Following the death of Ms. Gu, who was asphyxiated to death in her attempt to escape her parents and coercive conversion pastors on 9^th January 2018, a 120,000-strong rally and campaign took place in Seoul, Korea, triggering a wave of similar protests in 23 cities in 15 countries. One such rally was held by HAC in Melbourne, Australia, as supporters gathered in protest for a ban on coercive conversion programmes and enforcement of legal punishment for coercive conversion pastors, who belong predominantly to the Christian Council of Korea (CCK).

The following are the words spoken by the HAC presider at this rally (video link provided below):

“Forced conversion is a clear violation of universal rights for the freedom of religion. These programmes are held by forced conversion pastors who use violence to make people change their religious beliefs. They kidnap, confine and subject victims to violence to try to force them to give up their beliefs. This is wrong. The freedom of religion is a basic human right, and the right of every individual should be protected and their choice respected. It doesn’t matter what your religious beliefs are. Discrimination on grounds of one’s belief is bad enough, but being forced to convert by being physically beaten, bloodied, bruised and stripped of one's dignity is so foul. Enough is enough. Together, with one heart, we must expose these pastors for what they are doing." He concluded, "We want to stop anyone else from being hurt by these wolves in sheep’s clothing. Together, let’s let the world know of their evil acts.”

20,796 people have now commemorated Ms. Gu's death on a commemorative website set up in her memory since her death (weblink provided below). It contains a letter that Ms. Gu had written to the then president of South Korea after her initial escape from a Catholic monastery in July 2016 where she had been held captive for a period of 44 days receiving forced conversion education by these pastors. Within this letter, she pled for a ban to the practice and punishment for these pastors. Her plea was ignored.

Human Rights Association for Victims of Coercive Conversion Programs (HAC) official English website

http://endcoerciveconversion.org/

HAC rally in Melbourne, Australia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI1slxLIeaQ

"Coercive Conversion Programmes" (The Enquirer)

https://www.theenquirer.co.uk/coercive-conversion-programmes/?fbclid=IwAR3GYlrEFSA210J3mOdM4B1opr3Odj6qa28dVCFslN1oFGtmr8cw-DWduOw

The reason why people come to Shincheonji church is because of its teaching, based entirely on the Bible without any external sources, and delivered without cost. It provides a very logical understanding to the Bible through its teaching of history, instruction, prophecy and fulfilment from Genesis to Revelation. The study consists of two months each of elementary, middle, and advanced studies. This covers ways to read the Bible, Biblical history and the study of Genesis and book of Revelation, respectively. These are precious secrets of the Bible, sealed for thousands of years that are made known plainly today. To ensure students acquire solid mastery of the 66 books of the Bible, each one of the three studies is followed by a short exam with two further exams provided at the end of the advanced study, comprising 400 questions (300 for the tribe and 100 general). Upon scoring over 90%, one then graduates.

According to a recent survey of 2000 people in response to the teachings of Shincheonji church of Jesus, 72.6% (1453) responded “very satisfied” and 22% (441) “satisfied”. Only seven students were "unsatisfied" and four "very dissatisfied” (0.5% total). The reasons for graduates’ high levels of satisfaction were "high standards" (1589, 79.45%), a "systemised curriculum" (196, 9.8%), "individually-tailored teaching" (122, 6.1%), "miscellaneous" (93, 4.65%) and "free education without cost" (49, 2.45%). Although 27.7% (544) responded that they received mild persecution by friends and family during the six-month Bible study, they endured through to completion because of “the logic of the word" (88.2%).

The main purpose of this six-month Bible study is not simply to increase numbers, but to ‘re-create’ one into a true believer of the Bible. As instructor Myung-seok Choi of Daegu Church said, "In spite of the increase and advancements of science, technology and human intellect, neither they nor religion have been able to answer the deep questions of life. This is the secret to the rapid growth of Shincheonji church and the reason why students of Zion Christian Mission Center find true religion here as we answer the fundamental questions of life.”

#Matthias_Graduation #Shincheonji_Church #Zion_Christian_Mission_Center

On 23rd December 2018 (12noon), Shincheonji church of Jesus will celebrate a Matthias Tribe Graduation ceremony and Dedication service for 1737 graduates of Zion Christian Mission Center! These graduates have now completed an intensive six-month Bible study course, demonstrating mastery of the contents of the Bible. This year, more than 20,000 people have graduated from the Zion Christian Mission Center (Shincheonji church’s department of theology) into Shincheonji church. A further 20,000 are expected to graduate. Here is a list of all the 2018 Zion Christian Mission Centre Graduation Services worldwide:-

The reason why Shincheonji church has appeared and is growing exponentially is because it is the fulfilment of what God and Jesus promised in the New Testament - the New Heaven New Earth of Revelation 21. It is at Shincheonji church where the entire 66 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - can be clearly explained according to the contents of history, instruction, prophecy and fulfilment. The quality of the teaching here is unparalleled and unlike any other church or seminary in the world. It is a church where the new covenant, or promise - for which Jesus Christ shed his blood - is made known through Jesus’ promised messenger who has seen and heard all the events of Revelation and testifies it to all the churches of the world (Rv 22:8, 16). Only someone who has been at the actual location can testify to its true meaning.

As Shincheonji church continues to grow exponentially in fulfilment of God's promise, there is always opposition to God's work. The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) has slandered Shincheonji church for years, but the Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of Shincheonji church after their false broadcast of Shincheonji church. In the wake of Ms. Ji-In Gu's death, the whole world is now hearing about the coercive conversion programme which CCK pastors have established and implemented in an attempt to forcibly convert believers from one denomination to another. More than 1200 Korean youth have suffered from this programme, and hundreds of families have been divided. Furthermore, 571 CCK pastors have been sentenced for crimes including forgery, burglary, sexual assault and murder over the last 3.5 years. The CCK is founded on the Presbyterian teachings of John Calvin, who murdered men, women and children who opposed his beliefs on predestination. They sell chairmen positions and ordination certificates, and have blocked many of Shincheonji church’s peace works. In the wake of Ms. Gu’s death, features were published in the New York Times and Washington Post news about their evil deeds is spreading throughout the world. CCK is distorting God's word of promise and has not once accepted the many invitations made by Shincheonji church to engage in public debate over the Bible to prove to the public who is true orthodoxy and true cult.

In spite of such darkness within the Christian world in South Korea, I can only be grateful for the work of light that God is spreading to the world through Shincheonji church. Shincheonji church has mastered the prophecies of the New Testament Revelation that were sealed for 2000 years and is making them known to those with sincere and seeking hearts. This is the best truth for mankind. For me personally, the six-month Bible study at Zion Christian Mission Center was challenging and required me to lay aside my own thoughts and beliefs about the Bible but I am grateful to God that I can finally know the truth and be where God wants me to be. All glory to God.

I hope you enjoy the Graduation service:)

The local police report concluded that the death of Ms. Ji-In Gu (27), who was suffocated by her parents at recreational lodgings in Hwasun, Jeonnam, on January 9th 2018, was merely a "family matter". It was, therefore, not published by the Korean press. Ms. Gu, who was a member of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, had escaped her first kidnapping from a Catholic monastery in July 2016 and later petitioned to the then Korean president for justice and for the eradication of the coercive conversion programme established and implemented by pastors of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK). However, her plea was ignored and her fears of being dragged back on to the programme became a reality, leading to her death.

Ms. Gu is not the first victim of coercive conversion. On June 7th 2006, Mrs. Kim was kidnapped by her then husband and sister to a nearby motel where she received ‘counselling’ by a pastor of the ‘Korean Cult Counselling Office’ for refusing to renounce her religious beliefs. After her escape and subsequent divorce, her ex-husband bludgeoned her to death with a blunt hammer hit to the head  in October 2007.

(US citizen reads the New York Times full-page article "Ban Coercive Conversion" published on 27^th November 2018)

Although Article 20 of the Korean Constitution guarantees “freedom of religion”, these cases are indicative of its ineffectiveness. It was overseas media, not the national or local press, which brought their deaths into the international limelight after a 120,000-strong rally in Seoul, Korea, in late January 2018. Since then, there have been 25 rallies in 17 countries urging for these pastors’ punishment and eradication of their coercive conversion programme, and media in 33 countries has actively reported on them. The New York Times reported: "The world is paying attention to the violation of religious freedom and there is an increasing number of efforts to help people who need to be protected from religious persecution." It is shocking that such events are taking place in a supposedly democratic and constitutional country - the home of K-pop. 

The reality is that there have been 137 victims of coercive conversion since Ms. Gu’s death. I hope news will spread globally throughout all major media channels to put a permanent end to this menace and bring those pastors to account.

However, Shincheonji Church of Jesus has released statistics about crimes committed by pastors of the Korean Church, which will be expected to make an impact nationwide. Of the 12,000 crimes committed from 2008-2018, the majority (7000) are from the Seoul and Geyonggi provinces. 531 pastors in the Korean capital, Seoul, have been sentenced for crimes including fraud, burglary, forgery, defamation, drink-driving, arson, sexual assault and even murder over the last 3.5 years. The number of crimes committed by the Korean protestant church (of which the CCK constitutes a majority) are four times higher than that of the Catholic Church. Moreover, the occupation responsible for committing the highest number of sex-related crimes are (mainly protestant) pastors. Take a look at four separate cases.

#Case 1. A Cambodian girl – aged only 12 years – confided in a Korean pastor, swallowing a pill he gave her. This pastor filmed an act of sexual intercourse with this young girl and even forced her parents to remain silent about it. As many as nine girls have suffered in the same way - all aged between 12 and 17. In October 2016, Cambodian police swiftly arrested this pastor (Pastor Park), sentencing him to 14 years in prison and £55,000 in damages. 

#Case 2. The above image is of a house in Bucheon, Gyeonggi province, where the bony body of a Grade 7 girl was discovered in February 2016 after suffering from domestic abuse. Her body had been disposed of for one year before being found. In March 2015, her 40-year-old father Pastor Lee had beaten his daughter to death, repeatedly hitting her palms, calves and thighs.

#Case 3. A sentence of five years imprisonment was delivered to Pastor Hwang, former secretary of the Korean Presbyterian Church of Jesus, who was arrested for stabbing a fellow pastor in November 2015. He had previously appeared with a gas gun during a sermon.

#Case 4. Pastor Yonggi Joh, who had founded Yeouido Full Gospel Church that has grown to become the largest church in the East with one million followers, ordered the church to buy 250,000 stocks of the I-Service company - owned by his eldest son Heejun Joh, former C.E.O. of Gookmin Daily - at nearly four times above the 2002 market value of 24,000 Korean Won per share. This cost Yeouido Full Gospel Church 13.1 billion Korean Won in damages. He, along with his eldest son Heejun Cho, was convicted of embezzlement.

This is not the first time that pastors' crimes have been revealed. According to previous statistics published by the Public Prosecutor's Office in 2012, the number of violent crimes committed that year - including murder, arson, robbery, rape etc. - stood at 25,485. 25.2% (6414 cases) were committed by people in positions of religious influence! The majority were committed by Christians (2840). This is the condition of Christianity in Korea today. Crimes continue in spite of pleas urging for justice but light is on the horizon as Shincheonji Church works to expose these deeds.

[Issue-In] Who is the Light and Salt? Shincheonji Church of Jesus Exposes The Current Condition of 'Criminal Pastors'. 12,000 Cases In 10 Years.

http://www.shincheonji.kr/bv_shincheonjiIssue_5405

[ISSUE in] Shincheonji, condemning the Korean church against Japanophilism & committing crime… “Reborn with truth”