Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • The Guardian

    Kidnapped by mum: the American teenager trapped in a South Korean cult

    Elise spent two months with Grace Road Church in South Korea and Fiji, after her mother destroyed her passport and refused to let her leave
    by Kate Lyons Sep 25, 2018 4 minutes
    Elise on a trip to Fiji where 400 members of Grace Road Church moved after their leader prophesied that it was the promised land. Photograph: Elise

    During the summer break after her junior year of high school, Elise* travelled to South Korea from Chicago with her mother for what was meant to be a six-week holiday.

    Instead, the 17-year-old ended up trapped in Grace Road Church, a cult whose leader was arrested in August accused of depriving followers of their liberty and participating in ritual beatings. While there, Elise was forced to attend five-hour sermons, denied medication and told she would never see her father and sister again.

    Elise’s mother organised the trip in 2013 after discovering her daughter smoked marijuana. The holiday was supposed to allow Elise – who was born in

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from The Guardian

    The Guardian3 min readWorld
    Historians Come Together To Wrest Ukraine’s Past Out Of Russia’s Shadow
    The opening salvo in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year was not a rocket or a missile. Rather, it was an essay. Vladimir Putin’s On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, published in summer 2021, ranged over 1,00
    The Guardian4 min read
    ‘Almost Like Election Night’: Behind The Scenes Of Spotify Wrapped
    There’s a flurry of activities inside Spotify’s New York City’s offices in the Financial District. “It’s almost like election night,” Louisa Ferguson, Spotify’s global head of marketing experience says, referring to a bustling newsroom. At the same t
    The Guardian4 min read
    Whether In Song Or In Silence, Shane MacGowan Exuded The Very Essence Of Life
    Shane MacGowan and I sat in near silence for two hours last year. We were at his home, just outside Dublin. I’d been warned by his wife, the writer Victoria Mary Clarke, that he was depressed and anxious, not really in the mood to talk. But nothing c

    Related