Liu Jiaguo, founder of the Lord God cult
On the morning of October 12, 1999, with the sound of a gunshot in the suburbs of Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, Liu Jiaguo, the founder of Zhushenjiao (Lord God cult), fell to the ground, ending his sinful life. The self-proclaimed "Lord God," who once tried hard to spread fear about the end of the world, had finally met his end himself instead of seeing the "end of the world" coming.
Twenty years later, I broke out in a cold sweat when I thought this so-called "Lord God" was an unforgivable and evil fraudster, rapist, and death sentence prisoner, who had raped 27 women, including a 14-year-old girl, on the pretext that they were “called by God.” I couldn’t help but recall what had happened to my daughter and me more than 20 years ago.
I fell into the quagmire of an evil cult due to my ignorance
I had been frail and sickly since childhood. As I grew older, my health slowly improved. My mother told me that it was all attributed to God’s blessings. After I got married in 1982, I first gave birth to two daughters and then a son in 1986. Afterward, I became a chronic invalid due to severe postpartum weakness.
In 1988, our furniture business became more and more prosperous because my husband's excellent carpentry skills were well-known in the local area. We bought some machines and opened a furniture factory. The living conditions of our family got better and better, and we became one of the first households with an annual income of 10,000 yuan in the village. A fly in the ointment was that I had been plagued by illness.
In 1995, I heard that believing in Christianity could bless people with peace and safety, so I became a believer in Christianity with the support of my husband. I went to the church in our town every week. However, two years later, my happy life was interrupted unexpectedly. In March 1997, two people who claimed to be Christians from Hunan province came to the village. I received them out of trust in Christians, and they stayed at my home for 20 days. After learning about my physical condition, they told me that the reason I hadn’t recovered after praying so many times was that Christianity was no longer working and that I had to believe in the Lord God cult. They said that after Jesus was crucified the Holy Spirit was transferred to another person - the “Lord God” who was reincarnated for the second time. Hearing what they said, I felt I should convert to the Lord God cult for a try as if I had grabbed a lifeline. Under the influence of them，both my husband and I fell into the quagmire of the Lord God cult.
We assisted the evil-doer without distinguishing right from wrong
When the two people came to my home for the second time, they mysteriously told me, "Your family has been blessed." It turned out that they wanted to take us to meet the “Lord God.” They told us to keep it a secret and not to share it with anyone. One day in May 1999, my husband and I, led by them, boarded a coach to Shaoshan, Hunan Province, where we attended a gathering in a remote farmhouse at 9:00 that night. We prayed and shouted slogans under the guidance of Liu Jiaguo, the “Lord God.” Liu Jiaguo said to us, "There will be a great disaster in July this year, so you must lose no time in going back to save all the people."
After my husband and I returned from Hunan, we told everyone that we had seen the real "Lord God," describing dramatically how majestic, graceful, loving, kind, and resourceful he was. My husband and I told the villagers around us solemnly that there would be a great disaster in July and that only by believing in the Lord God cult could we be saved from the disaster. Under the influence of us, many people in the village joined the Lord God cult. They no longer did their farming work, but attended prayers and gatherings wholeheartedly, paid donation money, and hoarded oil, salt, and rice in preparation for the upcoming disaster in July.
My daughter became a victim of the Lord God cult due to my stupidity
Under the influence of my husband and me, our 14-year-old eldest daughter got curious about the Lord God cult. In order to make her believe in the cult, we simply let her drop out of school and go to gatherings with us. As a result, our eldest daughter was targeted by a woman known as Aidaizhu, a key member of the Lord God cult. At the instigation of Aidaizhu, my husband and I entrusted our eldest daughter to her and let her take my daughter to meet the “Lord God" in Hunan. They stayed in Hunan for three days. After my daughter returned, we found she was no longer as lively as before. She was preoccupied with her own thoughts and shut herself up in her room all day. Afterward, Aidaoshen selected another five or six young girls from families of the Lord God cult followers in the village and took them to Hunan to meet the "Lord God" Liu Jiaguo.
In July 1997, the return of Hong Kong to China was celebrated throughout the country, and people were enjoying a peaceful and prosperous life. Those drawn into the Lord God cult by me to escape from the doomsday disaster now quit the evil cult one after another.
Just when my husband and I felt puzzled, Liu Jiaguo, the “Lord God,” sent a person known as Shenchailai to my home to inform me that my village was the place ordained by the "Lord God," and that all our family were people selected by the “Lord God.” Shenchailai also said that the “Lord God” was very pleased with what our family had done, so he was going to come to spend the Spring Festival with us at our home. This was an infinite honor for us. Shenchailai told us to receive the “Lord God” well and keep it a secret. My husband and I cheerfully took up the task and made all kinds of preparations. When our family was immersed in joy and pride, our eldest daughter told us she would never believe in the Lord God cult anymore or meet Liu Jaguo again. My husband and I looked at each other in dismay. At first, we thought that our daughter got into a little huff, so we coaxed her to be devout to the "Lord God" in order to receive blessings, for otherwise she would be disciplined by the "Lord God." However, instead of listening to us, my daughter ran away to a neighbor's house because she didn’t want to stay at home and listen to my husband and me nagging her. In a fit of anger, my husband took a wire and whipped my daughter with it. As a mother, I didn’t stop my husband, but instead, I helped him give my daughter a good beating. As a result, my daughter stayed home for a month at home to recover from the beating. However, her attitude of refusing to believe in the Lord God cult hadn’t changed at all.
Finally came the last month of the lunar year, but we hadn’t seen any sign of Liu Jiaguo, the "Lord God" whom we had been waiting for. We only heard that the "Lord God" couldn’t come this time because he was very busy, but that he would come next time. It made my husband and me feel much regret as we had rejoiced too soon. Of course, I didn’t know at that time that the "Lord God" we had been waiting for was a fugitive who was trying desperately to escape the net of justice closing in on him. How could he possibly consider coming to my home for the Spring Festival under such circumstances?
I regretted having hurt my daughter when recalling my past
For a long time after Liu Jaguo was sentenced to death, I was unwilling to accept that he was a fraudster and rapist. I would rather believe the lies fabricated by the Lord God cult that Liu jiaguo was wrongly accused and still alive and that the "Kingdom of Heaven” was about to be established, because I had no courage to face my daughter and tell her the truth. I dared not associate my daughter's abnormal behavior after meeting Liu Jiaguo with the fact that Liu Jiaguo was a rapist.
Whenever I closed my eyes after quitting the Lord God cult, I would unconsciously imagine my daughter's helplessness when she was intimidated after being brought to Hunan by Aidaizhu. I could imagine her extreme fear when she faced great danger as a very lonely and weak girl. I could also imagine her sadness when we beat her rather than allowing her to tell us about her pain after she returned from Hunan.
