A man has revealed how his childhood was ruined by sexual assault, physical abuse and poverty when his parents joined a 'cult'.
Trevor Glass, 45, is a CEO from the Gold Coast who was brought up in the worldwide Protestant Christian movement Word of Faith.
Born in South Africa, his parents joined the church when Mr Glass's great uncle listened to radio broadcasts by Herbert Armstrong, the leader, which lead the family to believe they had found 'the truth'.
The decision to join the church resulted in a life that Mr Glass has spent decades recovering from.
'I was personally molested along with at least 54 other kids in the church by a man that would visit homes of church members that had young boys,' he told FEMAIL.
'He would abuse the boys but we were all too afraid to speak up because we were taught to respect our elders and that people within the church were God's chosen few.'
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As a result of our beliefs, we were extremely isolated. We didn't fit in at school or other social circles and we were taught that people in the "outside world" could not be trusted,' he said.
'We largely reduced our contact with outside support networks such as family and friends. We were teased and bullied because we were different.
'Parents were taught by the church to "spare the rod and spoil the child", which meant that we were physically punished when we made mistakes.'
He said members were constantly fed 'the truth' that involved instilling the overwhelming fear that an apocalypse was imminent.
'I remember being absolutely terrified when they told us about the torture, rape and abuse that occurred during other wars and they warned that this world was going to see a war that eclipsed those,' he said.
They were told to watch the news and look for any sign of the end times and any hint of war, famine and natural disasters were held up as living evidence that the war to end all wars was close.
Read the entire article here, though be forewarned that the author who wrote this obviously needs to get her facts together. Armstrongism, no matter how bad it was, was not part of the Word of Faith movement. Though, we did borderline on it as we claimed that people would be blessed as they tithed. The more they tithed, the more they would be blessed.
Poor, hungry and sexually abused: Australian CEO who grew up in a 'CULT' reveals the most frightening part of his bizarre childhood - and how he's still haunted by it today
