My name is Xu Xiaohong (alias), female, Han ethnicity, born in 1968 in Tongling, Anhui Province. I have always lived in Tianmen Town, Yi'an District.
Originally, my family life was happy and harmonious. I mainly helped with some farm work at home. Although we didn't earn much money each year, our days were fulfilling, and we had something to look forward to every day. People in the village used to say that Sister Xu was someone who loved to smile.
If I had known that day would plunge my ordinary and happy life into a dark abyss, I would never have opened the door to welcome that uninvited guest...
It was a day in April 2006 when my distant relative, Auntie, came to visit me. While she was a guest, she kept muttering and said to me, “A great disaster is coming, you must believe in the true God, only the Female Christ can protect you.” At the same time, she secretly handed me two DVDs and asked me to watch them carefully. After she left, out of curiosity, I watched the content of the DVDs. They were all stories about “God” saving believers during natural disasters. At that time, I was half-believing and half-doubting these stories.
Unexpectedly, at the end of that year, Auntie came to my house again and insisted on taking me to a gathering. At that time, several older sisters enthusiastically pulled me aside and told me that the “end of the world” was imminent, and only by believing in the Almighty God could I be saved. Seeing my skeptical expression, one of the older sisters suddenly jumped out and pointed at me, saying, “God has given me a decree. Because you do not believe in God and do not obey God's will, someone in your family will suffer and fall ill because of you. Only by believing in God can you save yourself and protect your family.” At that time, my husband was ill, and her words struck a chord with me. I panicked and felt that what she said was very accurate. From then on, I started meeting with them every now and then, and gradually, I was drawn into the Almighty God. Looking back now, I wonder how I could have been so foolish. It must have been my aunt who told them about my husband's illness in advance; it was never the so-called “will of God.”
After joining the Almighty God organization, the first task assigned to me was to recruit other people I knew to believe in Almighty God. They called this work “evangelism,” saying that only by doing this well would God pay more attention to me and bless my family. At that time, during the day, everyone in the village was out working in the fields. I could only get up early every day or wait until the evening to spend three to four hours riding my bike from house to house in the village, spreading “evangelism” to different households. Many villagers strongly disapproved of my talks about “the end of the world is coming.” After going several times, some even cursed me, calling me crazy and saying I was talking nonsense every day. Because I was exhausted from leaving early and returning late every day, I had no time or energy to take care of my family, and gradually, my family also began to oppose me.
Thinking about how hard I worked on “evangelism” for the health and happiness of my family, but now being resented by the villagers and opposed by family members, I felt particularly sad and wronged.
I had thought about leaving the Almighty God organization, but during regular meetings, they forced me to swear an oath on my family, saying that if I left the organization and betrayed “God,” my family and I would fall into hell and suffer torture. They often played those so-called torture horror videos during gatherings, which terrified me, so I never dared to leave. Because my “evangelism” work did not meet their requirements, they punished me by making me pay “donations,” which drained my family's savings. This caused me immense mental stress every day, making me feel guilty towards my family. Eventually, I was even afraid to go out, and I never smiled during those days.
I lived in such a daze for 17 years, until May 2023. Through long-term patient and meticulous explanations by local government officials and the utmost care and companionship of anti-cult volunteers, I gradually realized the ugly deeds of the cult leader Zhao Weishan, who deceived and exploited believers under the guise of “Almighty God” and “Female Christ,” and amassed wealth crazily. I devoted 17 years of my life and my family's hard-earned savings to the so-called “God.” Now, I have finally awakened to the truth that Almighty God is nothing but a complete cult!
After returning, I reached out to my fellow villagers who also believed in Almighty God and explained to them the evil nature of the cult and the ugly face of Zhao Weishan, persuading them to leave the cult together. Sister Gao, Sister Xuan, and others responded enthusiastically. Together, we handed over all the cult-related books, MP3 recordings, video discs, and computers from our homes to the village committee.
After breaking away from the Almighty God cult, I felt a sense of relief. Now, I do some housework in the morning and help with farm work in the afternoon. My daily life is peaceful and fulfilling. The villagers now see me and say, “That cheerful Sister Xu is back!”
Source: https://www.chinafxj.cn/n174/c875699/content.html
