10 Warning Signs to Watch for When Joining a New Church

As time glides and new churches erupt, it behoves individuals to keenly watch and examine religions before they join them. Research conducted by the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) in Kenya has revealed that religion is increasingly being exploited as a tool for radicalizing thousands of followers.

A statement by the Ministry of Interior Kenya on Tuesday, November 19, on their socials read in part, “Research by the National Crime Research Centre under the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration, has revealed that religion is increasingly being exploited as a tool for radicalizing thousands of followers.”

Further, the statement read, “Here are ten signs to identify a cult masquerading as a religious group, with the public urged to remain vigilant.”

NCRC List of the 10 Warning Signs

1. Rejection of Conventional Medicine

Discourage and outright reject medical treatment.

2. Skepticism Toward Formal Education

Promote distrust of formal schooling

3. High-level Secrecy of Worship Practices

Operate under a veil of mystery and restricted access.

4. Spread Radical Teachings

Advocate extreme and divisive ideologies

5. Overly Preach the End Times

Overemphasize an apocalypse is coming soon

6. Exploit Vulnerable Members

Target vulnerable groups, especially women

7. Leaders lack Theological training

Led by individuals with no history of formal theological training

8. Control members through Fear

Use threats of dire consequences if a member exits.

9. Financial Exploitation

Members are pressured into excessive offerings and coerced to sell their assets.

10. Isolation from Family

Encourage cutting ties with family and relatives.

Also Read: Suspect in Shakahola Massacre Case Dies

Religion Turns Deadly

Recently, religion has come under scrutiny due to tragic events. Last year, in Shakahola Forest, in Malindi several Kenyans lost their lives after following David McKenzie, who posed as a preacher and encouraged starvation as a path to salvation.

Moreover, the Shakahola incident came into the limelight in mid of March 2023 vindicating the place as a crime scene.

Notably, according to the publications by various media outlets, detectives highlighted that the cult community was divided into eight settlements called by Biblical names such as Galilee and Bethlehem.

KNCHR Findings on Shakahola Tragedy

After more than eleven (11) months of monitoring and investigation, the Commission established as follows:

1. The Good News International Ministries was founded in 2003 by Pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie. It was officially registered by the Registrar of Societies as a Ministry in 2010 with Mackenzie as the Chairperson, along with five other officials.
2. In 2012, the Ministry registered Good News Media (K) Limited (Times TV), a broadcasting company located in Malindi.
3. In 2019 the Ministry relocated to Shakahola Ranch where people were lured by the promise of cheap and affordable arable land.
4. Upon relocating the Ministry from Malindi to Shakahola, intense indoctrination and radicalization by declaring a fasting regime that would culminate in the ascension to heaven of the followers was effected. The children were to be the first to die, followed by women, then the men, and finally, Pastor Mackenzie who was to ascend to heaven from the centre of Malindi in August 2023.
5. Armed militia (both male and female) who supervised and enforced the fasting and eventual death of the followers were recruited. The militia was responsible for digging shallow graves where those who succumbed to starvation were buried. The Commission received reports that those who defied the directive of fasting or attempted to escape were either strangled or clobbered to death by the militia.

Also Read: In the Name of Faith: The Dark Side of Kenya’s ‘Shakahola’ Shallow Graves and the Government’s Blind Eye

More Findings

6. People’s vulnerabilities were exploited, and they were convinced to dispose of their earthly possessions and give the proceeds to the Ministry. After being dispossessed of their livelihoods and life savings, the followers were persuaded to destroy their vital documents such as Birth Certificates, National Identity Cards, Passports, Title Deeds, Academic documents, and Marriage certificates. The followers were intentionally isolated from their relatives and the rest of society by confining them in the desolate Shakahola wilderness which had no telephone connectivity, transport infrastructure, or social services such as schools and hospitals.

Furthermore, the report revealed that between 17th March 2017 and the unfolding of this tragedy in March 2023, MacKenzie and some of the Ministry officials had been arrested three times for offences ranging from, failing to provide children with education; radicalization and offering education in an unauthorized institution; Incitement to disobedience of the law; Possession and distribution of unauthorized films; and operating a films studio without a valid license.

Similarly, between 25th April 2023 and October 2023, the Government conducted a search and rescue operation while simultaneously exhuming bodies from various graves. At the end of the exercise, a total of 429 bodies were exhumed, and 67 adult persons and 25 children were rescued.

Therefore, it calls for careful watchout by all believers in the teachings and doctrinal developments in their various religions to evade such uncalled-for incidents.

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