Original subtitles

(HAUNTING MUSIC)

Husbands and fathers were taught

to teach their children what sex was.

(HAUNTING MUSIC CONTINUES)

And fathers were taught that they should invite their kids into the room

and show them what sex between a husband and wife was.

(HAUNTING MUSIC CONTINUES)

We had to watch

my mum and dad

have sex.

(HAUNTING MUSIC CONTINUES)

I would've only been 8,

8 or 9.

I had just tried to not think about what was happening.

I thought that every father was doing that to their children.

It just became normal to us.

Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024

♪ When you come,

♪ I'll follow you.

♪ I'll follow you. ♪

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

You have to be in the mountains...

in the New Zealand West Coast.

You have to see it to believe it.

♪ Rumours of the heavenly seed

♪ sprawling forth amidst the seas

♪ in the bloom of her virginity

♪ rose beyond belief, psyche.

A dirt road with all these trees causing this darkness.

Black water...

just no one

for bloody miles.

And there I was, undercover into this really isolated community.

Hopeful Christian says that the outfits worn by the women in this community

are designed to be submissive, sweet, and feminine.

He believes that all the women should look the same,

like this, because it stops the evils of vanity

and prevents competitiveness amongst women.

Here we are taking photos.

I can remember thinking, 'They're not gonna believe this at work.

'I'm now actually even wearing the frock.'

Thought I looked terrible in it too.

I've always had sort of oversized bosoms from about the age of about 12,

and I sort of felt like one of the cows that I was milking.

And it was just like, 'Oh, dear.' (LAUGHS)

'What have I got myself into?'

To begin with, I worked in the dairy.

It was an unusual situation, because farm work is strictly a male domain.

So I swapped the farming for the washing. As a result, I became more accepted,

and learnt more about the lives of the younger girls.

I was still being kept a pretty strong eye on by Neville.

We know today that there are witnesses in heaven...

and they are witnessing to what is happening here today.

He was their leader ― revered, loved, and they hung on his every word.

Folks, we're not a community; we're a church.

He had this voice that boomed.

It felt like when he spoke to you, he kind of spoke right at you,

and it would kind of sit with you ― or it did with me ― for the day.

I did understand what hell it would be if you tried to leave.

The world was evil. In here, it's protected.

We are the chosen ones.

We are the people of God,

and the next best thing to God was probably Neville Cooper.

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

If you look at where they lived, to actually escape physically feels impossible.

But to escape psychologically,

it actually is impossible.

(20/20 THEME MUSIC PLAYS)

ANNOUNCER: From New Zealand and around the world,

this is 20/20.

Tonight on 20/20 ―

his people say he's the voice of God.

Some of his family say he thinks he is God.

Neville is capable of doing a Jim Jones or a Dave Koresh thing.

They say that they live in this community

because they have given themself totally and truly to God,

and that they love and adore their leader, Hopeful Christian.

I did three or four stories,

and had every single thing that you could imagine ―

sexual abuse, indoctrination, confusion about God.

It was like being in your own bloody thriller.

- All my daughter wants to do is see her mother. - I'm not talking to you.

There's a proper way, and this is not the way, and you're not welcome here.

Well, fine!

Some of the women told me, in great detail, about having their hymen broken

the night before their wedding.

It looked very much like this.

It was about that much longer...

and probably about that much in circumference.

And he said to me,

'I'm going to use this...

'to stretch your muscles...

'so that you don't have any pain.'

(UNSETTLING MUSIC)

I felt like I was being ripped in two.

It was a very, very big story in New Zealand.

So while they were completely physically isolated,

people in this country now knew what was going on.

(SIRENS BLARE)

REPORTER: Dozens of police raided two South Island

Christian communities shortly after dawn this morning.

They were acting on the complaints of former members.

REPORTER: A young woman alleges she was sexually violated by Mr Cooper with a wooden object.

Another woman says she and her teenager sisters were told

by Mr Cooper to undress and then touch his private parts.

A young man alleges he and his teenager brothers were told to undress

and watch as Mr Cooper and his wife performed sexual acts.

REPORTER: Police moved in fast. With them, a fire engine and an ambulance ―

signs police had prepared for the worst.

Don't let them through the gates. Back you go. Right back.

Somebody came running in the main door...

and locked the doors.

We were taught that the police just wanted to destroy us, that they'd split up our families,

and so I was petrified.

All the children just scattered like rabbits,

because in their mind, they're coming to take you away.

I can remember peaking out the curtains and being told off.

'Don't look out the curtains.'

When the raids were over, they'd arrested just one man.

REPORTER: Christian sect leader Neville Cooper, who came originally from Australia.

REPORTER: A jury has found Cooper guilty of 10 of the 11 charges of indecent assault.

Have you got the judgment?

(BROODING MUSIC)

READS: 'You were the leader of a fundamentalist Christian community.

'All of the young complainants were members of your flock, conditioned to do your bidding.

'Yours was the pervasive influence on the lives of all these young people.

'I find the evidence was overwhelming.

'You used and abused your position of trust,

'power, and dominion to sexually abuse the complainants,

'while professing to do these things to relieve their tensions and/or prepare them for life.'

I think this judge, right then, could see.

He's using the words ― conditioning, the power, the dominion.

It wasn't like you couldn't see back then

what the community had already become.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Just wanna kind of fix yourself that way slightly.

No, other way.

Yeah.

The other problem in the community has been

a raft of sexual offending.

And the first that that issue went into the public was

when the Overseeing Shepherd,

Hopeful Christian, was arrested and charged, isn't it?

Yes.

And...

what explanations were you given in the community of what was going on?

I knew the man very well...

and I know his motives were nothing but good to help other people.

And, from there...

I believe it got twisted to what the court judged.

You've always known about Hopeful Christian's past, haven't you?

I don't believe that it was...

what they say it was.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

We got told that it was people who had left

that were bitter and angry and just wanted to destroy our faith,

and they wanted to persecute Hopeful for being a Christian,

and so that's why he had gone to jail.

I'd sort of thought when he went to prison...

that it would come right, but, oh my God, how wrong I was.

After serving 11 months of a six-year prison sentence for sexual offending,

Gloriavale leader Hopeful Christian, was released back into the community.

REPORTER: The 69-year-old leader of Gloriavale is now free to rejoin the Christian community.

NEVILLE: What a terrible time we're living in, brethren.

Right at the end.

This'll be one of the worst ages...

for sin,

deception,

evil,

to trick people away from the truth.

I don't remember the day he came back...

but I could remember him just being back.

The Lord had heard our prayers, and he had...

destroyed the intentions of the wicked men that had put Hopeful in prison, so, you know,

I can remember it being an exciting thing that he was back.

(FIRE CRACKLES)

It is astonishing...

that he did such a short term in prison.

He gets done for sexual abuse, and then he's released back into the community

where the sexual abuse has taken place, where there's all those women,

where there's all those young boys.

And back as a hero...

because the world had tried to nail him, but he was back.

The big bad world, they'd tried to get him, but they couldn't.

He was too powerful.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

(BIRDS CHIRP)

He saw the world as a place where everyone else was against him.

It created a 'them and us' type of attitude.

The outside world just hate us, they're just against us. They're trying to destroy us.

In the community, it was seen as he was being falsely accused.

And that was a much nicer story,

and so that's the one I wanted to believe.

But at the same time...

something inside me knew things weren't quite right.

Some people who are wanting to move away from Gloriavale contacted me,

wanting a house to rent,

and this one's available because the tenant's moving out.

(BROODING MUSIC)

Bit of a problem ― it hasn't got a fence, and they've got little kids.

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

The couple texted me...

wanting to talk, and I've texted back saying, you know, 'Call me any time.'

There was something suspicious about why she contacted me,

and then, all of the sudden, there's no contact.

So I'm just gonna go up and check, call in and see if they're OK.

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

It'll be a Gloriavale person.

But I wouldn't get too worried, because if you drive around like you own the place,

no one's gonna even know.

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

This is a dairy farm that Gloriavale owns,

but it's run remotely.

It's been commonly used for people who are being isolated

or people with problems.

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

All right, this is their house here.

Just hide the camera now. We really don't want any attention.

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACH)

(CAR DOOR SLAMS)

So my suspicions were pretty true.

They didn't see me.

I'm just gonna move out of here, and we'll come up

with a different time to contact and a different strategy.

One of the leaders is in there talking to the husband

and is obviously aware that they're wanting to leave.

And he's one of the worst bullies in Gloriavale for, like,

psychologically putting pressure on people.

Hopefully, they'll still talk to me now.

That's probably the thing that I'm really worried about,

is they then start cutting off some healthy communication

that they've been having with the outside world.

All this sort of stuff is fairly close to home.

I've lived through heaps of religious,

manipulating pressure.

So you're seeing a little bit of that rattling.

When there's someone the leaders don't like, they turn against you,

you know, they start turning your family against you,

because you're this evil person; you're turning against the church.

And you become socially isolated because people know you're bad. They become scared of you.

So even while you're in there, you can become very, very lonely and isolated.

And it's really, really not nice to have people you love...

actually feel hatred from them.

(BIRDS CHIRP)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

(SOMBRE MUSIC CONTINUES)

So across these waters...

and nestled beneath the mountains,

that's Gloriavale.

In spite of the leadership wanting Sharon and I

to be gone from the community, we still live here.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

So, here's the balcony...

and our room is at the far end.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

And it's a strange way to end a 45-odd-year involvement with the community.

We are not allowed within 100m of the main community buildings.

So we've made a home about 200m down from the main community.

That's where the birds live. That's where the mice live.

We are uninvited guests, living here in rather awkward circumstances.

(BIRDS CHIRP)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

I want to stay where I am...

because I believe that's actually God's will for me,

to stay right where I am.

That is something I prayed about for a long time.

(BIRDS CHIRP)

I have a young 14-year-old daughter buried in the graveyard...

SOFTLY: Mummy loves you very much.

Yeah.

...and two sons, three daughters...

and around 35 grandchildren still living in Gloriavale.

(BROODING MUSIC)

And so I'm hanging in there so my grandchildren

and my children can come and talk to me if they have a serious need.

(BROODING MUSIC CONTINUES)

Angel Benjamin,

could you please continue your brief of evidence?

Both my parents, Clem and Sharon Ready,

joined the community as youths, and were married and raised a family of 13 children.

There was a lot of turmoil in the family that I grew up.

And...

this is my voice here.

They might have a different opinion on it.

One, two, three! (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)

That's great. Thank you.

- Hello, Mummy. - Hello, I've been busy. - And me.

Hello. - Hello.

You missed it, Mum. (LAUGHS)

I am a committed member of the Gloriavale Christian Community,

and pray to be this way until Jesus comes

and finds me in peace, faithfully living his commandments.

My prayer for those still in the battle is to make peace before that day.

I was not upset with what she was testifying in the court,

because that is what I believed.

I brought her up to believe in the church,

to believe in the What We Believe. (LAUGHS)

Every church has a dogma...

and this is the GV interpretation of the scripture.

It's not just the about giving your life to Christ.

You have to sign over...

complete control of your own life as a mother...

complete control over your children

and your future generations.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

ALL: ♪ At the time of creation...

(CHOIR CONTINUES SINGING)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

I believe that Jesus is the son of God,

and he died to take away my sin.

And when I go under these waters, I'm gonna come up a new creature.

Amen. In the name of Jesus Christ, we bury you.

Hallelujah. - Hallelujah.

When you're in Gloriavale and you're a child,

you're told that you owe your life to Gloriavale.

You driving?

I'm driving.

Since I've left, I'm still finding myself and who I am.

33 years old, and I'm thinking,

'I can figure this out, and I am figuring it out.'

Oh, you got scared?

You got scared.

After I started having kids, you realise

I don't actually have any control of these kids' lives.

I'm their mother, but they're the community's kids.

And there was the wish bone.

- Good manners, good manner! - Good manners, I love that. - (CHUCKLES)

You're so cute.

I didn't want to bring up a girl to live my life, what I had lived.

REPORTER: A former resident of Gloriavale has given a damning assessment of life in the commune.

REPORTER: Former Gloriavale member says residents are brainwashed from a young age,

with women expected to cook, clean, and sew for long hours without taking breaks.

The allegations were made at an employment court hearing,

where it's being argued women there are employees,

not volunteers, as the leadership has claimed.

Now, before you, you've got a written brief.

Would you please read your brief to Her Honour?

READS: 'I am one of the plaintiffs.

'I was born into the Gloriavale community.

'I left high school at the age of 15.

'One day, Hopeful Christian just walked into the classroom

'and said, "Right, we need more workers."

'The whole grade finished school that day.'

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Our lives have been chosen from birth,

and that's a big thing to deconstruct when you leave.

Did you feel like a slave in there?

I wouldn't have said that when I was in there,

but looking back, knowing what I know...

yes. We were slaves.

Hopeful knew he had young, fit, able people at his disposal ―

and that's what set the scene for the child labour.

So the median age at Gloriavale is 12,

and so you're looking at a very skewed population.

If those young people weren't there, you wouldn't have

all the asset growth and the base of Gloriavale and the wealth they are sitting on.

I'm not saying they're sitting on it in their bank account;

I'm saying they're sitting on assets upwards of... 60 million.

Without young labour,

their business model would have collapsed decades ago.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

My job is to make sure the freezers are organized, clean, and tidy.

I agree it is not always an easy job.

It can be tiring and strenuous.

But there is a joy of giving and fulfilling

in exactly the place I am needed and where I believe God wants me.

At one stage, I did become dissatisfied with life,

because I could not feel the satisfaction

and joy that I saw in the lives of my parents and the leaders,

but I decided to read my Bible and follow it.

I did have questions about the why's of Gloriavale life.

It wasn't easy, and I didn't love the life I had.

As I read the Bible and What We Believe,

I came to a greater understanding of the fundamental principle

that this community life was based on.

Being happy isn't really their goal in life.

Their goal is to suffer for Christ.

'I'm gonna deny myself anything

'that looks like sort of pleasure.

'I need to be giving and serving all the time.'

And so, to even enjoy yourself...

is seen as sinful...

because our reward is in heaven.

So,

you are looking for a reward in heaven?

That's your evidence?

Well, the Lord's promised me one.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

I suggest to you that you were happy working at Gloriavale,

and it's only subsequently, after you have left Gloriavale,

that you are now recasting what your views were.

- I disagree. - OK.

Being happy in Gloriavale...

is a facade.

It's a coping mechanism.

EMOTIONALLY: On the contrary...

(SNIFFLES) how I actually felt...

and how I could not tell anybody that I felt...

I was going to commit suicide...

because I thought that

it'd be better to burn in hell (SNIFFLES) than leave Gloriavale.

RADIO ANNOUNCER: Distressing testimony came from Gloriavale leavers,

whose treatment left them feeling enslaved, entrapped and suicidal.

Yet a procession of Gloriavale women denied working under the whip of its leaders,

accusing the plaintiffs of making misleading, distorted,

and exaggerated claims about life at the commune.

They weren't brainwashed, downtrodden, subjugated,

or worked off their feet.

They weren't forced to do anything against their will,

the women said.

So-called 'slave labour' was simply a labour of love.

Hey, Dave.

How's it going, boy?

Hey. (CAT MEOWS)

Aw, how's it going, mate?

Oh, gidday. - How's it?

Oh, eggs and lemons. - Yeah, yeah.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

(SOMBRE MUSIC CONTINUES)

Obviously, Tabitha went back to the court case again to observe.

- Yeah, she was there for two days too. (CHUCKLES) - Yeah.

Did that unsettle her more? - Yeah, I think she's actually sort of like,

seeing that people in Gloriavale are thinking

the ex-members are showing it all from one side.

So it's like they feel like they have to counteract it

by going right to the other end of the scales to try and pull it back their way.

So with that, is it making her think, 'Is it time to pack up and leave?'

Or is she still holding out for a breakthrough somewhere,

a total change in leadership?

I would say that would kind of probably come first would.

Yeah, she would be, like, probably more―

be hoping it would change so that we didn't have to.

If she sees you're actually starting to put things in place and you've got a plan,

she will have way more confidence in even allowing her thoughts to go down the track of...

- Yeah, true. - ...'OK, what happens if we leave?'

But if you're in limbo and you're just hanging around,

then she needs to, by default, fall on to where her security is.

I mean, she's... - Yeah, true.

...20, 21 weeks pregnant?

So, she needs that security, massively.

You guys don't have a direct, upfront conversation.

Everything is done in sort of code, because... - Yes.

..you wouldn't trust her with personal stuff because she might tell the leaders.

So this game play that's been going on in your whole married life... - Yeah.

...you've got to change that now.

It's like, you know, you're married, but there's always― It's like, you know,

you're standing there, but the leaders are still in between you.

You can see each other, but they're still there.

The leaders are the ultimate authority in your marriage.

In the marriage vow, the wife states on the wedding day,

'I promise to love and obey you...

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

'...as long as...

'you obey the leaders.'

After many conversations,

I started to become aware that you control the men through the wife;

and the wives, I guess, through the children, through salvation.

When you get born into Gloriavale,

you don't have a choice.

You're taught never to question.

And so that complete authority leads to a very controlling, very damaging environment.

(BROODING MUSIC)

You start wearing headscarf at the age of 5.

We had to keep our heads covered

to show that we were submissive and meek and quiet...

and for, like, showing that we weren't trying to seduce men.

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

So this is, like, a few things that I brought out with me, like, when I left.

I managed to sneak my scarf,

which has still got my old name on it,

Honey Faithful, or Honey F.

So everyone's clothes gets labelled like this.

It's probably one of the first things you learn to sew

when you start sewing at, like, 9, maybe?

What else have I got?

These are some of the photos

that I'd grabbed out of our family photo album.

I really like this one...

mainly because I'm on a tractor,

and girls weren't allowed to do 'boys' things.

So I always liked that, that I was on a tractor. (LAUGHS)

(CHILDREN SHOUT PLAYFULLY)

Boys and girls are kept very separate.

When you leave school at 15, you're not allowed to talk to the young men,

or, like, have anything to do with them.

Like, I got pulled into a meeting

because I was talking to my cousin,

and they thought we were having a relationship.

You're passing the same people every day.

You're living in the same hostels with them.

You're eating at the same table as them, but you're not to talk to them.

So you know them from just observing, really.

And I guess, you know their sisters, and so you hear stuff, but you shouldn't ever be alonetogether.

But the other side to that was

there was a lot of sexual talk, just in the...

in the normal daily happenings at Gloriavale.

(CROWD CHATTERS)

It was a bit weird. Like, some people were quite out in the open about their sex life,

and certain people in there would have quite radical views around sex and talk freely about it.

(CROWD CHATTERS)

It's not really breakfast material,

but, yeah, talking about different types of sex and, yeah,

and positions and everything, and I'm 8 or 9, like...

That's what you're exposed to.

And in a really close community like Gloriavale, you just can't escape it.

I supposed growing up in there, you don't really know what is acceptable behaviour.

But...

I was always glad I wasn't a girl, because the sex culture was terrible.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Hopeful talked all the time about, you know,

'Men get turned on by elbows, so don't pull your sleeves up.'

So, the girls are responsible for tempting the men ―

and they actually tell the guys that too ― 'You can't help yourselves.

'You girls, you can say no. You can stop it happening.

'Guys, once it's on, once you've tempted them,

'they can't stop it.'

And so, you've got boys growing up,

thinking that they can do whatever they like.

And then you've got girls growing up thinking,

'If something happens to me, it's my fault, '

and so, then not going and getting help,

because effectively, they're telling someone how bad they are.

(BROODING MUSIC)

The leaders quite often would flick your bra strap,

undo your belt or wrap their arms around your waist.

Or if you're standing at the table serving them,

they'll pull you in and rub your legs up and down.

Hopeful was definitely the worst.

Howard Temple was bad as well.

And Howard and Hopeful doing that,

that's saying to the other guys, 'This is OK.'

And they'd do it too.

I never remember Hopeful or Howard giving me inappropriate cuddles, etc.

I felt loved and cared for in an acceptable way.

Rosanna never told me or even hinted

that she hated the affection shown to her.

I always thought that she loved the well-meant attention.

She did not act like it was a problem.

I have not felt sexually threatened by any of the leaders.

On the contrary, I would feel safest with those men of God,

who give their lives to the people of the church and community.

- Now, Ms Stedfast, you just inserted a word there. - Sorry.

No, no, don't apologise.

Because it may be that you want to insert that word.

So you said, 'I've not felt―'

In your brief, you say, 'I have not felt threatened by any of the leaders.'

And when you spoke, I think you inserted the word 'sexually'.

Um, my brief says 'sexually'.

I think I wrote that.

And it's your evidence, so that's absolutely fine. Thank you.

(BIRDS CHIRP)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

I don't think there's any family in Gloriavale that hasn't either been the victim or an offender.

I was 7 when I was first abused.

I was, by one of my own family members, sexually abused from quite a young age...

probably around 7 or 8.

No one had any idea.

I had sexually abusive things happen to me.

I couldn't tell anyone because I couldn't trust anybody.

It... really...

changed me.

I just encased myself...

with anger,

with being tough...

to try and hide, yeah, like, the pain.

I came out one night to Marcus' place,

and he said, 'Look, you need to get help.'

And I was like, 'And what's that?

'What is help?'

I didn't know what help was...

because I'd never been given it my whole life.

So these are the cases that have been through the courts.

SIGHS: Oh.

READS: 'Charged with indecently assaulting a 9-year-old girl,

'and sentenced to six months community detention.

'Sexual offending youth court.

'Finished through the courts and free of conditions.

'38 charges including rape, sexual violation, indecent assault.

'Seven counts against offending young people.'

Five counts?

14 counts?

If you actually count up the number of people,

there's bloody heaps of them.

All this abuse. There's just so much of it, it makes me feel sick.

Sin and lust are everywhere. So, yes, in our ignorance and our desire to be merciful,

loving, and forgiving, there have been perverts among us,

but I have never heard sexual immorality encouraged,

condoned or taught.

NEVILLE: Young men and young women develop sexually, physically

when, say, they're 13, 14.

But yet in society, they didn't get married until well into their 20s.

Society says, 'Oh well, we'll let the young people fornicate.'

And we say, 'No, they should be married.'

That super strict morality is often just a cover...

for something darker.

My dad believed that pre-marital sex was such a sin and such a shame...

and he didn't teach men to control themselves.

So he had...

the young people married off.

♪ There ain't no rules I'll disobey,

♪ except the one that says I'm free to go my way.

When the girls were clearing the tables one day, after breakfast,

we saw this sheet of paper at Hopeful's place at the table.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

It had all the boys' names and all the girls' names on the other side.

♪ So I will take the vow with my own hand.

I can remember actually being quite shocked

that Hopeful had 'down to 2-year-olds' matched up.

But he did used to say all the time too,

that it was his responsibility as the leader to make sure the bloodlines weren't mixed up.

There's me. I'm here.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

MAN: Hey!

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Some of us didn't get to see, but I knew that I was on the list, and I was terrified,

but I knew that I'd have to say yes. Like, I knew that I'd have no choice.

Getting married in Gloriavale, it is an arranged marriage.

I went and approached Hopeful and said that I'd like to get married,

And he was like, 'Yep, OK.

'So what do you think about marrying Tabitha?'

I was just like,

'I don't even know what to say.'

It's like she didn't even exist up until this point.

So, you know, we talked a bit about, you know, just doing God's will and that,

and being happy with things, you know,

and that they had to consider bloodlines, and all that sort of thing.

And I'm like, 'Uh...

'yeah.

'OK.'

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

This one is Tabitha's wedding day.

We look quite similar, and we would get mixed up as being twins,

but our personalities are quite different.

I'm very, like, strong-willed, and she'll just, like, do whatever.

Even though I wanted to have kids,

I didn't want to be married to any of the men in Gloriavale,

and I didn't wanna be told who I had to marry.

I actually thought that they would make me marry this guy, and I actually couldn't standhim,

and I knew that both him and Elijah had gone to ask Hopeful if they could get married.

Just the whispers, the rumours go around.

And I just remember praying one night to God

and actually saying, 'Please don't make me marry this guy.

'I can't stand him. I wanna marry Elijah.'

I loved how he treated his mum and his sisters. Yeah.

And I just thought he was cool. He had a cool walk. (LAUGHS)

A week later, Elijah asked my dad if he could marry me,

and the relief, the utter relief that I felt.

(APPLAUSE)

When God

created Adam,

he was alone.

He said, 'It's not good for man to be alone.'

So he created a helping. - Amen!

I was really happy to marry Rosie,

but apart from being attractive and an all-round good girl,

I didn't really know her that well.

I know that you're a servant of God, and you obey his word.

So I can easily submit myself to you and trust the decisions you make.

And I'll love all your children,

and gladly give myself as a Christian mother to raise them.

I'll love you, and I promise to make you happy.

BOTH: ♪ In this world of sin and sorrow,

♪ where men's hearts

♪ fare for fear,

♪ we have hope and bless and assurance...

NEVILLE: God has given something wonderful to the female.

He's given her a seal,

and that guarantee and that seal

was to be given to her husband.

He was the one to open it,

and that was what marriage is about.

Once you're married, you're expected to have children straight away.

A lot of the woman's value is in...

yeah, how many kids she has

and how well she has them.

If you're getting pregnant and having kids fast, then God's blessing you;

and if you're not, then what are you doing wrong?

And if you're not, then what are you doing wrong?

You can say hello to the camera.

You look better than Mum.

ELIJAH: Hey, Seth.

Hi, Dad.

My kids came pretty soon afterwards.

My first five are actually within five years and three months, and none of them are twins.

(TODDLERS CHATTER)

Honey, be gentle.

The first turning point for us was actually when I had Honor.

- Ooh, here we go. - (LAUGHS)

(SMACKS LIPS)

Beauty. - I love you too.

Look at that beautiful face, nice up close.

Big smile. (BABY CRIES)

Then there goes the loudmouth.

Yum, yum, yum.

I remember looking at her in the cot and thinking, 'She's not safe here.'

On my husband's part, as a dad, he's thinking about his kids.

And, you know, 'Is this the place I want my kids to grow up in?'

But we still thought that it was the only place we could raise them.

So then we thought, 'Well, we've gotta, you know,

'start making some changes and make this place safe.'

I still believed in Gloriavale,

but then I talked to one of Hopeful's sons

who had been kicked out...

and he told me that his dad was...

put in prison for

sexual abuse

on young girls.

And that was it. Like, I just had seen enough.

I knew there had to be something a lot better than Gloriavale,

because the way they operated wasn't right.

(BROODING MUSIC)

It was a rainy day, it was lunchtime.

I walked up to Hopeful. I was very nervous,

and I said, 'Hopeful, there's a few questions I would like to ask you.

'They're quite serious questions. Could we go somewhere private?'

So we jumped in the car.

I said to him, 'Why are you our leader?

'Why are you our representative, when you've got criminal convictions?'

And he just got angry at me.

NEVILLE: I will not listen to you!

He didn't deny anything.

He never answered whether it was true or not.

He didn't wanna listen or talk or explain anything.

Hopeful came bursting in and said,

'Your husband's made a big mess, and he's brought the law,

'and the police is here to take kids off you.

'You need to go and tell them to go away, and we can calm the situation down.'

I was so scared. I was so scared that they were gonna take my kids off me. I didn't know why.

I couldn't see any police,

and the whole community was out the front.

Get out, sinner!

You're not welcome here!

Get out!

You are not welcome!

Be gone!

Elijah was wild. I'd never seen him like that before.

You don't have a family anymore!

I put the Devil in you!

I put the Devil in you!

I'm running around screaming.

I didn't want this to be the last time I ever see my wife and kids.

Get out! The Devil is in you!

We ran to each other, and Hopeful walked straight up to us and pulled us apart.

He's like, 'You don't love each other.

'This man's an evil man, and you are not bound to be with him ever again.'

They ended up just picking me up and carrying me out.

The next thing I knew, they had flown her out of there.

I didn't see my family for six weeks after that.

I can't really remember...

thinking much until I realised

that we'd been flying up the coast,

that I'd seen the coastline for ages, and I couldn't see Gloriavale. (SNIFFLES)

And I said to the pilot, 'Where are we going?'

He said, 'Don't worry about it.

'You don't need to be bothered with these things.

'We'll look after you. We care about you even though your husband doesn't.' (SNIFFLES)

They said Elijah had been caught in an affair with an outside woman,

that one of the Gloriavale men had found him.

I was just extremely confused.

I loved him a lot, and...

I couldn't― I couldn't see living without him, like, as an option.

It was six weeks.

Yeah, we were in hiding.

We had to get new clothes. (SNIFFLES)

We had to change our names.

What is it, Seth?

(CRIES)

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know I could call the police.

And so I just decided that God would have to work a miracle, because...

I didn't know what to do.

(BROODING MUSIC)

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

I still remember hearing the phone ring in Dad's bag.

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

I got the phone, I said, 'Hi, '

and the voice on the other end of the phone said, 'I've gotcha.'

He told me that Hopeful went to jail...

for sexual abuse.

As soon as he told me that, I felt like it was the truth.

It felt like it connected all the last dots for me.

(BROODING MUSIC)

I actually remember thinking, 'If the leaders are lying to me about this stuff, what else isa lie?

'Like, how much more of my life is a lie?'

(BIRDS CHIRP)

So pretty. (LAUGHS)

It's even got my name on it, see?

There we go.

My old life in all its glory. (LAUGHS)

Oh, wow.

These are all letters from after we left Gloriavale,

and this is probably only half of them. The rest of them went straight in the fire before theywere read.

Here we go.

READS: 'Elijah and Rosanna, I will attempt to explain to you why I have made a stand against you.

'Pride has been a sin that has done the damage. You've been covetous.

'How much do you love the things of this world?

'You're boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,

'unthankful, false accusers, despisers of those that are good, traitors.

'I believe that the Devil came along and sewed doubts

'and fears in your minds, and has robbed you of your faith.

'Your children's lives will be affected.

Their spirits will became lean, and eventually they'll die.

'When will you wake up?'

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Now

I can see through them.

At the time, when we were getting them, really hard to read.

And a lot, I couldn't read them, or I'd... cry

or get angry.

ELIJAH: All right. Come on, Seth.

Come, Muscles!

- (GRUNTS) - ROSANNA: Awesome, Seth! - Here, here, here, here.

- (LAUGHS) - Now let's see Mum out.

LAUGHS: Get Mum out.

Oh no!

Out. (ROSANNA AND ELIJAH LAUGH)

REPORTER: Hopeful Christian, founder of the Gloriavale commune

and convicted sex offender has died of cancer at the age of 92.

REPORTER: He built Gloriavale on a foundation of privacy.

The commune won't even confirm his death.

(SAW WHIRRS)

I was aware that my dad was quite sick

and that he was likely to die.

I realised that there was no way I was probably gonna get

to say goodbye to him in any, you know, nice fashion.

I felt sad.

I felt sad that, you know...

uh...

Yeah, I mean,

I felt sad and relieved, OK?

In one moment, I'd be angry; the next moment, I was relieved; the next moment, I was crying.

Yeah.

It would have been really nice that, you know,

we could have parted, you know, him realising

that I wasn't his enemy, that I actually cared about him.

Yeah. It wasn't to be.

NEVILLE: And you believe that he's God's son,

that died on the cross for your sins?

It would be, 'Look, Dad, even though you didn't think so...

'I did my best to love you.'

(EMOTIONAL MUSIC)

(EMOTIONAL MUSIC SWELLS)

(BREATHES HEAVILY, LAUGHS NERVOUSLY)

Now you're bringing back, um, (CHUCKLES) emotions into the picture.

I haven't had that emotion over Dad for a long time.

So, you know, memories bring back those sort of things to you.

(EMOTIONAL MUSIC CONTINUES, FADES)

REPORTER: A closed community closing ranks even further on what's believed

to be the day of their leader's funeral,

Just one day after 92-year-old Hopeful Christian is reported to have died.

The funeral was had, like, the very next day.

And when I rang up about it,

it was definitely done in such a way

to make sure none of his rejected children turned up

at his funeral.

♪ The alter lays bare blood-stained shrines,

♪ one's glistening grows full of disquiet.

♪ We forged the frontier, spring thaw at our sides.

♪ Man, we bought the lot,

♪ psyche.

♪ Naught imaginable was missing.

♪ The outcome was unordained.

♪ The voices you hear are your handmaids

♪ performing on-scene for you, psyche.

♪ Sailing,

♪ sailing under a bad star.

♪ Who are we?

♪ Who are we in this light?

BOAZ: When we went down to the graveyard,

there's lots of people around crying that he had died,

but I don't think I really actually felt anything.

I think a lot of that has to do with all that pain and hurt.

Like, it's like I taught myself to feel nothing.

Growing up, you just thought he was always gonna be alive.

Like, everyone thought he was just, like, invincible

and that God would come back before he would die.

So it was, like, a weird feeling that was like, what was gonna happen?

It even came out in the news, you know, who's gonna be the new leader?

REPORTER: The Gloriavale Christian Community could be at a significant crossroads.

REPORTER: Big questions remain about who will take over from Hopeful Christian,

who will be the next to lead Gloriavale, and whether,

indeed, it can survive

without their charismatic, spiritual ― but flawed ― leader.

(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC)

(MUSIC STOPS)

♪ There ain't no rules I'll disobey,

♪ except the one that says I'm free to go my way.

♪ So I will take the vow

♪ now my heart begins to

♪ out. ♪

(VOCALISING)

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