From Loma Linda to South Korean Cult

A 25-year-old Adventist tells how she learned to trust Jesus and not self.

By Sujin Kang

I studied at a Seventh-day Adventist high school in the United States. Then I attended Loma Linda University in California. It was during a vacation back home in South Korea that I joined a cult and nearly killed myself by jumping out a five-story window. I thought my faith would save me, but instead I nearly died and ended up in physical therapy for a year.

Let me start from the beginning. My name is Sujin Kang [su-jin kang], and I am 25 years old. I grew up in an Adventist family in South Korea, and my parents sent me to the United States to study as a first-year high school student. Language was a serious problem. I could not speak or understand English, and I struggled to make friends. But I was determined to learn English, so I essentially shut myself in my room for months to memorize vocabulary, write essays, and read books. I grew homesick and depressed, but I didn’t tell anyone.

I blamed God for my sadness, but I also begged Him for help. And He did! I began to read the Bible and form a relationship with God. Soon I wanted to share my new-found faith, so I gave Bible studies, went on mission trips, and even witnessed to strangers on the street.

After high school, Loma Linda University accepted me into its pharmacy program. But I wasn’t happy. I had wanted to pursue another major, and I wondered why God had allowed my parents, who wanted me to study medicine, to get their way. I stopped reading the Bible, and my faith suffered.

Around this time, I returned to South Korea for a vacation. Hoping to salvage my relationship with God, I climbed a hill to pray and weep for several hours. As I came down the hill, I met a young man who I guessed must be an Adventist, for he talked about the Sabbath, a vegetarian diet, and Loma Linda University. He promised to e-mail some Bible verses to me.

The next time we met, he introduced me to a woman who offered Bible studies. The Bible study grew into a six-month program that felt like God’s answer to my prayer. I deferred a year at Loma Linda University to stay in the program.

In the Cult

This is how I joined a cult called New Heaven and New Earth. This cult emphasizes the biblical pattern that God chooses a messenger to warn His people in each time-period, and it teaches that the end-time messenger is its Korean founder.

I was convinced that the cult had the truth, and I didn’t care if other people, even Adventists, called it a cult. I was used to being looked down on because other Christian denominations in South Korea commonly label the Adventist Church as a cult. I put all my energy in evangelizing for the cult, and I led three people to join. My efforts were recognized, and I became the leader of a small group.

Even though I lied to my parents about my activities, they eventually found out. We had several sharp arguments, and I tried to run away from home several times. Not knowing what else to do, my parents locked me up in our apartment and kept me under constant watch. An Adventist pastor and deacons gave me daily Bible studies to try to show me the error of the cult’s ways.

But I wouldn’t listen to anyone. I convinced myself that I had to escape this situation or I would die spiritually. The cult teaches that its members have experienced miracles, and I believed that God would protect me if I jumped out of the apartment window. However, the five-floor fall did not go as I expected. I was hospitalized with many broken bones and had to undergo surgery. Doctors said it was a miracle that I was alive. I spent a year in physical therapy afterward.

But I still refused to give up my beliefs. Pastors and other church members continued to give Bible studies. The more that they argued, the more that I believed that I was right. I even argued back with my Bible. People thought I was demon possessed.

A Mountaintop Retreat

Finally, my mother took me to an Adventist-owned mountain retreat for a month-long stay. It was only there, away from the constant arguing, that my heart began to melt. During that month, I had only one Bible study — with an Adventist pastor who had been told not to mention the cult. The pastor showed me Bible stories where God valued people’s faith. The pastor said he wished that I had peace in God. I did not have any peace at all! I longed for peace.

The Holy Spirit worked in my heart. No one could change me with Bible studies or arguments. But the Holy Spirit put thoughts into my mind. I slowly began to see the cult’s errors as I compared its teachings to those of Jesus.

I received the peace of Jesus, who said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27, NKJV).

Leaving the cult wasn’t easy. I’m now deemed a traitor, and its members have made threatening phone calls and made attempts to find me. I have apologized to my parents and others who suffered because of me.

Having experienced the danger of trusting self before Jesus, I have learned to be cautious and always seek God’s guidance. I struggle daily to distinguish His voice, and I pray for His help.

Yes, I went on mission trips and witnessed to strangers on the street. But to be a true missionary, I am convinced that we need to surrender to Jesus daily. I now visit Adventist churches across South Korea, appealing to listeners to place their trust in Jesus — and then tell others what He has done for them.