LLDM on Jefferson. Photo by CHB
The Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo or Light of the World Church, which has an impressive temple here in Oak Cliff, is internationally infamous, due in large part to a new documentary, Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo, which reveals crimes committed by church leaders including its “Apostle,” Naasón Joaquín García.
García, the Mexican born, third-generation leader of the Christianity-based religious sect, succeeded his father and grandfather as God’s hand-chosen figurehead.
[Trigger warning]
By the end of the harrowing documentary, viewers learn Garcia III is serving 16 years in a California prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing young church members. Multiple woman were also charged for abetting his crimes.
Viewers hear from victims of his alleged crimes in graphic and disturbing detail.
I will say alleged here because many of the crimes described in the show — including a situation in which Garcia forced a mother to commit a sex act on her own son and others in which he compelled sisters to molest one another, to name but a couple — were outside the offenses for which he plead guilty.
García originally faced 36 charges, including human trafficking, rape, child pornography and forcible oral copulation of a minor.
Five women, known as Jane Does, testified that he sexually abused them between 2015 and 2019 and were told that if they went against García, they would be going against God.
The women who came forward express dismay at the plea deal that allowed their abuser to plead guilty to just two counts of forcible oral copulation on a minor and one count of committing a lewd act on a child.
“We gained nothing by coming forward,” they told documentarians in a collective statement. They say their families have disowned them.
When explaining to a courtroom why the man will serve just 16 years, an emotional California judge, Stephen A. Marcus, tells the Jane Does that “lawyers do what lawyers do” and that his “hands are tied.” That is the maximum sentence for the plea. He also tells family members who have abandoned the victims, “shame.”
Despite the conviction, García’s followers stand by him.
The Oak Cliff church has signage signifying support of the “apostle.” Photo 1/26/23 by CHB
As recently as January 8, the LLDM church at 2010 W. Jefferson posted on its Facebook page that [translated from Spanish], “the Dallas church, with joy and gratitude, shows its firmness to the Election, demonstrated by church and Sunday school attendance, that its faith remains firm in what it has believed.”
The Election, as explained in the docuseries, and in this LLDM webcast, is the belief that “God chooses one person to represent him on Earth and let the people know his divine will.” God supposedly chose Naasón Joaquín García. They are sticking with that.
On the door of the Oak Cliff church is a sign portraying a Garcia silhouette and the word #honorable, the social media hashtag used by Garcia’s supporters.
Following that January 8 post, LLDM Dallas shared a message from Garcia in which he expressed concern about a “kingdom divided.”
He told members in the statement, “we must be alert, and it is very important that we maintain unity.”
If the LLDM Dallas Facebook page is any indication, the church, or cult, as many ex members call it, is thriving, in a magnificent building populated by men in dark suits and woman donning lace veils, a staple of the female members, who are required to wear below-the-knee-length dresses and cover their hair.
The Dallas branch, located next door to Sunset High School, sometimes hosts community events such as national night out. They also invite the public to twice-annual baptism ceremonies, according to a flier from 2019, and church services are open to the public, per the website. While all of that sounds normal for a church, loads of members from devout families have come forward with stories of not only sexual and physical abuse but also emotional damage at the hands of LLDM leadership.
The church is involved in legitimate community outreach, and both the movie and the exlldm threads on Reddit point out the goodness and sincerity of former LLDM congregants, many who were ostensibly unaware, until a few years ago, of the abuse allegations.
Members literally built the beautiful temples around the world with their own hands. As one ex puts it on Reddit, “We built and paid for our churches. We kept the lights on. We made it a beautiful place despite the evil regime. We made our communities. We helped each other out. We taught our kids right. Our time in LLDM was not a waste.”
Former member Joel Silva, who spent 10 unpaid years building the temple in Jalisco, in Unveiled, says he hopes the members would reject the so-called apostle and turn the temples into nondenominational places of worship.
But with millions of loyal cultists remaining in LLDM — members who now have proof that the apostle they revere is an abuser yet stand by him — it is unlikely.
In its official statement, the church publicists maintain García is a victim of persecution, that he was framed and that he is on a “path that God has placed in front of him for a reason, as he did for Apostle Paul.”
If you have ties to the local LLDM church and would like to chat for a future article, please message us at chughes@advocatemag.com.
