The cult 'Church of God the Mother' is active again in Hanoi.
Before attending Passover, I was given an important notice by my caretaker. Accordingly, on this day, absolutely no alcohol is allowed, I need to prepare Passover offerings before coming (white envelopes with money in them, not specified but depending on my financial situation), bring a foot towel, new socks to change after washing my feet...
Not only did I receive notifications, I also received text messages and phone calls from people in this church reminding me to shower before the Passover, to wear clean, business-like clothes, preferably a vest, or to wear a skirt that was above the knee.
According to another revelation, one should wear the same color clothes and the brighter the color clothes one wears to Zion, the more blessings one will receive from the Parents.
After 4:00 p.m. on May 4, I went to Sion, an apartment building in Yen So (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) to listen to Ms. Thai - one of the three people who taught me the Bible - talk about how to pray, worship, offer sacrifices, and the culture of Sion.
When I looked up at the ceiling of the apartment, I once again saw the image of the blue sky dotted with white clouds. A large television was placed right in front of the seats, broadcasting images and sharing articles about God or the lyrics of praise songs…
Before starting the lesson, Ms. Thai gently asked me if I had told my family that I was going out. Seeing me confirm that I had told them, she smiled.
About an hour later, two well-dressed young men appeared one after another. Then two more women - one old, one young. "Hello. Many blessings" and a handshake were still the familiar words and actions when "Saints" met each other. Men shook hands with men, women shook hands with women, men and women did not shake hands but stood about 1 meter away, bowed slightly and greeted each other with the words "Many blessings".
During Passover, I was informed that I and another sister, who had never attended this festival, would have their feet washed, eat bread, and drink wine. In my mind, I imagined that the “sister” must be young or a few years younger than me, but when the “sister” appeared, I realized that this woman was about the same age as my mother.
According to Ms. Thai, we came to Zion to meet our brothers and sisters and to worship, but the deeper and more noble meaning is as taught: to come to Zion to meet God.
“When brothers and sisters meet spiritually, they should call each other brother and sister without asking about age. But we only call each other brother and sister in the space of Zion and the place of worship.
Brothers shake hands with brothers, sisters shake hands with sisters. We are children of God, we ourselves are a blessing, so when brothers and sisters meet, we will bless each other a lot.
In Zion, as the Father and Mother taught, rejoice forever, so you always come here with a smile. We come here to receive eternal life, the most precious thing that the Father and Mother give us", the knowledge about the culture of addressing each other in Zion was taught to me by Sister Thai.
There were 10 people at Sion that day, including Thai’s husband and two young children. Carrying a white scarf given to me by Thom - my “caregiver” - from the Baptism, for 2 hours, I and the other sisters spent a lot of time covering our heads with scarves (men do not have to do this), and we all put on socks when the ceremony began.
The music started, everyone closed their eyes and prayed, and Ms. Thai's two children did this very skillfully. According to the philosophy of this organization, prayer is a dialogue between God and His children, and has the power to drive away demons and Satan.
For them, the more they do, the better: Pray when they want God's help when they are sick, pray before participating in traffic, pray before going to bed and waking up in the morning, pray before eating and drinking... They must pray with faith, without doubt, and not pray for wrong reasons.
Before entering the main part of the Passover, I was able to participate in the worship service and the Foot Washing Service. During the worship service, people sang songs of praise to God, prayed, and listened to sermons.
On the television screen, a man appeared, introduced as the General President of the World Church of God. This pastor shared God's word about the foot washing ceremony.
According to the General President, after the worship service ends, any "Saints" who have not yet attended the Passover should attend the foot-washing ceremony. They must attend the foot-washing ceremony before they can attend the Lord's Supper and the Passover.
In the foot washing ritual, the male "Saint" has his feet washed by a male official or an elder first, then the female "Saint" has her feet washed by a female official or an elder.
In case the "Saints" come with their families, the foot washing ritual can be performed regardless of gender. If they are alone, they can perform the foot washing ritual by themselves.
The "saints" who have completed the foot-washing ritual prepare for the worship service, the Passover meal. Bread and wine must be prepared for the worship service, the Passover. These must not be left over and eaten, so the advice is given to prepare as little as an individual can eat.
As a “female servant”, Ms. Thai washed my feet. While washing, she prayed for blessings. After the ritual, I used a new towel that had been prepared in advance to wipe my feet and changed into another pair of socks.
Not only was my feet washed, but I was also instructed to present an offering during this Passover. Thai and her husband gave me a white envelope that was always available in Zion. In the upper left corner of the white envelope, I marked it with the words “sam sung 2” according to Thai’s instructions, which is a sign to identify the offering during the second Passover.
After placing the 10,000 VND bill in the envelope, I turned to look at the people around me and then placed the gift neatly in front of me.
“When offering worship to God, there is a law given by the Father and Mother, which is to offer solemn sacrifices.
Our parents said that when we go to attend the annual solemnities, but also the weekly solemnities, the Sabbath, we should not go without appearing before Jehovah. Each person should give according to his means, according to the blessing that Jehovah God has given him. Regarding this offering, you should keep it secret, not reveal it, not let your brothers and sisters know about it, as long as we do not go empty-handed.
The offering to God is placed in a white envelope, which you prepare before going to worship. This offering has no name on it. On Passover, you will write “sam sung 2” on the outside. We are children of God, so we also have a code, this offering will be sent to the Church.
Depending on the announcement above, whatever you write on the outside of this solemn ceremony, we will write it like that and our Parents will also know what ceremony we are offering. Each ceremony has its own code," said Ms. Thai.
After the offerings were presented, Ms. Thai held a white plate, received offerings from everyone, and placed the plate right under the TV, while prayers of blessing resounded on the TV screen.
Also through the TV screen, during the second Passover, I had the opportunity to meet God the Mother. None of her “children” in Zion cried, but they told me the story of standing before our God the Mother like children.
The brothers and sisters in Sion all have the same feeling, not being able to go to Korea to see Mother, but just looking at Mother's image makes them cry like they have betrayed Mother's love in the past, now seeing everyone also feels remorseful and painful.
Before the end of the second Passover, the General Assembly blessed the bread and wine, and the "Saints" who attended the foot washing ceremony held in their hands the prepared bread and wine to pray together.
The "Saints" were instructed not to leave even a drop of wine at the bottom of the cup when eating the bread and drinking the wine. As soon as the bread and wine were gone, everyone sang the new hymn number 8 to conclude the ceremony.
“Please keep the offerings carefully and give them to the District Chief or the Regional Chief to give to the Church” , the instructions rang out before everyone prayed their wishes and prayed for reflection, ending the second Passover. It was now 8pm.
Also from this time, I started to get more used to being called sister by everyone in the Church, or receiving text messages every day with the phrases “Many blessings”, “Thank you, Father and Mother” … However, these “sensitive” words were abbreviated every time people in this organization sent text messages to each other.
When I got home, I received a text message from Sister Thom asking about me. The questions and concerns were still the same as when I first studied the Bible, but this time, she mentioned more about CM (Parents) and blessings.
And almost everything that happens around me, whether happy or sad, difficult or favorable... is all associated with the two words Parents by the organization's people, like Parents give the sky the hot summer weather, Parents see that their daughter is sick so they send some things...
When I wondered about the abbreviations and untranslated words, Ms. Thom said that the aces (brothers and sisters) often use abbreviations, and that Sion culture is new.
She also told me: “Tomorrow is Friday, which in the Bible is called the day of preparation for the seventh Sabbath, the day when all of you arrange your physical work and prepare your soul as well.”
I also made an appointment with her to arrange to attend worship service on Saturday with the brothers and sisters in Zion.
As promised, I went to the address that had been announced. At the same time as me, another female "Saint" with a youthful face arrived. In a room of about 15 square meters located on the 3rd floor of a boarding house on XL Street (Hanoi), a woman named Huong prepared songs of praise for everyone to sing during the worship service.
While waiting for another person to come to Zion to attend the ceremony, the girl I had just met downstairs was busy preparing the offerings and writing symbols on the outside of a white envelope. On Saturday, there were three worship times: morning starting at 9am, afternoon at 3pm and evening at 8pm, each worship session had an offering with a different code.
9:00 AM. The worship service begins. Four people wearing white scarves pray and sing songs of praise.
That day, Hanoi was hot, the temperature outside was 53 degrees Celsius, in the cramped rented room, the white towel always covering my head made me sweat like I was taking a shower.
Turning to the side, I only saw the scene, everyone, despite the heat, despite signs of low blood pressure, still closed their eyes to pray and seriously sang songs of praise to God, no one complained even a word.
After 1 hour, the worship service ended.
According to the person in charge of the Church, after the worship service ends at around 10am, there will be a general “gathering” for the whole of Zion until 12pm. At this time, hundreds of people will “gather” together via Zoom and watch movies.
After the “group meeting,” everyone stayed in Zion for lunch and rest, preparing for the afternoon worship service.
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After becoming a female "Saint", the undercover reporter had more contact with other members of this Church. From the next issue, she will tell about the bitter fates of falling into the "devil's nest".
Next: The desperate years of a 9x female "Saint" in the "devil's nest" Church of God the Mother
When she suddenly realized that place was hell on earth, an extreme multi-level marketing model, a lie that drowned her future and happiness, the 9x girl struggled to find a way to escape.
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