The Evolution of a Cult...

From the perspective of a first-generation survivor.

I was in the cult for 15 years (1975 - 1990). I was 17 when I joined and 32 when I left. My experience is that the cult evolved from an international group of dedicated Christians aspiring to preach the gospel and serve God, to a sex cult, and then a child sacrifice cult.

The cult communes I lived in went from being small communities of about 6 young singles and 1-2 small families, to large communes of 40-60 people, most of whom were children and teens.

When I joined, the cult had very strict rules about marriage. Married couples had their own bedroom for themselves and their children, and singles were delegated to the Boys Room or Girls Room, respectively. Anyone wanting to marry had to have the cult leaders' approval and have been in the cult for at least a year.

Little did I know that high-level leadership were having extramarital relationships and resultant pregnancies, and the very top leaders had been doing so all along. In fact, the cult's founder was sex-obsessed and had groomed those around him to be the same.

In 1976, the cult published literature detailing the top cult leaders' sexual exploits in London and Tenerife, calling it Flirty Fishing. This literature was considered the Word of God, as the cult's founder claimed he was God's End Time Prophet and was revered as such. Anything and everything he said was believed to be God’s Word and God's will.

Flirty Fishing involved cult women having sex with men outside the cult in order to tell them about Jesus and persuade them to help the cult financially and/or to join the cult. Many women in the cult engaged in Flirty Fishing, with some women making it their principal ministry. This put enormous pressure on marriages and young families in the cult, and it marked the beginning of the chaos and emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse that became hallmarks of the cult.

Two years later, the practice of Sharing was introduced, which initially meant women in the cult were required to have sex with the single men. To refuse would be selfish and a rebellion against God. I was 20 and newly married with a young baby. Sharing destroyed many marriages, including mine.

My husband left the cult, but I wasn't ready to. I still believed in the cult's teachings and leaders. To leave the cult was to leave God's will and protection, and with a young baby and a new pregnancy, I didn't feel safe to venture out. I was still a true believer, to the detriment of myself, my children, and husband.

Flirty Fishing soon morphed into prostitution, with women cultivating rich men as regular supporters of the cult, joining escort agencies or forming their own so they could raise money for big projects, such as going overseas as 'missionaries' of the cult.

The practice of Sharing morphed into partner swapping, marriages becoming 'threesomes', the institution of 'Sharing Schedules' where cult leaders decided who slept with whom, and 'romantic nights' of dancing that became orgies. I witnessed this in all of the many communes I lived in, to varying degrees.

In my experience, low-level cult members could skirt around teachings and practices that they found abhorrent, but could not remain members if they were challenged by the leaders on their lack of agreement or participation. And anyone in a position of leadership had to fully agree with and live out all cult teachings.

Flirty Fishing also heralded what became known as the Childcare Revolution, which began when the cult founder's wife and co-leader conceived a child through Flirty Fishing in Tenerife. From 1979 onwards, publications about this child's life and how he was being raised were sent to communes worldwide so we would know how God wanted children to be raised.

In 1982, these publications were collated and published as a childcare manual known infamously as The Davidito Book. Every family in the cult had a copy. The book advocated the sexualisation of young children and strict control of their activities, schedule, and behaviour, including through the use of shaming and harsh spanking. There was no allowance for children to be treated as individuals, or to have feelings and aspirations that did not conform to the cult's teachings.

The 1980's saw rapid expansion of the cult worldwide and strict implementation of the cult founder's multitudes of teachings about all aspects of members' lives, including those concerning the thousands of children born into the cult.

Publications were written especially for children and collated as books called True Komix, Life With Grandpa (Grandpa being the cult founder), Heaven's Girl, and others. Songs were written and recorded by cult members and sold to people outside the cult to preach the cult's message and raise money for the cult, and there were also songs written especially for internal use. Just like the books, the songs were made to appeal to the children and young people, constantly indoctrinating them in the cult's teachings.

By this time, it was firmly understood that children born into the cult belonged to the cult. They were God's gifts given explicitly for God's service, and the Devil would fight them, tempting them to question and rebel against the adults, cult teachings, and cult leadership. Consequently, the control and discipline of the children was very strict, and even extremely violent and abusive in some cases.

This was something I could not accept. I wanted my children to be educated properly, to have the freedom to see their grandparents and extended family, and to be in my care 24/7 because I had concerns about their safety in the care of other cult members. I wanted to be the sole decision-maker in their lives without others interfering.

I'd tried to leave the cult several times but could not, as I'd remarried and my husband wanted to remain. Leaving without him would mean losing some or even all my children to the cult. I felt strongly about what I wanted for my children, but I had no experience in standing up for myself. Every time I tried to, I was overwhelmed by other cult members telling me I was wrong, that I wasn't trusting God. I was codependent. I didn't know what boundaries were, and I didn't know how to hold my ground in a fight. I had no confidence in myself and my own judgement.

That's why I stayed in the cult for 15 years, and why my children suffered as much as they did in the cult. I didn't protect and fight for them, as I didn't know how to even fight for myself. I deferred to the will of others, instead of finding my own will and courage so I could fight for myself and my children.

Finally in 1990, after hearing about a cult teenager jumping to his death in Hong Kong and an Australian cult teenager who ran away and went to the police for safety, I started feeling more determined that things really had to improve in the lives of the cult's children.

At this time another big change was underway. It was called the JETTS (Junior End Time Teens) Training Program. My older children's compulsory enrollment in this program of intense indoctrination, child labour, lack of secular education, harsh discipline, and being separated from me was the impetus I needed to put up a relentless fight and make my final break with the cult.

I had to fight not just the people around me – cult members and leaders who opposed me and worked against me in my fight to get all seven of my children out – but I also had to fight my own mind. I was still fearful and anxious about being 'out of God’s will' and worried excessively that something bad would befall my children because I was taking them out of the cult.

Remaining in the cult required that I sacrifice my children to cult ideology and practices, allowing the cult leadership to make decisions about their lives and futures. I'd never been happy about doing this but had managed to maintain some control over my children's lives. All that changed with the advent of the JETTS Training Program. I was no longer willing to sacrifice my children; this is why I left the cult. I finally stood my ground, resisted the pressure to submit to cult teachings, and got myself and my family out.

~Sandy Ellis