Melbourne, Australia - Shincheonji
Region: Melbourne, Australia
Incoming wall of text!
I did not go for any of their lessons, so this post is about their recruitment tactics.
November 2018:
I was first approached by two members, let’s call them “A” and “B”, when I was walking in the city. They asked me to participate in a survey with questions such as “Are you Christian” etc etc, before asking for my phone number. They invited me to an “event” but it was towards the end of the semester and I was busy with assignments and studying for exams, so I declined. I was also heading home for the summer and told them so, so I figured they gave up on me because it would be hard to keep in touch.
March 2019:
I was sitting alone in one of the malls when another member, “C” came and sat next to me. He asked if I was interested in gaining a deeper understanding of my faith before saying that he was a part of a group of young adults and working professionals that meet up on a regular basis. He invited me to an concert planned over the weekend. When I asked where it would be held, he said that he wasn’t sure, but that it would be held somewhere in the city. That was a red flag for me, because how do you organise an event (for tens or hundreds of people) and send out invites without confirming the location first? He texted me later (with a time but not a location), but I didn’t reply and he stopped contacting me.
August 2019:
This was probably my worst experience with Shincheonji, and it opened my eyes to how deceptive they can be. I went to my church (Catholic) half an hour early to meditate before the service. Two members, let’s call them “D” and “E”, were leaving as I walked in. They then came back in and sat next to me, asking if there was another service (the timetable was clearly displayed at the entrance). I told them yes, and continued with my prayers. That didn’t seem to stop them from talking to me, which I found a bit annoying. From this conversation, I learnt that D was originally from a West African country, and E from a South Asian one.
D said that he wasn’t Catholic but E was, and she had invited him to come for Mass. When the service was over, E stayed to pray while D and I left and exchanged numbers (he said that he was looking to make new friends). We planned on meeting up soon, but because of our conflicting schedules it didn’t happen until a week and a half later. E sent me a message to ask if she could tag along, and I said yes. On the day of the meeting, both of them were late, so we decided to reschedule to a later date (I had to rush to work).
The crazy thing about E is that she would not stop texting me from the time she started. She somehow made the transition from acquaintance to super close friend in her head. She asked many questions such as where and what I was studying and what my hobbies were. The texts were constant, from morning to evening (over about 5 days). On one occasion I didn’t reply to a message in the evening and she sent and got the following texts:
“Let’s talk more next time. Have a good rest tonight. Good night [my name]!” at 9:26pm
“Good morning!!” at 6:34am
When I didn’t respond to any of those texts, I got a text in the evening (which I replied to) that read:
“Hey [my name]. The weather is so nice today. I hope you had a great day” at 4:36pm
The next day, she asked if I would be in the city (when I had already told her that I had a very busy weekend), and I once again told her that I could not meet her as I was at work. When she asked where I worked I declined to answer. She asked if she could invite me for an event, but insisted on calling me. When she did, I asked her to stop contacting me. I haven’t heard from C or D since.
November 2019:
I was waiting for a friend at uni when I was approached by E and “F”. F did the talking, I guess because they knew my history with E. She said that she was a part of a group called “Bible and I” which met for bible classes. When I asked if they had a website, they said no, but they did have a Facebook and Instagram page (I don’t use either). E gave me her phone number and asked for mine, but I declined and she asked me to delete her number.
Shincheonji is so persistent!
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