The Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary and Explain International have put together a session to brief churches about the dangers of Salt & Light Fellowship which is basically a rebranding of the Shincheonji group in Korea.
Feel free to watch the video
You can also subscribe to: Explain International - YouTube
Just within my limited circle of contacts, I have received the following feedback from friends:
- "Thanks for sharing. The group has been targeting youths/students on insta(gram) by inviting them to Bible studies. I got invited thrice by separate people hahah" (Malaysia)
- "I understand that this cult is active in Melb(ourne) as well. Different name, same modus operandi, very effective, efficient as it targets uni(versity) students n young adults." (Australia)
- "They even reach out to those suffering from Covid:" (Kuching, Sarawak)
An Advisory I received (modified slightly to provide clarity):
Cult Warning: Salt and Light Fellowship
Dear Youth, please be informed that there is a group going around attracting young people to their events/sessions. This group absolutely looks, sounds, feels legit. They emphasize on studying the Word, praising songs, Holy Spirit, good works, everything perfect. The tactic is for you (Christians/non-Christians) to join for a while, then after you are convinced that they are legit, they will tell you that their founder (88-year old man) is Jesus.
The cult website is this: https://www.saltnlightfellowship.com/ For those who are unaware, they may think this is a Christian group because of the way they portray themselves. Bear in mind the website does not even carry the names of people.
Salt & Light Fellowship and Salt & Light Ministries are different entities.
Salt & Light Ministries based in Singapore is a digital News platform: SaltandLight.sg.
Yes, I know it's confusing. But to help you, here is a short summary:
❎Salt & Light Fellowship: 👈 Cult!
✅Salt & Light Ministries: 👍👍 Digital News Platform
This is an article from Salt & Light Ministries reporting on Salt & Light Fellowship.
Further message that I received from the assignments editor of Salt & Light Ministries in Singapore:
Thank you for alerting us to this.
We have also put out a Chinese translation of the announcement should you know of anyone who requires it:
https://saltandlight.sg/news/ch-translate-saltlight-statement-no-association-with-malaysias-salt-and-light-fellowship/
God bless,
Huey Ying Tan
Assignments Editor, Salt&Light
The Church Response
At least one church group has responded to this cult in Malaysia. You do not need to re-invent the wheel but benefit from the work in looking at the cult:
Greetings, following the Malaysian Baptist Convention's (MBC) recent statement on the Salt & Light Fellowship and the Korean Shincheonji Cult, Explain International is partnering with the Malaysian Baptist Theological Seminary to host an exclusive forum with panelists from the US, Korea and Malaysia, to educate Christians on the false teachings associated with SCJ.
Details of the forum can be found on the flyers attached below. The YouTube link is pasted below, do consider sharing this to raise awareness on this cult. Thank you and God bless.
Click here for the MBC advisory available in PDF
