(JAMAICA)
The Gleaner [Kingston, Jamaica]
June 11, 2023
By Janet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
Former leader at controversial Qahal Yahweh Church shares how he, his pregnant wife and others were beaten into submission
WESTERN BUREAU:
Shane Wise* can clearly remember that day over five years ago when he and his pregnant wife were reportedly brutally beaten when they tried to leave the Qahal Yahweh Church compound in Paradise, Norwood, St James.
In fact, etched in his memory are the many horrible abuses he witnessed during the five years he lived at the controversial church, as the leaders reportedly used brute force and intimidation to brainwash the followers into submission.
Returning to the island last week to finally report all the horrors that happened at the church during the period he was there, Wise said he is now ready to speak out, no longer afraid, as he sat down with The Sunday Gleaner during an exclusive interview on Thursday.
The Qahal Yahweh Church made headlines last week when it was raided by a police-military operation early Wednesday morning. Twenty-three children were removed from the facility and placed in state custody after attending the St James Family Court.
This was the second raid of the controversial religious order in four years, following reports of child endangerment. Many have labelled the church as a cult, with rampant reports of physical abuse, child abuse, sexual assault, forced marriages, and wife-swapping.
‘Priests should only marry virgins’
At the age of 29, Wise became deeply involved in the religious order while searching for a spiritual leader. Introduced to the faith by a friend in the Caribbean island where he resides, he later found himself immersed in a community where the chastity of young females was highly valued.
“The leaders consider virginity important due to the concept of priesthood. According to their beliefs, priests should only marry virgins. It is a profound ritual, almost like a secret binding that gives them a sense of autonomy within the organisation,” Wise shared.
When he came to Jamaica and arrived at the compound in 2017, he said he was bestowed with a virgin partner, who was just about to turn 18, and granted leadership status. According to the customs of the church, parents had no say in the grooming of their daughters for sexual orientation or forced marriages.
Soon after, he and his wife were expecting their first child.
Wise said one day he and his wife expressed a desire to leave the compound, just so they could get some intimacy outside of the communal setting, but their request was met with fierce resistance.
With scores of persons living on the compound, he said the communal setup was quite restrictive and sometimes suffocating, with small, shared spaces, so they wanted a little break from it.
That was when he first experienced the brutal abuse at the hands of the leaders, led by two brothers.
He recounted that day quite vividly.
“We were surrounded by the main leader and the other leaders. It soon became confrontational and then the abuse started,” he shared.
“The leader grabbed me by my shirt, aggressively yanking my shirt back and forth. Then another one started speaking in tongues and they became frenzied, speaking in different languages.”
Wise said one of them then started raining blows on his pregnant wife, who suffered bleeding because of it. The leaders formed a barrier around him, criticising him for his lack of vision.
He said they then subjected the couple to brutal beatings, repeatedly instructing them not to resist, claiming it was the “way of Yahweh”.
At one point, Wise said he was held by his windpipe and choked. When the beating eventually ceased, the leaders offered comfort, urging him to be a man.
“I was in a vulnerable situation, not knowing anyone outside the community. I didn’t live in Jamaica. All I knew in the area was the compound. It was late at night so even if I tried to escape, it would have been more dangerous for me, because we knew that Norwood, the neighbouring area is not safe at nights,” he said.
He had no phone, or cash since the leaders had already confiscated certain privileges, Wise said.
Lacking financial resources, Wise and his wife were at the mercy of community, but “I had to stay for the well-being of my wife and unborn child,” he said.
‘Psychological warfare’
Wise said he became a target of constant abuse, even when he failed to display sufficient enthusiasm during worship.
“If I shouted hallelujah and he (leader) deemed it insufficiently anointed, he would instruct another leader to slap my ear and chest, forcing me to cooperate and bow down,” he said.
Wise was often considered resistant and, as he puts it, “to crack my nut they used brute force”.
He accused the Qahal Yahweh Church leaders of manipulating their followers through fear and intimidation, thereby ensuring compliance. On witnessing the beating of fellow members, individuals became less inclined to challenge the leadership. Compliance became the norm to avoid similar punishment.
During Wise’s time at the compound, he said over 100 people resided there, including original members predating the current leaders.
“They would take what they could from them, then push them out. The method the leaders used was a form of mind manipulation, which new members were not aware of,” he said.
Despite the hardship, he managed to endure. However, during his stay he watched as persons were mercilessly beaten into submission.
He clearly remembers witnessing an elderly man being kicked in the chest and punched in the face, reducing him to skin and bones. In a desperate attempt to escape, the man had to run and scale the fence. Months later he came back.
Another man who fled the compound was found along the roadside suffering because he was so weak. He was taken to the hospital, and later returned to the church.
“You have to understand that what this place does to your mind is that it puts you in a mindset to believe that you can’t survive without it. So once you leave or before you even leave, they put things in your mind that if you should leave, you’re going to die, the creator is going to do this or that to you. It’s a form of psychological warfare that they have implemented in the minds of the people there,” he said.
For a period, members were allowed to use phones and cameras to record sessions, however, that became an issue, because the leaders were afraid of having the goings-on at the church go public.
Ironically, The Qahal Yahweh Church is located meters away from Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries that was led by Pastor Kevin Smith.
“The leader knew what was being done and what they were doing was not the norm. It was not spiritual. It was not of the Bible, but it was more so to really brutally beat upon you and to get you to bow down and to worship them, and to follow them and to follow what they say,” he said.
Love of money
After returning to the Caribbean island where he resides, Wise became a valuable asset to the church, because he was sending money for the construction of the facility.
This financial contribution elevated his status within the group, but it also made him more entangled in their control.
He felt he had no choice but to comply, however, because his wife and child were still there.
Describing it as a “money problem”, Wise said there was this deep greed among the leaders.
“If you have $10 and they know that you have $10 they will find ways and means to come seeking how they can get every single bit of it from you. They will send brethren to ask you even for two cents or $2 or whatever,” he said.
“And they will even come the following Shabbat (day of worship) and speak on the matter.”
He said for them it was a mind game to play on the person’s conscience, so the followers would give over everything they have.
“They will talk about it in such a way like ‘you have people who are living here who have millions of dollars, thousands of dollars and we are brethren living as a family saying that we are a family and you have people here who only feed themselves, feed their family and only take care of themselves’, when that really wasn’t the case,” he shared with The Sunday Gleaner.
“People have given a portion of what they have already. And what they have left was for them to feed their family and feed themselves and to buy toiletries. But they would end up giving everything to the two brothers.”
The leaders would then distribute to the follows what they thought they should receive.
Sent millions of dollars
Wise said as a plumber in his country of residence, his earning power was significant, so he sent back money to the leaders regularly.
“When I would send my money to a particular leader, he would say ‘don’t tell anyone the amount of funds you send to me or share with anyone what you send to me’ because that which I sent to him will be a lot of money. So for a week, he would sometimes receive $1.2 million or $1 million,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.
There were times when the money would not be “enough” and the leader, he said, urged him to borrow or request an advance from his boss.
“The money that was being given to the leaders at that time was to build buildings and to provide food and safety for the residents. However, after the place of worship was constructed, nothing else was being constructed, but I was still being forced to send money to one of the leaders,” he said.
He would send over $800,000 some weeks.
Though he was forking out so much money, his family was not benefitting, he shared. His wife would complain of lack of food and he was forced to send them money separately.
“And even when I sent money to my wife and child, the mother of the faith was actually taking money from that,” he said.
He said his wife had to be begging for diapers and toiletries.
“I would send over $1 million on Friday and the leaders would only buy tin food of mackerel and sardines, which would be distributed on the Saturday, while they cried about not having much food.”
Wise finally got his family out and left the church last December. A month ago he started to reveal inside information on his TikTok channel.
Head of the Area One Headquarters, Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifford Chambers, and his team are processing Wise’s report as well as the evidence gathered as they continue their investigation into the Qahal Yahweh Church.
[* Name changed to protect identity]
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com