Dear Readers,

I would first like to thank Rick Ross for organizing and maintaining this useful forum. My sister thinks that this is some sort of witch hunt forum, it is but one with balanced opinions. I would also like to take a moment to thank all those who gave such thoughtful feedback, Rhonda402, Sparky, ON2 LF and rob.

I did further research on the Good News Mission with a friend of mine who can read Korean. There are many sites in Korean that discuss this group. The Good News Mission is indeed part of “Gu-Won-Pa” but the term itself merely translates to “The Salvation Sector” which is a secular term used in Korea to describe a number of heretical organizations that deal with a specific means of salvation. There are currently 4 distinct groups in Korea in the umbrella “Gu-Won-Pa” and they do not associate with each other but they all have in common the belief that by a specific means of Worship you can reach salvation. Pastor Ock Soo Park’s group is probably the largest or the 4.

There are only a few testimonies of people who have left the Good News Mission and all have to do with personal epiphany rather then an intervention or an outside person telling them that it is an abusive church.

In one example a young man studying art in high school gave up everything to be part of the Good News Mission he dropped out of school and left to work in a labor camp in the mountains of Korea building a road to a church. After over a year of free labor he began to realize that he was indeed a sinner and began to question the doctrine. He left the camp and gave testimony on a forum. His family is still involved to this day but he left his family behind. Many people from the Good News Mission spamed the forum defending their beliefs and labor camps.

Yesterday I went to the Episcopal Church near my house for service. The service was moving and was a lot shorter, about an hour versus the mind numbing 2.5 hours of the Good News Mission’s condemning rhetoric. I told Tammy that I was going to the Episcopal Church and of course she was pissed, but I told her to drop it till this coming weekend.

At this point I feel as there is little I can do to sway her away, and I know in my heart that I will not join this organization if it was the last church in earth. I feel angry at her mother for getting her involved with this abomination but she too was a victim of Tammy’s abusive father and she was just doing her best to raise three kids on her own abandoned in South America. I cannot blame anyone for this mess; I guess it is just part of life. If anything I should have asked her more questions about the church she attended before getting really involved but when meeting someone who acts perfectly normal, a cult is probably the last thing on your mind.

This coming weekend I will have the talk with her, I know she will choose her family and her church over me. My greatest fear is that an amazing, intelligent, beautiful girl like her ends up in some dreadful arranged marriage to some sh*t head for the rest of her life. The church will control their lives and money; it will be a pathetic existence. I fear that above all else, for I am the only one standing between that and a possible normal life.

I have been praying every night for Tammy. All I ask is if God does not change her mind to sway her from this church that she lives a happy life and her heart she is so diluted that she believes that she is happy and God loves her. I pray that she loves her arranged husband and she never regrets the decisions that she made.

You are making a honnest, courageous decision. May be your friend will see things different in some years and will remember then what you told her. God bless you.

Travis,

You are right about what you say... I was once apart of this group, and the said thing is... I think most people join this group wanting to serve God and they end up being very deceived.

I have a blog with information about my experience if you care to read it:

[esfes1025.wordpress.com]