Just before the annual Church of God Festival that portrays the millennial peace that the world will be dwelling in, UCG and COGWA went to battle over stolen cattle.
Victor Kubic started it off on October 5, when he announced that cattle that his organization had given to UCG brethren in Zambia had been rustled in September by "former friends and acquaintances" of the "victim-farmers." That was double speak that Church of God a Worldwide Association members were stealing UCG cattle.
The unhappy report that we received and verified related that these cattle were forcibly taken away by former friends or acquaintances of these victim-farmers. These former friends now belong to a Church of God fellowship largely comprised of former members and former ministers of the UCG. It is also our understanding from this report that the leader(s) of that fellowship refuse to intervene to stop the theft of these cattle by their members, nor have they condemned the actions that their members are taking.
More can be found here: Zambia COG Members Stealing Cattle from UCG Members
Then Church of God a Worldwide Association swiftly hit back with a broadside calling Victor a liar.
It is disappointing that I am being drawn away from necessary preparation for the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles to respond to the public message which you have disseminated on the Internet and among God’s people. Based on the level of upset and division you are causing within the Body of Christ, you leave me with little choice but to personally respond to your false claims and set the record straight. This is an open letter, and it may be shared with others. While I would normally try to avoid a public response to false allegations such as these, it is necessary to give an answer to your outrageous charges.
The entire letter can be read here: Zambia COGWA Calls Out Kubic For False Allegations
Then the COGWA minister kind of went AWOL and no communication happened with him. (He was probably at the Feast) The Zambia UCG members went to the police and finally got them to act. The Police ordered some of the cows to be returned.
Kubic had the following up on his site about this:
Updated October 10, 2011
GREAT NEWS!! In one of the areas where the cattle given by LifeNets "Pass on the Gift" program was taken, the police ordered that four head of cattle be returned to owners immediately without conditions. We have not heard yet from the other area which is some distance away. We are appalled by the false stories circulating minimizing the huge consequences on poor people. We are leaving for the Fall Festival in Estonia in a few moments, but wanted to get this update to you. After the Festival, we will have written reports exact detailing all that happened. We thank you for your prayers and are thankful for the redemption.
Updated October 14, 2011
Police have ordered that ALL LifeNets cattle that were stolen must be returned. We are just going to wait until after the FOT for the matter to be resolved. Thank you for your prayers to protect our beneficiaries' livelihoods!
Cattle rustling timeline on Kubic's site: Rustling of Members' Cattle in Zambia
I guess none of us should be surprised at this normal behavior between COG groups. There has been bitterness and acrimonious behavior between all COG's as they have split and split and split over the last 70 some years. There are well over 600 some splinter groups from the original mother church, "The Radio Church of God." None have ever worked together in harmony or made any attempt to. Each considers itself to be "the one true church." and all others are imposter's and heretics. HWA got that bad behavior ball rolling when he started arguing with COG7Day. With labels like, "they are Sardis," "they are blinded to the truth," "they have turned their back on the truth," etc, the present COG has followed suit and have thrown that wedge up between themselves and others.
Armstrongism has made it standard practice to mock Christianity for it's many different churches, yet Armstrongism is just as fractured and probably WORSE than mainstream Christianity. At least a broad majority of Christian churches work together in all kinds of ways. They may not believe the same in different minor areas, but will still work together as brothers and sisters towards a common goal. But not so in Armstrongism. Accusations fly, bitterness rules the day. Families are destroyed, marriages broken and friendships destroyed. Even the right-wing evangelicals hatred of liberals pales in comparison with the Armstrongite acrimony that exists.
With that sad legacy that stains Armstrongism it is no wonder that people are leaving all the splinter groups. Church attendance is dropping in all COG's. Flurry's group is down 4,000 from last years Feast. LCG's is down from last year. UCG is dramatically down due to the split.
Armstrongism has no future. It's various cult leaders are aging out and will be dying off. The youth are leaving in droves. That is certainly some legacy to leave behind.
