An Open Letter

JUNE 2025

Dear Laurie Kagay, Gregg Garner, GOD International leadership, and all who are reading:

We write this letter not as a “hate group,” as your recent public statement suggests, but as a collective of former members, family members, friends, and concerned individuals who have been deeply impacted by the practices of GOD International and The Institute for Global Outreach Developments International. We are not anonymous enemies—we are your friends, your children, your siblings, your former students, your former colleagues. We are people who have seen, heard, and experienced troubling patterns that demand attention and honest reckoning.

To label us a “hate group” is not only inaccurate but hurtful, especially when many of us have spoken up only because of the immense love we still carry for the people inside your organization. We are not outsiders throwing stones; we are insiders who paid a price to speak the truth. The assertion that we are fabricating identities or operating with malicious intent is false. It is a deflection, and it avoids engaging with the very real concerns at the heart of this conversation.

We Speak Up Because We Care

Many of us who are raising awareness were once deeply involved—some for years or even decades. We know the language. We know the culture. We know the pressure to conform, the silencing of dissent, the emotional dependency fostered under the guise of spiritual commitment. We’ve seen relationships strained or cut off when someone leaves the group. We’ve seen families and friendships divided. We’ve seen unquestioning loyalty demanded. And some of us, as family members and friends, have experienced verbal hostility, emotional isolation, and exclusion simply for expressing concern about the organization.

That is not love.
That is control.

And it should not be spiritualized.

Why the Word “CULT” Is Used

We do not use the word “cult” lightly or to provoke. We use it based on specific patterns recognized by psychologists, sociologists, and former high-control group members across the world:

• Authoritarian leadership centered on one individual

• Lack of informed consent and transparency

• Punitive social shaming or ostracizing of those who question authority

• Use of spiritual language to justify control

• Limiting access to outside perspectives or relationships

• Manipulating personal boundaries and autonomy under the banner of “discipleship” or “surrender”

These patterns don’t vanish just because an organization is accredited or legally cleared. Regulatory compliance does not equal spiritual health, ethical leadership, or freedom of thought.

The Impact on Families, Friends, and Former Members

Your letter fails to acknowledge that many people who have left your organization did not leave out of rebellion or bitterness, but out of conscience. Some were dismissed for voicing concern, others left quietly to preserve peace, and many more are still healing from the psychological and spiritual damage.

Worse still, when we express our worries—lovingly and privately—we are often met with aggression, stonewalling, or complete relational cut-off from loved ones still inside the group. These acts, often encouraged or at least permitted by leadership, are acts of emotional and spiritual abuse. We, not you, have become the victims of hate acts—committed by group members toward those of us who are simply trying to reach our loved ones.

Moving Forward with Truth and Accountability

We are calling not for war, but for truth. Not for destruction, but for transparency and humility. If your community is as healthy as you say it is, it will survive honest critique. If your leadership is truly accountable, it will not silence dissent but engage it with openness, empathy, and humility.

We implore current members to ask themselves:

• Why are so many people speaking out with similar stories?

• Why are concerned family members and friends painted as enemies?

• Why is questioning treated as betrayal rather than a path to truth?

We will continue to speak out, not out of hate, but out of deep conviction and deep love—for our loved ones still inside, for the truth, and for the hope that spiritual communities can be places of freedom, not fear.

With courage,

—The Families, Friends, Former Members, and Concerned Advocates of Those in GOD International