Life inside the cult targeting pastors

Isabella* would drag herself to prayer gatherings and Bible study at 7am every morning.

From 9am to 5pm she would cold-call Christian pastors across Victoria, and evenings brought more recruitment activity, team meetings and Bible studies.  

Most days she would not get to sleep until 3am.

This demanding schedule was daily life in Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, a peace organisation.

Korean-based cult Shincheonji Church of Jesus’s followers believe founder Lee Man-hee is Jesus returned to earth and that salvation is exclusive to group members.

According to articles on HWPL’s website, Shincheonji founder Lee Man-hee is also chairman of HWPL.  

However, HWPL Victoria states on their website that the organisation is strictly non-religious and maintains no affiliation with any religious body.

Isabella alleged her work with HWPL involved attempting to convert pastors who would then bring their entire congregations into Shincheonji.

Speaking at a clergy conference in 2024, St James’ Dandenong vicar the Reverend Graeme Peters estimated 90 per cent of those present had interacted with Shincheonji.

“We were constantly contacting pastors all over Victoria,” Isabella said.

“One by one and we’re trying to evangelise them.”

Isabella first became involved with them when two strangers asked her general questions about spirituality at Melbourne University during orientation week in 2020.

After hearing she had converted to Catholicism, they arranged to meet the next day to hear her testimony, bringing with them a Bible teacher who offered free classes.

Isabella had decided to study international human rights law hoping to make a difference in the world, driven by her experiences growing up in a war-torn country.

But she said she realised the international organisations she had wanted to work with were corrupt, leaving her searching for answers and considering adding theology to her master’s degree.

For six months she struggled to sleep and sought therapy, describing it as a midlife crisis after losing faith in the system she had trusted.

“It was around that time that Shincheonji found me,” she said.

“I thought it was like this is an answer to my prayer.”

She did not learn the people who approached her were Shincheonji members until eight or nine months later, after attending classes with them three times a week.

According to Isabella, the group promoted HWPL’s peace work during Bible study sessions, teaching that God could heal the world through both sharing scripture and peace activities.

She said during the COVID pandemic, three-hour classes took place online three times a week with existing members posing as fellow new students.

After about a year in Shincheonji, Isabella joined the HWPL department where she was one of seven members working remotely full-time on the alleged pastor recruitment operation.

She said they would call pastors saying they were from New Heaven and New Earth and were organising interfaith prayer gatherings in response to the pandemic.

“We believe that the world needs some solidarity,” she would tell them.

“We need to be united as Christians.”

After building relationships through prayer gatherings, they would invite pastors to revelation seminars – recorded presentations from Korea translated into English.

Seventh-day Adventist minister Pastor Luis Bermudez received one of these calls during Melbourne’s lockdowns.

He agreed to attend because prophecy was central to his denomination’s theology and he wanted to compare their teaching.

Mr Bermudez was surprised to find about 600 young people attending the Zoom sessions, but said their doctrine was seriously flawed.

“Jesus is not God to them,” Mr Bermudez said. “Lee Man-hee … replaced Jesus in many ways.”

During group studies, Mr Bermudez would challenge Shincheonji’s teaching and afterwards explain the doctrinal flaws to Isabella.  

She would question her teachers about these issues, but said they became frustrated at being unable to provide satisfactory answers.  

Isabella asked Mr Bermudez to continue attending specifically to help her evaluate the teaching.

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have left, I absolutely would have stayed,” she said.

“I thought I was doing something good, I was achieving some sort of positive impact in the world, I was helping people and I was serving God.”

Mr Bermudez said it took months of study and discussion before Isabella left the group.

He said ministers needed to invest significant time helping people escape high-control groups.

“They’ve gone through months of study,” he said.

“We can’t be unrealistic and think we’ll just get them out with a few talks.”

The intense schedule was also taking its toll. Isabella was physically and mentally exhausted from the lack of sleep and intense workload.

She visited a doctor when she developed a frozen shoulder and constant headaches from the stress of calling pastors on top of her demanding schedule of classes and meetings.

“The doctor said, ‘You need to rest. Whatever you’re doing, stop it’,” Isabella explained.

She said most Shincheonji members were aged 18 to 25, while she was in her 30s, which helped her recognise she needed to prioritise her health.

Taking breaks from the heavy schedule helped her return to reality and eventually leave the group in early 2022.

Read more: Twelve hours of Bible study a week, no questions: Melbourne cult encounters

But Isabella claimed leaving Shincheonji was difficult because the group cut off all outside contact and portrayed ex-members as evil people controlled by the devil.

She said many ex-members became depressed or even suicidal and found it difficult to integrate back into society.

Isabella now helps other members who want to leave.  

Mr Bermudez said people involved in such groups often lived with constant paranoia and anxiety about whether they were making the right choice.

He said people should trust that if they were in the wrong place spiritually, God would guide them to the truth.

“Look, you know you truly love God and you desire to follow Him, and the scriptures clearly tell us that God will not leave you forsaken. So don’t be afraid,” he said.

“You don’t have to have that level of fear … because if you have that, that should tell you there’s something wrong. God is a God of peace.”

Shincheonji Melbourne and HWPL Victoria were contacted for comment.

If this story raised issues for you or someone you know, support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14 and Cult Information and Family Support on 02 9460 4281 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

*Name has been changed to protect privacy

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