The Escape

My name is Janis A. I was born and raised in Vienna, Austria to Filipino migrants. My siblings and I were the fourth generation in our family, who were raised inside the INC - Iglesia Ni Cristo or Church of Christ. In 2014, I got married to an INC Minister and I moved to the Philippines. We started a family and I believe to have been living an extraordinarily blessed, peaceful, and purposeful life under the trust and care of Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, the leader of God’s nation in these last days until…

One day, when time, place, and events came into alignment together that were out of anybody’s control yet forced me to finally face the truth. I came to realize that I had been lied to and spiritually abused. It was unbelievable to grasp that I had been living a life of total disconnection from reality. 

It all started in 2021, when we were in the middle of the pandemic, and when most schools in the Philippines were shut down. As a stay-at-home mom, I was put in a situation to do some research about homeschooling options for my children. There was a wide variety of options, however, I was very drawn to the Charlotte Mason curriculum because it resonated with me the most as compared to the other teaching curricula. I was thankfully introduced to it by some of the other moms in my community. She was a British educator and reformer in England at the turn of the twentieth century. The emphasis of this curriculum was a wide variety of living books, nature study, and habit training. Two key mottos taken from Miss Mason’s  principles are "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "Education is the science of relations."

Charlotte Mason believed education was about knowing who we are, and how we fit into the world created by God.

When I started reading Scriptures with my daughters daily, I had simply no idea at all where this journey would take me and my family. To my surprise, it was only the beginning of a one-of-a-kind journey I would have never imagined that I would even dare to take up. It was a learning process that was not just eye-opening but a process that led me to my quest for answers to questions I did not know I even had in the first place. For I was told, since my early childhood days, that I was in the light and truth, while the entire world lived in darkness and without God. My entire worldview was completely demolished and broken. Shattered.  I realized I was stuck in a place where I did not feel safe anymore. Coming to my senses that I was part of the biggest religious cult in the Philippines, felt like re-living a nightmare day in and out, that I had to pinch myself multiple times. Understanding and making connections about how words are indeed powerful. Envisioning how great of a force and tool a language is in creating one’s reality, it was devastating for me to accept that I had been brainwashed all my life since I was little. I confronted my husband about my realizations, and I was hopeful to be heard out since it was safe for me to open up to him, as my husband. I was found at my lowest to be disappointed, as he reported his unbelieving wife to the Church Administration. Seeing through the patterns of their manipulation, control, and deception confirmed to me that the INC does not seem to be the organization they pretend to be. Connecting the dots, why INC exercises bloc voting, why people were sent to EDSA to rally in 2015, and why INC has to show off with numbers of ministers, big events, church edifices, Guinness world records, celebrities, and political allies made so much sense now. Why the leadership, especially Ka Eduardo and his family came in tow with security guards validates it clearly that they are in a position in need of securing their own lives because they are only pretending to be the godly people they are known within the organization. When you also comprehend the legal registration or legal setup of the organization abroad, you will realize why they have to hide behind charitable and socio-civic activities, while violating several human rights and subtly operating human trafficking on the church workers and their families for the sake of power and money.  For my family’s safety, I apologized in written form addressed to the Executive Minister, Ka Eduardo Manalo, that I would take back all my accusations against the Church Administration and had to promise that I would remain a faithful member and would even more be faithful in my duties as Minister’s wife. 

It is not a secret that the INC has great political power and influence in the Philippines. Could you even imagine what would have happened, if I had not written an apology letter? What would have happened, if I kept resisting and fighting the INC Administration? Does it make sense now, why Lowell Menorca, ex-INC Minister, was granted asylum in Canada? I told my husband that I would stop reading the Bible. While in reality, I kept reading the Bible in secret via the YouVersion App. For the time being, my life went on, as I pretended to have faith and was an obedient believer of the INC. Finally, when travel restrictions in the Philippines were lifted and when my husband went back to the office, after being assigned to work from home for some time. On July 20, 2022, I was able to head back to Vienna, Austria with my children. Leaving everything behind was worth our freedom from all the spiritual abuse and toxic and dangerous surroundings. Why did I say dangerous surroundings? This is because INC has political connections and can operate above the law. They have means and people they can assign to complete tasks that will support their side and narrative. I was very determined to bring my children out of the Philippines to an environment where we could be safe. I reached out to a friend of mine, who contacted authorities and agencies in Austria to ensure our trouble-free escape. On our arrival in Austria, my children and I were taken to the women’s shelter. Not because I was abused by my husband but because of the spiritual and emotional abuse of the Administration of the INC and because of the mind control they have over him. Acquaintances in the Philippines, who are part of the INC, confirm that the Church Administration of the INC spread lies about my mental well-being. If that was indeed true, then I would not have been given sole custody of my children. 

Despite the difficult circumstances and challenges, I am thankful that I did not give up and that I dared to step out and stand for the truth. This is only a small portion of our story and I truly feel compelled to tell everyone because spiritual abuse has devastating and long-term effects on multiple levels in all areas of our lives. For many, it is indeed traumatic and for some, it even has irreversible effects on their mental health. Spiritual abuse is the cause of personality fragmentation and leads to disconnection from reality.