WEBVTT - La Luz del Mundo: Left for Dead 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:04.360 Before we jump in, we must warn you this episode 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:08.400 contains content such as sexual abuse that may be disturbing 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:20.840 to some people. Listener discretion is advised. Picture this December 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:26.479 nineteen eighty one, Puertoayarta, Mexico. Flowers are in full bloom 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:29.000 and you can hear the sound of waves crushing below 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.840 the cliffs of the villa's gardens. What Moises Padilla does 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:38.159 not notice the beautiful scenery Moises here. Samuel call for 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:41.040 him from the balcony of the mansion, telling him to 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:45.360 come inside, but Moises ignores him. He is too busy 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.520 looking for a rock, a big one, a rock heavy 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:50.280 enough to bush the head of some oil into a 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:54.000 pulp and kill him. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.520 Mal Joannes Momento sipence matarlotamente pince mata. 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:02.800 I felt awful. All I could think about was killing him. 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.880 I looked at a rock and thought I'll kicked him 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.680 in his knots and break his face with that stone. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:12.600 But I stopped. I told myself, no, no, no, If 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.240 I do that, he'll end up a martyr and I'll 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:17.480 be in jail for the rest of my life, or 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:19.479 be killed in prison by the followers of the Light 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:20.039 of the World. 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:28.640 I imagine the memory of that rock flashed through Moises's 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:32.440 head seventeen years later as he lay completely naked, bruce 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.160 and bleeding on to call asphalt in the middle of nowhere. 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.640 If Moises had chosen action over mercy back then, he 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:44.400 might have avoided this particular fate. Viciously stabbed over sixty 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:46.520 times and left for dead on the side of a 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:52.040 deserted road on the outskirts of Wallajara, Mexico, Moyses caught 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.040 a glimpse of his attackers. The men held bent on 0:01:55.080 --> 0:02:00.440 destroying his life, and one of them. He recognized that 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.600 man is what this story is all about. As the 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.520 men walked away, Moses felt himself living his body, but 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:13.119 he would survive, and so would his plan for revenge. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.520 I'm Robert T. Garza, and this is Sacred Scandal, Season two. 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:39.560 La Us del Mundo, Episode two, Left for Dead. Moses 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.800 Padilla grew up in the seventies and eighties Inner Moosa Provincia, 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.840 a neighborhood in the Mexican city of Wallajare Inner Moosa Provincia. 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:52.679 All of Moyses's friends, neighbors, teachers, basically everybody belonged to 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:57.520 Lalus del Mundo or l DM for short. Moses was 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:01.560 born into a church family. Mother joined after meeting his mother, 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:07.000 Maria and Moises's grandmother. Maria's mother had been a member, 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:11.400 serving under the original apostle, Aaron, who founded the church 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.000 in the nineteen twenties. We'll hear more about Aron later, 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:18.280 but for now, what you need to know is this. 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:23.560 In the nineteen eighties, LLDM was growing. Samuel Jaquin had 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.680 taken the reins in the nineteen sixties after his father's 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:33.320 Aaron's death, and Samuel had big plans. Under Samuel's leadership, 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.720 the church was booming, expanding internationally and consolidating its importance 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:42.440 and clouds in Mexico. Unlike his father, Aaron, Samuel treated 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.280 LLM like a corporation, establishing clear hierarchies within the church, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:51.080 pushing for its international expansion, and consolidating a strict code 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:56.080 of conduct for members. Life insider Mossa Provincia was structured 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.600 around the church, and Moises Padilla's life was no different. 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.400 As a boy, he founded and led the church's youth choir. 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:06.840 He attended services three times a day, and in his 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:10.440 spare time, he collected money for the temple. Unlike any 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.880 good believer. Moses, his friends and family revered the Apostles 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:19.960 sa Molhoakin like a god for Moises. Being born into 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.760 a church family came with certain privileges. As a kid, 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.880 Moses was often invited to someone's house the Casagrande or 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.120 great house, to play with some Moelhuakin's children, or, as 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:36.039 church insiders called them, the royal Princess. Moses felt very 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.560 proud to be a part of it all. On one 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.719 of those visits, when Moses was sixteen years old, some 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.479 well invited Moises to stay for lunch that was considered 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:50.719 a rare blessing. The apostles served a beautiful lobster meal 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.080 and then invited Moises to drive him to his beach 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:57.640 house in Portoayarta, several hours away. This was a true 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.080 honor for Moises and his family could not be refused. 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.520 To drive from Gualajara to Portoyerta is scenic. Two hundred 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.000 miles of lush mountains transport you from one of the 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:13.000 densest cities in Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. But Moises 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.760 did not notice the gorgeous plains or mountains. He was 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:20.000 disturbed by the man next to him. Samuel Juaquin, his apostle, 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:24.640 his leader, a trusted family friend, suddenly put his hand 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:28.080 on Moises's leg and began to move it upwards, and 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.000 he did not stop. By the time they arrived at 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:36.240 the beach house, Moises was trembling. He remembers being aroused 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:41.119 and feeling terribly ashamed. Things only got warse inside the house. 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.760 After it was all over, Moses ran outside to the 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:46.320 garden and threw up. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:50.200 Or yo yovnia. 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.240 All I could do was cry. 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.320 Moys says, was upset and tried to comfort him. 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.400 Yeah as in Musi and said no, no, there was 0:05:59.440 --> 0:05:59.920 a pilt. 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.000 He was very tender. He told me, no, no, you 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.640 must not feel bad because today you have learned the 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.719 secrets of a servant of God. I asked, what secrets 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:12.520 you have a wife? This is not an act of God, 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.560 he says. You must understand that I'm an angel. Angels 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.000 do not have sex. We can enjoy a man or 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:19.480 a woman. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.760 Samoltolmois says that what had taken place between them was 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:29.440 not profane, but divine, not rape, but a blessing. And 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.480 then he told musays one other very important. 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:37.280 Thing, nulidigas nada to Papa Nia tu sermanus nulisdigas na. 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.559 Don't say anything to your dad or your brothers. Don't 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.120 tell them anything, because if they leave the church, you 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:46.160 will be responsible for their condemnation. 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.919 Back in Wajara, Monses kept the abuse his secret. He 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:56.200 told no one, not his parents or his sisters. The 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.960 apostle had warned him that if he talked about what 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.440 had happened, he and his family would be damned to hell. 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.279 Shortly after his return, his fourteen year old sister Martha 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:13.080 began acting strangely. She started wetting her bed, She stopped showering, 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.080 combing her hair, and washing her clothes. 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.679 One of mister Romanda's Martha me, one. 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.880 Of my sisters, tells me that she is leaving home. 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.280 She didn't want to tell me why. 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:32.480 Concerned, Mosses pressed Martha for more details. At first, Martha 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:36.040 refused to tell him anything, but little by little the 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:40.000 truth came out, and soon an alliance formed between Muises 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:44.040 and Martha. It was then the brother and sisters started 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:48.120 a lifelong journey putting together the pieces of generations of 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:53.280 abuse that went far beyond brother and sister. We'll get 0:07:53.280 --> 0:08:05.360 to that very soon. What Moyses learned from Martha's confession 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:08.320 was that his sister had a story very similar to his. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.200 Own e Medico Quez Amoeila. 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.080 And then she says that Samuel had raped her and 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.840 that her mother had taken her when she was only thirteen. 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:22.160 Martha's strange behavior began just after this encounter. Like Mois says, 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:26.240 Martha was sworn to secrecy, threatened with the condemnation of 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.480 their entire family to hell if she told. But unlike Moises, 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.199 she was given to the apostle willingly by her mother. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.080 And then Martha told, Mois says. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:41.560 And it turns out that my mother also offered herself 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:43.720 in at the age of thirteen. 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:47.400 His own mother, Maria, had been raped as a girl 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:52.160 by Ron SAME's father, an El d M's founder its 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:56.560 very first Apostle. She had been taken by her mother, 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:02.000 Moises's grandmother. All his life, moys has had heard the rumors. 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.959 Rumors of the Apostles had once assault on his own stepsister, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.680 not yet twelve years old, of erotic costume parties the 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:15.120 handmaid and arranged for Samuel's birthdays. He also remembered the 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.760 young pretty girl Samuel surrounded himself with and the older 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.640 handmaiden who always seemed to watch them like hawks. Rumors 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:27.040 that the faithful listening obediently to their pastors dismissed as 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:31.559 the work of evil apostates speaking for Satan. But Moyses 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.960 couldn't deny the rumors any more. He was both witness 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.760 and evidence. How to move forward with this knowledge, however, 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:44.560 would not be easy. In l D, m accusations are hushed, punished, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.760 and denied from generation to generation. At the church. The 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.840 mere mention of the apostles in proprieties is considered the 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.920 gravest of sins, meriting eternal damnation in heaven and a 0:09:55.960 --> 0:10:01.080 harsh response from the Church on Earth. Members who leave 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:05.679 the church are exiled and called impure an apostles. It's 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.760 been two years since an incident with some will in Portoyata, 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.480 two years of tough, horrifying revelations that hut turned Moyses's 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:18.440 world upside down. He was now eighteen. He began saving money. 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.760 He planned to leave the church and his family for good, 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.000 but he couldn't stop thinking of his sister Martha, his 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:30.480 new baby sister Miriam. Living would save himself, but not them, 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:34.640 nor any other believer. He had to tell the truth, 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.080 starting with his. 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:39.480 Father innocent momento with look at you. 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.720 And at that moment, what I did was to save 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.280 some money in case my father did not believe us. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.160 What I did was to prepare everything to rent an 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.960 apartment and take my sister with me in case my 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.480 father kicked us out of the house, which is the 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:54.400 most common thing that happens in this cult. 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:59.160 Moises braced himself for a confrontation. After a couple of 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.520 months of washing cars and tending houses, he was ready 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:07.000 for the worst. Moyses approached his father and told him. 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:11.480 Everything afuntek jo Ablo dees to commit. 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.120 Fortunately, when I talked to my father about this, he 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:15.880 listens to me. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.800 Not only did his father believe him, he agreed to 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:23.120 leave the church with his son and young daughters. His 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:27.880 mother and older sister, Magdalena were less understanding. They called 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.360 moisays on his father liars and sinners and decided to 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:32.920 stay put by Samuel's side. 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:36.680 They prefily Glesia nolin Porto. 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.439 She chose the church over everything. She left my baby sister, 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:44.160 and he didn't FaZe her. Miriam was only three years old. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:47.520 Can you imagine she didn't care that she was choosing 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.439 to stay in that church over her three year old daughter. 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.199 For the first time in his life, Moyses was free. 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.440 He felt relieved to be out from under the control 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.680 of the apostles and the rest of the flock. However, 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:03.319 he was not satisfied with simply walking away. 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.920 He wanted justice daima Nazi in La. 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.240 Of course, it was only natural that I'd come up 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:13.800 with a plan of attack as strategy to put him 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:15.559 in jail. I was focused. 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:20.560 At twenty years old, Moyses started studying law, believing that 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.120 this was the way to bring Samoil and LDM down. 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:28.880 His father, Primitivo, a judge, gave him a reality check. 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:34.920 No, I didn't finish my law degree because of my father, 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:37.840 and with good reason. He would tell me that the 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.480 country's laws existed but were rarely enforced. 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.560 Primitivo then offered to help his son with his plan. 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.079 Lo mimo medisee almost. 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.800 He says to me, let's investigate the families that have left, 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:51.640 the ones they call impure. 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.840 So Moises and his father, in order to form a 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:58.280 clear picture of the scope of someone's abuses, reached out 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:00.720 to other families that had already they left the church. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.360 Musimos lat the carculas familias. 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.160 We talked to those families and it was a river 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.880 of tears, every one of them relieved the suffering sam 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:12.679 Well had custom. 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.720 Together, father and son began building a case against LLEDM, 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.360 one that would show the abuses were not exceptional, but 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.960 built into the church's operations, crimes that required the church's 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:30.439 institutional oversight and protection to be enacted and covered up. Primitivo. 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:32.760 Tolmis says that they must do this work in secrets 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:36.959 until their case was strong enough, because once they went public, 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.880 his father warned it would not be easy. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:42.360 Matta, they will kill you. 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:59.120 Ever since the church's earliest days, LDM had carefully cultivated 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.360 its earthly power. When Apostle ar Owned founded the church 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.840 back in the nineteen twenties, Mexico was governed by the PRI, 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.440 a single ruling party that held unchecked power for over 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:16.160 seventy years, basically a dictatorship with little to know governmental 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:19.840 checks or balances. What the ruling class wanted it got. 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:25.000 LEDM worked willingly with the PRI. When the PRI needed 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:27.720 something like a large number of people to attend rallies 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.120 for the campaign work, or a huge base mobilized to 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.400 vote one way or another. PRI only had to phone 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.120 up the Apostle and say the word, and LEDM would 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:41.240 quickly deploy its thousands of believers. It was not uncommon 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.160 to have one hundred percent of her most provincials votes 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:50.000 go to PRI. This relationship worked both ways. Pr got 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.760 to use ledm's base, and LEDM was able to operate 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:59.040 not only undisturbed by government authorities, but openly aided by them. 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.920 For example, when Samuel decided to build a giant temple 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.960 in Hermosa Provincia in nineteen eighty one, the plan encountered 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.960 no pushback, no red tape, no pesky inspectors, and a 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:15.440 full tax exemption. Add a corrupt political structure to a 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.960 massive cult. Following and Yu get l uzel Mundo, an 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:23.440 organization operating almost totally outside the law, yet in plain 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:29.760 sight uncrackable. As former church insiders, Moyses and his father knew, 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.840 it would not be easy to find justice. The pair 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.320 spent over five years building their first case. They gathered 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:40.240 testimonial after testimonial of the Apostle's abuses and corruption. 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:44.760 Nopalsindo Juez said Toma Multovo. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.320 As a judge. My father summoned up all his courage 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:50.720 and political connections and attempted to file a criminal case 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:51.280 against them. 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:55.120 Will Finally, Muses and his father filed acclaim against Samuel 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:56.600 Juaquin for abuse. 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.200 No no longer, but that ultimately fails. 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.800 So they went back to the families and survivors, gathered 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:09.240 more evidence, fathered another lawsuit, and another and another. Every 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.520 single time, I says, and his father got stuck in 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:16.120 one bureaucratic nightmare after another, bumped from office to office 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:21.360 in a whirlwind of lost papers and misplaced evidence. After 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:25.200 several fell lawsuits, Moses's father decided to pull some strings. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:29.000 Perhaps they could not win in Wallajara, so maybe they 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.080 should try their luck in Mexico City. They hopped on 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.320 a plane to visit an old schoolmate of his dad's, 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.560 a high profile politician and tamin AD minister. 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.920 Fum in Nocuiso. He at a COI. 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:45.040 We went to his office, but he wanted nothing to 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.080 do with it. It got heated and he ended up 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.600 throwing my dad out of his office. He said he 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.280 was busy and he had no time for this nonsense. 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.200 He told him not to start trouble with religious leaders, 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.440 they're untouchable in Mexico. 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.840 In nineteen ninety four, twelve years after Moyses and his 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.720 father left the church, mister Padilla passed away without saying 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.879 his children get any justice. Before he died, he shared 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.240 something with his son that has to find Moyses's life 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:14.960 ever since. 0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:19.119 Dreguerdo and Papa as in. 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:22.280 Siundia, dios toga to puerpo para kessum baso. 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.520 I remember my dad telling me, if God calls you 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:27.800 one day to be the vessel that brings justice for 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.000 all the children that have been raped, for all elderly 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:34.160 that had their homes taken away, and for all the parents' 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.280 outrage over their heritage, you must do it. Don't be afraid, 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:40.600 just do it. Nothing will happen to you. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.120 Moyses knew that to defeat el DM he would need 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:48.879 a better plan. Anonymous testimonials would not be enough. He 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.840 teamed up with Fernando Flores, the church's longtime archivist and historian. 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.800 Flores helped Mouses find survivors willing to speak out publicly 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:01.199 against l DM, no matter the cost. By the end 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.080 of the summer of nineteen ninety seven, the newly formed 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:05.240 Front was ready. 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.119 El gurupido. The Valiantes has to be on the paramison 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:10.400 as it was a. 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:14.280 Small, brave group of people. In my eyes, they were heroes. 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:17.560 It was a tough time. There was no social media, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.359 and we knew that we were facing a political and 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:21.399 economic monster. 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:24.840 Moises and the other members of the group went on 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.520 to file criminal complaints in Mexico City. They knew they 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.960 were likely to be rejected or indefinitely archived by the authorities, 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.359 but this time they got receipts. 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.920 Nonos geria acetarla de nuncia. 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.440 They did not want to accept the complaints, and we 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.719 knew they wouldn't. We believed that the best option at 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.879 that point was to have the attorney's stamp and signature. 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:50.800 We wanted the time and date stamped right then and 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:59.399 there in his office, and so we played dumb and 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:01.280 act like we weren't sure if they could do us 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:03.560 the favor. We were ensure they would give us a 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.960 receipt acknowledging the complaint, but they gave it to us 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:08.200 as planned. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.119 Their filing went nowhere, but this time Moises and his 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:16.679 group would use Mexico's bureaucratic nightmare to their advantage. With 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.719 the documents in hand, they went on newsrooms and national 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:23.640 talk shows publicly denouncing the Apostle and LDM for abuse. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.439 Sam Oil and LDM tried to get in front of 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.960 the story, but the damage was inescapable. They went from 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.000 the nile to full bloom panic. Some Oil and his 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.359 minions even attempted to buy up all the newspapers covering 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:41.560 the subject in Wallajara and destroy them, but it was pointless. 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:47.040 The story was everywhere more on that after the break 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.160 Moises on the group had chosen to sidestep the inefficient 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:01.800 and corrupt legals system and go straight to the court 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.320 of public opinion. After appearing on some of the most 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:09.720 important newscasts in the country like televisas, the Traslanatissia and 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.639 SAW the Mexico and the Luni Versal, the group was 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:16.320 overwhelmed with requests for interviews by newspapers, radio stations, and 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:21.160 TV channels. They could feel the tides changing. Their next 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.359 step was a big public action, a hunger strike. In 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:28.080 the winter of nineteen ninety seven, Moises and a group 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:32.359 of ledm's defectors set up camping downtown Mexico City. Write 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:36.440 under what amounts to Mexico's Homeland Security Offices, the offices 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:39.400 that in the country grant any annual churches a license 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:43.840 to operate on Mexican soil. The Hunger's strike was not easy. 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:48.160 There was no rest at the campsite. Ledm members constantly 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:52.159 harassed them. They threw thrush at the strikers, honked and 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:54.960 shouted at all hours of the night, and even ran 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.760 their cars into the tents at the site. Moses had 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:02.439 to maintain a constant vie vilence. But Moyses knew he 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:05.120 was getting under the Apostle's skin when a lawyer showed 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:06.760 up with a briefcase. 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:12.560 Samuel Joaquin Mando la Luzel Mundo. 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:15.680 Samuel Joaquim sent two of his lawyers from the light 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.399 of the world with a four million dollar brivee. They 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:21.280 said that brother Samuel was upset and saddened by what 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:23.440 he had done and the damage he had got to 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.800 the church. He sends this money as an apology and 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:28.680 hopes we can put this matter to rest. 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.440 When Moyses opened the briefcase, all he felt was rage. 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:39.760 Korah I was speechless until one of the lawyers told me, 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.320 it's a lot of money. Moy says, I'm normally not 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:46.320 a rude or nasty person, but at that moment I 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.399 told him to take the damn money and go. I 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:51.920 asked them to do me a huge favor and take 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:55.119 every single one hundred dollar bill and stick it up 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:55.480 his ass. 0:21:56.400 --> 0:22:01.440 A couple weeks later, Samuel's lawyer visited again, this time 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:09.320 with six million dollars. Again Moises refused. Immediately after, Mosas 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:13.600 was invited into Mexico's Homeland Security office for a private 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:15.440 meeting with the Secretary of the Interior. 0:22:16.280 --> 0:22:22.360 Yeah, secretarial, and that's when the Secretary of the Interior 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.119 yelled at me, insulted me, and asked if I had 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:28.000 a visa for the United States. I told him yes. 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:30.760 He told me to go to the United States and 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:33.119 as a favor, I could go in a government plane. 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.560 Arriving in a government plane will ensure I wouldn't be searched. 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:41.120 He said, take your money and get lost. I don't 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.480 need you costing me any more problems. Then, with a 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.200 straight face, he says, I know you're right, but there 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:50.800 is no room in prison for so many Samolites. 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:53.720 He's a miss Manocia for Pando mess question. 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:56.679 That same night, I was kidnapped. 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:03.480 That night, who says returned home to Arajara. He was exhausted. 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:08.280 The hunger strike had gone nowhere. He was looking forward 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:10.760 to a couple of nights rest at home before regrouping 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:14.560 and deciding what to do next. That evening, when he 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:17.920 stepped out to buy some groceries, six men jumped him 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:22.040 and shoved him into a car with tinted windows. He 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:24.320 imagined he would be taken to one of the tunnels 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:28.400 or secret rooms hidden under Ledm's main temple, the one 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:32.000 Samuel had built in the nineteen eighties. But that's not 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:32.639 what happened. 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:39.119 La. He standoned and through the Losrangos. 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:41.400 They took me to the farmland around Tonella, and that's 0:23:41.400 --> 0:23:42.320 when they tortured me. 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:48.600 They drove to the outskirts of the city into an 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:52.600 abandoned warehouse and proceeded to beat him furiously, yelling at 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:56.320 him that he should have kept his mouth shut, And 0:23:56.359 --> 0:23:58.400 then several of them took out their. 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:05.960 Knives, and just as they're stabbing me, I'm freed and 0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:11.280 Sante Sally. It was like an out of body experience. 0:24:11.600 --> 0:24:14.280 I can look down at the six men about to torture. 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:17.040 Me, Moises says, he was able to clearly see his 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:20.840 attackers and that he knew they were federal police officers. 0:24:21.359 --> 0:24:24.520 We have been since Cio pourque la luzel Mounto. 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:29.800 Simply put, the light of the world was connected and 0:24:30.000 --> 0:24:33.840 pulled favors. Everyone knew that Samuela and his children had 0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:36.280 bodyguards who were paid for by the government. 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:40.080 Most of the men he couldn't place, but there was 0:24:40.119 --> 0:24:43.640 one face he did recognize, a man Moisees had known 0:24:43.720 --> 0:24:46.679 all his life. He had often played with him as 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:47.240 a little boy. 0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:51.200 Sally or mean Sante Sally. 0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:54.720 My spiritual body comes out, or my consciousness comes out. 0:24:55.320 --> 0:24:56.920 I can look at the six who were going to 0:24:57.040 --> 0:25:01.159 torture me. The truth is believe me didn't care. I 0:25:01.280 --> 0:25:02.960 knew that I was going to a better place. 0:25:04.200 --> 0:25:07.400 But at that moment he was oblivious, floating between life 0:25:07.440 --> 0:25:10.280 and death on experience. 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:16.280 It was a beautiful experience. The moment thinking energy meets 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:20.680