How I was Duped: My Experience as a Christian Cult Member, Part 1

You may wonder how in the world people end up in cults in the first place. After all, it isn't like any normal person wakes up some morning and declares, "I think I'll join a cult today!" That would be ludicrous!

People who join cults are not necessarily religious, but are often deeply spiritual. They are people with high ideals, and people who desire to have meaningful lives. They are people who are not afraid to sacrifice personal comfort if it means somehow bettering themselves or the world around them. And of course they never really know what it is that they are getting into, until it is much too late.

That was certainly the case for me. I had always had a desire to help people and have a life filled with meaning. I had done some missionary work, and yet had returned to the United States and entered the secular work force, in the legal field. Although I overall enjoyed my work in the law office, it wasn't deeply meaningful, and it left me longing with the desire for more.

One day a good friend of mine told me about a group of missionaries that I just had to go hear speak. She was enthusiastic and persistent. Initially I blew her off. I didn't really want to go, but she was persistent and eventually talked me into it.

As the leader of this cult spoke, I was mesmerized. He spoke with such passion and conviction. It was obvious that his life was filled with meaning and purpose. He was making a difference in the world! And guess what? So could I!

I met a lot of the cult members afterwards, and they all seemed to be filled with that same sense of purpose. They seemed to be so united, and all worked together toward a common goal. They were like family.

While I was speaking to one of the group members, the cult leader approached me and chatted it up with me. He asked me about myself, and as we talked, he got really excited. He couldn't believe his good fortune, and how God had obviously brought me to that place; I was exactly what they needed!

He told me about this incredible training program they had, and explained that I would spend six months in the mission headquarters, and then three months in Mexico for further training, and then I would go on to the field of my choice to do additional missions work, mostly among the poor.

Everything he described to me fit perfectly with my gifts and passions. It was very exciting to think that I could really be used to make a difference in the world and to bring hope and healing to the poor.

I wasn't ready to sign on the dotted line, but I continued to go to the meetings. Each time I went, I became more and more convinced that the path to a meaningful life was through this group.

To further confirm the direction I was heading, my best friends were also joining, and we would all go together. This made my decision to join so much easier; surely these friends who were older and wiser knew what they were doing, and it would be a lot of fun to go on an adventure with them.

Joining this group meant quitting my job, selling all of my possessions, and moving across the country to a city I had never been to before. That was a bit daunting, but surely it would be worth it if I could really help poor people all over the world.

Sadly, things were not as I thought they would be. I had been sold a bill of goods. I had been made promises that couldn't be kept. There was no training program for six months at the headquarters. There was no plan to send me to Mexico for three months to work among the poor. And there was little hope that I would move to a country overseas to use my gifts to help people.

The reality was much different than what had been promised to me, but sadly, I didn't really come to grips with that till I had quit my job, sold my possessions, moved, and become isolated from the rest of the world, with very few options for a way out.

The bottom line is that people who join cults have been lied to and think that what they are joining is much different than the nightmare it ends up being.

The rest of this series will detail what my life was like as I came to grips with the fact that I was part of a cult, with no or very little opportunity to escape.