her son. He suffered starvation, beatings, and another common mistreatment at the House – being locked in a closet for days without food or water. Marcos was half Puerto-Rican and Young decided Hamburg must go to Puerto Rico and leave her son there. When he was about four years old, his mother left him on a bench outside of a church in San Juan. Years later, when she left the House, Hamburg searched extensively for Marcos but, sadly, she passed without locating him. 

Terribly, the House of Prayer story continued to unfurl with additional cruelty. Moses was a year old when his teen mother brought him to the House of Prayer where Young immediately changed his name from Emon Harper to one with biblical significance. During this time, Young lost her husband in an accident, and then is when her daughter, Fluker, says she became extremely abusive to Moses. Years later, Fluker began recalling repressed memories of the beatings, particularly finding starved Moses dead in the closet. These memories eventually led her to call Alachua County Sheriff’s Office in 2016. It is believed Emon’s body was taken outside and burned after he was found dead in 1988. 

Looking to escape a child abuse charge, Young closed up her House of Prayer operations and went on the run in 1992. She eventually was apprehended and served a mere six months for bathing a 12-year-old girl in bleach, requiring other members to hold the young girl, Nikki Nickelson, in the tub filled with chemicals. This torture and the resulting severe skin burns and physical disabilities led to a difficult and troubled life for Nickelson who died of health issues at 36. 

It was not just children who received this heinous treatment; adults were locked in small compartments, required to attack others, and bombarded day and night with scripture. Anna Young was arrested in 2017 for second-degree murder of Emon Harper and a manslaughter charge for Katonya Jackson. In February 2021, Young pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Less than two months later, on March 31, Young died at 79, likely from COVID-19. 

During a recent tour of the 120-year-old house, decades after its followers experienced unspeakable horrors, one could still find a sticker reading – “Jesus loves you”.  

The podcast “The Followers: House of Prayer” was used in the research and writing of this blog post.