My name is Li Ruyu (a pseudonym). I was born in 1962 in a poor family in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. My mother was a devout Christian. Influenced by her since childhood, I also had a piety for Christianity. After I got married, I had a son and ran a canteen. Because my husband had mental retardation, I raised my son alone after divorce.
In late June 2012, my business friend Li Jing came to chat and introduced me to the documentary selection of God's Three-step Work, telling me to read it whenever I was free at home. Shortly after that, she brought two young people, a man and a woman, to my house. Outwardly, they came to chat with me, but inwardly they came to "lecture" me.
After preliminary study, I was convinced of the existence of the "Almighty God" and its hard work. I spent the rest of my time studying except doing business and sleeping. After a period of study, they displayed a series of disaster videos to me, in which people who believed in " Almighty God" were blessed by " Almighty God" when disasters came. I did question the authenticity of those videos at that time, but they told me that " Almighty God" was doing the third step of work - eliminating sin. They also asked me: "what is your purpose of believing in ' Almighty God'? It is to save yourself and to eliminate your sin. Disasters are coming soon. You should seize the last time to equip yourself and eliminate sin. Only when you pray to God to help you get rid of your greed can you enter a new world and keep peace."
I had always thought that I was just killing my time running the store every day. Since then, I felt that my life enriched.
I told my son about joining the “Almighty God”. My son suspected that I joined a cult and told me not to be deceived. I pretended to promised my son, but actually I continued to secretly attend the party, and told sister Yang that my son didn't agree with me to join the church. Sister Yang told me to be careful, saying: if your son blocks you from believing in "Almighty God", he is a devil and should not be kept at home. After hearing this, I was shocked and took precautions against my son.
In order to get rid of the sin and get the protection of the so-called "God", I began to devote myself to the "Almighty God". From then on, I didn't care about friends' gatherings and family reunions, and I didn't want to operate my business. I often went out early and returned late, which once again aroused my son's suspicion.
My son asked me, "Mom, you don't care about business now. What makes you go out early and return late every day? Are you still with those believers behind my back? There are publicity activities in the community these days. One of the leaflets mentioned that the cult cheated believers into joining the church in the name of Christianity. Don't be fooled."
"how could I be cheated at my age?" Before my son finished, I hurried to the bedroom to continue reading my book.
The next day, I went to the appointed meeting place before dawn to pray and went home late. When I got home, I was afraid of being caught by my son, so I crept into the door and went to the living room. I saw my son sitting on the sofa with the documentary selection of “Almighty God's” Three-step Work in his hand. I felt that my son violated my privacy and I was so irritated that I rushed to take back the book and slapped my son: "This is an infringement of your mother's privacy. I will let you go this time. If it happens again, you'll get out of this house!"
On December 8, 2012, I sent leaflets in Happy Valley Amusement Park and spread rumors such as "‘Almighty God’ has come down to earth" and "only the ‘Almighty God’ can save mankind" to tourists in the amusement park. I was reported to the police station.
At the police station, I met my son, who I hadn't seen for a long time. He was decadent, his eyes were sunken and lost a lot of weight. I kept silent about why I showed up at the police station, but I asked my son how was his job search? He shook his head despondently and remained silent for a long time before saying, "Mom, ‘the Almighty God ’you believe in is a cult and illegal. What did you do after you believed in this cult?" I kept silent. Looking back on the half year of believing in the "Almighty God", I was busy gathering all day, "preaching and helping people", "eating and drinking myth", donating property, paying "contribution" with my pension and the money I saved in my daily frugality, and closing my business
At the beginning, I still held a beautiful longing for the "Almighty God" and hoped that the "God" would bless me and save me, but it backfired. At that time, the staff of the police station told me that the bad things done by the "Almighty God" had harmed many believers. I didn't believe these, and I was very resistant in my heart. Fortunately, my filial son came to see me once he had a chance. He was more sensible than before. He also brought his girlfriend and said that he would arrange the wedding for them when I came home. My heart was filled with joy and sorrow, and I began to reflect that it was my own stubbornness that brought me where I was.
Slowly, after many times of communication and teaching by the staff and volunteers, in-depth study of legal knowledge and understanding the difference between religion and cult, I thoroughly recognized the disaster caused by my blind "belief in religion".
I'm glad that I wake up from all that. I'm very grateful. I thank the teacher for his patient guidance, so that I can really get spiritual freedom while losing my freedom. This disaster caused by "ignorance and blind faith" is not only a lesson for me, but also a growth experience.