Cult Warning: Salt and Light Fellowship

 

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

BACKGROUND

Be aware of the cult Shin Cheong Ji (SCJ) coming out of Korea. Formerly, also known as New Heaven & Earth, it has now identified itself as Salt & Light Fellowship.

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. 

https://saltandlight.sg/news/they-seemed-so-genuine-how-one-woman-fell-into-the-trap-of-alleged-singapore-chapter-of-shincheonji/

 
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 

You can use on paid Zoom link for a few classes

 

You are running your seminary with say up to 100 students. All you need to do is to pay for one Zoom account for up to 100 pax. 

        Here is one example: Set up one Zoom meeting from Mondays through Fridays from 9am - 2pm. This is assuming that you will be having different classes during this period. 

        Create the Breakout Rooms. You can name the Breakout Rooms according to the name of the lecturer or the module that they are teaching. 

        Once the student clicks on the common Zoom link (or enter the Meeting ID & Passcode) for this Zoom link between 9am - 2pm, they will be able to choose which class to enter.

        If you have 400 students in your seminary, then you have to just purchase your Zoom package to accommodate up to 400 students. 

        Technically, it would not disrupt the quality of the connection when you have a 399 students in a 400 pax package. Poor connectivity will only occur when the bandwidth (I think at either the host or the students' end)  is not able to support the 400 pax package. 

Easy! 

        

Using Host Key to claim hosting rights to Zoom

 

Thanks to Su En, we managed to sort out how to use the Claim Host on Zoom using Host Key. Remember the host key is like the key to your home.

1. The host key is available on the PROFILE settings on your web browser. (By this, you have to go to www.(zoom.us and log into your account. Go to PROFILE and scroll down. Host Key is there. You can always change the host key anytime you wish.)

2. With this, the host can set up a meeting (or a series of recurring meeting) and not be bothered about having to log on and transferring the hosting rights to another person.

By giving the host key to your friend, she can then log onto the Zoom link for the meeting and click on "Claim Host". A small window will appear that allows her to type the Host Key. After that, she becomes the host until you join the meeting. If you do not join the meeting, she will be the host until the end of the time set for the meeting.

3. For security reasons, this is how you can do the settings:

(a) First, you have to DISABLE the Waiting room.

• This is done by going to the web browser (www.zoom.us) and logging your account. Go to the SETTINGS and look for Waiting Room. Uncheck the box meaning you are disabling the Waiting Room.
• If you want to have the Waiting Room set, you can still do it later when you are logged onto Zoom. How? Just click on Security and click on Enable Waiting Room.

(b) Zoom has made it a rule now that when you disable the Waiting Room, you will have to put at least the PASSCODE (or we call password) for all meetings.

• Avoid clicking on Registration Authentication to Join. This may complicate things unless you know how this works. Otherwise, people who are given the zoom link, meeting ID and passcode may still be locked out of the meeting.

(c)  When you schedule or edit a Meeting, you can set the time frame that allows your friend to log into the specific meeting. This means she will not be able to log onto other meetings that you have set unless you are not there.

• Let's say you have a meeting from 5pm-6pm on January 10. To allow your friend to log in earlier and claim host using the Host Key you have given her, you have to set the time for the meeting at say 4pm - 6pm. This will allow her to enter after 4pm. All she needs to do is to click on the Zoom link (or put in ID meeting/ passcode). Then, click on Claim Host and type in the host key. She can then host the session on your behalf. Easy!

(d) From time to time, you can change the Host Key, and provide it only to the people who are supposed to be the host for the Zoom links you have created.

Unfortunately, Host keys are generic. It means that if someone you have given the host key to happen to know of another meeting that you have set, she can enter and Claim Host before you enter. However, the good news is: the moment you enter, you will automatically be the Host. If not, all you need to do is to clic on Participants and look for the small icon "Reclaim Host" at the bottom right hand corner of the Zoom app.

This feature by Zoom will help solve a lot of problems especially for schools where there are several teachers using the same paid Zoom link.

YOU CAN KILL EACH OTHER BUT BUT DON'T MESS WITH PEOPLE

When the Covid-19 caused countries to lockdown for long periods of time, people resorted to digital connections. Video conferencing platforms such as Zoom became so popular that no one expected the number of subscribers to shoot up from just 10 million to 200 million within a short period of time.

As expected, when you have a big crowd in the physical world, you can expect pickpockets to operate. The same happens also in the cyberspace.

Meanwhile, I believe Zoom's sudden popularity has hit some of the bigger boys as well. It's all about the numbers' game. While Zoom has admitted they were also caught by surprise with the number of subscribers, I believe there are also hired cyber troopers who are out there to kill Zoom. Let me present to you some screen grabs that will allow you to see why I believe there are people who are specially hired to spread rumours about Zoom.

1. There were messages flying around saying that people with Zoom installed on their laptops have complained that their CIMB and Maybank accounts have been hacked. I checked with Star newspaper and they were able to ask at least one of the banks. This is their report.

2. I was on a discussion with an Aramean Christian brother in Galilee who wanted to share his knowledge about the missing Aramaic link to Jesus' times. We were planning to use Zoom, since most people in Malaysia are already connected on Zoom. A night before the Zoom session, this brother was bombarded by someone with 30 over messages urging him not to use Zoom; instead to use some other alternatives, which include Skype, described as a "solid Zoom alternative." My personal experience with Skype a couple of years ago is that it is very primitive.

3. How this person managed to get the telephone number of my friend is anyone's guess. I asked him to tell me how, and he said he has somewhat superior technology to do it.






















4. After some work of tracing back how this person even knew that I was discussing with this brother in Galilee, I found his number in a chat group with some 200 people. They were all invited because they were registered to attend classes offered by an online seminary.

By now, I had got this person to chat. Casually I asked if he is still attending a church which I named out of the blue. And his answer was, "Yes I did attend, but has since stopped before the MCO." I knew straightaway this was a fake.

<<-- After asking the administrator for the details of this person in the chat group we are in, I was told the 'registration' via Whatsapp is no longer there. 
What shocked me was when I came back from getting a drink, and I found my chat with this person had been totally erased! I pretended that I did not know what happened.

The truth is: who would have the ability to ERASE every conversation you had with him unless he has superior technology OR he has access to some servers that an ordinary person would not have? I don't know. Perhaps, you can tell me!

As far as I know, Whatsapp only allows you to erase your messages to the person within a certain time limit. You would not be able to erase his messages on his Whatsapp screen. But, in this case, every trace of my earlier conversation with this person which I managed to screenshot and presented here, had simply been erased. Not a single trace of our conversation! 

5. Mind you, this person even had the ability to track the Whatsapp mobile number of my friend in Galilee and addressing him by the full name. The question how he (or she) found the information is as good a guess as mine.

6. On the evening of our Zoom chat with my Aramean friend, we had one person identified simple as 'Nancy's iPad' who were allowed to enter the chat. After a lot of persuasion to ask 'Nancy's iPad' to turn on the video and interact, there was no response. I finally told my friend to remove the person. Strangely, this 'Nancy's iPad' could not be removed! Superior technology again!

Because there were just three of us and this 'Nancy's iPad', I told my friends to log out and log in again. This time, the host would make sure that if Nancy's iPad came into the waiting room again, he /she should not be allowed to enter. Well, of course, 'Nancy's iPad' never returned!


 7. Meanwhile, in the Whatsapp chat group that this strange person and I were in, there were some posts to scare people off from using Zoom. As a result, although it was a seminary course that was provided free of charge on Old Testament Survey and New Testament Survey, the number was reduced by about 30. You can say it was an attack on the seminary, but it did not appear like that to me. This same person who claimed that he was a Christian started attacking and using foul language in the way that you would not expect to come out of a truly born-again Christian's mouth.

8. I have other evidences but it is too long to delve into it. From here, it is obvious there are attempts to kill Zoom, for whatever reasons! While we can understand that the big boys are involved in billion Dollars businesses by providing such service platforms worldwide, and they can afford to attack and kill each other, I think we have to tell them to get off our back and leave us alone. We decide what we think is good and your attacking of each other has gone too far. We will have none of this nonsense.

A week or two later, I received this message from the same person, now suggesting us to switch to Google Zoom. Who would take so much trouble unless he/she works for some competition?

9. As long as the technology is good whether it is Zoom, Webex, Skype or Google GotoMeeting, we will use it. All IT platforms have their weaknesses. Even Google has been accused of having security issues and I personally uninstalled Webex from my laptop just because I noticed not once but a number of times, it was using my laptop camera without my authorisation. Although Cisco Webex website assured me that this is 'normal', I don't trust the company either. You have seen that from my evidence provided above, even Whatsapp is not secure and the entire conversation I had with this stranger could be erased without a single trace.

The safest thing is to make sure all sensitive information like banking passwords are not on the same device that you use for any digital platforms. Even that, no one can be 100% foolproof. If banks can be robbed, anything can happen in the digital world!