Shincheonji church Shincheonji church Shincheonji church e Infiltrated A Korean Cult Trying To Spread In Lebanon, Here’s What Happened
The 961.c0m/July 22, 2024
By Natalie Haddad
At first glance, a Shincheonji church group feels like a typical Bible study gathering. It’s filled with passionate, happy, and faithful individuals. However, many people call it a cult and its leader thinks he is the second coming of Jesus.
Despite the normal appearance of these study groups, they never reveal they are part of Shincheonji. Instead, they use different names like Bibleandi to disguise their true identity.
Remember Patient 31 who South Korea was trying to track down for being responsible for the major outbreak of COVID-19? Well, stay tuned to the end to see how she fits into this wild story.
Targeting Lebanese Youth
Recently, Lebanese youth have been targeted by Shincheonji through various social media platforms. They receive direct messages that seem innocent at first. Here are some examples:
“This is Joe, I’m working on a social workshop that aims at understanding what small differences within the Lebanese culture in different regions influence the personality of the youth – age from 18 to 30. I would be very glad if you can answer some short and fun questions that would help us.”
“Hello there! I hope you’re doing well! My name is [Lebanese name], and I’m majoring in Clinical psychology. I am planning on studying to get a degree in Biblical psychology where I can help people as a therapist through the word of God! I am currently working on an article about how our daily life interferes with our life of faith, and it would be great if you were to help me by answering a few questions. Thank you.”
“Hi!! How are you? I’m [Lebanese name], a Lebanese student in the UK! Currently, I have been working with a few friends on a project to study how Lebanese youth are still engaged in their life of faith and church! That’s why I found your account while scrolling on Insta pages hahaha. If you don’t mind, would you like to help me by sharing some ideas together? Thank you!”
Patterns in Their Messages
Most messages don’t start with a religious tone; they typically ask for help with a university project or a workshop. They follow a specific questioning pattern, eventually asking about your church and participation in Christian youth groups. Additionally, they often inquire about your village traditions, where your church is located, and if you live nearby.
The communication begins innocently, with someone seeking help for a project. The Lebanese individual provides answers, which eventually lead to personal conversations. After a few days or weeks, the real intent surfaces:
“Hi, how are you today? I have friends from Australia running Christian events on Zoom to bring hope to Lebanon. It’s about an hour where we gather with Lebanese and Australian Christian people. It is so good because we get to pray together and read the Bible and also have fun together. It’s tonight at 8 pm! I hope you will be able to join! Please let me know so I can send you the link!”
“Hello, how are you? Hope you’re doing well. I was talking to my friend about a religious topic, and we were having a debate. So, he told me that there’s a prayer night today at 9 pm on Zoom and encouraged me to come! So, I thought about you if you would like to join. That’s the flyer! I hope you can make it so that we can pray together. Matthew 11:28 ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Join us on Zoom to pray for Lebanon. John 3:18 ‘Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.’ Hope to see you!”
Real Accounts, Real People
Most of these accounts are real Lebanese individuals, not bots or fake profiles. These people have likely joined Shincheonji before and are now asked to send out these messages.
The Realization
Many of us started receiving these DMs, thinking they were just Lebanese people needing help. It wasn’t until we discussed it after church that we realized we all had similar experiences.
We were sitting all together after church and someone mentioned “chu oston howde saro 3am ya3mlo university projects bi our Dms” (translated: what’s up with those people, they’re doing university projects in our DMs).
To our surprise, we all shouted “ento kamena?!” (translated: you guys too?!). Turns out we all have been getting the same messages for a while now.
One friend mentioned recommending our names to someone who asked if he knew any Christian friends in Lebanon who “could answer questions.”
I personally received a message from a Lebanese guy my age, living in France. He seemed 100% real and asked for help with a university project. After some initial questions, he began asking about my village, church, family, work, and location in sneaky ways. Eventually, he invited me to a Bible study.
The Bible Study Experience
I joined the Bible study and was warmly welcomed. The teacher was a woman in her late 20s with an Asian appearance, living in Australia, and spoke perfect English. The Zoom meetings included Lebanese youth and various activities like drawing and group chats. The teacher would explain by drawing and sharing her screen.
Due to work, I stopped attending the meetings. This is when things started getting uncomfortable.
No matter what, they were always available. The woman insisted on private Zoom meetings between me and her before my work. She gave me her number and started sharing personal updates about her life, like what she did that day and what she ate.
She kept repeating the same sentence: God says in the Bible that judgment day will come when the whole world knows about the Bible. She claimed that almost 97% of the world is aware of the Bible, suggesting that judgment day is closer than we think, and we don’t have time to lose. We need to learn the Bible. The way she talked made us feel like Jesus chose us.
Shared Experiences
On the condition of anonymity, someone told us; “I don’t know how they do it, but they make you feel guilty not entering the meetings, like you are being a bad Christian.”
The cult always found a time that worked for you, and meetings were three times a week. Despite seeming like a normal Bible study, there was an underlying pressure and manipulation.
Testimony
A Lebanese user on Reddit, cinnamonloverr, shared a post warning Christian youth in Lebanon about Shincheonji’s tactics. They described how the cult recruits members, isolates them from family and friends, and uses manipulation and false teachings:
As a fellow Christian, I never thought I could be drawn into a cult, but it happened to me for five months without my realizing it. I am sharing my testimony to spread the awareness that I wish I had. The recruitment process often starts with a friend or acquaintance pretending to be new to the Bible class, but they are actually already members of the organization.
The classes are intense, lasting 2.5 hours, three days a week, for 11 months. It all begins innocently enough, with the group presenting themselves as “non-denominational” and being very secretive.
They never mention Shincheonji until you are deeply involved and brainwashed. Their brainwashing tactics include:
Love Bombing:
They shower you with flattery, telling you that God “chose” you to learn His words. The teachers make efforts to meet up with you, and they work hard to establish a “community” of Bible study students. These students participate in meet-ups or Zoom breakout rooms, but many of them have already taken the class before. Their real purpose is to collect your personal information and relay it to the teachers. They want to identify any “thorns” that might prevent you from fully joining the Bible class.
Isolation:
They isolate you from your family and friends by claiming that “Satan” works through them. This classic cult tactic is used to make you confide solely in them. They also guilt-trip you when you cannot attend class, instilling fear that you will be doomed to hell if you don’t follow their teachings.
False Teachings:
The teachings start off innocently but gradually become more insidious. They use parables to convince you to lie to your family and friends about the Bible study. You are even instructed to wear earphones during class to avoid external distractions. When confronted, they justify lying using out-of-context Bible verses. They deflect your questions, saying they will answer them “in due time” or “when you’re ready,” which means when you are thoroughly brainwashed.
Eventually, they preach that all pastors outside their organization are “demonic,” claiming that only their teachings can lead to eternal life.
This might sound silly to read, but having experienced it myself, I can assure you that these people are extremely skilled deceivers. Please be careful and spread this awareness to protect others.
As mentioned, Shincheonji never openly identifies themselves. They send out flyers and messages via photos only – almost to bypass any protective measures on platforms.
What is Shincheonji Church
The Catholic Bishops’ Association of Korea labels the Shincheonji Church of Jesus as a “pseudo-religious organization” and a “cult.” It was founded in 1980 by Lee Man-hee, who claims to be the second coming of Jesus and claims to possess unique biblical interpretation skills and implies his immortality.
Shincheonji has grown significantly, with nearly 200,000 adherents. The term “Shincheonji” combines the Korean words for “new,” “heaven,” and “earth.”
Shincheonji’s teachings are criticized for their shallow academic basis, extreme figurative interpretation of biblical texts, and cult-like atmosphere. The organization claims to be the end-time true church fulfilling the prophecies of Revelation, with Lee Man-hee, referred to as “the Promised Pastor,” asserting that he has been divinely appointed to establish “God’s kingdom of heaven on earth.”
In response to Shincheonji’s rise, the Korean Catholic Task Force on Newly-risen Religions was formed in 2017 to combat its growing influence. Various anti-Shincheonji efforts, including those by church groups and media organizations, use social and internet media to warn people about the group’s deceptive evangelism methods.
The group promotes indoctrination over education, offering free Bible classes that align with their theology and discourage reading news or using the internet to prevent exposure to conflicting information.
False teachings are a hallmark of Shincheonji, including the belief that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation are Shincheonji members, the denial of the Trinity which is contrary to Christianity, and the assertion that only Lee Man-hee can correctly interpret the Bible.
Shincheonji is involved in cultural and volunteer activities, often disguising their connection to the church.
Patient 31
During the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea, the officials tracked down Patient 31 responsible for spreading COVID-19 to at least 1,100 others at the time when just a few thousand Koreans were confirmed positive. She was a member of the Shincheonji Church and by March 18, 2020, the Shincheonenji church became its own cluster of outbreaks – there was only 1 other cluster.
In fact, 60% of all cases in South Korea were part of the Shincheonji cluster and Daegu, the city where the church is located, had by far the most cases in the country. For the time since the outbreak, the South Korean President declared the city and part of the province as a “special disaster zone.”
Scary Tactics Used To Youth Worldwide
Many young people around the world are falling victim and reporting the exact same luring, recruiting, and brainwashing tactics as those being used in Lebanon.
Jasmine from New Zealand, told Stuff Magazine, that she gave up her job, savings and friends so she could dedicated 5 years of her life to Shincheonji. What she revealed there was quite scary.
She cut off contact with friends and even needed permission to see her family. “We focused on social media and places like MeetUp, profiles on Bumble BFF [the dating apps’ friendship version] and Facebook to recruit.” Just as those who spoke to us above were reached out on. Jasmine would try to get as many phone numbers as possible with the goal of getting people to classes.
She noted how Facebook was used to recruit and members would use fake names.
She documented how they kept an excel sheet of recruits with details. They referred to them as “fruit” and if they dropped out “confirmed poisoned.”
Messages in a WhatsApp group detailed a meeting that one member had with one of the recruits, adding their goal is to “dig deep into her loneliness.” It noted her personality and everything she told her privately. The member even attached pics of the 2 of them in a mall noting the recruit desperately needed a job.
Also supplied to Stuff, a Google spreadsheet used by recruiters on how many were “evangelized” (aka recruited).
John told Stuff that half the Bible group pretended to be new members were actually established members of Shincheonji. They brainwashed him over a period of 8 months. He was coerced into ending his business and his relationship with his girlfriend. It was only 10 months later did his “friend” reveal to him that he was a Shincheonji recruiter.
He recounted that members were expected to give 10% of their salary to the church, in addition to regular donations.
Cam told Stuff that members were instilled with fears and told Satan was trying to pull them away and that “Satan controlled the internet” in order to stop them from researching the group.
Jay told the Jakarta Post that he was recruited by his Aunt during their efforts in Indonesia. After a while of participating, he googled them and found out he was in a cult. They called him the “wicked one” because he wouldn’t join them and refused to believe the leader is the new messiah. The group forced his mother and sister, members of Shincheonji, to break off contact with him since 2021.
Kim Jin-yong was a member of Shincheonji in South Korea when the outbreak took place. He told ABC News that he realized Shincheonji was lying to him when he was told the group was immortal – but then saw members dying from COVID-19.
The leader, Lee Man-Hee was found guilty of embezzling $6.5 million and received a 3-year suspended sentence, so he wasn’t sent to jail. The court found that the embezzled money was partly used to fund a luxury ‘palace of peace’ on the outskirts of Seoul.
Former members of Shincheonji are now working to save others by encouraging people to leave.
To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.
