In the past, there has been some controversy over whether or not Ahn Sahng Hong ever had children.  When I was a member of the World Mission Society Church of God, I was told on more than one occasion that Ahn Sahng Hong was never married or had any children.  After some research into Ahn Sahng Hong’s life, not only did I discover that he had established another church called Witnesses of Jesus Church of God, now known as the New Covenant Passover Church of God, but that Ahn Sahng Hong was in fact legally married to a woman named Hwang Won Soon and had four children.

However, now it appears as though the WMSCOG openly admits that Ahn Sahng Hong and Zahng Gil Jah had both been married and had children with their respective spouses.

Why Is This Important?

It seems as though the way that the WMSCOG describes Ahn Sahng Hong’s life to its members and what the actual evidence shows, just does not add up.  Let’s take a look.

In the WMSCOG’s New Song Book, a song titled “Holy Is Your Sacrifice” claims that [Ahn Sahng Hong],

“His whole body seemed to be shattered;  He could barely take a step.”

A presumed WMSCOG member blog also describes Ahn Sahng Hong’s suffering and sacrifice:

“Father Ahn Sahng Hong climbed rough hills and mounts; no one knew He suffered all alone, searching for us. Every step, with pain, His whole body ached as He stumbled over stone, and He was feeble with weary legs. How much in pain Father Ahn Sahng Hong’s feet were.”

Ahn Sahng hong hardly suffered alone as the documents shown below demonstrate, he was married and had four children.  Ahn Sahng Hong also does not appear “feeble with weary legs” in this picture of him standing in a river nor in this picture of him swimming at the beach.

The lyrics of “Holy Is Your Sacrifice” further claim that [Ahn Sahng Hong],

“Even a bowl of soup he would sacrifice; He saved his poor wages, skipping his poor meals…He was hungry, He was cold, for thirty seven years.” 

The same presumed member blog (see screenshot above) similarly goes on to say:

“Mountain water was His only meal…Even His food He spared for the sake of the children and we steam Him not.”[sic] 

Yet, Ahn Sahng Hong is seen above eating a meal with his wife, children and other members of his church that clearly includes plenty of solid food.  Here, Ahn Sahng Hong is photographed standing behind his 3 tier birthday cake.

Clearly, there are a number of inconsistencies between the WMSCOG’s portrayal of Ahn Sahng Hong’s life and the evidence that we have available.  Yet, another contradiction stands out. WMSCOG General Pastor Joo Cheol Kim’s view on family and love being “temptations of Satan” does not reflect Ahn Sahng Hong’s actions with respect to the same issues.  Clearly Ahn Sahng Hong did not believe that family and love were temptations of the satan since he married and decided to have four children.  It would appear that the WMSCOG believes that their own leader and supposed “god”, Ahn Sahng Hong, was tempted and succumbed to Satan’s tempations.  It also is apparent that a marriage and four children did not interfere with Ahn Sahng Hong’s important work of establishing a new church, “restoring the Passover”, and preaching to the public.  Three of his four children were born after Ahn Sahng Hong’s baptism into the Seventh Day Adventist Church on the alleged date of December 16, 1948.  You can see the proof in Ahn Sahng Hong’s official family census record below.

This article is dedicated to my friends who were taught by the WMSCOG that Ahn Sahng-Hong did not have any children… only to find out later that he did.

[See image gallery at www.examiningthewmscog.com] I have friends who were in the World Mission Society Church Of God for a long time.  Many were told that the supposed founder Ahn Sahng-Hong had no family.  As it turns out, he did.

Not only are Ahn’s childrens names purportedly written on his tombstone, but the February 2012 issue of Modern Religion Monthly magazine in South Korea contains an interview with Ahn Sahng-Hong’s eldest son Ahn Kwang-Sup.  (He uses a nick-name as his first name).

If you would like to get in touch with Ahn Kwang-Sup, he is still a member of the New Covenant Passover Church of God (NCPCOG) today, the church that Ahn Sahng-Hong founded.  (Click here to see a picture of Ahnsahnghong with his son on right, or here for more pics).

Ahn Kwang-Sup confirms in the interview that his father, Ahn Sahng-Hong, did not believe in a mother god.  Here are the highlights from the interview:

• Ahn Sahng-Hong did not believe in a mother god.  Neither does the NCPCOG.
• Ahn Sahng-Hong wrote against the idea of there being any mother god in his book.
• Ahn Sahng-Hong was married to Hwang Won-Soon (click here and here to see pictures of Ahn Sahng-Hong with his wife Hwang Won Soon and their daughter).
• Ahn Sahng-Hong only prayed in the name of Jesus Christ.
• The NCPCOG only prays in the name of Jesus Christ.
• 2012 is the end of the world according to both the NCPCOG and the WMSCOG (see further supporting evidence for this here).
• The Ahn official family register was provided by Ahn Kwang-Sup to the magazine as evidence that Zhang Gil Jah was never Ahnsahnghong’s wife (pictures in the article).

The interview has been re-published below by permission from Modern Religion Monthly magazine in both PDF and Text format for your reading enjoyment.  The language and opinions adopted in the article do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of this site or its ownership.

Certified English Translation

https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/media/interview-with-ahn-sahng-hongs-son/Interview-With-Ahn-Sahng-Hongs-Son-English.pdf

Download The English Translation PDF (1.2 MB)

Original Korean Article

https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/media/interview-with-ahn-sahng-hongs-son/Interview-With-Ahn-Sahng-Hongs-Son-Korean.pdf

Download the Original Korean Article PDF (803 KB)

Pictures of the Magazine

Here are shots of a copy of the magazine

[See image gallery at www.examiningthewmscog.com]

Text Format – February 2012 issue of Modern Religion Monthly

Table of Contents

Interview with Ahnsahnghong’s Son – Korean

Interview with Ahnsahnghong’s Son – English Certified Translation

Official Family Register Docs – Korean/Chinese

Official Family Register Docs – English Certified Translation

__________________________________________________________________________________________

28_   The Church of God is Zhang Gil-Jah’s Congregation!

34_   Shock! Obscene JMS syndicate revealed!

39_   Compensation Committee prepares for demise of JMS

44_   Unification Church’s relationship with North Korea transcends law

48_   Hannong Agricultural Corporation poses threat

53_   Korea World Missions Association’s interCP releases interim report

The Church of God is Zhang Gil-Ja’s Congregation!

Ahn Sahng-Hong’s son Ahn Kwang-Sup speaks out about the Church of God

coverage:  Tak Ji Il editor
written by: Lee Seoung Yun reporter

The Church of God, which believes that Ahn Sahng-Hong is God the Father, appeared on the scene after Ahn’s death. It also deifies Ahn’s wife, Zhang Gil-Ja, as “the Heavenly Mother”.  The Church of God is expanding its influence by upholding its public image as an active participant in community volunteer services. However, the Church is being criticized by the New Covenant Passover Church of God (New Covenant Church) which reportedly follows the teachings of pastor Ahn and the traditions of the organization. Each congregation claims that it is based on the authentic teachings of Ahn Sahng-Hong. Ahn Kwang-Sup, a son of Ahn Sahng-Hong as well as an elder of the New Covenant Church, spoke to us about The Church of God.

Is Zhang Gil-Ja the wife of Ahn Sahng-Hong?

After Ahn’s death, the congregation went two separate ways: the God of Church that believes in Zhang Gil-Ja as the Heavenly Mother and the New Covenant Church that adheres to the traditional doctrine of Ahn. The Church of God proclaimed that Zhang was the Spiritual Mother, on the grounds of a wedding photo of Ahn and Zhang. According to the testimony we received from a victim based in America, the Church of God in the U.S. currently presents Zhang as the first wife of Ahn; a claim that Ahn’s own son, Ahn Kwang-Sup, does not accept. Ahn made it clear that Zhang was not his father’s wife, citing Ahn’s Detailed Family Census Register as evidence. On the Register, Hwang Won-Soon is recorded as Ahn’s wife and it says that she “reported the marriage with Ahn Sahng-Hong on the 5th of April 1958”.  The name Zhang Gil-Ja is not found anywhere in the register. Ahn Kwang-Sup stressed that Zhang could not have been the first wife and he did not verify Zhang’s wedding photo, saying that he had never seen it before.

Is Zhang Gil-Ja the Heavenly Mother?

The Church of God emphasizes that the images of man and woman are contained within the image of God and that Eve symbolizes the bride of the Second Coming of the Christ. It claims that the ‘Heavenly Jerusalem’ mentioned in the Revelation of John implies the bride and thus points to Zhang Gil-Ja, since she is the Heavenly bride chosen by Ahn Sahng-Hong. The claim is dismissed by Ahn Kwang-Sup as “a load of nonsense”.  “The Heavenly Mother is not part of Ahn Sahng-Hong’s teachings”, he said. When Ahn was alive, “a person called Um Soo-In once claimed that she was the bride and Ahn Sahng-Hong rebuked the claim in writing”, he added. According to Ahn Kwang-Sup, pastor Ahn had never taught about the Heavenly Mother and had clearly written that “the bride means the New Heavenly Jerusalem as recorded in the Revelation of John 21:9-10 and the new Jerusalem translates into 144,000 members of the congregation”.

Is Kim Joo-Cheol the successor of Ahn Sahng-Hong?

The Church of God claims that Kim Joo-Cheol – the leader of the Church of God – is the successor of Ahn, because Ahn dressed Kim in full ceremonial uniform and took a photo of Kim. The New Covenant Church suspects that the photo may have been forged. Even if the photo was genuine, the Church maintains that Kim cannot be accepted as the successor on the basis of a single photo. Ahn Kwang-Sup criticized Kim’s claim, saying that “Kim proclaims to be Ahn’s successor but that is just his opinion”. “It is not known whether Kim put on the uniform himself at the time. Pastor Ahn had never publically dressed Kim in a formal ceremony”, he said curtly. As far as he is concerned, Kim has never been formally appointed as the successor by Ahn.

Is Ahn Sahng-Hong the Saviour?

The service performed at the New Covenant Church is not much different from that of the mainstream churches. The parishioners pray in the name of ‘Jesus Christ’ and recite the Lord’s Prayer. They sing unmodified mainstream hymns. Like the Seventh-day Adventists, they observe Saturday as the Sabbath day. “The New Covenant Church worships God in the same way we did when pastor Ahn was alive’, Ahn Kwang-Sup said.  He pointed out that the Church of God changed the service format to suit its own views. “Although the Church of God prays in the name of pastor Ahn Sahng-Hong, Ahn was not the saviour of people, he was just someone who found the truth people had lost”, he stated. “The New Covenant Church believes in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and pastor Ahn himself made it clear that only the work of Jesus could save us”. The Church of God, however, believes in Ahn Sahng-Hong as the Saviour. In its full articles of incorporation, the Church states that “we believe in the truth that we will be saved by the Heavenly Spiritual Father Ahn Sahng-Hong who came to the world, as written in the Bible, and by believing in the Bride of the Heavenly Father, Zhang Gil-Ja”.

25th of December marks the Nativity of Ahn Sahng-Hong?

Church of God criticizes the Christmas day celebrations held by the traditional churches as worshiping the historic Sun God and it celebrates the day to commemorate the nativity of Ahn Sahng-Hong. One member of the Church describes the meaning of the nativity day in his internet blog as follows; ‘since the mainstream churches do not know the exact birth date of Jesus, celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December has no meaning whatsoever. The members of the Church of God know the exact birth date of Ahn Sahng-Hong and celebrate the day accordingly”.  Is Ahn Sahng-Hong’s birthday the 25th of December, as this believer claims? In the Detailed Family Census Register, Ahn’s citizen ID is recorded as “180113-OOOOOOO’. He was born on the ’13th of Jan 1918′ in Myungduk-ri Gyenam myun, Jangsoo-gun, Jullabukdo.

Ahn’s teaching on 144,000

In his book called [The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life], pastor Ahn concludes that the number of people saved will be no more than 144,000. He also claims that “2012 will be the end of the world” in [While the Bridegroom Tarries, All the People Fall Asleep?]. In a nutshell, the world will end in 2012 and only 144,000 people will be saved.  The Church of God supports this prediction and is secretly spreading the message. The number of believers in the Church, however, is currently over 144,000. The Church claims that the number reached 1.45 million according to its own survey, which would mean that less than 10% of the congregation will be saved.  Criticizing such a claim, Ahn Kwang-Sup said, “When we are talking of the number 144,000, it is fraudulent to boast the figure that goes beyond a million. The Church of God essentially deviates from the foundation laid by pastor Ahn”.  “Pastor Ahn talks about the last day of the world in 2012 but he also said that we need to fill the number 144,000. So we need to fulfil this number first”, he added.

The claims made by Ahn Kwang-Sup, the son of pastor Ahn Sahng-Hong, indicates that the Church of God has little to do with Ahn Sahng-Hong at present. Ahn’s teachings have been twisted and the worship ceremony established by him has lost its original form. While worshipping Ahn Sahng-Hong as the Saviour, the Church further created the Heavenly Mother doctrine and encourages the members to worship Zhang Gil-Ja. This was, however, denied by Ahn in the book written by himself. One ex-member of the Church of God reported that the Church presented Zhang Gil-Ja as the central figure, asking would-be believers whether they “knew about the Heavenly Mother”. In other words, the Church of God has nothing to do with Ahn Sahng-Hong and has everything to do with Zhang Gil-Ja.

There has been a lot of discussion on this site and in the forum about families that have experienced tremendous loss because of a family member’s involvement in the World Mission Society Church of God.  WMSCOG members have of course denied accusations that the organization in any way encourages division among family members, while at the same time justifying the occurrence of such divisions by pointing to Biblical passages.  If the WMSCOG claims that they do not encourage members to separate themselves from family that are not members of the organization, then why does it seem like such a prevalent concern among our readers?

What Does Chief Pastor Joo Cheol Kim Say About Family And Love?

In his book titled, My Sheep Listen to My Voice (1990), Joo Cheol Kim writes:

In this statement, Joo Cheol Kim regards parents, children, and love as mere “secular things” and often “temptations of Satan”.  While the devil could certainly use anything to tempt anyone, I don’t think lumping these normally good things in alongside sinful qualities such as hate, power, money, jealousy and envy is necessarily responsible without some further clarification.  Is Joo Cheol Kim’s list of “temptations of Satan” supported by Scripture?  Doesn’t the Bible say to “honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12)?  (Of course, that goes with the caveat they’re not asking you to sin)

What Does The Bible Say?

The Apostle Paul writes a similar list of sinful qualities that should be avoided in his letter to the Romans.

Notice, Paul does not mention parents and love in the list of evil traits.  The difference between what Joo Cheol Kim states and the above verses written by Paul is quite apparent.  In a striking contrast to what Joo Cheol Kim writes, Paul says that those who disobey their parents and have no love, are among those that exhibit other evil qualities deserving of death.  A similar warning is found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

It can also be noted here that such qualities as disobedience to parents and being without love are equated with conceit, greed, boastfulness, pride, abusiveness, ungratefulness, unholiness, etc.  Paul goes as far as to say that one should have nothing to do with such people.  It is important to note that the Greek word for love in the above Scriptural excerpts is astorgos meaning natural affection or affection towards family, which further supports that love for one’s family members is important to God.  Additional Scriptural support for the importance of obedience to parents and love for family members is found in many verses such as:

Jesus blessed the children in Matthew 19:13-15.  Jesus also said:

Does the Bible Support Separation From Family?

Some of the Bible passages I have heard WMSCOG members use in order to justify separation from their families are Luke 18:29-30.

The above verse implies leaving the family for a time to follow Jesus, not permanent separation or shunning of family members that do not agree with the WMSCOG doctrine.  This is evident in that permanent separation from a spouse for example, would be the equivalent of divorce and would directly contradict verses like Malachi 2:16, 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, Mark 5:32 that clearly oppose divorce and separation.  The WMSCOG would be correct in their interpretation to state that one should continue believing in God and being involved in the church regardless of what family members may think, but it is simply adding to the text to say that one must leave family members if they express any resistance.  The “leaving” referenced in Luke 18:29-30 is quite literally a matter of a temporary physical journey, such as going on mission trip for one’s church.  This interpretation easily reconciles with the rest of Scripture, whereas interpreting the “leaving” as a permanent separation (as my friends in the WMSCOG do) would violate themes of family unity presented elsewhere.  This is why the “leaving” cited in Luke can only refer to temporary parting, and not a permanent one.

The Bible is also clear in stating that we have a duty to provide for our family members:

Thus, if a WMSCOG member were to leave their family and cut off all ties, what does that indicate about the WMSCOG member according to the above verse?  According to the Bible, the person who separates from his family and fails to provide for them is worse than the unbelieving family member.  Again, this lends support to Luke’s reference to leaving one’s family as being only temporary.

Matthew 12:50 – Another Commonly Distorted Verse

I have also heard WMSCOG members point to Matthew 12:50 in order to minimize the importance of ones family.  The erroneous interpretation that Jesus refers to the crowd around him as his mother and brothers in order to demonstrate that family is not important would contradict other Scriptural accounts that demonstrate Jesus’ obedience and love for His parents.  For example, in John 2:1-11 Jesus fulfills his mother’s request to turn water into wine even though He said was not ready to begin his ministry.  Luke 2:41-51 demonstrates that Jesus obeyed His parents in their request for Him to leave the temple with them, even after He said that He “must be about His Father’s business.”  Jesus showed love for his mother when He left Mary in the care of a “disciple whom He loved” prior to His crucifixion in John 19:25-27.  Why would Jesus do this if he didn’t think his “physical mother” was important?  What Jesus is actually doing in Matthew 12:50 is using a literary device known as hyperbole to make a point with His audience.  He is not actually advocating that family is unimportant as His actions demonstrate elsewhere.

Threats Against “Unbelieving” Family Members?

In a book titled, Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Singer describes a variety of tactics that members of destructive groups use to force relatives and friends into silence about their group.  Singer explains that:

In a recent forum post we noted a comment from a WMSCOG member named “Nick”, that mirrors what Singer spoke of in her book.  “Nick” writes:

“I can see family is very important to you and again I am sorry that your son is no longer with his wife but slandering the WMSCOG on the internet will not improve your situation. Instead, what if your son was to see this? I don’t know your relationship with him but it certainly would not improve your bond with him.  This goes out to everyone who reads this as well. Think about why you feel the need to talk behind the church’s and/or loved ones back’s on the internet and the consequences your actions may have.  God bless you”

It can hardly be considered “talking behind the church’s and/or loves ones back’s” [sic] when the opinions are expressed in a public forum such as the Internet.  All have access to this site and have the freedom to read it, despite the WMSCOG advising members not to read critical information about them on the Internet.  What “consequences” is “Nick” referring to?  Will the WMSCOG bring it to the member’s attention like they did in this former member’s story?  Will the WMSCOG encourage the member not to have any contact with family members that are critical of the organization?  Will the WMSCOG encourage the member to move to another area to “help start other churches“?  It is preposterous for WMSCOG members to call it “slandering” when someone speaks out publicly about their personal true experiences with the WMSCOG and its members.  The information is not slander just because members of the WMSCOG find it unfavorable to their group.  Are the words “God bless you” at the end meant to distract the reader from what seems to be a veiled threat contained in the message?

Conclusion

Joo Cheol Kim’s claims that parents, children, and love are often “temptations of Satan”  without further clarification represent a possible danger for people who might use them to form an erroneous belief that separation from family that does not approve of or agree with the group’s doctrine is somehow supported or even commanded in the Bible.  In our own time in the WMSCOG, when members could not make it to services, “the devil” was often labeled as the culprit, when there was actually a legitimate family need (for further examples of this see:  “It’s not the devil… It’s my baby” or  “What’s More Important, Your Mother or God?”).

If you are a WMSCOG member reading this, I would ask myself what motive an organization would have if it suggested to me to disassociate from my family support system?  What motive would an organization have to claim that my support system is a temptation of Satan, when the Bible, read in context, so clearly states otherwise?  Could it be that the organization wishes to create a greater sense of dependency on the themselves by replacing my family support system with something else?

Interestingly, cult expert Margaret Singer cites that destructive mind control groups also strive to create a sense of powerlessness and dependency on the organization by stripping members of their support system and their ability to act independently (Cults In Our Midst, p.65-66).  This process is further aided if the person is physically tired, which can occur from being overly busy or waking up very early. Once detached from one’s family, even more time can be spent within the organization, causing the cycle to repeat.

While I’m sure everyone’s experience within the WMSCOG is different, I think you will agree that Joo Cheol Kim’s opinion of family and love as expressed in his book My Sheep Listen to My Voice not only contradicts Scripture, but also represent a danger to people who might be confused into thinking that they have Biblical support for separating from their families, when in fact they do not.

For more information on Margaret Singer’s six conditions for thought reform click here.

*The copyright holder of the featured image is unknown.  If you are the owner of the image please contact us.

This story comes to us from one of our friends whose son has been involved with the World Mission Society Church of God for over three years.  His drastic and sudden personality shift is not unlike the many other stories we hear about.  Our heart goes out to this mother who is persevering in her effort to win her son back.  Here she is now in her own words:

My son has been in the World Mission Society Chuch of God since July 2008.  My husband and I did not find out until October 2008.  He hid it from us all that time.

We were away for a week at the time, and had left him in charge of the house.  Being extremely responsible at the age of 20 we trusted him.  He was meant to come away with us but had to remain to complete a short course at university.  By the time we got back, he had already apparently been baptised within 2-3 days of knowing them in our home.  The WMSCOG apparently came knocking on the door offering their literature which consisted of small leaflets about “God the Mother” and the “second coming”.  As we were away for a week I had my parents pop in to check on him. My dad said he found 4 glasses, one of them had lipstick on it.  He joked with my son about the lipstick, as though he’d been entertaining.  My son admitted to nothing.

He obviously listened to what they had to say.  Within 3 days after meeting the WMSCOG recruiters, he dropped his class at university to study daily with these people.

When we got back, we noticed he became extremely interested in the Bible and started showing us different verses.  He was jumping all over the Bible.  We’re Christians but not over the top religious and were not very knowledgeable about the Bible at the time.  Our son wanted to read the Bible every night with us however, we’d just end up arguing about it.  All we were doing was fighting over the Bible.  He was trying very hard to convert us without our knowledge and to believe these weird doctrines.  We argued that these were very strange interpretations of the Bible. We tried hard to explain to him that he was confused and his interpretations were a bit “off track” (He had attended a Christian school, so he already had  prior knowledge of the Bible – he even studied religion as a subject).

As we read the Bible together, I noticed he would reveal things very slowly.  He’d come to a certain “prophecy”, and then say I’ll reveal the rest tomorrow. I’d want to continue, but he would tell me I was not ready to hear the “truth” yet.

During one of our readings of the Bible he explained that “Jesus had already come back in secret”.  By this point I was getting very upset, as he was revealing this slowly and suspiciously.  I thought he was going to tell me he was Jesus Christ!  After a couple of days he finally revealed what he said was Jesus’ second coming, however he did not mention anything Korean or Ahnsahnghong or “mother”.  I was in shock.  At this point we told him he needs help -Spiritual and psychological.

Over the next few months, my son kept telling us he was extremely busy on Saturdays, helping out a friend with work.  This of course was extended to Tuesday nights.  The excuse was the same.  He had to help his friend with his business. My son also had a part time job, so when the feast days would come up, he would tell us he had to open the grocery store he was working in on his own at 5am.  He simply lied to us the whole time.

By around September 2008, our son told us he was going to go to Korea for a holiday to study with a friend from University.  He told us he was a very good friend who had invited him to go to Korea with him.  He kept telling us it was a great opportunity to visit the country and may not be able to again.  This just didn’t sound right to us but we couldn’t really say why.  But he said he really wanted to go.  Our response of course was that we were concerned because we didn’t even know this mysterious friend.  We tried hard to talk him out of it, but he reassured us it was a holiday to study and explore a new country.

About three days before he was meant to go, we found out he was really going to Korea to meet “god.” We confronted him with this and asked him what he was involved in.  He told us the truth that he was involved in the WMSCOG and that it was not a cult to him.

We spoke to our local priest who came and spoke to him the following evening.  Our priest tried to point out that the Bible interpretations he was presenting were totally off-beam when compared to normal Christian interpretations.  The priest also tried to point out the craziness of going to Korea.  He told him to hold off a while as 3 months of attending this church was not enough time to be placing so much trust in them and to be leaving the country.  My son agreed and swore he would cancel his ticket the next day.

The next morning our son was a totally different person and was acting very suspiciously.  I actually managed to ring the travel agent myself and cancelled the ticket.  But of course, the travel agent notified the pastor who alerted my son about the cancellation.  When my son found out he was absolutely furious with me.  My son had never sworn at me his whole life, but that day he called me every bad thing you can imagine.  He showed me the cancelled ticket and said he was not going and that the members were angry with him, as I placed him in an uncomfortable situation.  I don’t think any of that was true though.  He went on to tell me that in his fit of anger he threw his passport away.  I realized then, that he was still lying and planning to leave somehow.  He had given his luggage and passport to the WMSCOG.  In the following days leading up to the trip he continued acting very suspiciously.

This just was a total shock to us.  I did have the perfect child.  He was very close to us and we had a great relationship.  What was happening was like a death in the family.  He sold all of his possessions including iPods, cameras and a watch to fund his trip to Korea.  I go into his bedroom now and there’s nothing, just the bed he sleeps on.  He has kept the computer we bought him as he needs this for his study.  Although, I did have to stop him from selling it in the beginning.

He eventually went to Korea.  He pretended to go to work early in the morning on the day of departure.  He called us that evening from the airport and said he would be back in two weeks.  I was devastated.  I needed a lot of medical attention to get me through those two weeks.  When he got back he told us that he’d met “god” and this was “his church” and he was “never going to leave it”.

The day after he returned from Korea, he wanted his father and I to attend his “church”. I didn’t want to go at all but my husband thought we should give it a try so we can see what he is involved in.  On arrival at the church, which was just a house, everyone was welcoming and saying “god bless you” to us.  They made me wear a veil on my head.  I was in disbelief during the service as there was a lot of singing and NO worship of Jesus.  They prayed and sang to “christ Ahnsahnghong” and “mother god” who they call “mother jerusalem”.  The men sat on one side of the room and the women were seated behind them.  The women all wore veils on their heads.  I was expected to wear one.  The pastor was very forceful during his address to the congregation.  He choose bible passages and interpreted them with his own spin.  Everyone was friendly as long as you didn’t begin to question anything.  The members read from their own Korean/English Bibles.  They have “song books”.  The fellow who had converted my son sat with us during the service and guided us through the singing.  He kept encouraging us to join in but that was the last thing we could do.  They expected my husband to sit at the front with the men and they wanted me in the back with all the women.  But I refused to separate from him.

My son works part-time but he never has any money.  I’m not sure if they have access to his bank account.  From what I understand there’s a 10 per cent tithing on earnings plus many other offerings.  There are also the offerings during all services attended on Saturdays.

I know my son marks the roll of attendance at every service to see who has turned up.  If a member is absent, they will phone or physically go to that person’s home and ask why they didn’t come to church.  He goes “preaching” from 8 am to 10 pm on most days.  He has spent all of his time recruiting during semester breaks from college.  Most of the time it’s as if he’s not there, like we’ve lost him as a person.  He reads the Bible and WMSCOG literature all the time.  The change in his personality is astounding.

There was an occasion where I had to take my son for a medical appointment, as he needed medical attention.  They must have advised him not to go.  They kept him busy the whole day.  I had a lot of difficulty contacting him because he turned off his mobile phone.  I went to the “church” to find him.  I was approached by the pastor’s wife who told me “he was a man” and I had no right to take him to the doctor.  I told her how upset I was as he needed to see a doctor.  I continued to tell her how upset I was that he was part of this “church”.  The pastor’s wife then told me to get off of the property or she would call the police.  She turned very nasty towards me.  Other members came outside and urged me to leave also.  When I told my son about how abusive the pastor’s wife was towards me, he defended her and told me I should never have gone to find him to go to the doctor.  He told me I was on private property and the pastor’s wife had every right to tell me to leave or call the police.

About a year ago I had a local newspaper reporter approach me for my story.  I told him my story which he wanted to publish.  However the week before it was to be published, the local paper had written a small article about the church, which included a small quote about my son selling everything to go to Korea.  Apparently members from the church went charging into the office telling them how wrong they were.  They had to print another article written by one of their pastors. In this article they claimed what I said was not true.  I was furious!  The reporter told me they were quite abusive and they called the police.  Because of their intimidation, the reporter was too afraid to publish my full story.  You can imagine my disbelief.

Friends have tried to keep in touch with my son but he has distanced himself from them.  He had tried hard to convert all his friends but they didn’t want to know about it.  So he cut off all ties with them.  One friend (his closest) had supported him through the whole ordeal but he has now given up hope as my son has cut ties with him also.  Our son is still trying to get us into the church and tells us that we will one day become members.  He says this because “mother” told him he shouldn’t worry because we would all eventually enter his “church”.  He tells me one day we will see the “truth”.

As a family there are many things we can’t do together anymore.  We have not had a Christmas or Easter together for the past three years because he doesn’t believe in those holidays anymore.  On Christmas day my son will leave around 6 am and not return home until after midnight.  He has told me that Christmas makes him “sick” and we are all wrong to celebrate it.  He will not set foot in our church (or any other church for that matter) because he says they are the “wrong churches”.  He refuses to attend and has missed out on many family functions such as weddings, christenings etc.  My biggest fear is a funeral.  Both my husband and I have elderly parents, so the realization that he will not attend these is heartbreaking for us.

Our son has gone through periods of fasting when he does not eat or drink for up to 7 days.  He says he does this because it will make his prayers more meaningful.  He also tells us that we’re all wrong and he’s the only one in the right church and he’s trying very hard to save us.  We have found some ex-members who have written emails to us about their experiences but when we show him these he just dismisses them.  I’ve given him so much information and have encouraged him to do some other bible studies and branch out and look at other things.  I constantly print information from different sites to give to him.  He always just dismisses the information.  He tells me he has no time to read it and that it’s wrong anyway.  If I show him testimonies from ex-members, his response is that they fell out of the truth and didn’t fully understand.

Our son has been to Korea twice.  He had not notified us of the second trip either.  Instead, he just called from the airport letting us know that he was leaving.  He does still live with us but it is very difficult.  We live with a total stranger.  However, I live with the hope that he will “wake” up from this nightmare and come back to us.  The fact that he believes the things that the WMSCOG claims makes me ill.  His whole person has changed to someone we really don’t know and can’t trust anymore.  The people in this group can appear to be very loving but they can be very harmful at the same time.  This honestly has devastated and ruined my family.

A heartbreaking story of family strife caused by a son’s involvement in the World Mission Society Church of God.  Please comment below to let our friend know you support her.  Is your story similar?  Feel free to contact us and share your experience.

“Take Back Your Life” by Janja Lalich and Madeline Tobias (p. 26-27).  [Reprinted with permission from the author and publisher.]

In the medical profession, ethical contracts ensure that patients have given “fully informed consent”.  That is, if a doctor fails to inform a patient about the risks, side effects, and options for treatment, the uninformed patient is entitled to sue for maltreatment.  Below is a mock contract for cult membership.  If you are in a group, ask yourself if you gave informed consent at the time of your recruitment, or if you would have joined had you known your participation would involve the following conditions.  I find this contract very similar to my own experience in the WMSCOG:

I, _______________________ hereby agree to join ________________________.  I understand that my life will change in the following ways.  I know what I am getting into and agree to all of the following conditions:

My good feelings about who I am will stem from being liked by other group members and/or my leader, and from receiving approval from the group/leader.

1. My total mental attention will focus on solving the group’s/leader’s problems and making sure that there are no conflicts.
2. My mental attention will be focused on pleasing and protecting the group/leader.
3. My self-esteem will be bolstered by solving group problems and relieving the leader’s pain.
4. My own hobbies and interest will gladly be put aside.  My time will be spent however the group/leader wants.
5. My clothing and personal appearance will be dictated by the desires of the group/leader.
6. I do not need to be sure of how I feel.  I will only be focused on what the group/leader feels.
7. I will ignore my own needs and wants.  The needs and wants of the group/leader are all that is important.
8. The dreams I have for the future will be linked to the group/leader.
9. My fear of rejection will determine what I say or do.
10. My fear of the group’s/leader’s anger will determine what I say or do.
11. I will use giving as a way of feeling safe with the group/leader.
12. My social circle will diminish or disappear as I involve myself with the group/leader.
13. I will give up my family as I involve myself with the group/leader.
14. The group/leader’s values will become my values.
15. I will cherish the group’s/leader’s opinions and ways of doing things more than my own.
16. The quality of my life will be in relation to the quality of group life, not the quality of the life of the leader.
17. Everything that is right and good is due to the group’s belief, the leader, or the teachings.
18. Everything that is wrong is due to me.
19. In addition, I waive the following rights to:

In our last segment we learned how the WMSCOG tried to pressure our correspondent from New Jersey into signing a non-disclosure agreement.  Now, in our fifth and final section of our five part series, we learn of the ruin wrought to our correspondent’s marriage by her husband’s heavy involvement in the WMSCOG:

After my meeting with the WMSCOG, things between my husband and I would only get worse.  My husband admitted that he had already made up his mind.  There was no doubt in his mind that I had been posting “lies about the church” on the internet.  My husband went as far as to accuse me of turning against God.

As the days went on, it seemed that his involvement in the WMSCOG continued to turn my husband against me.  My husband became less attentive and less affectionate towards me.  Our anniversary was fast approaching and my husband seemed disinterested in making plans to do something special.  I suggested that we go away for a couple of days and he refused.  He explained that he could not be away from the WMSCOG because “father was coming soon” and he needed to be ready when the time came.  On the day of our one year anniversary, he still hadn’t committed to any plans or even made any suggestions about what we would be doing together.  We subsequently spent the early part of the day arguing.  He finally admitted that he felt guilty spending any time with me after I posted “lies about the church” on the internet.  He left and spent the rest of the day and evening at the WMSCOG.  I was no longer worthy of his time.

The next day, my husband took me out to dinner and gave me a card in which he wrote that we had enough love to make it through.  Just when I thought that things between us would get better, he informs me that he had been recently chosen to participate in an intense Bible study training course where he would learn to teach 30 subjects in 30 days. That would mean that he would spend every day in the WMSCOG until very late at night and all day Sunday being tested from 9am to 6pm in the afternoon.  I thought that it was pretty convenient that he would be “chosen” for this “intense training” that would make it nearly impossible for us to see each other, not too long after I was kicked out.  The goal of this training sounded unrealistic and seemed like a ploy to set members up to fail.  Why not set unattainable goals for your members to keep them focused, working hard, and feeling guilty and inadequate when they can not meet your demands?

Now going to the WMSCOG right after working and coming home after midnight was not enough.  My husband would also stay up reading the WMSCOG books until almost 2 am. Then he would wake up at 5 am to pray.  The WMSCOG was keeping the both of us sleep deprived.  The strain on our marriage continued.

My husband had always told me that he wanted to have children and start a family.  This was no longer the case after I was kicked out of the WMSCOG.  He told me that he would not bring a child into this world and have the child’s blood on his hands because he knew that I would not allow our child to be baptized by the WMSCOG, and thus they’d be “spiritually dead”.  So our plans to have a family were no longer important either.

At this point, things seemed to be hopeless.  I wasn’t spending any time with my husband because he was never home.  When he was home, he would pretend that I didn’t even exist.  How could my husband of only one year, who I believed loved me very much before, have so much resentment for me only 6 months after I initially left the WMSCOG?  A few weeks after our anniversary, my husband informed me that he no longer wanted to be with me.  He decided that it would be best for the both of us since he felt that we would never agree about his involvement with the WMSCOG.  He admitted that “the church was always the problem” and he would under no circumstances compromise the amount of time he spent at the WMSCOG in order to try and work on our marriage.

I was at my wits end.  I believe that this was what the WMSCOG wanted all along.  Why else would they have pushed him so hard?  Why would they go on the internet and try to monitor my personal activity?  Why would they want to track down my IP address?  And what about the way that the WMSCOG pastor threatened me during the meeting?  How could he just ignore their distasteful behavior?  I tried everything to get my husband to see the contradictions to no avail.  I just couldn’t take the emotional abuse and neglect anymore and about a week later, I gave my husband an ultimatum.  It was the cult or me. He chose the WMSCOG and moved out again that very evening.

I am completely heart-broken over the decision that my husband made to just abandon me the way that he did.  He rarely even speaks to me these days.  He says that it upsets him that I speak out about my experience with the WMSCOG and how it destroyed our marriage.  But if I can help even one person out there to avoid the pain and suffering that I am enduring because of this destructive organization, then it is worth the embarrassment of posting my story online for everyone to read.

I love my husband very much and all I can do now is pray that he wakes up and returns home soon.

And we are all praying with you.  Please comment below to let our friend know you support her in this difficult time.

Would you like to share your experience in the WMSCOG with us?  Contact us to tell your story.

Previously we learned of our correspondent from New Jersey’s dramatic exit from the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG).  In this fourth part, of her five part series, we learn how this organization tried to make her sign some kind of non-disclosure agreement (NDA) when they believed she had been questioning them on the Internet.

During my research on the World Mission Society Church of God, I came across various internet blog entries written by people who had family members involved in the group. Soon an obvious pattern emerged.  I read story after story about how the WMSCOG had either ruined their marriage or family.  Since my husband had decided to remain a member of the WMSCOG, naturally I became very concerned.  I discussed my concerns with my husband and he promised me that he would not let the church come between us. Little did I know, the WMSCOG was well on its way in doing just that.

My husband would soon explain that he needed to spend more time in the church because he needed to “learn and study more”.  This of course made me furious because it appeared to be a blatant attempt to cannibalize all of my husband’s time in order to keep him away from me. If the WMSCOG didn’t allow me to sit next to the other “sisters” during the last service I attended in order to prevent me from “contaminating them with my doubts”, how much more would they attempt to keep my husband away from me for the same reason?

The arguments between us increased and the time we spent together decreased.  One night my husband told me that I was going to hell because I was no longer keeping the Sabbath.  I thought that God was the only one that could decide that?  I was furious.  It seemed that my husband was looking down upon me like I was a lesser being because I no longer wanted to attend the WMSCOG.  Soon he began going to the church every day after work and coming home after midnight.  We were newlyweds and we rarely saw each other or spent any time together.  I became increasingly frustrated and angry as time went on. Six months after I left the WMSCOG my husband was convinced that I was being “used by Satan” in order to try and stop him from going to the church so he moved out one Friday while I was at work.  When I got home from work all of his things were gone.  I couldn’t believe he would do such a thing!  I was completely devastated!  It seemed like the WMSCOG was driving him crazy.

We sat down to talk during the evening on the day that he moved out.  I explained to him that what he was doing was not Biblical.  In the Bible, it states that marriage is a covenant, God hates divorce, and that a man should not leave his wife except for adultery.  [Note to our readers, there is much controversy among Catholics and Protestants concerning the definition of the Greek word πορνείᾳ used in Matthew 19:9.  Some view it as “adultery” while others view it as “illicit union”.  That argument is beyond the scope of this site]. In the year that I was a member, the topic of marriage and its importance was never discussed in the WMSCOG.  He went on to explain that he could no longer live with me because my “message would spread like cancer” (quoting 2 Timothy 2:17).  This just didn’t make any sense.  The verse that he quoted refers to Hymenaeous and Philetus preaching the message that the resurrection of Jesus never occurred (see 2 Timothy 2:18 & 1 Corinthians 15:12).  He believed that because I had begun attending a Christian church on Sunday that this practice would somehow force him to do the same.  How this would happen, I do not know.  Members of the WMSCOG consider Sunday worship a pagan practice.  I still don’t understand the connection between my attending church on Sunday, and those mentioned in the Bible that preached that Jesus had not resurrected.  Just another verse that was taken out of context by him at the WMSCOG.  Needless to say, the conversation was not productive because he left and refused to tell me where he would be going.

Two days later, my husband agreed to come over and talk to me again.  I asked him to please come back home.  He said that the only way he would move back in, would be if I agreed to attend one Sabbath service per week.  Sound like coercion?  I reluctantly agreed, and he moved back home.  Even though I knew the teachings were wrong, and refused to take part in the prayers, I agreed to sit through the services in order to try and save my marriage.  Things would be ok for a few days but it was the calm before the storm.

My husband insisted that I do all of the studies over again.  I scheduled time to study with the deaconess that I had befriended during the first year of my membership.  She never seemed to be available once I arrived at the church though.  Unbeknownst to me, I would be studying with the pastor.  My husband was present during the first study with the pastor but the study didn’t go well.  It seemed that the pastor would become very frustrated when I asked questions.  At the end of the study I asked the pastor to tell me what the Bible says about divorce.  He wouldn’t answer.  Instead he explained that he could not get involved in my relationship with my husband and that it was our “personal decision” if we wanted to stay together or not.  Funny because I didn’t ask him for his opinion on the topic, I asked him to explain what the Bible tells us about divorce.  I said that I needed to understand why my husband was under the impression that it was ok to leave me.  He became very frustrated and said “what difference does it make if you’re both gonna die”.  He alluded to the belief that my husband and I should be more concerned about our salvation (which by the way can only be obtained by keeping the Sabbath, Passover, tithing, and many other requirements according to the WMSCOG) than our marriage.  After that statement, the study was over.  I would only study once more about two weeks later, without my husband.

The first service I attended after being gone for 6 months was quite uncomfortable.  I told my husband ahead of time that I wanted to sit with him during the service.  After all, I had been made to sit next to him before so I didn’t think it would be a problem.  I was wrong.  When I got there, I told the “sister” in charge of the seating arrangement that I wished to sit with my husband.  Suddenly no one knew where he was.  I was suddenly allowed to sit with the “sisters” again, sandwiched in between a deaconess and a missionary.  Maybe they would be the buffers between my doubts and the other “sisters”.  After the service I confronted my husband about the seating arrangement.  He explained that a deacon told him that it would be best if we didn’t sit together because he wouldn’t be able to focus on the message being given during the service.  The deacon thought that my husband would be distracted by me.  Why wasn’t this a concern of theirs before?  This was just another inconsistency to add to the list.

About a month after I started attending the church again, my husband informs me that I am not allowed to return.  He told me that the pastor “found out” that I had posted some negative information about the church online.  He also mentioned a facebook page but did not offer anymore details.  My husband assured me that they had shown him irrefutable evidence that I was the one that posted the negative information about the church online. I asked my husband to show me the facebook page on the computer but he said that he didn’t remember how to get to the page.  About two days later I called the pastor and asked him what facebook page he was referring to?  The pastor stated “you come here and I’ll show you”.  I agreed to meet with him later that afternoon.

When I arrived at the church, I would soon be joined by my husband who had lied to me about where he was before the meeting.  He had arranged to attend this meeting without my knowledge.  I would sit down with the pastor, a deacon and my husband to discuss the matter at hand.  To my surprise I was greeted with a two page non-disclosure agreement.  The deacon explained “we prepared this to protect you and to protect us…mentioning that we won’t say anything  about you in the same way that you won’t say anything bad about us”.  I thought to myself, why do I need protection?  I hadn’t done anything wrong.

He went on to explain that in the past people have visited their church and then “lied very bad” about them on the internet.  I requested that they show me the “evidence” that my husband claimed they had.  My request was denied.  The deacon stated, “we don’t make anything on you having problems with Mark…is it ok if I read things in front of Mark?”  I declined which of course made my husband upset, but he was advised by the pastor to leave the room.  Here are the comments that the deacon read to me from some papers he had in front of him:

“My husband is so brainwashed by these people.  It’s ridiculous.  I am now having these arguments with him.  All he ever answers to any of my points is if not this church then where?  Basically because no other church celebrates the Sabbath on Saturday and Passover.  He openly admits that he can not interpret anything in the Bible without the Church of God teachings.  I can’t stand it.  So when I read verses in the Bible that are clearly understood by anyone who reads them, he says you are applying your own mind”.

“As far as the calendar goes and how they calculate the dates of the feasts, as per one of the deacons after one of the services a few weeks ago, only the general pastor in Korea knows the formula.  Apparently it is secret information that no one but the general pastor is allowed to know.  If you ask, they will tell you that the Jews miscalculate all the dates citing the example of when they start to celebrate the Sabbath.  The Jews, from what I understand, start the Sabbath on Friday evening.  According to the Church of God this is wrong, therefore all of their dates are wrong.  Go figure”.

I asked the deacon to explain what parts of the comments that he read in his opinion, were lies?  He said “the part about him being brainwashed”.  He explained that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but their opinion may be a lie.  They refused to tell me what website these comments came from.  The deacon would explain that these comments had been posted on “some forums” with my personal email address.  Then he proceeded to accuse me of posting links to other websites about the church on RickRoss.com.  Again I asked for the pastor and the deacon to please show me where they obtained the information.  The deacon then asked, “Would you like to sign this before I show you?”.  I declined to sign the non-disclosure agreement and again requested that I be shown proof of the accusations being made against me.  The deacon then insisted that I read the agreement in front of me.  The pastor explained “it’s nothing it’s like we protect each other”.  I still didn’t understand why I needed protection.  Why would I need protection from the World Mission Society Church of God?  I read the agreement and it basically said that I could not discuss anything that I read, studied, or heard in the church with anyone except my husband.  I do not recall the agreement containing any statements to guarantee that the church would not “say anything bad” about me as stated earlier by the deacon.  The pastor said, “What if someone bad mouth your personal life do you like it?” Was this a threat to defame me?

The pastor explained that if I leave the church, I do not need to take any intellectual property with me.  Interestingly, the WMSCOG has most of the “studies” on their official website.  I have also seen their members copy and paste them into responses on various blogs.  What the WMSCOG teaches isn’t exactly secret is it?  The pastor then said that if I left the church and “bad mouth” the church then he would “have to do something…hire a lawyer”.  He then mentioned how other people have accused them of “sue everybody”.  He also admitted to suing “several people” for “exposing everything” about the church and went on to say that if I am “not one of them then I just want to protect you but if you are one of them then you got a trouble”.  The pastor then stated “through this message clearly it should be you”.  At this point it was obvious that the pastor was threatening to sue me.  The pastor and the deacon would not allow me to take a copy of the agreement that they requested I sign so that I could have it reviewed by an attorney.  The deacon then said that he would send a “more revised version” to my attorney if I had my attorney contact them directly.  Again the pastor issued what I considered to be another threat when he said, “if it’s not about you it’s ok but if it is you it’s a problem”.  They again refused to show me any evidence of their accusations.  They also claimed that they requested my IP address and email address from the forums and that the forums sent them all of the information that they requested.  Again I was assured that after I signed the agreement they would be able to show me “all of the evidence no problem”.  Most forums, including facebook, do not just give out their contributors’ email addresses and IP addresses because of a mere request.  Disclosure of this type of personal information is only given out if the requestor provides a subpeona issued by a court.  If the WMSCOG did in fact have my email address and IP address attached to any comments that they alleged I posted, I would have to question how they obtained this information.  I have seen comments on forums and even videos on YouTube that accuse people in the WMSCOG of hacking websites.  I started to wonder, was this one of those cases?

I wondered if the WMSCOG did this often.  Do they monitor the information about them on the internet?  If so, why?  I remember the pastor saying, “we found out something that is not good for us that’s why we called you and told you to come and check it out…we tried to find out who is a believer”.  Is monitoring internet activity how the WMSCOG tests the faith of their members?  Are other churches concerned with what is written about them online?  Do other churches ask their members to sign non-disclosure agreements before they get kicked out?  This type of behavior sounds more like a business than a church.

During this meeting, the pastor and deacon mentioned more than once that they were not trying to cause problems between my husband and I.  If that was true, why would they confront my husband with this so called “evidence” days prior to having my husband notify me?  But later the pastor said that in this situation if my husband read these comments and found out that I was the one that posted these comments “how can you be together like that?”  It seemed pretty obvious to me that their intention was to cause division between my husband and I.  My husband had already made up his mind when they confronted him days before this meeting.  He viewed my refusal to sign the non-disclosure agreement as an admission of guilt.  But I explained to my husband that I was under no circumstances going to sign away my right to free speech.  Why would a church want to silence one of their former members?

It would not be long before my husband would be turned completely against me…

Well, we can say that when the WMSCOG reads this article, they’ll know for sure that you were the one that wrote it.  It’s funny, anyone can see those comments they read to you weren’t lies, but opinion.  Good thing you didn’t sign that NDA, otherwise, you wouldn’t have been able to speak out and tell the community about your experience.  This story makes us sad because this type of behavior does not represent Christ, and it certainly doesn’t represent any type of healthy “church” either.  We totally agree with your question of “Do other churches ask their members to sign non-disclosure agreements before they get kicked out?”  In our opinion, that is a red flag dear reader, that you should re-consider your involvement in the WMSCOG.

In the fifth part of our five part series, we learn of the ruin wrought to our friend’s marriage by her husband’s heavy involvement in the WMSCOG.

Family and friends of current World Mission Society Church of God members that we speak with, often can not understand the member’s involvement with the organization, much less why it is so difficult for the member to leave even after being made aware of various contradictions in the group’s doctrine, activities, and leadership.  So why is it so hard for members to leave the World Mission Society Church of God?

Cult expert Margaret Singer explains the reasons why members find it difficult to leave destructive mind control organizations in her book titled “Cults In Our Midst“.  I will list each of the reasons that Margaret Singer mentions and apply them to my experience and discussions that I and others have had during our time in the WMSCOG.

Deception in the Recruitment Process

Deception in the recruitment process and throughout membership was a big stumbling block for many.  The WMSCOG recruiters I knew were not exactly forthcoming with their beliefs when attempting to recruit members in shopping malls and on college campuses.  While WMSCOG recruiters will stop people and ask them if they “have ever heard of god the mother in the Bible“, they fail to mention that the “god the mother” they believe in is a Korean lady named ZaHng Gil Jah.  WMSCOG members I knew also evaded new recruits’ questions about who Ahnsahnghong and ZaHng Gil Jah were.  The common answer to these questions from the WMSCOG members was “don’t worry about that, you need to study more“.  It is interesting to note that the “studies” pertaining to who Ahnsahnghong and Zhang Gil Jah were, were taught last on the list of basic studies.  A former member recently posted her similar observations from her experience on Youtube. Click here to see part 1 and part 2.

Personal Debilitation

Because of the hours, the degree of commitment, the psychological pressures, and the inner constriction and strife, many members found the experience to be personally exhausting and debilitating.  There was great pressure put on new recruits to finish the list of basic studies as quickly as possible.  The new member was slowly pressured to spend more and more time studying with members of the organization.  Once the basic studies were completed, the newly indoctrinated member was pressured to go out and recruit more new members.  The pressure from the organization to “bear ten talents” or recruit ten more donating members became very time consuming.  Recruiters often experienced disappointment in the amount of rejection experienced during the many hours of recruiting.  As the demand for the member’s time increased, the members were often forced to choose between the WMSCOG and their education or career goals, spending time with friends, family, etc.  The WMSCOG’s black and white perspective on “what is more important, (insert here) or God?” usually succeeded in getting the new member to choose the organization’s agenda over their own priorities.

Dependency on the Group

Dependency on the group increased as a result of being cut off from the outside world.  Successfully indoctrinated members initially attempted to recruit those closest to them (or “low hanging fruit” as they called it).  Family and friends usually resist for a number of reasons like the personality changes in the new member or the increased amount of time the member spends at the organization.  The WMSCOG taught the new member to dismiss this resistance with statements like “satan will use those closest to you to try to stop you from coming to the truth” and “don’t worry, your friends and family members will eventually come, you just have to continue to learn more and become a better example“.  In many cases, this approach completely dismantled the member’s prior support system and replaced it with the organization.  I personally know several members who left their spouses because they were unable to reconcile over church involvement.  If a member is dependent upon the group, then where would they turn to if they were to leave?

Fear, or a Sense of Dread

The WMSCOG’s claims concerning protection from natural disasters and salvation concerning keeping the Passover, as only they observe it and other feasts (even though they observe the feasts incorrectly), can cause dread in members.  Consider things that I heard like “former members are spiritually dead”, will “burn in hell for all of eternity”, will “not be protected from disasters” (see the WMSCOG’s apocalyptic theories), may “get into a fatal car accident”, or become “severely ill”.  The fear that any of these will occur if the member leaves, I am sure is more than enough to make some members remain prisoners within this organization.  If you’re lucky enough to never have been a member, you can get some sense of the fear-mongering that goes on by watching some of the twisted videos they have plastered all over YouTube, like this one.  Take a simple disaster, then twist it to your own advantage.  I saw this done very frequently, and it’s intellectually dishonest.  Disasters happen all over the world all the time.  Trying to exploit these to your own advantage is a bit disconcerting.  Not to mention, that the WMSCOG in New Zealand was damaged by an earthquake earlier this year.  

Update 2020:  World Mission Society Church of God Members believe the Passover will protect them from the coronavirus.

Desensitization

Desensitization occurred so that things that once troubled members no longer did.  WMSCOG members were encouraged to dismiss all criticism about the organization, regardless of its validity.  WMSCOG members easily dismiss all criticism as persecution and do not accurately address the criticism.  When I point out contradictions like how Ahnsahnghong never claimed to be god, or that he contradicted the Bible, or how they twist scripture and take things out of context, the WMSCOG members that I have spoken to do not address the contradiction and quickly change the subject.  WMSCOG members also donate significant amounts of their salary through tithes and freewill offerings even though there is no transparency as to what the money is being used for.

All of the above tactics work together and prevent the member from seeing a way out of the organization.  This helps explain why your friends and family have trouble leaving in spite of all the contradictions.

*The photo above is licensed under the Creative Commons license, available here.