Religious group raises concerns

Group members of outside group approach Toreros on campus and some question the group’s motives

Celina Tebor | Feature Editor | The USD Vista

 

It is not strange to see non-students and faculty wander around campus on any given day — many people walk their dogs, attend mass at the Immaculata, or simply tour the campus. But when a religious group comes on campus and tweets start circulating that they are sex trafficking, the University of San Diego community might question the safety of their home.

Almost every evening, after the sun has set, members from the World Mission Society Church of God come to the USD campus. Usually in pairs, they approach students and discuss their message. More often than not, the religious groups will ask students if they are religious, and discuss Bible verses with them. Common topics or ideas that they discuss are Passover or the idea of ‘God the Mother,’ in which they claim that there is a “Mother God” along with Father God.

In the past month, there has been a barrage of social media posts with thousands of shares alleging the church of being sex traffickers. One of them reads:

 

“PSA: LADIES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: IF ANYONE COMES UP TO YOU & TRIES TO TELL YOU ABOUT ‘GOD THE MOTHER’ WALK AWAY AND GET HELP! IT’S A FORM OF SEX TRAFFICKING!!!! GOOGLE IT AND BECOME AWARE!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!!”

The user, @silviaxvi, who shared the post, added that the group is at Parkway Plaza, Fashion Valley, San Diego State University, Grossmont College, University of California, San Diego, Southwestern College, Balboa Park, and on doorsteps. This religious group has been seen nationwide, however. In fact, the University of Memphis has placed several members of the World Mission Society Church of God on criminal trespass status on its campus.

Senior Kennedy Avery was approached by two members of this church on Feb. 14 on campus. She was studying alone by the fire pits outside of the Torero Store. Avery described her experience with the pair that approached her.

“There was the one thing that took me off-guard, they didn’t say anything (when they approached me),” Avery said. “They just started talking to me and said, ‘Here, let me tell you about this.’ And they weren’t like, “Hi, can I talk to you?’”

Avery noted that the couple seemed confrontational when they started talking to her, but were not pushy when she declined more information about the church.

According to Public Safety, USD has received multiple reports of the group on campus. The last report received was on Feb. 12. In one of the reported incidents, a tweet similar to the aforementioned social media post was provided to Public Safety. Public Safety forwarded the reports to the San Diego Police Department and is looking into the reports.

Prior to any group receiving permission to be on campus, USD has a vetting process and policy. Captain Quinton Kawahara of Public Safety explained the process of obtaining permission to be on campus.

“All external groups are required to fill out an ‘external clients’ request form prior to receiving permission to be on campus,” Kawahara said. “The process starts by filling out the ‘external clients’ request form and is initially routed through the University Scheduling office. Once the form has been received, the University Scheduling office disseminates the request form to various divisions on campus as needed for review.”

According to Public Safety, the religious group has not filled out an external clients request form.

Kawahara noted Public Safety has taken action against individuals in the past that were similar to cases at the University of Memphis, and have determined them to be a continuous trespass issue. In order to maximize student safety, Public Safety has taken measures to increase security.

“Public Safety has increased vehicle and foot patrol in the areas that this group was last reported to have been,” Kawahara said. “Immediate reporting of similar or suspicious incidents or persons are essential in being able to intervene and take the appropriate action.”

Although they have increased vehicle and foot patrol, Public Safety has not been able to contact the members of the church who are coming onto USD’s campus.

“Immediate notification to Public Safety is essential in these incidents,” Kawahara said. “Public Safety has not been able to contact this group as they are long-gone once we have received the initial report.”

Kawahara also noted that the last-reported incidents were hours and sometimes days after the initial-reported incident, which makes it more difficult for Public Safety to track the group.

Although social media posts allege that the church is sex trafficking, many other sources have claimed the posts to be false. Cops in Lexington, Kentucky have declared:

“We have investigated this complaint and have found nothing to substantiate that this group is or has been involved in any criminal activity.”

Ami Carpenter is an associate professor at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at USD. She is currently researching gang involvement in sex trafficking in San Diego County and applied research on the San Diego County Advisory Council on Human and Child Sex Trafficking. After viewing the social media posts and sending them to practitioners and rescue organizations she has worked with, she claimed that the social media posts are most likely a hoax.

In addition to Carpenter, Avery also believes that the church is not involved in sex trafficking, based on her own personal encounter with them.

“I haven’t looked into what people are saying about, or about how my experience compares to what those are like,” Avery said. “But I would say I don’t know how it would be plausible. Just because they seem genuinely knowledgeable about what they were talking about and that they genuinely believed in it and cared about it, and there was no extra push to say, ‘No, I don’t want information.’”

Additionally, the World Mission Society Church of God released a statement in response to the social media posts alleging them of sex trafficking. Once excerpt reads:

“Recently, we were made aware of a social media post in which someone appears to accuse the Church and its members of being linked to a ring of sex/human trafficking. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are a church of Christian love and denounce any such activities wherever they may be carried out.”

Even though some have declared the social media posts as hoaxes, the church may still be endangering students. They often encourage students to come off campus to visit their church or to come to a Bible study, and Public Safety encourages students to be careful about accepting invitations to off-campus events.

“Students should not impulsively attend,” Kawahara said. “If students are interested in a similar group, the University Ministry office would be a good start for similar resources and options.”

In addition, there are several testimonies from several ex-followers of the World Mission Society Church of God claiming that the church is cult-like. A People.com article told the story of Michele Colon, an ex-member who expressed that the church is a doomsday cult and that members would even encourage women to get abortions and force members to give the church 10 to 15 percent of salaries. However, the church denied these claims.

Rick Alan Ross, an author and the director of the Trenton, New Jersey-based Cult Education Institute, specializes in studying cult organizations. In an article with the Pocono Record, he claimed that the church is a cult that brainwashes members, breaks apart families, and takes large sums of money from its members.

The World Mission Society Church of God denied any claims of them being associated with sex trafficking or being a cult, so there is currently no way to determine the possible criminality of their actions. Public Safety advises USD students who are approached by this group on campus to walk away and contact Public Safety immediately if they feel uncomfortable.