Wednesday, October 31, 2007

human12 (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted at http://community.livejournal.com/rsqubf)

Samuel Lee brainwashed my wife to believe that I would leave her as her father had left her and her mother if she didn't obey him [Samuel Lee]. So at one point my wife accepted his advice for her to be separated from me and she 'obeyed' him believing that she was obeying God's direction. She took our 6-month-old son and left me to go back to Korea. I have never experienced such a traumatic event in my whole life. You come home one day and find your son and your wife gone with no trace! Then bunch of UBFKorean elders visited me in a shock and told me that I was receiving a 'divine discipline' from God!

What is more disgusting is that the whole story has been somehow turned around so strangely that people believe that it was actually I who left my son and my wife! Samuel Lee and UBF made me the bad guy and a liar. But you cannot do anything about it because you were made to believe that if you leave UBF, God will punish you. Of course that is the most disgusting lie that could be fabricated in the name of 'one-to-one Bible study'.

In UBF there is no truth. There is only abuse and deception to improve UBF business by making campus students 'committed' UBF devotees.

Why would anyone allow such an organization run his life? Because a cult like UBF manipulates a person on the level of his conscience by teaching common virtues with the terror of God's punishment. No innocent college freshman in any campus can escape easily this trap.

It is as if your friend could manipulate you by using the virtue of friendship like "if you are my friend, do this." If you are a good guy, you will find that it would be very difficult to refuse your friend because you know that friendship is a great virtue worth sacrificing yourself. But if you refuse your friend who is trying to use you, he will accuse you of being a liar and a hypocrite. That is what UBF does. If anyone leaves UBF, UBF fabricates many lies about him to demonize him. UBF is like a manipulative friend that anyone should avoid.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

E. K. (former Triton UBF)

(Was posted at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

I had every reason to believe that I was extremely lucky to be a part of the best church in the world. It takes most people years of soul-searching and discovering until they find the right church. But me? They had me from the beginning. How could they not? I had been indoctrinated since birth. Sure, kids at school mocked and accused me of being in a cult. It didn't faze me. Our Bible teachers told us we would face persecution. The book of Revelations told horror stories on the extremity of persecution we would face. I felt lucky that at this point, persecution was limited to name-calling. But I was prepared to be ostracized from the community and with these kinds of expectations, life didn't seem so bad when once in a while some punk would yell, "Hey! Going to your cult to burn another goat?" from across the street on the way home from school.

I am a Missionary Kid. As a missionary kid, it is almost as if I am expected to praise Jesus the moment I come popping out of my mother's womb. Arms in the air flailing, "Hallelujah! Jesus loves you!"

University Bible Fellowship, a.k.a. UBF, preys on American students at college campuses throughout the world through a manipulative process called love-bombing. New recruits, a.k.a. sheep, are showered with companionship, unremitting attention, and pretty much any activity that involves food. The shepherds have another agenda behind all this love. The goal of investing all this time and energy upfront is to win the heart of the sheep. This process usually takes anywhere from a few months to several years, depending on how plump the sheep wants to get until he himself takes on the responsibilities of being a shepherd.

As a missionary kid, I see shepherds and shepherdesses take sheep out for free dinners all the time. This is the source of much bitterness many missionary kids will harbor secretly. "No one appreciates me. I rehearse with the orchestra for hours on end, I baby-sit my siblings while my parents are feeding their sheep, and I am expected to bring my own sheep?" This is a valid frustration I shared with the other missionary kids, especially since we were constantly being watched by everyone to set a good example for the sheep. Not only do we have to make ourselves good little missionaries but we could never let our guard down even at home since it was not uncommon for a shepherd, shepherdess, or even an entire missionary family to be living with us in our basement.

When love was not being used to manipulate, it was guilt. Even as a child attending Children's Bible Fellowship, a.k.a. CBF, I was made aware by our CBF leaders of the empty folding chairs around me that should be filled with my friends from school who I should be fishing, a.k.a. recruiting. So every Saturday morning at 8 AM I would call my classmate Audrey to invite her to CBF. After repeated refusals to join me in learning about the Bible, I asked to speak with her mother. I was only in fourth grade, but I was confident in speaking to an adult on these matters since I had seen my mother do the same. Her mother answered. "Hi Audrey's mom. I am worried that your daughter doesn't want to come to CBF because she should really study the Bible or else she is going to go to hell." She assured me her daughter would not be sent to hell and asked me to stop calling. Stop calling, I thought? It's not like I was a telemarketer. I was only trying to help. I was really disappointed she didn't want to come since it is encouraged to bring white North American sheep - the typical blonde hair blue-eyed types. It was engrained in our heads that it is easier to catch minorities but we are in America so we should feed American sheep. There seemed to be this unspoken notion that the more attractive your sheep were, the more credibility you got for recruiting the toughest members of your target market. Years later while fishing in high school, I decided to be adventurous and go after the homecoming queen's little sister. Wow. I am being really bold. Even if I fail at getting her phone number to study Bible, I will have a good story to share in a testimony, I thought. I followed her down the street and into an alley after I got off at her bus stop. As I anticipated rejection, I almost turned around when suddenly I mustered up enough nervous energy to get out, "Excuse me, um, I was wondering if you would like to study the Bible... or not?" I never did lose the "or not" tagline from my evangelical sales pitch.

Every week at CBF, each member is expected to prepare a one to two page testimony, a.k.a. sogam (Korean translation of testimony), on what we learned from the previous week's message. In this sogam, we are also expected to share what sins we need to repent of. I would later learn that this is one way UBF has a stronghold on its members - by pressuring them to publicly announce their inner most clandestine sins. Wanting recognition for my personal achievements as a musician was a common sin I would write about. I played the oboe for 7 years after which I taught myself piano. (The pianist at my chapter, Triton UBF, got married and moved to a different chapter of the Greater Chicago land area.) Although it was well masked as a sacrifice I took, playing the piano was an extremely selfish endeavor and secret indulgence of mine. It was extremely empowering for me to be able to play the piano well without having taken any lessons. And I enjoyed the extra leg-room. In fact, I would hide out in my own corner of the Bible House - one of many houses converted into churches - kick my shoes off and relax. I was beginning to get a taste of freedom from the masses. During Sunday Worship Service, I would look over at the drones of shepherds and their sheep cramped onto folding chairs in the living-room-renovated-into-worship-room and think, "They have no idea how nice I have it in my little musical cave." It's a good thing my feet don't smell, I thought.

Viewing UBF from a behind-the-scenes perspective wasn't limited to my participation in the UBF orchestra. As a missionary kid, I was also witness to the process by which one is set up for an arranged marriage. According to UBF, these marriages happen through God's will. Dating is strictly prohibited as everyone is expected to focus all their time and energy to serving God, all the while leaving the issue of whom they will marry up to God. Those who do not put their faith in God to choose the perfect marriage partner are said to have a marriage problem. Of course everyone has a marriage problem because being in UBF has made them so sexually repressed, one stops being anxious of who he will be set up with and agrees to accept anyone resembling a creature of the opposite sex. I am guessing there are hundreds of shepherds who have failed at dating in the outside world and were drawn to UBF due to the ease of obtaining a wife, especially those with Asian fetishes. UBF claims that these matches are matches made in heaven. That God handpicked each husband and wife for his glory. What most people don't know is that these arranged marriages were actually based on looks. I was shocked the day I overheard my mom on a long distance phone call to her counterparts in Korea, "Yeah. He really ugly. Ha. He has a huge pot belly, bald head, very unkempt, nails dirty..." Basically she told them to send someone not too attractive who deserved to be stuck in a hellish marriage with this sloppy American. I don't know that all marriages were set up this way but it seemed as though the first criteria UBF looks to match is race and then looks. I could be completely wrong on this matter because I left UBF when I was 17 years old, probably missing an engagement to my future husband by a sliver of a couple years. I later learned that my second-generation counterparts at the UBF headquarters in Chicago were married on paper since 12 years old as a way to promise a marriage partner if they didn't run away. Samuel Lee liked to marry the missionary kids at a young age before they were tempted by their lustful desires and lost their innocence. Sex was the bait and he knew it.

For fun, my siblings and I would write the names of all the members of our chapter on little pieces of paper and pull them out of a hat to see who we could possibly be paired up with. We would laugh hysterically at each other's matches as we pulled the names out. Some people got stuck with the most ugly or annoying person. Although it was only a game, we swore never to tell anyone that we trivialized the concept of marriage by faith. My family was also a safe haven for making fun of the real couples that were recently married. My favorite couple to poke fun of was Gideon and Ruth S. (formerly known as Frank S. and Lorrie H.). Gideon, a petite ex-military shepherd, was the least liked shepherd known for his annoying methods of motivating younger shepherds. Ruth, a homely pear-shaped community college drop-out needlessly worried about tempting men with the blouse that was missing a button. She would cling onto the collar of her blouse every time we bent our heads to pray. I made the joke that when the pastor announced that Gideon would marry Ruth to the men's Daily Bread meeting, all the shepherds sighed a huge sigh of relief it wasn't them getting stuck with Ruth. At the women's Daily Bread meeting, I joked that all the women were overly joyed when they heard the good news of this match made in heaven. "Phew! Thank you God!" They would exclaim, "I can now put my faith in you to find any suitable marriage partner!" My mother could not help but laugh while giving me a look of warning to never repeat this outside of our home.

UBF made constant demands for purity. Paying too much attention to one's hygiene and outward appearance was a sin one could be easily rebuked for. "Why are you carrying a hairbrush in your book bag? Are you trying to cook men by doing your hair all fancy? Repent of yourself!" your shepherd would say. I received one of these rebukes before I started one-to-one Bible Study. So it was Sarah Dallal (formerly known as Maribel Magno, and then Maria) a girl two years my elder who grew up with me in CBF who took it upon herself to rebuke me as my spiritual elder. One night when I was 14 years old, I painted my little sister's fingernails. When Maribel saw this, she immediately questioned my sister as to who introduced her to nail polish. My sister brightly retorted, "My sister. She painted my toenails too! Aren't they pretty?" I immediately knew from the look Maribel gave me that a rebuke was on its way. I felt like crawling into a hole and never coming out. How could I be so stupid as to paint her fingernails? I should have stopped at her toes! The next day, twenty minutes before Sunday Worship Service began, Maribel approached me and asked to speak with me in the Upper Room - the garage converted into prayer room that never passed the town fire code inspection. She pulled me into a small 4 foot by 5-foot one-to-one Bible study room, opened her Bible to the book of John and had me read a passage. Her voice was void of the friendly tone I was used to hearing her speak to me in. "Why would you work on the devil's side to introduce your sister to these worldly influences? You are supposed to be a good example for her. How can you call yourself a servant of God?" And the rebuke went on for what seemed like an eternity. I came out of the Upper Room in tears after I had repented and asked for God's forgiveness. She had me believe that painting my sister's nails would eventually turn her into a man-hungry material girl.

New sheep are given more leeway to dress as they please since they are still in the process of being seduced to fully commit. If a sheep is dressed inappropriately, drastic measures might be taken to keep the sexual distraction to a minimum. During Sunday Worship Service for instance, if a young female walked in with a low-cut blouse on, shepherdesses across the room cued each other to find her a shawl or jacket. After a series of nudges, whispers, and nods, a jacket would be handed to her letting her know that it is cold in the room. There was once a sheep that had a very voluptuous body a la Jennifer Lopez. One day, she was wearing a skirt so tight, all the shepherdesses took turns being on butt patrol by following her every move to ensure the shepherds would not be tempted to gaze.

Samuel Lee was the mastermind behind the enormous organization of UBF. I had been brainwashed to believe that one of the happiest moments of my childhood was when Samuel Lee gave me personal attention at an airport. While talking to my dad, he mimicked the way I was dancing at that year's CBF Christmas Worship Service. Every Christmas and Easter, ethnic dances are prepared as a way to pray for world evangelization. I was so elated and embarrassed that he would even acknowledge my existence let alone make fun of me. By placing Samuel Lee on such a high pedestal, people stopped worshipping God, dropped all moral standards and common sense, and blindly followed his directions. The leader of my chapter Shepherd Teddy Hembekides made attempts to mimic Samuel Lee's enigmatic character by taking on a quirky personality yet remaining aloof and mysterious to his own congregation. It was once discovered that he wrote his Sunday manuscripts in a font called bookman old style. After finding this out, I remember I shared this insider insight with my brother and we started writing our own testimonies in bookman old style.

My relationship with my family was purely functional. I often wondered if the reason my parents had so many kids was because they were lazy. Why recruit when you could create? My parents were so busy being missionaries that our diet stooped into quite the deplorable state. I don't ever recall a time when everyone sat at our table and ate a family meal. My mom would often come home at eleven or twelve at night with a bag of ten Big Macs or crunchy tacos. We would call her while she was on an extravagant meal with one of her sheep and request a certain brand of fast food. To this day, when I get hungry, I cannot help but crave a McDonald's hamburger or a Whopper. And when she wasn't around, we took ourselves to the Wonder Hostess Thrift store that was across the street from the Bible House to feast on discounted Twinkies and cherry pies. Of course we thought it was pretty cool for us to be eating fast food and junk food all the time. Heck, I've heard of some of my classmates whose moms only allowed them one snack a day - and probably a healthy one at that! What nonsense!

Many people who work as secretaries or gym teachers during the day and are considered to be nobodies in this world, come into UBF and get a psychological satisfaction off disciplining those who are spiritually younger than them. This authoritative structure is one reason why people might stay in UBF although they do not fully agree with its practices. Once a shepherd brings in several sheep who in turn bring in more sheep, this shepherd is highly praised to be a model shepherd. On the walls of the Bible House are big charts with all the shepherds' names posted for everyone to see. For every sheep they bring to Bible Study that week, the shepherds or shepherdesses receive a star next to their name. Hence there is incredible pressure to bring in more and bigger numbers each week, similar to a pyramid sales organization. Except that failure to do so in UBF results in those lost sheep burning in hell.

My father once revealed to me that the reason he decided to pioneer a new chapter of UBF in the suburbs of Chicago was to avoid this authoritative structure Samuel Lee had created. The turning point came when Samuel Lee tried to get my father to walk barefoot from Skokie to Chicago as discipline for showing up late to a meeting. My father's typical docile demeanor prevented him from reacting in too radical a fashion. So in October of 1986, with Samuel Lee's consent and full blessing, my family left the Chicago headquarters to be the first missionaries to pioneer a junior college, Triton. My siblings and I could not help but joke that our parents were the lazy missionaries whose claim to fame in UBF history was to evangelize a tiny vocational school whose enrollment and intellect was but a fraction of a percent of Northwestern's entering class of freshmen. "Let's not forget these folks! They need Jesus too!"

In UBF, having strong family values is frowned upon. UBF enforces this rule and keeps everyone busy to ensure all thoughts and actions were directed to the purpose of the organization. One is supposed to love God and nothing else. It wasn't until later in life that I realized what a psychologically warped adolescence I've had. No one ever spoke of the concept of romantic love. The reason why a husband and wife should 'love' each other is so they can serve God. Missionaries and shepherds with kids have no other choice but to neglect their children while at Sunday Worship Service, Friday Testimony Meeting, Saturday Group Bible Study, each morning's Daily Bread, numerous one-to-one Bible Studies, and overseas journey trips. My earliest recollection of the city of Chicago is of crossing the busy 6-lane street called Peterson with my brothers when we were 7, 5, and 4 years old. Not having been taught to look both ways before crossing, cars would often slam on their brakes, honk, and come to an abrupt halt as they allowed three little Korean kids to run along. I can just imagine that they wondered why we pointed and laughed at whoever came closest to getting hit.

We were oblivious to the way the world worked, including the most basic common knowledge on how to obey traffic laws. How could we not? Our parents left it up to UBF and the public school system to teach us everything there is to know about life. For example, since UBF evangelized college campuses, shepherds and missionaries would often buy a bumper sticker from the University they were praying for. I never knew that the real purpose of these bumper stickers was to indicate where the driver went to school. I'm sure people wondered why someone who went to Princeton, John Hopkins and the University of Chicago would be driving a dilapidated 1986 Toyota Corolla and circling the parking lots of a junior college.

How I left a fanatical Korean evangelical religious organization that I was born into still continues to amaze me. Although UBF raised me, the American public school system taught me how to think. So although I am Korean by blood, I consider myself American. Koreans learn that to question any authority figure is a sign of disrespect to an elder. This is why Koreans will be so quick to blindly follow someone's words even if this obedience manifests itself in completely irrational behavior. Luckily, UBF overlooked the choice of school system missionary kids attend. It is at school that I learned how to discern right from wrong. The academic approach in the western system begs its students to look for the gray areas of life and to back theories up with evidence. Learning to think like this during the day compared to what my shepherds were telling me to do by evening when I went to the Bible House created a huge clash in my mind on what to follow. So by my junior year of high school, I had started to question the veracity of my Bible teachers' words. Of course these doubts were met with much prayer on my part - this was the never-ending cycle that kept doubtful members from leaving. As soon as you doubt the word of God, one must repent of this foolish behavior and just have faith! The day I decided to no longer blindly follow what my shepherds were telling me to do was the day I knew I would leave UBF.

It was a Friday afternoon at my high school in a working class suburb of Chicago. Our entire chemistry class finished making tie-dyed t-shirts. Not having a lot of options in terms of my wardrobe since my parents didn't buy new clothes, I was happy to add a t-shirt to my collection of obscure clothing. So I naturally wore this shirt all day at school and walked into Friday testimony sharing meeting at Gideon S.'s apartment with it still on. Growing up in UBF, I was oblivious to the implications of tie-dyed shirts to a hippie/drugs/sex culture of the 60's. I remember the shocked reactions of Gideon and Ruth S. when I pranced into their home with what they believed to be an article of clothing inspired by Satan. It was doubly surprising for them to see a sweet, obedient missionary kid like me wear such a "worldly" shirt than to witness a brand new sheep commit such a faux pas. Although there were less than six people at this Friday meeting (we had broken up into fellowships), I was quickly scurried into their tiny bathroom where I would sit for the next fifteen minutes while Ruth frantically searched for a proper blouse to dress me in. What is wrong with them, I thought for the first time in my life. It was a school project! How evil can it be if a teacher - an authority figure in my life, not only taught us but also encouraged us to be proud of creating such a magnificent t-shirt? I don't get it. What is wrong with making a t-shirt? I couldn't recall a single passage in the Bible where disciples were rebuked for making their own clothing. Why was I being treated like a prisoner of war?

My revolutionary thought process was interrupted by a rude knock on the door. It was Ruth. She begrudgingly handed me a pastel orange blouse to change into. I quickly put the blouse on so we could begin the meeting that I delayed which I felt guilty about. I came out of the bathroom only to be met with another look of horror on Ruth's face! She literally pushed me back into the bathroom where I would sit again until she found a proper undershirt for me to wear since according to her, the blouse she gave me was too sheer. I sat on the closed toilet and thought to myself - this is ridiculous! What am I doing here? What am I doing on this planet - in this bathroom - in UBF!? This shirt is anything but see-through! (Anyone who knows Ruth S. would back me up that she would be the last shepherdess to own a slightly 'worldly' shirt.) I could hear Gideon and Ruth quarrel in their bedroom over the unusual predicament. Ruth flings open the door to tell me she cannot find a clean undershirt of hers for me to borrow. Meanwhile I am thinking - yeah right. She is too selfish to let me borrow an intimate piece of underwear from her. So another ten minutes go by and Gideon appears at the door of the bathroom, this time holding an undershirt of his. "Wear this," he says. "Ruth can't find any of hers." I take it and return to the closed toilet seat. The shirt is wrinkled, tattered, and is soaked in yellow stains on the armpits from what looks like heavy usage by Gideon when he was in the army. My mind is racing with doubts as to whether it is wrong for me to refuse to wear this as my undergarment. I am already wearing a bra. This blouse has ruffles on the front that cover even the outline of my bra on the front. I cringe at the thought of sitting through the entire meeting in a shirt of Gideon's that is unclear to me whether it has been recently washed or picked up from the hamper. I have to wear it. Although I have thoughts of rebellion running through my head, I do not know how to act on them yet. I reluctantly put the shirt on, the blouse over it, and sit uncomfortably throughout the testimony-sharing meeting as I read my three pages of sins I need to repent of this week.

This was the last ridiculous order I took from any of my shepherds. I slowly fazed myself out of UBF by ditching a new meeting each week. Seeing as I stopped attending even music rehearsals and started showing up to Sunday Service in jeans, I was asked to step down from my position as pianist. And not having the opportunity to play music at services, I no longer had any reason to show up at all. I left for college the following year, only to be disappointed by what appeared to be masses of students desperately hoping to be socially accepted into fraternities and sororities at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. My freedom has been taken away from me for 17 years of my life and these kids were paying to have theirs taken away? I was baffled.

On a rare occasion when we went to the beach, my parents found a baby crab. They immediately grabbed this crab, took it out of its natural surroundings of Lake Michigan and brought it home. They placed it in an old fish tank and proceeded to feed it. I found it strange that we had a newfound pet in the house since up till now we only had goldfish. A few months after the crab grew a bit from my parents feeding it, they killed and ate it. My siblings and I were shocked and appalled as I'm sure the crab was. But the crab had no say. As far as the crab knew, my parents were doing it a favor by placing it in a new "safe" fish tank away from the dangers of a natural body of water. Similarly, my parents unwittingly brought this baby crab into an even more dangerous environment - a bubble of an existence in a man-made aquarium. This is perhaps the greatest metaphor of my life as a missionary kid. Except this crab escaped before anyone could kill it. [cue violins] Entering the sea of the real world after having been sheltered since birth has been difficult and exciting. There is so much I do not know in this world. I am essentially a blank slate. Everything is new to me. However, my upbringing urges me to examine people's motives. As a skeptic, it is not difficult for me to discern when someone is placed in an unjust situation. The worst scenario possible has already occurred in the bulk of my life through the cult called UBF.

Too many members of UBF have come and gone in silence, which is why I chose to share my brief account. Although I cannot speak on anyone else's behalf but my own, I cannot deny that every absurd and ridiculous account on here fits in with all that is characteristically UBF. You might be asking, how could so many people be so blind? It has happened in history before when a leader is idolized and people stop thinking independently.

John K. (former Triton UBF)

(Excerpted from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

So I was born into this cult called University Bible Fellowship or UBF. Though their core founding members are Korean, their main headquarters is in Chicago and they focus on evangelizing university students. I imagine they have some difficulty attracting smarter, non-depressed or generally less desperate students so when I was five, my parents, got the brilliant idea of pioneering local community colleges and finding students there with low self-esteem. Thus, Triton College UBF (As Seen on TV! and Banned in Germany!) was founded in the small, quiet suburb of River Grove.

My goal here is to collect in one place excerpts of all the most outrageous practices of the cult, mostly UBF in general rather than specifically Triton UBF, as reported on various websites and media. From my own personal experiences in the cult, I was not exposed to the more extreme practices that go on behind the scenes, so to speak, but in hindsight, I can see how it all fits with the very authoritarian structure and heirarchy I was exposed to.

I did observe firsthand (and to some extent tried to practice) the manipulative love-bombing techniques used by "shepherds" to recruit "sheep." In the initial stages, members would be extremely nice and supportive to them, act very interested in the hobbies and interests of the recruit, buy them dinner and seduce them into the cult through various activities. This was usually followed by efforts to sever any ties they had with "unbelievers," i.e. non-UBF family and friends, and eventually get them to live solely with other UBF members.

For the most part, as a "missionary kid," I was exempt from such treatment since they figured they already had me for life. Though I shared that belief at the time, it's funny to see just how wrong they were. Perhaps the main way these practices affected me was that I had been indoctrinated to see my classmates at school and any friendships solely as more people to be brought into the cult. Needless to say, this didn't make me very popular. At one point, one of my friend's mom had to call me to tell me to stop asking her son to go to my church and study bible. Another classmate pretended he was interested but left halfway through just so that he could have more material to make fun of me with.

In addition to the tremendous pressure to recruit new members and devote all of your time and money to the cult, there was a lot of suppression of any independent thought and even humor. At a certain point, we were supposed to write a "life testimony" that describes how we used to be lost sinners, but then we were saved by Jesus through the cult. Writing mine was difficult because the cult was all I ever knew, but I wrote about how influential reading the Christian theology and arguments of C. S. Lewis was to my faith. I was supposed to read it aloud at a conference of a couple hundred people and turn in a draft beforehand. After turning it in, I didn't hear anything back until 20 minutes before I was supposed to present it. Then, they gave me my "revised" version that condensed everything I had written about Lewis to just one sentence: "Although I looked at other sources, it was ultimately the Bible that led me to a personal relationship with God." At the time, I was too nervous and probably too brainwashed to think much of it.

Another warning sign that ought to have been obvious was the attitude towards those who left or went to another church. For the most part, the cult was equated with service to God himself. To reject the cult was to reject God. Other churches were just full of lukewarm, worldly Christians. Those who were "rebellious" and "ran away" were a subject of condemnation, if even that. Usually, it became taboo to even mention their name anymore. It was understood that members in the church would refuse to have further contact with such bad influences. I remember thinking my sister was evil because she chose to go to U of I where there was no UBF chapter, not to mention that she would listen to the bad influences of rock and roll music on the Oldies station. In the cult, even Christian pop music was considered edgy.

I'm sure there are a number of other bizarre practices that I just took for granted, such as the extremely repressive atmosphere and arranged marriages. Perhaps some day, I'll try to write a fuller account of my experience in the cult, but they seem pretty bland and mild to me, especially in comparison to the stories above. It's never really occurred to me to feel bitterness or personal anger about any of it and it is mostly just a source of amusement for me. I remember when I was in grade school, someone was running for mayor of River Grove and the biggest issue on his platform was getting rid of the cult. He had put a flyer attacking UBF into every mailbox in River Grove, so me and my brother were darting around trying to collect them before the residents had a chance to see them.

I remember other weird things in my childhood such as my mom's involvement in another Korean church that believed Jesus's second coming was going to be on October 28, 1992, at 10:00am Chicago time. I guess just one crazy Korean cult was not enough for her. When the day we were supposed to be taken up to heaven came around, she had us stay home from school, called in sick for us (just to make sure we didn't get in trouble while we were in heaven), and made us pray in preparation for the rapture. Among the 20,000 to 100,000 other followers were several women who had abortions because they "were afraid of being 'too heavy' to be caught up to heaven." ("One More End-Time Scare Ends with a Whimper")

Click here for more on my experiences with religion and how I got out of it.

My sister's experiences described below also give a good description of the general atmosphere I experienced.

Thom (former Triton UBF)

(Posted in the guestbook at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

Hullo.
I am a former UBF Triton attendee. I worked with Thomas H (who shares the same first name and last initial as I). I actually got started with UBF because I was going through this ultra-religious ultra-moral stage in my life, and looking for a Christian group, UBF preseanted itself. I was a bit rebellious though, I think, because I would often prefer my own interpretation of passages to those of the UBF and became less and less serious when it seemed like everything was being twisted around to represeant a single meaning "Love, respect, trust God (as interpreted [and represented] by UBF) unconditionally" or whatnot. Glancing over your other writings and such I think that we may have a lot in common. I have added you to my AIM buddy list. I am called CamdenBloke.
Cheers,
-Thom

Marvin G. (former Triton UBF)

(Posted in the guestbook at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

Hi John,
I don’t know if you recall me, I am the Filipino dude who attended Triton UBF about 6 years of so ago. What ever happened to your brother Joseph? Reading this site of your today brought some repressed unkind memories I had with UBF. I pity those people who have chosen to be corrupted by this organization. Salud to Freedom!!

Marvin

Jennifer (former Loyola UBF)

(Posted as a comment related to the account of the suicide of a UBF member in Chicago, 2005)

I know all about UBF at Loyola. I told the Dean, and nobody seemed to care.

I was stalked by a member in 2002, Loyola didn't want to know about it. I don't know if they're still fishing on campus, but they were recognized by Loyola as a bona fide campus club.

Posted by: Jennifer | May 25, 2005 at 10:34 AM

Garland A.

(Posted in the guestbook at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

hello. my name garland a. i’m married to heather a. former triton ubf member. she left [UBF] because wendy h. [Triton UBF leader] would hit and yell at heather. i have married since janary 29 2004 and our friends tom and carol g. have been married since janary 30 1979. gideon s. and ron ward invitied me and heather to university bible fellowship on the north side of chicago. now me and heather go to trinty lutheran church in roselle,il.

Concerned relative (of Toledo UBF member)

(Also see a related discussion and http://rsqubf.info/documents/external/external.html#television)

Date: May 1, 2005 8:52 PM
Subject: Toledo Fox TV report

I am saddened that I was not able to see the TV report recently shown on the Fox Toledo News. I do not live in Toledo, but my dear nephew, ---, goes to the University there and has been involved with UBF going on three years and it has brought about a horrible change in his personality and lifestyle. I did read the brief piece that was posted on the Fox Toledo TV web site. It angered me that the U of T indicated that it has never received any complaints about UBF and their presence there! That is simply not true. I had contact with the campus chaplain and she said they have been watching Paul Hong and UBF for many years now and I was not the first to make a complaint of concern of their practices of recruiting students on campus! The Dean chose to ignore my pleas for help. I can only hope that UBF can be exposed as what it truly is and that the Lord will open the eyes and mind of my nephew to see the misleadings and false teachings of the leaders of UBF before it is too late! ----- ------

Shannon (former Toledo UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2007.)

Name: Shannon
Comments: Susan, I also studied with Toledo UBF. I struggle with the labels that have been applied to UBF. I started one-to-one bible study at a time in my life that I was most off the narrow path. My studies with UBF helped me to personalize my relationship with Jesus and I am so so glad that he used my UBF bible teacher to reach me at this stage in life. That being said, I struggled greatly with the constant urgings to not spend too much time with my family or friends. I belonged to another church and often attended both services because of guilt. I didn't understand what could be so wrong with my family or church. I left UBF because of my concerns around the alienation of my family and the whole arranged marriage thing kindof freaked me out. This wasn't an easy task. I was made to feel that I was walking away from Jesus not a church. Again that being said, it has took me 12 years to find another fellowship where I felt so engaged in my walk with Christ. I struggled to find a church focused on bible study and personal relationships. So like I said, I really struggle with the lables applied to UBF. I strongly believe that the Lord used them to reach me when I was the most lost. But I then felt convicted to also serve my family. Thankfully, He has now lead me to a church where I can serve my Lord and my family.

Susan (former Toledo UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2007.)

Name: Susan
Comments: I am a former UBF member from the Toledo, Ohio chapter. I thank God for rescuing me from the bondage and depravity that existed in this godless cult. I will go so far to call them this because they dismiss the role of the Holy Spirit to work in people's hearts and minds. When you dismiss one person of the trinity, you dismiss God in his entirety. By God's grace, I am now happily married and thriving in a Christian church that truly seeks to further God's kingdom. I am a child of God, saved by his grace alone, and free to share his love with others. Thank you for creating and maintaining a site that ex-members and potential and/or existing members can come to for clarification on what this group believes and the dangers they pose to others.
Friday, February 9th 2007 - 11:44:31 PM


Name: Susan
Comments: I wanted to answer Nick's question about my experience in Toledo. I honestly never heard the leader or anyone else even mention how you come to salvation. When I started attending, I was like the prodigal son who had gone out into the world and realized that I needed to come back to my father's home. Noone ever spoke to me about salvation. But, MUCH emphasis WAS placed on obeying the Leader and the "missionaries"- if they suggest you dress a certain way, not date, not visit with your family for too many days, not see your old friends anymore, etc. then you better obey or you will succomb to the devil by not following their suggestions. Leadership tried to take the place of the Holy Spirit- noone was encouraged to see what God was trying to teach them individually through the sermon message or from God's word itself. Thank you for your inquiry and I pray that you and others who have escaped may be wrapped in God's love and assurance!
Monday, February 26th 2007 - 07:45:14 AM


Name: Susan
Comments: I find it interesting that current UBF members are browsing this site...How can you read these postings and not find it disturbing that SO MANY PEOPLE have been badly wounded by the destructive teachings and manipulations of the UBF church? I just want to say that God loves you and wants you to live in the freedom that only He can offer. I will say this and leave the matter to rest- I have never been so scared as when members of this group hunted me down like an animal, striking terror in the hearts of my family memebers when they called each of them at work asking where I was. They then proceeded to find me at my parents' home. I asked God to give me strength to say the words that needed to be said and for him to protect me from these people. I experienced a true spiritual battle that would scare the pants off of most people. The hate that came from my bible teacher's eyes and those of my roommate would make one's blood run cold. It was as if I sat across from Satan himself. The walls and ceiling of my parents' home started to shift as I boldly spoke the words that the Holy Spirit put in my mouth. It was not by my power, it was all about God and his angels that day. I thank Him for his protection and from wrenching me free from their destructive and false ways. I continue to pray that others will be rescued from this group.
Thursday, March 29th 2007 - 09:57:09 PM

Paul Thomas E. (former Cincinnati UBF)

(Posted in the guestbook at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

Did you ever come to the chapter in Cincinnati, OH? I was "fished" rather aggressively by them for several years, and even committed the grievous sin of befriending several of them in non-UBF settings. It drove me away from any type of organized religion for years, and has created wounds that still have not healed.

Wouldn’t Missionary Samuel Lee be pretty burned up about all you’ve posted?

Sarah C. (former Triton UBF)

(Posted in the guestbook at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jsku/ubf.html)

I was involved with Triton UBF from 1990-91. I was recruited by Donna [Triton UBF member] outside my high school in Chicago. I played in the band, and directed a little skit. I left after the final straw where I believe it was John Mike [Triton UBF member] who gave the sermon about how heaven things would be perfect and people wouldn’t be obese like his wife. Even worse, they made the poor woman repent for her obesity at the next testimony meeting.

Monday, October 29, 2007

William760 (former Wright UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: William760
Comments: I was a member turned "Shepard" at the Wright College UBF from mid 1989 until early 1992. I'll summarize my experiences: I witnessed an arranged marriage up until the wedding [partner subject to change up to the wedding date]; the leaders made up bad things about me to the female members within our chapter as well as Triton UBF and others; I was severely rebuked for going to the Triton UBF house because I didn't have my leader's permission; Also I was severely rebuked for missing a leader's meeting to attend a high school basketball game, which was on my calander EIGHT months prior; at one time, the leader literally took me by the arms and PUSHED me out of the house because I was angry about certain things; they decided to change my name!!!! The day when the leader hinted to me about my own arranged marriage, I decided to leave. I told my Bible teacher I was leaving and she attempted her own version of a big-time guilt trip, as well as an indirect threat. I could go on and on with my own experiences, as well as the experiences of other ex-members I've known. In my opinion, UBF doesn't care about their members. They only care about the power trip from controlling its members and taking their money too.


[posted elsewhere]:

I was around when UBF "arranged" Wendy Tockerman and Karl Heusel to get married. In fact, when I made a comment to the leaders that this was "arranged", they rebuked me bigtime and said I didnt see "the work of God in this". Thats right, I didnt see the work of God. I saw the work of Missionaries Lee, Yoon, and Hemebikedes (or however you spell his name). Which reminds me, I never liked their view of marriage, which was (and probably still is) that married couples are only "co-workers doing God’s work". Come to think of it, they told me I didnt have "friends" at UBF, but rather "co-workers". How stupid is THAT??

Friday, October 26, 2007

Davis W. (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: Davis W.
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: My family was interested in finding a Church to have fellowship with other Christians and seeking a relationship with other Christian families but I must also guard myself from "False Prophets." After attending UBF for nearly a year in Chicago I have come to my conclusion that it's definitely not for me. Their doctrine is "Shady" with their practice. I find it troublesome to see others like me who ignore the fact they go to UBF for God and not UBF. WHY??? There are plenty of other Churches to have fellowship with. I think UBF should be classified as a cult. There is no real practice between what they do and their real "Ulterior Motives." It's a front for greedy Korean leaders profiting from this. It's a shame that people are foolish enough to fall for UBF's tactics. I pray for UBF and it's members and that GOD would shine his light and reform this “Church.” I’m glad I’m not the only one that noticed something wrong with UBF.

Al G. (former Washington UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: Al G.
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: Hi all. Some of you may have known me as Shepherd John-Allen G. from Washington UBF (79-92). How could UBF exist? It came to fill a void. Many of the Korean missionaries saw America becoming a spiritual wasteland. George Barna studies agree with them. Why do we have so much crime, sexual immorality, and broken families in America? It is because America forgot its roots. I did. But, I thank God someone asked me to study the Bible with them. They challenged me to repent and they “tried” to hold me accountable. That was the good about UBF. What went wrong? The leadership, from the top-down, thought that they did not need to be accountable to the “Church.” They became their own standard, became corrupted, and fell into temptation themselves, practicing all forms of abusive cult-like deceptive behavior. Now that "we" know we have been deceived, what should we do? First, stay faithful to Jesus, the true shepherd (Jn 10:11-14). Second, I know you have been hurt, but there is healing available. This website has many good resources. Third, stay in the Word (Jn 6:68). Fourth, learn how to love. Gary Chapman’s love languages books will give you practical biblically-based tools to renew your relationships with parents, spouse, and kids. And lastly, invite your neighbors and friends to your new church and have Bible study with them. You don’t need to be a UBF shepherd to invite someone, you only need to have been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). Blessings.

HB (former Canada UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: HB
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: 'Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free' (John 8:32) were the words that resounded in my heart and allowed me after a year and a half to leave UBF. Ironically at the same time this was also the verse used to recruit new freshmen students into 1:1 bible study or rather the truth to become committed members of UBF. The grace of our Lord seems almost comical now that I look back on it, during this intensive week of becoming an official group on (Ontario Canada) campus and recruiting new members God gave to this burnout UBFer the truth and set me free from the isolation, control and abuse, freeing me from the bondage of the thankfulness trap and man centered mission, restoring freedom to love Christ. Thank God oh Lord you are merciful. I thank God for those who rather than keep silent speak out, for many like me thought we were alone, the rebellious and stubborn sheep needing discipline. In my last days in UBF I sought some form of escape and struggled with God; a faith tied to tithing and works had left me resentful and far from Christ whom I loved. I thank God for revealing the truth through the truthful testimonies of others on Rescue UBF, I saw carbon copies of myself, a faith dying and suffocating (no reliance on the holy spirit). Oh Lord it is your light that makes everything visible. Amen. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.




(in response to a UBF supporter)

Dear Dr. Armstrong,

I had the opportunity to read your unbiased opinion of the UBF ministry. As a former member of UBF what struck me most were these statements 'Some feel pressured and can't live up to these group expectations. Sometimes UBF helps a young person to grow and then the person will feel the need to move on into a different ecclesiastical context in due time.' What is unclear is that you may be stating that it is ok for Christians to be pressured by men into loving and serving God whereas being compelled by the holy spirit I am a young ex ubfer and therefore I cannot even attest to having a full grasp of theology, that I know you possess but what I do know is what it is like to be a UBFer something you undoubtedly were not privy to see. Most ex members leave the ministry feeling that their faith was being stunted, some were burned out and others are still guilt ridden by their inability not to live up to being imitators of Christ but to the rules of an organization.

At some point Dr. Armstrong I and many were of the deep conviction that our faith was tied to an organization and not to the one who bore our sins on the cross. We devoted our lives and time to what we thought was the work of God, praying that all one to one bible students became UBF disciples. 'Sometimes UBF helps a young person to grow and then the person will leave' is the sugar coated version of the truth any other church in the eyes of UBF is not a true Christian church the hope (not the lip service) is that all follow the path of becoming a shepherd, fish on campus and raise a specified number of disciples on University campuses. Leaving UBF is not a welcomed option a good church will pray for their members and ask God to bless them wherever he leads them this is not the same of UBF. You also missed out on the over emphasis on numbers but that may easily go under the radar if you did not have the opportunity to meet the well intentioned rank and file member or ex member. These are not issues from ten years ago these are the problems that exist today. I think that maybe if you had stripped away all the titles and success and spent a day in the shoes of the lowly UBF member your opinion of the UBF ministry I pray would have been different.
Thank you for your time

January 2007

JOLO

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: JOLO
E-mail address: N/A
Comments: Watch out for this church. They are nothing short of a scam. The "church" pretends that they are innocent, and harmless, but this is not true. they are the exact opposite. why would this "church" go after college students? because this segment of the population are the easiest to manipulate, play games with and ultimately brainwash. Within the "church" college students are looked upon as prey and hopefully seen as a long term benefit remember it is what the "church" can get out of the students not the other way around. start young, is better than starting with someone who is older. if you are over 30 they do not want you. overall weak people are the prey. previously physical abuse was rampent, but this practice has ceased in the last few years. but mental abuse is still ongoing but not as direct as before i would tell anyone to stay away from this organization. really it is not a church but a business. Yes BUSINESS these people are something short of the north korean regime freedom of religion is why you have groups like this. people need to stand up and expose this false church -- from a former member.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Ed B. (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: Ed B.
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: Hi Everyone! Recovery from Chicago UBF has been a slow process, but steady. My marriage and family with two young children has remained intact. We welcome contact with other ex-UBFers who have forsaken the mind control paradigm for the grace of God.

Ana (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: Ana
E-mail address: prayerwarrior_pslm7326@hotmail.com
Comments: It took me a long time to get out. God broke me, he showed me and strengthened me, it all works out in Gods timing. Email anyone with questions/ and especially those who have decided to turn away from Christ because of their experience. thanks. In His Mercy <><

DC (former Washington UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: DC
E-mail address: greenfly7@inorbit.com
Comments: I remember meeting a missionary while University of Maryland in 1991. I engaged him in conversation about scripture and was invited to study with him 1 on 1. I took the invitation and learned that I actually had more than a few friends already involved with UBF. After studying one on one for a while with this missionary Shepherd, I was invited to attend Sunday worship. I already had a home church and made that known, but was told my home church could not offer what UBF had. The pressure to be involved became so intense I ended up writing a letter to that Shepherd telling him: "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." He then stopped calling me. He ended up leaving UBF to attend another church. I ran into that missionary one day and he told me that he didn't believe UBF was fulfilling the great commission, so he had to leave. I think within the controlling power some had there, it was easy to become corrupt. Lord Bless UBF. May they find Freddom in Messiah. One Word: "Control Freaks make many into former or "Lost" Sheep. --Washington DC chapter

JP G.

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: JP G.
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: If anyone is in the UBF and reading this, I am begging you to leave the organization out of love. I am convinced that the UBF (as a whole) is a dangerous organization that does not rely on the Holy Spirit. They use the Word of God to their own advantage and try to brainwash people into their thinking. "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15) Jesus uses the term sheep's clothing to point out that they look good (close to perfect) on the outside, but inside they just want to destroy you. You can see this with the UBF, they act all caring and loving at first. Then they want you to spend all your time with them, doing what they want and how they want it even though it's wrong. You are free in Christ, don't submit to slavery again!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Anonymous (former MSU UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: ex member msu ubf
Comments: I too was taken in by the attention and love bombing of ubf. I can say that I always felt something was not really right at msu ubf. I finally put my finger on the problem there two years later. The leadership was in a power struggle to rule over the sheep and their lives. I met some good people there for the two years I was involved there. They want you to spend countless hours feeding sheep and attenting their fuctions to create a number to make it look good for the leaders. I could never figure out why people make a committment to poverty and think this is god's way of blessing them. If creating tremendous debts and self sacrifice will get you a little recognition with ubf then this is something I never did need and feel deeply sorry for those that have been taken and lost many good years of their lives to this group. find a reputable church and attend there and don't look back at all the controlling things of your past god will bring you back stronger than before. keep the faith. may god bring peace tou your lives moving forward .

Black Sheep

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2006.)

Name: Black Sheep
E-mail address: lisaww7@hotmail.com
Comments: I am writing this not to judge any one who is a ubf member but out of my own heart. I feel sorry for some of the people there. I have a sister who is very actively involved. I know shes a very good person at heart, but I feel she is being burdened by the pressures of other members "brain washing". I went to one of the conf. and they were studing the bible for over 16 hrs a day. and I could not take it so I had to leave the conf. People were very upset that we left for a few hours and they gave us havoc for it. I was just coming as a visitor, but everyone was refering to me as a sheep. Which ironicly should be a great compliment because jesus even in the bible was a sheep ( the lamb of God who takes away our sin) But in their terms a sheep is a baby christian. I know I have a lot of spiritual growing to do In God. But that should be a personal thing. A lot of people in UBF seem like they are boastful about how many bible students (sheep) they have. Encouragement is one thing, but God wants us to be humble before him and others. Please read Matthew ..23.. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. If you want to bring someone to God I pray one does it with a pure heart and for the right reasons..... Matthew 6 verse 2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Anonymous

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

Name: N/A
E-mail address: N/A
Comments: Hello, I will keep my name and email confidential, but at the same time I want to express my opinions about UBF. I was never officially a member of the church, but I did study one-to-one bible study with a long time Korean UBF member for quite some time. (3 years) I will not name the Missionary I had bible study with, due to legality/slander issues. I always believed that something was wrong with the Church. Something strange, not right, but I could never pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Some people might say, how could I judge UBF if I was never a actual active member, but even though I was not a member, I could sense something was really strange. I have been reading many of the websites regarding UBF, and personal ex-member testimonies and agree with many of the former members. I always kept a suspicious distance, and really never wanted to get close to the church. Yes, I was a little scared and unsure. I felt the only way to protect myself was to not get involved. I went to a few conferences, but that was about it. I recently stopped attending one to one bible study, and I am happy that I had the courage to stop cold-turkey, and not have to use UBF bible study as a emotional crutch in my life. Actually this was the second time I stopped one-to-one bible study with the same missionary. The first time was about two years ago. I stopped attending for roughly 6 to 8 months and this so called Missionary would call me every Sunday leaving me the same message like, "Have a Good Day", sometimes appear in front of my apartment building with his wife, and a few times even rang my doorbell. What a weird guy. Definitely a form of harrasment. Eventually he stopped, but silly me eventually went back for bible study with the same missionary, up until recently when I finally said to myself enough is enough. This is getting rediculous. The whole point of UBF is to make a person think and act like a robot. They want people to conform to their standards, and it you do not conform to their standards then they nicely rebuke you, as in my case. I believe that they really never kick people out, but only play psychological games with their sheep. I beieve the pupose of having weekly bible studies, sometimes four to five times a week as in my case, is so that some form of control can be imposed over the sheep. If the missionary believes that the sheep is rebellious, or not wanting to conform as in my case, then the weekly one-to-one bible studies will continue, and thats all. Other UBF programs will not be introduced to the sheep unless the Missionary believes that his/her brainwashing has taken effect. In my case the actual brainwashing of me never took place. I believe that if the Missionaries think that you are not 100% of the way they want you to be, then they are scared that if they bring you into other UBF meetings, bible studies etc, that somehow the rebellious sheep might tarnish, or bring down morale on the other sheep/members. At the same time if the Missionaries believe that you are not ready, they are also scared that they might lose a sheep by bringing them to quickly into the system. The sheep might get scared off. Basically the church is a system, and not really a Church in my opinion. It is all about THOUGHT CONTROL, MONEY, and NUMBERS (the more people the better) So if anyone is planning on joining UBF, my advice stay away and find a mainstream church. This church I believe does not really care for its members. But only uses them. Thank you,

Michelle (former Triton UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

Name: Michelle
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: I was a member of Triton UBF for 8 years, from 1992-2000, from the age of 16-24 years old. I believe that young people are idealistic and impressionable. I believe that UBF exploits this, and uses it to systematically prevent people from being individuals. I believe that it also inhibits young people from maturing as adults who are well balanced and able to make their own decisions. For 2 days i have been reading things on this website. I am sad to see that not many former members from Triton UBF have spoke up about the totalitatian environment that went on there. Personally, for me, the best medicine has been to not think about this at all. At the age of 24, i was ill prepared to live without the cult. I had been estranged from my family. The members of UBF were all of my friends. I was disgusted when a member told me that i had to move out of the apartment i shared with some "shepherdesses" because i had went to a night club and was exhibiting "unspiritual" behaviour. My name was on the lease! No one has the right to tell someone where to live, who to marry, where to work, where to go to school, what type of job to get, what ones life goal should be! young people should be left to freely make these descisions on their own. It is wrong to have others shun someone because they do not think as the leaders want them too. And equally as sad it is to not EXPOSE the evil deeds of the members! INCLUDING adultery! but NOT LET teenagers and young adults follow their heart and learn to associate with the opposite sex by dating!~ this, among other things, is why i left. Now, i am done with organised religion. It has tainted it for me. I have a lot of nightmares, I am studying the Wiccan religion. I believe that people are free to worship as they please, without fear of condemnation, whether it is the traditional American Christian God, or Gods who have been around for much longer. feel free to email me.

JP

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

JP
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: Hey, I like what you guys are doing on this site. It really helped me to see the truth about UBF. One of the main reasons I'm leaving UBF is that they have no communion. Also, the leadership of the UBF kind of seemed weird to me. Again, I agree to mostly what this site has to say about UBF. Thanks UBF but no thanks. I don't need a twisted interpretation of the bible. I don't need a "shepherd" to find out what the will of God is. All I need is the good shepherd Jesus Christ to show me the way.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Walt (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

Name: Walt
Comments: In the 30 months or so I was involved with a Chicago UBF chapter I was employed in nearly every imaginable capacity with them - as a Bible student, a testimony sharer, conference messenger, music leader, drama writer/actor, and once a group Bible-study leader. Finally, after about two years, I met Jesus... but not through UBF, it was my local church I'd been attending on Sundays. And once my relationship with God began to flourish outside UBF, He began to convict me that it was time to leave their brand of burdensome manipulation behind and seek Him happily and wholeheartedly through a ministry I could support. I had always kept UBF at arms' length but had refused to read the things I knew were out there on the Internet about them, lest it cloud my judgment. Now that I've had the courage to read them, I'm fascinated and deeply frightened by what had been going on under my nose for so long. Keep up the good work!

Freedom in Christ (former Los Angeles UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

Name: Freedom in Christ
Comments: At UBF the level of a believer's spititual maturity is measured according to how active and devoted that person is in the ministry. I believe this to be wrong. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with works. It's not about how many Bible students one has, or how many weekly testimonies one writes. It's about seeing things the way God sees them, period. And the Great Commission is not about getting people to join your church or my church, either. It's about saving souls. I was a member of UBF in the Los Angeles area for two and a half years. During that time I was treated with much kindness, warmth and respect. Many there knew my life's story. In the few months prior to joining, I was a lonely, alcoholic porn actor who came very close to suicide. Incredibly, when I chose to leave UBF in order to attend another church that is nearer to my home, no one so much as asked me or even cared as to why I had made that choice. Everyone, including the senior missionaries, simply said their goodbyes and quickly forgot about me. And why? Because I was not considered to be a "useful" shepherd. I was not as active as others were, therefore I was not seen as a precious soul that God wants to keep from going astray. Simply put, in their eyes I was nothing more than just a number, an expendable number that could easily be replaced. How sad that people who call themselves "shepherds" could have such a distorted view about God's love for others. I truly pray that God opens their eyes and hearts to the truth, because in spite of their ignorance they genuinely love the Lord and wish to serve Him.

James (former Toledo UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

Name: James
E-mail address: Driamspock@Yahoo.com
Comments: I was formerly in UBF and I hope I do not seem like I am judging UBF but, I was part of the UT chapter and I was only in it for about a year. The main reason why I left UBF is because I did not want to go to UT anymore. I decided I wanted to go to a private college and recieve my degree in nursing and my teacher told me that I have to hang around the PHD's and sheepards at the church and to stay at UT if I wanted to make it through life and to be a stronger man of Christ. I really hated it there. I could not tell them about my girl friend (which I am getting married to this August), I was looked down on for not going to church and going to work instead one sunday (I had to switch days because my cousin was killed in a car accident and the funeral was on that monday and I had to work so I switched with a friend and just to mention I was one of the bearers who carried the casket). Not only that, but like for example my Bible teacher was a hypocrit (not saying I am perfect but I was not a hypocrit about things). I would get "rebuked" for not reading my papers I wrote word for word (I would take notes down and go from there and sometimes I would get "rebuked" for not writing enough even though I felt I wrote my complete answere) and the one thing I really hated was that our minister, DR. Paul Hong made me feel so intimadated. You had to either call him Dr. or Shepard... and by the way, everyone there got angry when I did not want to be called a sheep and then my name. Sorry if my e mail sounds a little winney or anything but I thought that place was a cult. I could not date and I had to wait. I think God has blessed me with Holly and not to mention, I am a very happy ActiveCatholic (I am not saying cahtolics are the best relgion or anyhting becasue anyone who believes christ saved us is there in the ball park but I was just mentioning that I loved being a cahtolic). One other thing that I would like to point out is that I was a high school graduate of 2004 and when I started going to UBF I was only 18. I had to have a note from my mom permitting me to go to church [according to the Toledo UBF leader]. My point is, I believe if you want to learn about God, you don't have to have parental permission and besides that, I was legally and adult. If anyone wants to go to UBF thats fine, everyone has their right to worriship, don't get me wrong but, I don't feel you have to have parental permission to do.

chas (former Toledo UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2004.

Name: chas
E-mail address: chtaca2@lycos.com
Comments: I am a former member of UBF in Toledo Ohio. I believe that it should be fully understood by the Christian community at large that during my time there, almost 6 years, there was absolutely NO administering of the Lord's Supper or water baptism. (Water baptism was disallowed by M. Samuel Lee of Chicago because, according to him, there was too much controversy over the issue). These two sacraments are ALWAYS marks of a genuine church. Where they are absent and/or ignored a counterfeit for that church MUST exist. No present member can honestly deny this statement as fact. If these things have been instituted it would most likely have been due to outside pressure.

Sana (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2004.)

Name: Sana
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: I used to be part of the UBF ministry at Northeastern IL University.After 2 years I finally had the courage to call it quits.Thank God!I swear those people are a bunch of religious fanatics!All they do is brainwash people with their silly nonsense.I pray that people don't get involved with this crazy cult.UBF must be stopped!

Young-Ae H.

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2005.)

Name: YoungAe H.
Comments: I left the UBF after almost 6 years... I met Jesus in the church for the first time not in the UBF. This helped me to leave UBF: believe me it wasn't easy thing to leave because UBF backslashes [backstabs] those people who left which I found very strange. I don't know whether I would have courage to leave UBF if I had met the Jesus in UBF for the first time. Clearly, they are doing wrong in the sense that they don't allow people have their own choice of lives and being UBF member together. I think I did a right thing for myself to leave there...... Useful web page...

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Eric R. (former German UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2003.)

Name: eric r.
E-mail address: (withheld)
Comments: hello brothers and sisters in Christ! Hi folks... It´s now 6years that I left ubf-Stuttgart/Germany. Thank you for your work on this website. May it be fruitful in any way. I see that there are so many wounded ex-ubf people out there ( naturally there are), and lots of emotional argueing ( just like in my head still sometimes..). But I myself did not suffer all these bad methods and subtle, verbal manipulations. But I saw, how my fellows were treated...what`s on my mind about ubf? "do you want us to go and pull them up? No! Because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them..." Don´t judge, don´t count sins, just name them, stand to Jesus , stand to the truth. Show spine ( german talks) greetings! If you want to mail, do it!

Anonymous

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2004.)

Name: X HAPPY AGAIN MEMBER
Comments: Hi to all who are reading this. I was in UBF for 5 years. They found me in college and after I graduated, I continued the study. Some positive points on UBF - GREAT Bible study [except for the slight problem of brainwashing]. Helped me to repent of my old ways of life and live a new life in Christ Jesus. Great idea to evangelize college students. I like that idea. However, I got deeper and deeper into their brainwashing. That is when I finally realized that I needed to get out. I did not look at this web site, and I had no help from anyone. I decided by myself that it was not right. I was one of those people who had a marriage problem. Well, once I left, I found the most wonderful man I have ever met (truly a blessing from God) and married him. A God fearing man. And we are not sinning by getting married. What we have done is very beautiful. We go to church together and study the Bible together. And we share God's word with other people when the time presents itself. Whats sad is it is very hard for me to do things in life without that small voice in my head that tell me how to do it the UBF way. They aren't completely wrong, but wrong in enough areas to make me want to leave and finally be able to communicate with my friends and family again. And get married to the man I love. I am done with them and hope that for the current members, that what they are doing feels right to them. And I hope for those who are unhappy with UBF, that they can get out of it and be free of those terrible guilt feelings. May the GRACE of JESUS be with each one of you!!

Anonymous (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2002.)

Name: m.
Comments: I attend the UBF in Chicago. I was harassed by my Shepherds, told to "beg God's forgiveness" when I missed church, urged to disobey my parents' wishes and stay in Illinois for the Christmas service.. Finally, terrified, I looked online to see if UBF might be a cult. I found this site. Thanks.

Rebecca H.

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2004.)

Name: Rebecca h.
E-mail address: withheld
Comments: I knew former member Kathy Calabrese personally. My mother used to baby sit for her children all of the time. We used to wonder why she always looked so worn out, so sad, she hardly ever smiled. We knew that she loved God and was a Christian, but we also sensed that something was not right about the "church" she attended. I am just utterly amazed that anyone who know the Bible and Our Lord Jesus Christ could ever believe that this man Samuel Lee is a Christian. He is everything opposite. I only hope that the people at UBF who have a sincere desire to follow God will get out of there as soon as possible, this is indeed a CULT. No true man of GOD would ever tell a womand to kill her unborn child. No man of God would ever force or coerce a woman or couple to put thier child up for adoption. A true man of GOD would not tell people to beat each other up, or make them walk barefoot for miles in the winter to "train" them. Where can show me in the Bible that God, our God of Love who sent his only son to Die a horrible death on the cross so "we can have Life and that more abundantly" would do these things or have someone else order them done. Jesus was full of love and he was the expression of the Father, the people that he rebuked were the "religious" ones, those who thought that they could tell others the right way, but didn't do them themselves. Jesus did nothing but love and care for people, and those of us who truely belong to him, will try our best to be like Jesus. Tell me how this Mr. Samuel Lee is anything at all like Jesus. He is not! Let God and the holy spirit lead you into all truth! For he surely will, if you just listen to his voice instead of a man who is so full of himself and satan, that only a God of love would let him live as long as he has, in hopes that he may himself come to the truth. May God bless all of you who truely desire to know him, and if you are still a member of UBF, please get out and find a good church, where people lift each other up and help them grow in love, not fear. P.S.UBF has some of the same teachings as Mormons and Jehovahs Witnesses, and they are considered a cult!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Anonymous

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2002.)

Name: J
E-mail address: -
Comments: Hi. Thanks for your website. I think it's ridiculous that women are told that they're going to rot in hell for sleeping with their own husbands! In addition, Christians aren't supposed to threaten people who wish to leave a certain church. The organization seems to endorse loyalty to the UBF instead of loyalty to the Christian community in general. They don't like you hanging out with other fellowships, either! They give you guilt trips if you experience negative emotions or if you don't attend all their meetings. Often these guilt trips are indirect. I could go on and on, but I'll just talk a little bit about my own experience. People seemed to look and act like clones. Sometimes the testimonies seemed like the same testimony over and over. People would take big chunks of the message from Sunday and stick those in their testimonies. This could get a little tiresome when we had 8 or 12 people sharing! People seemed to lack their own thinking. People blindly took the pastor's interpretation of passages instead of asking about the other interpretations they had heard. Hardly anyone questioned. Anyway, pray for the people who are still stuck in the UBF. A lot of under-30s have been totally taken in by the whole system. I could tell you a sad story about an innocent 20-year-old, but I'm afraid I've already taken up a lot of your time. God bless the movement and I'll see how I can get involved.

Anonymous

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2002.)

Comments: I would like to make a statement to anyone who is willing to read this. As Christians we are all a part of the body of Christ, Are we not? And thus, we need to live as though we are. It was in ubf that I was told that there aren't many sincere christians outside of the members there. So in Essence, ubf is blind to the fact that there are millions of sincere christians out there that are sincere. I doubt that any of them help those who are in the underground church. They are the ones that are really persecuted by being beaten, brainwahsed, and only GOD knows what else. So I say to you who reads this that Christ is our foundation and THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD! We are under no man on this earth But only GOD!

Anonymous (former Hong Kong UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2001.)

E-mail address: rsqubf@siteadm.net
Comments: ... I'm from UBF Hong Kong Chapter and has been with them for 2 years already. I DO feel the UBF here got some problems (and sometimes, wrong teachings) and it has been a burden for live for over 6 months alreadym, so I tried Yahoo! to see if my point of view is right or not. Thanks God that I found RSQUBF (also other Chinese webpages pointing out the possible problem of UBF), I am looking for another church but it isn't an easy thing to do. Let's keep in touch, my email supplied really works.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Deniz K. (former Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2001. Also see http://exubf.blogspot.com/2009/02/amy-y-former-chicago-ubf.html.)

Name: Deniz K.

Comments: I believe it was God's will for me to be in UBF to know the truth. The truth that would set me free. The truth that how to follow the foot steps of Christ. That I am a precious child of God; not an illegimiate. That I am a workman who does not need to be ashamed, but who correctly handles the word of Truth. And I thank God that He made me a strong person, Christian. I learn a lot in UBF which I am thankful of, not through their grace but from God who trained me through their painful mental and spiritual tortures. That Christ is the Lord and I am FREE, not by the laws of little human beings, but by the omnipotent and omniscience God. (Romans 7: 16-17 and verse 20 "And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me...Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it"). No one should be a slave of anyone especially little peoplelike Samuel Lee and other totalitarians who have lower standards and are megalomaniacs. I have not even forget all the mistreatments of my many fellowship members. My shepherds insulting words and behaviors....that... that were unbelievable. I was basically mentally crucified. I am just so thankful to my God to show me the right way, which is to depend only to my Savior and the Lord, Jesus Christ. And to obey The Lord only, not man. I left UBF because God told me so and it was one of the best decision of my life. They were not a good example of Christianity to me, the ex-muslim. One day, I would like to share my testimony about UBF, about the Christ's way. Not the purpose of insulting UBF (which I believe they deserve to be insulted after all); but to show the truth to those seeks the truth. It is all about the way of Christ and the way of UBF. We, Christians, are not illegimate, but we are someone in this world for purposes, we are who we are, and we are the children and the servants of God. I guess Samuel Lee and other totalitarians do not know the consequences of their actions. They do not know how they will be judged by the Lord for all the ill treatments they have done (which they probably still do) to young Christian; most of all to GOD'S PRECIOUS CHILDREN. They do not know what Matthew 18:6 (But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea). May be they do not realize... but they are blaspheming the Holy Spirit. May God forgive Samuel Lee and his mindlike people. May His Grace fall unto them. May God help us to forgive them and heal our soul and mind. And May His Spirit dwell in us. Please pray for these pitiful blind people who do not know what they are doing. If anyone have a question can contact me from the above e-mail addresses. And forgive me if there is any wrong in my writing. Peace with you, Deniz K.

Leon N. (former Montreal & Boston UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2001)

Leon N.

Comments: I was a 5 month member in Montreal UBF (Canada) & then I moved to Boston, MA (U.S.) for a job. I joined the UBF in Boston, which was comprised of a newlywed couple from Korea with a baby girl. It was good at the beginning to be part of the manger ministry, but the Missn.'s wife started to gain control of my reins & steer me towards their "Korean" UBF ways. They wanted me to get married with a UBF girl from Korea, and persistently persuaded me to stay in school to attain many degrees in hope of being a leader in college campuses. I prayed about it, and knew after a while that it was not God's will to be with them OR be affiliated with the corruption of UBF. I left....

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Joonho P. (former Korean UBF)

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2001)

Hopeful Joonho P.
E-mail address: (withheld)

Comments: Thanks to all. i'm very excited with this site. when i departed ubf last year i didn't know the separation of ubf. though the reasons that we had to be ex-ubf are different, substantial motive may be alike. my paster in ******1 i obeyed doesn't know the spiritual things. although it's not that he intentionally want to be opposite to God, but he is so because he doesn't know God. under his discipline all went to the states: competition, zealousy (sic), laws, accusation, lier,...etc. with love,compassion,mercy only in lips. i hope rsqubf go for healing, serving, gentleness, humbleness,...etc. now on the bulletin board of my homepage (http://statchem.snu.ac.kr/~hopefulp -> fellowship -> bulletin board) a man of ubf is bothering me with accusing of my departing ubf. but regarding his message i thought ubf is going to the cult. he located himself in the level of God. but as i found this site i've got comfort from you. God moved me to Berkland and there was another man from ubf, jongwoo Lee (missionary on tashkent, Uzbec from shinsoo in ubf). i was born in ubf and so want to remain friend with you. God bless you and keep your way to eternal life.

Carmen

(Originally posted in the RSQUBF guestbook in 2001)

Carmen
E-mail address: CRF_COSSIOCM@CUIS.EDU
Comments: Great website, it is about time the truth was told. I was part of another chapter of UBF and boy do they have alot to change. I feel sorry for all the people that are still there suffering under the oppression of legalism and bible teachings that are from the gospel of Miss. Sam Lee. I would like to share my experiences one day.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Phillip H. (former U. of Chicago UBF)

(Originally posted at http://voy.com/60734/. See also http://rsqubf.info/documents/external/external.html#television)

Date Posted: 17:29:34 02/22/05 Tue
Author: Phillip H.
Subject: Re: TV Alert for Those in the Columbus, OH area
In reply to: Paul Thomas Evans 's message, "TV Alert for Those in the Columbus, OH area" on 20:52:26 02/20/05 Sun

Joe brought something to my attentions, so:

I would like to publicly say that while I was at Wellspring I was in no way forced to participate in that interview. They merely informed me that Channel 10 was doing a special report because of alleged abuse by UBF at Ohio State and that they would like to interview former members. In fact, the Wellspring staff was very careful to make sure that I could end the interview at any time and that they were nearby and accessible if I had any problems.

I decided that, because of the abuse in UBF, it was my obligation to stand up and say something so that more people won't go into that organization where the great and holy name of Jesus is used to enslave idealistic and intelligent youths to another humans will. We are to serve God, not men claiming to know God's will for each of their sheep.

When my "shepherd" told me that I had to leave my Christian fiancee because of some sin in our past that we were doing our best to deal with, I finally realized something was wrong. Thank God my bond with her was stronger than my enslavement to my "shepherd" and I was kept from making a terrible mistake.

I have heard that some people, after leaving Christian cults, become agnostic or atheist because they feel betrayed and cannot hope to know anything about God after being abused in His name. I have traveled down that same path a little way, but I know now that I have not believed in vain. I pray that all of those who were hurt by UBF and similar organizations (myself included) might know that just because men often cannot be trusted, Christianity is true, Jesus really is God, not some cult leader or deceiver, that He loves us enough to suffer and die for us, and that we can distort that all we want, but by believing in Him, we have eternal life, full stop.

I do not hate them, I have even forgiven them. They say they seek to do good, but by abusing in the name of God they only turn many away from Him or at least make them ineffectual. It is because of this that they must be apposed, not out of personal anger or revenge, but for the sake of those they hurt and the spiritual wellbeing of many.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Phillip H.




Date Posted: 12:10:21 02/25/05 Fri
Author: Phillip H.
Subject: Re: "...because she didn't share the same mission"
In reply to: Another Busy Day 's message, ""...because she didn't share the same mission"" on 15:18:38 02/23/05 Wed

I would like to point out that I never shared the same mission as UBF either. When I made my decision that I wanted to go into ministry, it was to become a pastor, not campus mission. I was, at the time, surprised when eventually my shepherd told me that there were lots of pastors and that I should consider campus mission instead of seminary and the more traditional ministry. He went on to say that he had considered being a normal pastor at one time but had decided that campus mission was more important for him to do. I do not want to debate the merits of any particular calling over another, all callings, in my opinion and, I believe, the Bible's, have equal merit. I was just shocked that he was trying to disude me from a traditional pastoral ministry. To his credit, he did seemingly give this up when I emphatically stated that I did not feel called to campus mission, but then again, maybe he never really did give up his attempts to keep me in UBF. Had he succeeded in coercing me to terminate my relationship with my fiancee, I may have stayed in UBF and been "married by faith", etc. I'm sure my hypothetical UBF bride would not have wanted to have a different ministry than UBF.

The thing that really gets to me, though, is their statement--that they think that if someone does not have the same mission as UBF, they are not a fitting partner for a UBF member, no matter what that member's futer plans may be. None of us know what our future mission is anyway. Moses wasn't called by God until after he spent 40 years in the desert (only to spend another 40 years leading people through the desert). What does UBF know about anyone's personal mission from God? They can't. I very clearly remember my shepherd talking about when he'd pray and then he'd get this idea that so-and-so should be a short term missionary to Mongolia, or China, or some other place. They would inevitably go there, though they may not have considered it until that moment and it may not, in fact, have been God's real calling for them. However, there was incredible pressure to trust one's "spiritual mentor" and essentially do what they say. It seems to me now that the Holy Spirit didn't talk to anyone personally about God's plan for that person, only about God's plan for their subordinates (except maybe for the very top people).

Actually, though, my fiancee has a great calling for a missionary, she is studying to be a nurse. Nurses are always needed, no matter where one goes, and they can be great agents of mercy and natural witnesses for the loving-care of Jesus and of the gospel. No, it was graceless-legalism and control that prompted my shepherd to demand that we break-up. UBF seems to forget that God forgives and sanctifies Christians over time, often letting them taste the pain that is cause by their sin first. The fact that we were, are, and will be sinners until the Day of Christ Jesus does not disqualify us from an otherwise permissible relationship with anyone for any reason.

May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Mitch (former Arlington, TX UBF)

(Originally posted at http://voy.com/60734/)

Date Posted: 01:16:51 08/08/04 Sun
Author: Mitch
Subject: Re: Things different about this year's MSU conference
In reply to: Amy Young 's message, "Re: Things different about this year's MSU conference" on 14:21:53 08/07/04 Sat

Hello Amy, Thank you for asking. I also thank God for showing me the truth about UBF. At this time I have not officially left UBF so I don't want to share too much. If you can wait several weeks I will share more.

I have been in UBF for four years. I was a Christian before that for six years. I was searching for a church without much success. I was also taking summer classes. When on campus I was approached by two missionaries, I agreed to study the Bible one on one, thinking that this might be God's answer to me for a church. After attending worship service, everything seemed to be fine. The first couple of years I was there, I really didn't notice differences. But soon I noticed a few people (students) leave the fellowship and nothing was ever said. I asked about these people and I was told they "dropped out". I thought it was odd. Then one day I heard the director's wife say "he ran away from UBF" refering to a fromer member. The missionaries there began to talk about former members of UBF as people who were not saved because they left UBF. This bothered me. But I said nothing.

By this time I was teaching other students the Bible and fishing regularly. I also wrote testimonies, but then some of the things the director said in his sunday messages began to make me a little suspicious. At one time he said that anyone who does not write a weekly testimony will have to stay after worship service and write it. At another time he said "I have the authority to make you do these things." I thought about this and reasoned that since he came from another culture that his take on authority was different than mine. So I dissmissed it. As it turned out he never followed through with these threats, so I thought that he was saying them only to encourage us to write testimonies. About this time I went to a conference in May 2003, there I heard a shepherd (from another chapter) say the same thing that my director said: that we could not go home until we memorized a very large portion of sripture.

But here is the main reason that made me think I should leave. A year ago the director asked me if I would consider selling my house and move closer to the university, so that I could participate in the ministry more often. He said that I could use the money I get from selling my house to buy a new one closer to the campus, and begin using it for a Bible house and possibly having worship service there. He said if I did it God would bless me abundantly for my sacrifice. He said that this was God's plan for my life, to sell my house and dedicate my entire life to the ministry(UBF). He talked as if it was definatley God's plan for me.

I was cuaght off gaurd, and did not know what to say. He asked me to think about it, and I said I would. Then, the VERY next day, he announced to the entire congregation that I agreed to sell my house and move closer to the univerity with the idea that my house would be used by UBF for worship service, one on one Bible study and missionary roommates. I was very confused at this point. I prayed about this, asking God if this man had the authority to do this. I prayed about leaving UBF. But I felt so tied into this church by now, that I did not have the will power to leave.

In the following year, this director did not bug me too much about moving, he did mention one time to check with realtors and see about houses near the campus. The missionary at this chapter actaully called me up and said that I must look at houses close to the university and then report back to the director. I just ignored them from then on about the house thing. I was not burdened about losing my house, I was burdened with him asking me to sell it. I thought what godly man would do this? Does he have Biblical authority to require me to follow these orders?

Here are some other things this director has said: He mentioned again in the pulpit how he has the spiritual authority over those sitting down. At a prayer meeting he said that anyone who misses a prayer meeting will be fined ten dallors. He told me I was not quilified to be married, then he told me of a woman in Korea that has been praying to marry me, and if I got my act together I could marry her (yes they tried to arrange my marriage). He said anyone that does not write testimonies is living in sin and has a spiritual problem. He is so soft-spoken, that you would almost believe anything he says. He says that vacations are a sign of worldly living and we should repent if we take one. He told me two weekends ago that I should move close to the university at any cost, and that if I don't do it God would not bless me, because I have to many "possessions" to many "material items". He told me to throw away everything I have and only keep a Bible, and that I am "still in my father's house" in reference to Abraham leaving his father's house and going to the land of Cannan. In other words, I am still in sin because I have not sold my house and set out for the promised land (a house closer to the university). I heard him sharply rebuke a missionary for not having enough sheep, and for not writing good enough testimonies. In prayer sometimes they will pray that I will "repent" for my sins. And I could tell you more........

Most of these things happened the within the last year. The first couple of years my eyes were not opened to what they were doing. I believe that is part of their method, to hide their true intentions until the "sheep" gets further into the church, then slowly implant their teachings.

I attended the MSU conference. I only participated in the meals and the Bible study. I took walks and read the Bible when every other member went to the lectures. I attended part of the saturday nite meeting and part of the sunday closing. When I got home, I did some searhes trying to find articles about UBF. I have tried before but only found one, and it was not very detailed. This time I did a search on google for UBF, and I found an article that said that UBF was revoked by the NAE. I was stunned! In this article was the RSQUBF website and the EscapedUBF website. I read articles about false UBF teachings, Samual Lee, testimonies from former UBF members. I had always thought about UBF being a cult, but now I had evidence, and it was a reality. I was embarassed, I felt humiliated. I was hurt, thinking that I wasted four years of my life with this cult. I was angry with UBF, but more angry with myself. I wonder why God allowed me to stay there?

Then I decided that I would definatley leave. When I prayed about this, I felt peace and a burden lefted from me. I feel good that I will not be invloved with UBF anymore. I am going back tomorrow to return a few items. They don't know I am leaving yet, but they will sometime this week. I have not decided how I am going to tell them, but I have decided I want no part of them.

When I think it is safe to tell you more I will. And thank you so much for your interest. I will continue to read this thread. Bye for now........


>Hi Mitch. I thank God for leading you to the truth about UBF. Would you be willing to share more of your
>UBF experiences with us? Like: which chapter were you
>from? what did you notice different about UBF compared
>to normal Christian churches? etc. Thank you for
>visiting this website! P.S. how did you find this
>website?