“It’s not the devil… It’s my baby” – A Former Member’s Story

This true story from one of our friends who is now an ex-member of the World Mission Society Church of God has been posted here with their permission.  The rudeness she experienced when speaking with active members which you are about to read is, sadly, not uncommon from our own personal experience.  Here is our friend’s story in her own words:

I was there for only a few months. I joined after I found out I was pregnant and my family didnt agree with my choice to parent and kicked me to the curb so to speak, and the people from the World Mission Society Church Of God seemed so nice and accepting of me.  I thought it was a good place to restore my faith in Christ. I got baptized after the first two lessons, Sabbath and Passover because it felt right and the proof was in front of me.  I’m no Bible wiz so I was amazed. I didn’t ask why they said “Ahnsahhong” during the baptism.  It was really naive of me now that I think about it, but I believed that was just the Korean way of saying Jesus (because I heard “Christ” before that name) so I didn’t dwell.  As I studied more it became difficult for me to travel (the church was in New Jersey and I live in Long Island, New York). I became sick due to the pregnancy and my belly was growing, so it was difficult for me to travel and have Saturdays off from work.  I was living on my own and paying for everything on my own at that point.  A couple of the sisters were getting frustrated with me telling me that I was not keeping [the] Sabbath and telling me that the devil was stoping me from coming. So I thought to myself, “it’s not the devil they are talking about–it’s my baby”.  I just couldn’t make that two hour drive to the church and the three hour drive back, pay those tolls, make an offering, pay my rent and bills, buy food and baby items, all at the same time by myself!!!  When I tried to explain this to them they would tell me [to] pray about it.  And I would like a good little lamb.  But one day I didn’t make it and the sister that I’d gotten very close to was upset that I didn’t make it to yet another Sabbath.  She became rude and disrespectful with me when I asked her if we could study the Bible by way of Skype or Oovoo.  I thought it would be good because of my situation, it just made sense in my mind. But to her it was me being lazy and not caring about my salvation.  And she blew me off that night.  I can’t remember exactly what she said, but it was a pompus response to my humble question.  I didn’t hear from her until 2 months later.  She text me asking me to come back to the WMSCOG, and didn’t apologize.  Instead, she made me feel minimal by telling me she understood that I simply “didnt know any better” and it wasn’t my fault and she “forgot about that”.  I decided to learn more about this church.  I mean I know Christians who call themselves as such and conduct themselves as anything but. However those two conversations with her made my skin crawl.  I went on the internet, as I should have done MONTHS ago and found a blog that had been a few years old and WMSCOG members were arguing with the rest of the world [For our readers, our friend is referring to this blog].  Just every faith ripping each other apart.  It took me 3 days to read years of this one particular debate; is Ahnsahnhong the second coming of Christ?  And I left that blog more confused then I had ever been about anything in my life.  Everyone made valid points and quoted Bible passages and even Atheists were making sense.  Who is this “mother god” lady they spend their last penny to visit in Korea?  And is it true that no WMSCOG member has or will die as long as they have the Passover?  That’s what I’ve been told and its such a hard concept to wrap my head around.  I’ve never told any of my friends or family members what I’ve been through and the demons that are haunting me because of the WMSCOG.  I also should mention that I left the church right before the “father and mother god” study. Before I did my own research, when they mentioned “father and mother”, I just thought they meant God was not of a specific gender, but had both male and female qualities.  That was enough to explain “elohim” to me. Little did I know I was worshiping a dead man and a living woman. Shameful.  I’m young and haven’t experienced many things in life.  I’m vulnerable and I always want to believe in the best of people.  And I also want to believe in the truth.  I’ve been on a downward spiral since the experience and it’s won me nothing but confusion and anger.

Our prayers go out to our friend.  Please comment below, or contact us from our contact page to send some words of encouragement to her.

Our friend is not the only person who thought that “Ahnsahnghong” was the Korean name for Jesus.  Turns out, it’s not.  View another ex-member’s experience with just this mistake on YouTube here: Part 1, and Part 2.  Some people are shocked to learn that they are worshiping a dead Korean man, and a Korean lady.

Would you like to share your experience with us?  Please contact us.

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30 Comments
  1. Devlin says

    I’ll keep you in my prayers, friend. Just know you are not alone. Please take care of yourself and your precious unborn child. May the Lord give you strength and courage to find your way. God bless you.

  2. ttr says

    Your courage to raise this child in spite of your parents’ current mindset is a testament to your love for the Lord, and an encouragement to us all. I wish that others, including myself, were as strong and as loving as you. May you be richly blessed in all that you do, and may God keep you and your baby safe.

    Thank you for sharing your story. You will be in my prayers. Remember, you are not in this alone. There is always help out there when times get tough, whether it comes through friends, or even official charity groups through a legitimate church. Eventually your parents will come around–I’ve seen it before. Feel free to contact me through the forum on this site if you need anything. I mean it.

    God bless you for doing the right thing. Stick with the Lord even in tough times, and He will take care of you (remember Job).

  3. truthwillsetmefree says

    hi I am the one who wrote this months back…since then ive had my son who is healthy and happy, and my relationship with my family has improved immensly. ive gone back to collage fulltime to become a nurse. I am happy and feel good about these particular areas of my life. still, however, my experience with wmscog has left me with very deep emotional scars and a negative attitude about religion and…. even christianity in general…..i haven’t said one prayer since after I spent those 3 days googling everything I possibly could-good and bad- about wmscog…i used to pray to God often before I met them. and when cog came into my life I was praying, but I’m so confused as to whom I was praying to in the first place. to this day I’m so embarrassed that I could ever fall for this kind of thing…i can’t confide in my mother, sisters, best friends…no one! I am too ashamed. this experience (so far) has proven to be the most unhealthy experience I’ve ever had so far in my life. i am not fluent or even comfortable with the bible. besides a few quotes and stories that even an atheist could spew. and at this point I dont even know if I want to try….this sounds terrible I know….but I am on the brink of madness of the mind. I’ve been suffering quietly and I can’t relate to ANYONE I know or meet. they all seem to be comfortable in their beliefs and I would never put anyone down for that but I am SO screwed up right now its not even funny. thank you guys for your kind words I really appreciate it. if you know any books, people, or places I can visit while I have the summer off, i would really be grateful for that as well…besides the bible or a church or anything that will sway my thoughts in a particular direction. for the first time in my life I’ve been thinking for myself, and not being the kind of person who will fall into anything. if I do choose to believe in something I’d like it to be my idea..

    1. admin says

      Hello truthwillsetmefree! So glad you stopped by to comment. Speaking to you from the perspective of a former member, I understand what you are going through emotionally and spiritually. I think that the first step in your recovery is to understand what happened to you. You need to realize that this was not your fault and that it was your great qualities as a person that made you a target for recruitment. From the research that I have done, in the process of my own recovery from my experience with the WMSCOG, I understand that these groups seek out the young, presentable, smart and energetic to further their own agendas. They met you at a very vulnerable point in your life, having been shunned from your family and newly pregnant. The WMSCOG may have appeared as a great support system at first, so it made sense that you went along with their demands in the beginning. Now on to your recovery. You are halfway there because you decided to leave the group! I think many WMSCOG members may not have the courage to do what you did. I remember it being a stressful time for me when I had to make the decision to leave the WMSCOG, but the contradictions were too great for me to ignore. I think that a lot of the newer members are really well intentioned people looking for a greater purpose in life that just don’t see what they have gotten themselves into yet. Hopefully they will open their eyes to what’s really going on there soon! Don’t give up on your faith in God! God will not let go of you either :). I wanted to recommend this book that I hope you will find helpful. Here is the amazon link:
      Recovery From Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse.

      1. truthwillsetmefree says

        thank you so much for your words. and thank you again for your book recommendation. i’ve placed my order for this book as well as the one mountain mom provided for me and i will let you know what i think of the read

    2. Sumiyah says

      Hi. Somehow I came across your article. And I read it. And I’m … [moved by admin to the forum for further discussion]

      1. Emil says

        Hi Sumiyah. I have replied to you in the forum. Kindly click the link Admin has supplied to your comment above

        1. Sumiyah says

          Hello again. My apology to this girl… [ this comment was moved to the forum by the admin for further discussion

          1. Emil says

            Hello.
            We would love to have your participation in the forum. It would be a wonderful opportunity for you to clarify various misconceptions we may all have about your church.

    3. jaypee says

      Why waste your time bringing back something that never existed when you can play video games that have religious leaders as the villains, like final fantasy?

  4. MountainMom says

    Hi Truthwillsetmefree, I applaud your courage at leaving this destructive cult. You are a survivor. It is true that smart, energetic, good people can fall prey to this kind of organization, so do not feel like something is wrong with you because you were pulled into it. Because my son was involved in the COG, and I was completely devastated by this, I attended the International cultic studies association conference in New Jersey last year. It helped me understand and cope so much better than I was. It really saved me. If you can get a chance to go to something like that or read Steve Hassan’s book, “Releasing the Bonds” you will understand better why this happened. They really like to target the best and brightest, and they have such a polished approach

    1. truthwillsetmefree says

      thank you so much Mountain Mom, i just ordered releasing the bonds on amazon, looking forward to reading it too. i hope this helps; ive got nothin else to lose. correct me if im wrong, but i think ive read your posts before…have you posted on that really long thread with like 5 or so years of debate on the wmscog? i dont know if it was you or someone with a similar name and testimony….

      1. MountainMom says

        Hi,
        Yes, I am the one from the Jaimie is Blogging site. My son has been in the COG for three years now. I didn’t know he was in it the first year because he was so far away, and I thought he was going to a mainstream church. He didn’t tell me anything about how different it was. I don’t know if I will ever get him out, and when I visited a few weeks ago, he was obviously so upset and depressed with his life. Tried to get him to open up and talk, as I felt it was a vulnerable time where he might be open to revealing doubts, but that went badly. He is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He actually told his wife that (not me). I think what has happened is that he is so unhappy that he cannot even preach for them right now because he would not be showing the fake “happy face” that is so necessary. Anyway, he has been home much more often the past five weeks my daughter in law said, and I am pretty sure that is why. He also hurt his back (probably working at the church since he won’t tell us how) and he can’t do very much labor now. Well, I better not go on and on. Good luck with everything, and I know that book by Hassan will help.

        1. truthwillsetmefree says

          Mountain Mom, im sorry about your son. but you know, he sounds a lot like myself a year ago when I started seeking the truth on my own, and saw the contradictions. I became very depressed and I widthdrew from friends and family and wouldnt mention anything about church or religion anymore. unless it was a mere attempt to ward anyone off who was trying to mock my beliefs I would just recite familiar quotes and verses that were so brilliantly etched in my mind. like I said, I still wont talk about my experience to friends or family. but I was fortunate to bounce back with the birth of my son. well I pretend im alright, anyway. the fresh start of being a new mom took the spot light away from the cog. your son could possibly be in transition and is too upset to talk about it just yet. thats the positive side to his condition, sadly. more than anything, I really hope during his time at home he finds healing and truth in family and love.

          ps. im still waiting for that book to be delivered!

          1. MountainMom says

            Hang in there. You ARE alright. Your courage and your beautiful little boy will carry you through this. I hope that the people in this forum will also provide some support that you need. We care.
            I hope that at some time you will talk to your family and friends about your experience. But for the grace of God, it could happen to any of us. My son was a popular, bright, athletic, motivated person, and a very critical thinker. No one could convince him to do anything unless he decided on it. Now he has handed over every major decision in his life to this group. They must be the very pinnacle of a polished deceptive approach.

  5. Arthur says

    The number of WMSCOG members that continue to come to my door to tell me that I am not a “true” Christian has begun to “ruffle my feathers” (which is a much nicer way of saying something else :smile:). I grew up in a Baptist family and went through a number of years of discipleship training and intensive bible study in order to become closer to God. Now, I haven’t prayed or attended church in twelve years, I did agree to meet with these members, as I was in a place in life in which I needed to mature spiritually and I thought that this was what the WMSCOG was going to provide me. After I arrived, I was ushered into a room in which two members placed a book of “evidence” in front of me, in which they are telling me that attending church on Sunday was actually praising the pagan sun god and that everything that I was taught years ago was wrong. Now, being someone who likes to get to the heart of such matters (i.e. through studying, discussion, and research) I asked if I could take this booklet home in order to perform my own research in order to determine the validity of their statements. I was told that because I was not a member that I would not be allowed to take this “evidence” book home and that the end of the world is coming.

    My biggest question that I had for them was how this Korean man could possibly be the second coming of Christ, especially since the Bible (as I recall) states that the day Christ returns a number of different situations will occur: Firstly, the day that Christ returns, the a trumpet will sound and all eyes will look up to seek Christ returning. Secondly, the Bible specifically states that the dead will be resurrected and brought before God to be judged, and thirdly, all Christians will be “taken” by Jesus (also known as the day of rapture). So, after hours of arguing and and spouting Bible scriptures to me, I finally left. I did not leave any contact information and I did not give them my address. What I have come to realize (even after doing some research) was that there was something seriously wrong with this church. I hope that you have begun to seek solstice in the Bible and found a church that provides you the spiritual foundation that you need. I am still looking for my own and have realized that I am not only in this endeavor. Thank you all for the opportunity to voice my concerns regarding WMSCOG.

    1. admin says

      Hi Arthur,

      Thank you for your comment. You are exactly right concerning the signs at Jesus’ Second Coming. This is exactly what we have pointed out in our Bible study Was Ahn Sahng-Hong Jesus Christ?. In addition, there are numerous other contradictions in their teachings.

      There is definitely something seriously wrong with a religious organization when they will not let “outsiders” review their teaching materials. I’m glad that you got out and weren’t tricked by their Scripture-twisting. Many people are taken in by their revisionist history and Scripture-twisting and spend years giving this fringe organization their money and time before they realize the mistake they’ve made.

      Thank God you weren’t sucked in. Many are not so fortunate.

  6. archangel says

    I am currently researching them……When I came across them at my school I studied with them. They started talking about the “father and mother”…this was very new to me. There are many things they say that dont make sense or add up right. After two studies they were like “you must be baptized”. I went and was like okay because I didnt like or feel the way I was baptized as a kid was the proper way. Then it got even worse. I heard them say the name Ahnsahnghong. I was very confused about this and my doubt grew deeper about them. I figured it was the Korean translation for Jesus but it isn’t. I asked about the name Ahnsahnghong later. I asked them and they said who it was but the more they try to explain, he is not who they said he was and thus lied to me. Fortunately for me, I studied on my own in order to prove to myself that Ahnsahnghong is not “god” and never accepted their explanation again. They will read Bible to you and explain something totally different. The connection between their studies and Scripture is off. A lot of the things they say are true regarding the Bible, but that is where the deception comes in too. The devil knows the Bible very well and will quote it, so watch for this. The devil uses the Bible as a weapon to deceive the person and take him down too…know your Word people.

  7. Eli says

    This website is so full of [word removed by admin] seriously .

    1. admin says

      Hi there Eli,

      I see you left an unhelpful comment. I would like to ask you why you are of this opinion? Have you read through any of the articles in the evidence section? Can you refute any of them? I look forward to your reply.

  8. truthwillsetmefree says

    thanks everyone for you concerns ill definitely be looking into those readings you’ve suggested and Eli, id love to hear more from you. you cant just leave us with that. please elaborate. i wont bash you or be rude, like a few of the sisters had been more then unpleasant to me… there is just too much evidence that proves your beliefs wrong just as you guys seem to have all the right answers countering “normal” “christian” teachings. im just at a point where i feel like i dont want to believe in anything so from here on its fair game. whoever has the obvious winning argument has my soul to save……

  9. Iamapartofthescog says

    Reading this, I’d like to take the time to say I’m sorry that you had an experience like that. All the people I see here online… [comment moved by admin to the forum here].

    1. admin says

      Thank you for your comment. Because of space restrictions, we have moved your comment to the forum here for further discussion.

  10. jessa27 says

    you know what. I have an experience when I asked about one of the sister(korean girl) ” if ALL SAINTS DAY also not allowed in COG?” then she told me yes, because its ghost or dead worshiping. then why did they worship that ahnsahnghong. he is dead person.

  11. denise says

    My daughter is in this, and I haven’t seen her for almost 7 years.

  12. jaypee says

    When I was baptized, they never told me about this ahn sahng hong fellow that I was baffled and simply went to the flow. But thankfully, my family and I went to Hawaii so I could no longer continue my connection to them. But they sure left a scar that will forever remind me what kind of malicious, family-breaking, history-re-visioning, lie-encouraging, bible-misinterpreting, mind-manipulating, elitist basterds look like.

    I may want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to leave the cult, but I no longer agree with the bible. I think the bible is nothing more than a tool to manipulate others and God never really commanded to make one. It was written by elitist catholics back then who wanted to force their beliefs and should anyone disagree with them, it’s all to the fire stake.

    Now, I leave you this question: Do you think that people through all the years revised Jesus’ teachings to make it to their favor? Think about that for a second…

    1. GODisonlyONE says

      @jaypee — you know nobody knows the state of the existing versions of the bible. is it really an inspired book of GOD? were the 40 or so scholars who met with Emperor Constantine when the Council of Nicaea inspired by GOD? What really happened to this council. Why during the process, many books (from more than 24000 manuscripts) did not make it to the Bible? Why all bible versions differ from one another? why so many errors? why so many contradictions? and what is that bible use by MSCOG? (u can refer to the site of BART ERHMAN a very famous bible scholar on how the bible was made and how it undergo lots of mistakes from a generation to another. he got some video speech in You Tube) let me just continue, these differences in bible in use also rendered the christian world in a lot of divisions. but even if the bible is just one, still christians cannot find ways how to agree with each other because the bible internally contains countless contradictions. and that too prompted some christian denominations to have their own version of the bible to make it agree to a doctrine they want.

      read the NOBLE QURAN jaypee. u want to know who’s the real true GOD, the Quran gives best the answer.u want to know the real Jesus and Mary his mother, the Quran will enlighten u about it. u want to know how to be not in the Hellfire when GOD will declare the day of judgement, the QURAN knows best.

      1. Jaypee says

        Alright buddy, I’ll give you a chance. What exactly is the Quran and what are your beliefs?

  13. GODisonlyONE says

    ur an intelligent woman and a silent fighter. congratulations. i wish my wife could have been the same as u. she let herself hooked up with this lunatic group along with her kids instead of her packing up and leave. now a family torn down may not be rebuilt again.

  14. Miriam says

    What a great testimony. It is honest and causes one to reflect at how we as Christians need to make the message plain. I encourage this girl to just trust in God and know that the Lord is not the author of confusion. I had never heard of this church until tonight when I saw a store front church and talked to a member. When she shared a few doctrines, they seemed a bit flaky to me. I know it is easy to get confused and takes years to study Scripture but my advice us always to take a trusted friend to places like this and study Scripture to test what us true. I am older though so not easily swayed.

  15. searching for the truth says

    Hi all,

    I have been at the church for a few months now and started to tithe in November 2019.02.05
    I have a few concerns, the fact that I was a bit late last month because I didn’t go to Zion that Saturday after my husband got paid,
    One of the ladies messaged me to ask me to pay the money in their bank account because they have a cut off period?
    Another concern, I am unemployed and my husband has to pay all the bills, after tithing we don’t have money for bread and milk for the rest of the month, yet we’re told trust in mother and father?
    Do I starve my kids and wait for a miracle?

    And what kind of things does the members tell you about “mother” after meeting her?

  16. Ziaaa says

    Upon seeing this website, I am in the middle of going back or not. I’m into a lot of arguments on my mind after reading some writings here esp with testimonies of former members. A lot of things still I don’t understand but hearing the same opinion with former members mean something to me now. I’m so confused. Please enlighten me more.

  17. Am I the only one says

    I was baptized 2017. Before, I was preached outside while doing field work. They approached me and invited for bible studies. A lot of times. After work, even rest days when I have free time. I am so happy that they accepted me like a family cause that time, I’m having a relationship gap with my family. I’m almost fed up with things that they made me believe whenever I’m with them. Like I have to join worship service at first it is okay for them if I attend once a day but as I have been with them for months, It has to be whole day. Like 3 mass a day. If I did not keep, it was like they are my conscience for calling me a lot through mobile phone. They even visit me at work. It made me addicted like I did not priority my job, family, and everything. Everytime i’m seeing things weird or new to me, I ask a lot. Tried to search for their church through internet and they were unhappy to hear what I did. It was my excitement that brought me to my own curiosity where will I know the origin of the church? founder? Cause it is Korean church that is why I am excited to learn more about. I found a lot of negative articles about it. They said we have to preach and encourage others to be a member but I’m not sure if I can do it because I am a Filipino. That is a Korean church, a lot of things I don’t know about. If everything is true, I don’t know. Who will I believe? My beliefs they taught me or a Korean citizen who knows about them. I’m really confused. When I departed with them, I rejected ,messages, calls, chats, now I have a happy family. I don’t know what to believe now. Help me. Should I go back? But I’m afraid that my son would disobey me to follow church activities and have no time with us in the future if I go back. Am I the only one confuse here?

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