Posted
on 04/15/2012, 4:16 pm,
by briank,
under
News.
Today I came across a rare public document that captures UBF leaders interacting with public officials. UBF people are used to operating in a power hierarchy. They know how to obey orders and how to give orders. They are used to being respected for their position and authority. They are used to speaking about the Bible and quoting Scripture. And they are used to getting their way, doing what they want, all in the name of honoring God. But how do they interact with the public?
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Anyone familiar with University Bible Fellowship understands that UBF has been heavily influenced by Samuel Chang-Woo Lee. It has been said no one ate or slept in UBF without Lee knowing about it.
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As I continue to read the 1976 Korean UBF reform letter, I can clearly see a pattern. In the past, before Samuel Lee died in 2002, the allegations were against Samuel Lee himself. UBF leaders today, in 2012, would like everyone to quietly sweep all UBF problems under the rug, and let the allegations die with Samuel Lee in his grave. In that way, the good things Samuel Lee did can be spun into a “guiding spirit” that can infiltrate the UBF population (that is a paraphrase of some statements in the UBF 50th Anniversary book).
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The 1976 reform movement in Korea UBF, led by Korean staff shepherds, is nothing short of a miracle. What happened? Seven Koreans; Koreans who obeyed absolutely for more than 10 years. Koreans who grew up in the same war-torn environment that Samuel Lee did. Koreans who showed no signs of violence. Koreans who claimed that they found salvation in Jesus and God’s purpose for their lives in their early days in UBF during the 1960′s. Koreans who would NOT DARE to speak a word of criticism or even a HINT of malice toward any leader or anyone even one day older than them. THESE Koreans wrote a stinging letter of utmost rebuke to the supreme UBF leader.
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The 1976 reform movement is acknowledged briefly in the official UBF history: ”In 1976, a few shepherds caused a division and left our ministry. The next year Dr. Lee was sent to America as a missionary. We had time to reconsider the identity of our ministry and changed the name of our ministry into ‘University Bible Fellowship’.”
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It was brought to my attention recently that UBF is actually listed on at least 7 cult-watching/religious monitoring groups. There are six such groups in the US alone. In China, there is an organization called CGNER: “Concern Group on Newly Emerged Religions”. On 4/11/2012, CGNER is co-hosting a university seminar that explores some of the emerging religious movements from South Korea. UBF is one such movement on their agenda.
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In 1976, Korean staff shepherds in UBF became so agitated by the condition of UBF ministry that they were compelled to begin a reform movement, even though UBF had just been founded only 15 years earlier in 1961. Their letter lists five allegations of abuse that they saw in those 15 years. The letter actually states these allegations as fact, and it is clear the authors of the letter had enough evidence to back up their claims. For my analysis and reflection today however, I treat the 1976 claims as allegations because even though I have read the plethora of testimonies on the internet which substantiate the 1976 claims, I don’ t have personal experience or other evidence to support the 1976 claims. In fact, I was only 7 years old at the time!
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It is Good Friday, April 6th 2012. Historically, Easter is the time of reform movement in the organization called University Bible Fellowship (UBF). And this Easter, I am moved to reflect on the reform attempts in UBF in the past. Unfortunately, such times of reform have been followed by times of excommunication and division. The prompt for today’s reflection came from a recent newspaper article that mentioned someone saying UBF’s so-called “cult-like” behavior may come from cultural misunderstandings. For the past 50 years, UBF leaders have used Korean culture as a scapegoat to hide the real issues. Korean culture does cause some conflicts, but such conflicts are normal and can be resolved in ways that do not result in cult-like behavior.
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Here’s an acid test question to ask a UBF leader: what happened in Winnepeg? Personally, I found that no one wants to talk about Winnepeg. Here’s why.
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Posted
on 03/30/2012, 3:32 pm,
by briank,
under
News.
Earlier I blogged about how the official UBF Internet Committee tries to remove critical material about UBF from the internet. Sometimes UBF members also, unofficially, try to remove material that is critical as well.
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