Timothy Peters
Helping Hands Korea & Asia Reach Ministries
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Tim Peters is in the news again, speaking to the House Committee on International Relations, giving interviews about his work to aid North Korean refugees, about the Korean Underground Railroad, about human rights. Calling himself a NGO worker associated with a variety of missions such as Asia Reach Ministries or Helping Hands Korea, he is appealing for your donations. Peters appears as a soft-spoken evangelical Christian pastor from Benton Harbor, Michigan. Perhaps he is. But the question remains: why does he refuse to denounce the controversial group he once proudly associated himself with? Peters is heavily featured on the pages of the Family Care Foundation (FCF) — an front organization with inextricable ties to The Family International, and he is is on record proudly associating himself with this very group.[1]. Although they prefer to describe themselves "an International Christian fellowship" and present themselves as a loose-knit fraternity of independent missionaries, a peek beneath the veneer will reveal that The Family International—formerly known as The Children of God—is anything but: It is a high-control group, typically referred to as a sex cult, with a documented history of running prostitution rings and trafficking children. In 2002, former members of the TFI who knew of Peters' activities in Korea contacted him, encouraging him to distance himself and his missionary work from an "abusive cult" with highly controversial doctrines and practices.[1] Peters countered by posting at an open public internet forum, stating that he was proud to be a member of the group; since then, he has steadfastly refused to distance himself from them or make any statements renouncing the group's teachings and criminal activities. In the face of mounting criticism and increased public awareness of his cult affiliations, Peters seemed to engage in a brief campaign of censorship, deleting and altering information about himself at wikipedia; his daughter appeared on exFamily.org's genX forum claiming that he was no longer a member. In response, exFamily.org posted an Open Letter to Tim Peters, asking him to get in touch personally with an updated statement.[2]But Peters simply ignored the request and continues to sing praises about the TFI's FCF operations to this day.[6] Peters belliegerence has cost him the supporter of the the very people he claims to be advocating for. By going so far as to consistently ignore the queries of NorthKoreanChristians.com—a major donor for his cause—regarding his true standing with TFI, they were left with no choice but to withdraw their support and severe all ties with him. The message is clear: Peters answers to no one. Tim Peters — poster boy for freedom?Does Peters realize the incredible irony of running a Freedom Railroad while still tied to The Family International? After all, The Family International is a group which is responsible for human-rights violations such as the breaking up the family unit and the witholding contact between parents and children. It has also been documented in court[4] for running its own internal Gulags where teens were imprisoned for retraining, used for forced labor, beaten, confined, subjected to sleep and sensory-deprivation and denied food for days. While touting himself as a proponent for social justice and nonviolent resistance, Peters is bringing awareness to political circles—a good thing. But we are obliged to ask this: Is Peters merely channeling resources and using existing South Korean government programs once the refugees have arrived, then taking credit as the Caucasian savior of Koreans who don't do much for themselves? One could get that impression from reading the FCF's pages. According to a TIME magazine article, the operatives working inside China, South Korea and Laos are critical. Apparently the border between the Koreas is impossible to pass—the only smuggling of refugees that can take place is done by fishermen or other very clandestine operations. Could it be that the real heroes of the day—S. Korean relatives and indigenous Chinese Christians—do the real work, but for their own safety must remain in the dark and away from publicity? While we believe in supporting bona fide charity organizations and do not want any genuine charity work to suffer, the public has a right to know the facts in order to make informed personal choices about where to place their hard-earned money. Tim Peters — the facts:
As a donor you have a right to full disclosure regarding Peters' financial obligations: If he is a tithing member of The Family International, anywhere between 10% to 14% of his yearly income will go to The Family International's leadership. That money is then used for the promotion of controversial doctrines like mastur**ting to Jesus and anti-semitism. That money will continue to support leaders who live in hiding to avoid criminal prosecution. You decide the following — we urge you to find the answers for yourselves. If you are new to looking into this topic, we urge you to carefully scrutinize the answers you may get from "Rev." Peters. The Family International believes in using deception as a matter of policy, and its members have been found lying in court while under oath.
NorthKoreanChristians.com, formerly a supporter of Peters' work, has tried to contact him, asking him to clarify his relationship with the FCF and The Family International. Reluctantly, after not having heard back from him for some time, they were forced to present a similar information page as ours, asking some of the same open questions we're asking: |
Tim Peters in the News:
LATEST: Daughter(?) tries to censor record of Peters' involvement with The Family International. More about the controversial group Peters is connected to, known as The Family International:
Discussions by people who know Peters personally:
FOOTNOTES & REFERENCES:
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