Secrets of the Royal Palace during Passover

The cult 'Church of God the Mother' has resumed its activities in Hanoi .

Before attending Passover, my caregiver sent me an important notice. According to it, I absolutely must not drink alcohol on that day, I need to prepare my Passover offering beforehand (a white envelope with money already inside, no fixed amount, depending on my financial situation), and bring a towel and new socks to change into after washing my feet…

Not only did I receive a notification, but I also received text messages and phone calls from people in this church reminding me. They told me to shower before going to Passover, wear clean clothes, preferably business attire, a suit would be even better, or wear a skirt that was below the knee.

According to another revelation, one should wear clothing of the same color, and the brighter the color, when going to Zion to receive more blessings from the Parents.

At around 4 PM on May 4th, I arrived at Sion, an apartment building in Yen So (Hoang Mai, Hanoi), to listen to Sister Thai – one of the three Bible teachers who spoke to me – about prayer, worship, offering sacrifices, and the culture of Sion.

Looking up at the ceiling of my apartment once again, I saw the image of a blue sky dotted with white clouds. A large television set was placed directly in front of the seats, displaying images and sermons about God or hymns of praise…

Before starting the lesson, Ms. Thai gently asked me if I had informed my family that I was going out for something. When I confirmed that I had, she smiled.

About an hour later, two well-dressed young men appeared. Then two more women followed – one older, one younger. “Hello. Blessings,” along with a handshake, were the familiar phrases and actions when these “saints” met. Men shook hands with men, women shook hands with women; men and women did not shake hands but stood about a meter apart, slightly bowed, and greeted each other with “Blessings.”

During Passover, I was told that I, along with another woman who had never attended the festival, would have our feet washed, eat bread, and drink wine. I imagined she would be young, perhaps a few years older or younger than me, but when she appeared, I realized she was roughly the same age as my mother.

According to Ms. Thai, we came to Zion to meet our brothers and sisters and to offer worship, but the deeper, more profound meaning, as taught, is to come to Zion to meet God.

“When brothers and sisters meet in the spiritual realm, they should address each other as brothers and sisters, without asking about age. But we only use these terms in the space of Zion and in places of worship.”

Brothers shake hands with brothers, sisters shake hands with sisters. We are children of God, and we ourselves are a source of blessing, so when brothers and sisters meet, they will bless each other greatly.

In Zion, as our parents taught us, we should rejoice forever, so our brothers and sisters who come here always wear bright smiles. We come here to receive eternal life, the most precious gift our parents have given us,” Sister Thai taught me about the cultural norms of addressing each other in Zion.

There were 10 people in Zion that day, including Thai's husband and two young children. Carrying the white scarf that Thom – my "caregiver" – had given me at the baptism, for two hours, I and the other women spent a lot of time covering our heads with the scarf (men were not required to do this), and we all wore stockings when the ceremony began.

The music started playing, everyone closed their eyes and prayed; Ms. Thai's two children did this very skillfully. According to the organization's philosophy, prayer is a dialogue between God and His children, and it has the power to ward off evil spirits and drive away Satan.

For them, the most important thing to do is to pray: praying when they want God's help during illness, praying before driving, praying before going to bed and upon waking up, praying before eating and drinking... They must pray with faith, without doubt, and not ask for false things.

Before the main part of the Passover celebration, I participated in the worship service and the Washing of the Feet. During the worship service, people sang hymns praising God, prayed, and listened to sermons.

On the television screen, an image of a man appeared, introduced as the General President of the World Church of God. This pastor shared, on behalf of God, about the foot-washing ritual.

According to the General Assembly President, after the worship service ends, any "Saints" who have not yet participated in the Passover should participate in the foot-washing ceremony; they must participate in the foot-washing ceremony before they can participate in the Lord's Supper, the Passover.

Regarding the foot-washing ritual, male "Saints" have their feet washed first by a male official or elder, and then female "Saints" have their feet washed by a female official or elder.

If the "Saints" are with their families, the foot-washing ritual is acceptable regardless of gender. If they are alone, they can perform the foot-washing ritual by themselves.

"Saints" who have completed the ritual of washing feet prepare for the worship service and the Passover feast. Bread and wine must be prepared for the worship service and the Passover feast. Neither must be left out; both must be consumed completely, so the advice is to prepare a small amount, just enough for an individual to finish.

As a woman, Sister Thai washed my feet. While washing, she prayed for blessings. After the ritual, I used a new towel that had been prepared beforehand to dry my feet and changed into a different pair of socks.

Not only did I have my feet washed, but during this Passover, I was also guided on how to offer my gifts. Mrs. Thai and her husband gave me a white envelope that was always available in Zion. In the upper left corner of the white envelope, I marked it with the words "Samsung 2," as instructed by Mrs. Thai, as a way to identify the gifts offered during the second Passover.

After placing the 10,000 dong note inside the envelope, I turned to watch the people around me doing the same, then neatly placed my offerings in front of me.

"When offering worship to God, there is a law given by our parents, which is to offer solemn sacrifices."

Parents say that when we attend the annual solemn feasts, as well as the weekly solemn feasts and the Sabbath, we should not go without presenting an offering to Jehovah. Each person should give according to their means and the blessings that Jehovah God has given them. Regarding this offering, brothers and sisters should keep it secret, not reveal it, and not let others know about the offering, as long as we do not go empty-handed.

The offerings to God should be placed in pristine white envelopes, prepared before going to worship. These offerings should not have names written on them. On Passover Day, you will write "sam sung 2" on the outside. As children of God, we also have a code; these offerings will be sent to the church.

"Depending on the announcement above, whatever you write on the outside of this solemn ceremony, we will write that, and our parents will know which ceremony we are offering. Each ceremony has its own code," Ms. Thai said.

After the offerings were presented, Ms. Thai took the white plate, received offerings from everyone, and then placed the plate back under the television, while prayers for blessings resounded on the TV screen.

Also through the television screen, during the second Passover, I had the opportunity to meet God the Mother. None of her "children" in Zion cried, but they told me stories of standing before our God the Mother like children.

The siblings in Sion all share the same feeling: although they couldn't go to South Korea to see their mother, just seeing her image brought tears to their eyes, as if they had betrayed their mother's love in the past, and now seeing her again filled them with remorse and pain.

Before the end of the Second Passover, the General Assembly gives thanks for the bread and wine, and the "Saints" participating in the foot-washing ceremony hold the prepared bread and wine in their hands to pray together.

The "Saints," while eating bread and drinking wine, were instructed not to leave even a single drop of wine at the bottom of the cup. As soon as the bread and wine were finished, everyone sang the eighth hymn of praise to conclude the ceremony.

“Please carefully preserve the offerings you have presented and give them to the District Chief or Territorial Chief to deliver to the Church,” the instruction echoed before everyone offered their prayers of desire and reflection, concluding the second Passover service. It was 8 PM.

From this point on, I became more accustomed to being called "sister" by everyone in the church, or receiving daily messages with phrases like "Blessings," "Thank you, parents," etc. However, these "sensitive" words were always abbreviated whenever members of the organization sent messages to each other.

Upon returning home, I received a message from Thơm. The questions and concern were the same as when I first started studying the Bible, but this time she mentioned more about God (parents) and blessings.

And almost everything that happened around me, whether happy or sad, difficult or easy… was associated with the words "Parents" by the organization, like "Parents gave me the weather in summer so it's hot," or "Parents saw their daughter was sick so they sent some things…"

When I asked about the abbreviations and the words I couldn't translate, Thơm said that the brothers and sisters often use abbreviations, and that Sion culture is something new to them.

She also reminded me: "Tomorrow is Friday, which in the Bible is called the day of preparation for the Sabbath on Saturday, the day when all of you arrange your physical affairs and prepare your souls as well."

I also made arrangements with my sister to attend the worship service on Saturday with the other brothers and sisters in Zion.

As agreed, I arrived at the address that had been given. At the same time as me was another young woman, a "saint," with a youthful face. In a room of about 15 square meters on the third floor of a boarding house on XL Street (Hanoi), a woman named Huong was preparing hymns of praise for everyone to sing during the worship service.

While waiting for another person to arrive in Zion for the ceremony, the girl I had just met downstairs busily prepared offerings and wrote symbols on the outside of white envelopes. Saturday had three worship services: morning at 9 a.m., afternoon at 3 p.m., and evening at 8 p.m., each with a different offering and a different code.

9:00 AM. The worship service begins. Four people, all wearing white headscarves, alternate between praying and singing hymns of praise.

That day, Hanoi was scorching hot, with the outdoor temperature reaching 53 degrees Celsius at times. In my cramped rented room, the white scarf constantly draped over my head caused me to sweat profusely.

Turning to the side, I saw that despite the heat and signs of low blood pressure, everyone was closing their eyes in prayer and solemnly singing hymns of praise to God, without a single complaint.

After an hour, the worship service ended.

According to a church official, after the worship service is over around 10 a.m., there will be a general group meeting in Zion until 12 p.m. At this time, hundreds of people will gather via Zoom and watch a movie.

After the “group meeting” was over, everyone stayed in Zion for lunch and rest, preparing for the afternoon worship service.

***

After becoming a female "Saint," the undercover reporter had more contact with other members of this church. From the next installment, she will tell stories of the bitter lives of those who fell into the "den of evil."

Next installment: The desperate years of a 90s-generation female "saint" in the "den of evil" - the Church of God the Mother.

When she suddenly realized that place was a living hell, an extreme multi-level marketing scheme, and a lie that was drowning her future and happiness, the young woman in her 20s struggled to find a way to escape.

Source: https://vtc.vn/ta-dao-hoi-thanh-duc-chua-troi-me-tham-cung-bi-su-trong-le-vuot-qua-ar796957.html