On Easter Monday, I was approached in Westfield Stratford just as I came out of Superdrug. The shopping centre was extremely busy, so at first, I did not think much of it. It was in this moment that I became the target of recruit for a fast-growing and problematic South Korean Christian cult called ‘New Heaven, New Earth UK’ – otherwise known in South Korean as Shincheonji.

New Heaven, New Earth UK: a South Korean Christian cult

As I was walking, I heard a high-pitched female with a Kenyan accent state “I love your makeup”. I looked to the corner of my eye and I see a short Black woman alongside a taller Black male. They both didn’t look older than 26 years old.

The woman then proceeded to suddenly ask me if I would like to take part in a survey and if I had any goals for the ending of the Easter period, or if I required help creating goals. She told me I could attend a mentorship programme.

I queried her about the mentorship scheme seeking to find out its name, how long it had been running, as well as any social media accounts it had. I was told that the scheme has no name, was newly formed about a few weeks ago, and had no social media presence.

In that moment, I politely declined and made it clear that this does not align with me, and walked off. I left the exchange thinking and having a gut feeling that this was a strange and unusual encounter. It was so strange that even though this happened around 5.30pm, I went on to write a post later that evening at 10.50pm on X:

I really believe there is a grooming ring in Stratford Westfield. This is the second time I have been approached when alone. I don’t take it lightly that I have a baby face too: The conversation started with “Yur MaKEup Lo0ks nice” then she started to invite me to this suspicious…

— Duchess of Brixton ☭ (@fufuisonme) April 21, 2025

This post was the start of me unraveling the ugly web of a South Korean Christian Cult called ‘New Heaven, New Earth UK’ and its obsession in targeting young Black British people with tactics loaded in deception, secrecy, and manipulation.

Targeting Black women and students

It was through the many quote-posts flooding in from particularly Black women and students that I saw one that mirrored my encounter that day.

My initial tweet set a natural catalyst for many Black British people to take part in the only thing I can term as “in the ends” journalism. My DMs became a place of solace for countless former cult members/ survivors, university students, and to others like me that had been subjected to their recruitment tactics:

The tactics collectively unearthed included LinkedIn and Instagram private messages from Black women in New Heaven, New Earth asking them to take part in a faith-based mentorship programme and a faith-based survey for women. At times they would directly ask people to join a Bible study. I even received such a DM last year, repeatedly inviting me to Bible studies from June 2023 to January 2024. All the messages came from people I did not know that had just messaged me randomly. I simply ignored them, but as it was happening so frequently I asked my fellow X users if they had experienced the same.

It was then I first learnt of the New Heaven, New Earth cult. I was told about a young man that had cut off all his family and still remains in the cult due to attending this bible study.

Some DMs others had received from the group members were slightly more sinister, with fake surveys created to match the subject or specialism noted on their LinkedIn page. Many from there were lured on to join a Bible study. From what has been unearthed so far, this is just an indoctrination ploy that lasts eight months. Many of its members have also resorted to using Bumble BFF and dating apps as the guise to lure people into the cult.

Surveilling potential recruits

In terms of New Heaven, New Earth UK’s in-person efforts, countless people on the X thread and in my DMs said that they had been targeted with the same story that I had, asking us to take part in a survey and or/ join a mentorship programme to help us set “goals”. Other X users also confirmed that they were approached by either a Black female and male duo and/or a young duo of Black girls. The following target locations came up: London Bridge, Liverpool Street Station, Battersea Power Station, Clapham Junction, Birmingham, and many campuses across Manchester, and the Midlands area.

What instantly blew me away was the sheer scale and lengths this group were going to, to collect data, create faux events, surveys, and mentorship schemes, all with the long-term aim to lure people into a Bible study and recruit them into the cult.

I started to post some of the screenshots from the inner workings of the group received from ex-cult members. These screenshots showed the way they surveil and monitor potential recruits to gauge if they were the best fit for the cult:

I was told by the ex-member that they did not like people with strong community ties, busy jobs, and close family links. They were particularly fond on students, persons dealing with mental health issues, shy people who have difficulties making friends, and people not suspicious of cults. These tactics were heavily reflected in the DMs I received. Many explained they were targeted and recruited as students, or at a time when they had just lost a family member.

Who is New Heaven, New Earth UK?

In order to comprehend more about New Heaven, New Earth UK and Shincheonji, it is important to understand the context in which it operates. It is a Korean-based entity founded on 14 March 1984 by Lee Man-hee. Followers believe they are “the chosen ones” and Lee Man-hee is the “promised pastor” and the only one who is allowed to read and translate the Book of Revelation’s parables. They believe all non-members are going to hell.

According to Singaporean news site Today Online:

Korean Christianity is particularly muscular and evangelical, sending more missionaries abroad than any other country apart from the United States.

However, this is just referring to Korean Christianity that falls within mainstream movements.

A pattern that is seen with many Korean Christian cult groups is this idea that the leader is “messianic”, with a charismatic leader claiming a God-like status. They’re also highly Korea-centric, espousing a form of spiritual nationalism with the Koreans as God’s chosen people.

According to Mr Park Hyung-Tack, president of the Korea Christian Heresy Research Institute:

there are currently around 50 religious leaders in the country who claim to be “either Jesus, the second coming or God himself.”

New Haven, New Earth is particularly keen on targeting persons that are already Christian, as it is easier for them to convince them to join a Bible study. This acts more like an indoctrination programme. Over eight months, attendees go three times a week. They are strictly told they cannot eat, must not ask questions in a session, and must not exchange phone numbers with other attendees. This is why in South Korea, many mainstream churches post signs on their buildings warning undercover Shincheonji missionaries not to try to infiltrate their congregations and that they are not welcome here.

A ‘method of evangelism’ similar to ‘fraud’

Members of Shincheonji have recently been reported to have targeted young South Koreans, offering them free tarot readings, personality tests, and foreign-language classes. In January 2020, the cult was also taken to court in South Korea by former members. These members argued that their deceptive approaches to evangelism took away a person’s freedom of thought and choice when it comes to religion. The court ruled the actions of Shincheonji via:

the method of evangelism in this case is similar to fraud or threatening acts.

It ordered the group to pay five million won.

As they are a South Korean cult, I wanted to understand why they were specifically targeting Black people, considering South Korea is known for its issues with anti-Blackness. This is even explicitly seen in K-pop culture – notably, through the heightened linguistic and visual theft of Blackness for capitalist gain. This is known as Blackophilia, a fetishized adoration of Blackness, which manifests from:

white [Non-Black] consumption of Black popular culture… from a place of fascination rather than dread

Further to this, looking at the country as a whole, South Korea, as a largely homogenous population, experiences and practices both racism and colorism.

These above points further deepened my quest to see why they were targeting Black people currently. I found out through my journey that in the UK, the cult’s engagement and warnings of their dangerous presence go way back to 2016/2017. This was when a Vicar’s daughter was targeted via a charity they had set up named Parachristo, that provided bible studies for the cult under the guise that it was non-denominational. She, like many others, were targeted as a university students.

White churches issuing warnings

In 2016 the Church of England first issued a warning about Shincheonji. This is of particular interest as the Church of England in the UK is a majority white space. Statistics show that:

one person in six (seventeen percent) who goes to church in England is non-white. This is up from twelve percent in 1998. Black church people make up ten percent of this and other ethnic groups the remaining seven percent.

Furthermore, the other churches and church leaders warning about Shincheonji in 2016 were also white.

So why the shift to targeting Black British People?

According to a national survey, Black Americans are:

by most measures, the most religious group in the world.

The Black Church continues to be a community pillar as one of the few institutions built, financed, and controlled by Black people.

Similarly, these numbers are seen in the UK when looking at Black churchgoers, since:

they make (10.4% of all churchgoers); however, Black people are only 3.8% of the population.

That means that 17% of Black people attend church, three times the percentage of white people.

The largest church in the UK is the Nigerian-based Kingsway International Christian Centre at Hackney, led by Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, with some 12,000 people attending every Sunday. Three other especially large black congregations in London in 2005 were Ruach Ministries in Brixton (4,000 attendees), House of Praise in Woolwich (2,500 attendees), and Jesus House for All Nations in Brent (2,200 attendees).

The wife of the Pastor Agu Irukwu of Jesus House died in May 2007. She was only in her early forties. More than 12,000 people came to her memorial service – such is the strength of the black Christian community. It may also be seen in the table that while all the ethnic churches have seen growth, the Black churches has been particularly strong, even if in percentage terms it has been surpassed by the Other Asians and Other Non-whites.”

New Heaven, New Earth UK: a worldwide phenomenon

I have a theory that, as South Korea is a homogenous country, they target specific ethnic groups due to their own relationship with hegemony and how this has thrived in their own cult. I further note that Shincheonji target mainstream churches in Korea and worldwide, as it is easier for them to recruit persons that are already Christian to join their false Bible studies.

As the UK’s largest church is a Black church and the fact that many Black British people are Christian, coupled with the fact that the previous warning about the cult were from white majority churches, it seems to follow logic that a group like New Heaven, New Earth would move to targeting Black Christians.

I have looked into the groups practice in Australia and there it tends to target Filipino communities as they have a community that are heavily religious and often Christian. Shincheonji has been subject to parliamentary petitions in Australia.

Cause for concern on misuse of social media platforms

What particularly stood out to me with Shincheonji recruitment tactics was the deceitful use of social media platforms to lure people into cults. For example, I looked at the terms and conditions of Bumble, and it notes that:

You do not have any rights in relation to other users’ Member Content, and you may only use other Bumble users’ personal information to the extent that your use of it matches Bumble’s purpose of allowing people to meet one another. You may not use other users’ information for commercial purposes, to spam, to harass, stalk or to make unlawful threats. We reserve the right to terminate your Account if you misuse other users’ information.

Yet, looking at the profile created on “potential fruit”- a term given to new recruits at this cult, they prey on creating profiles to share with the wider group, to plan a recruitment strategy into the cult:

Sites like Bumble, Instagram and LinkedIn do have a duty to ensure they are creating a safe space for users and removing accounts that have been created with ulterior and deceptive motives. From all I have unearthed as part of writing this piece, I believe that the recruitment tactics of cults like New Heaven, New Earth can fall in direct violation of user usage of noted platforms and their terms and conditions.

Social media sites do need to be on the ball when it comes to notifying users to report any concerning exchanges as this can aid in stopping dangerous cult like this in its tracks.

I similarly echo that student unions and student bodies need to better safeguard Black students and Christian students by actively informing them of the cult’s presence on campus. They should actively ensure that student halls and venues are not being used to add legitimacy to a problematic, deceptive, and controlling cult. Students are already leaving university with crippling debts, and being recruited into a cult on campus ground should not be an additional fight students have to ward off.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ife Thompson

This post was originally published on Canary.