In some respects, this group shares similarities with the Amish although
The secretive Gloriavale community was founded by Neville Cooper (also known as Hopeful Christian) in the 1960s.
It has been embroiled in controversy since the 1990s, when Cooper was jailed for five years on a raft of sex offences.
Gloriavale
was in the news in recent months, amid claims of brain washing and
child and sex abuse. Police set up a free phone number after appealing
for any information from members or former members of the sect.
Yea, No. Scratch that, this cult is nothing like the Amish.
A new documentary on Gloriavale has revealed more about what it's
like to live in the isolated West Coast community - and how its
residents react when someone walks out.
Gloriavale - Life and Death
on TV2 tonight returned to check in on the marriage of Paul Valor and
Pearl Hope, a young couple who have grown up in the conservative
Christian community.
The couple now have a daughter named Esther and were shown during the show having a son named Josiah.
Paul and Pearl, like all married couples in the community, were chosen by the leaders of Gloriavale.
The
show's narrator explained that the senior men decide everything,
arranging all the relationships through a mix of planning and prayer.
Paul provided further insight into the process.
"The
leaders - they have got lists of all bloodlines and so when you come
and ask them to get married, they can get you a list of, you know, five
or six girls who you can marry without any problems and they'll all be
within your age bracket ...
that's what we call the shortlist."
One of the leaders can be heard telling him: "God has got somebody specially prepared for you".
The 22-year-old said it was the lord's will for him to marry Pearl.
"I want to marry a godly wife, the only really godly women that I personally know are here."
Pearl,
also aged in her early 20s, said she chose to love whoever God wanted
her to marry. "And that's a decision you make and it's not hard, it's
easy."
Gloriavale's men the match-makers - National - NZ Herald News
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