The Projector: Student’s Journal

Date September 25, 1989

CULT ON CAMPUS

Cult Recruits on Campus

Part One: In the Beginning…

By Kim Van Bruggen

Administration is warning students to stay away from a religious cult attempting to infiltrate

the college.

Known members of the Uni-

versity Bible Fellowship are at-

tending classes at the college,

according to Brian Hanson, V.P.

Student Affairs.

“They are primarily here to recruit,” Hanson said.

The group has been active on

the U of W campus for the last

four years, before being banned

from the property.

They moved on to the U of M

campus in February 1988, but

were forced off the campus after

widespread publicity made re-

cruiting difficult.

“They call themselves mission-

aries, and the core of the group is

Korean,” Gordon Gillespie of

Manitoba Cult Awareness said.

 

“It all starts very simply.

They’ll try to zero in on the lonely

ones. They’ll invite them out in

the evening to read the bible, or

take them out for lunch,” Gillespie

said.

“They use an orthodox bible,

but they put their own meanings

to it.”

The UBF started in Korea in

the early sixties. The headquarters of the group are now based in

Chicago under the direction of

founding members Samuel Lee

and Sarah Barry. There are UBF

chapters in the U.S., Canada and

eight other nations.

“Ultimately, they want you to

work full-time for them, recruiting students. They want you to

live with them.” he said.

“It starts out very slowly, but

once they get to work on you it’s

very hard to break away,” he said.

After a long struggle, Theresa

Chaisson, 23, has managed to

separate herself from the group.

“I had nightmares the first year

after I left. I’d wake up in the

middle of the night in a cold

sweat,” the second year RRCC

nursing student said.

Chaisson first came into con-

tact with UBF while nursing at

the Health Sciences Center.

“A friend invited me to bible

study.”

 

“That’s how they approach the

students. They ask, ‘Have you

ever studied bible?’ or ‘Do you

believe in God?'”

The UBF “church” is a house

located in Fort Garry.

“Once you’re there, they

shower you with praise and kind-

ness, making you the center of

their attention—they call it “love

bombing,” Chaisson said.

“They’ll get settled into the

college and then send a certain

number of missionaries to ‘pioneer the college” (a term used

throughout UBF when they are

recruiting.)

“There are three Korean

women—UBF members–en-

rolled at the college.”

“I’ve seen them hanging around

a cute little student and I could’ve

just died. They’re surrounding

her—she’s in the center of the

three of them.”

Next issue: The second part of

Cult on Campus will detail what

happens to a new recruit once

inside the UBF, as described by

former members.

Source: http://rrcsa.ca/archives/September25_89.pdf