The Word of Life sect arranged a clandestine camp for teenagers in the Novosibirsk region

Interfax, Russia/October 2, 2006

Moscow - The church of the Christians of the Evangelical Faith The Word of Life (neo-Pentecostals) arranged a clandestine camp for teenagers in the Novosibirsk region.

The sectarians forced children to perform strange rites and then wrung money from them, TV programme Vesti informs.

It has become known thanks to the film 'Seven days that changed your life' made available to the Novosibirsk Centre for Sectarianism.

The film shows the teenagers skating on the roads with slops spilled on them and smearing their heads with odd brown liquid.

The teenagers were taught to completely abandon all earthly things, to pay no attention to worldly dirt and totally submit themselves to their pastor, the former sect member Sergey said. He joined the sect while serving in the army. Some people believe that neo-Pentecostals are rather influential in the military units near Novosibirsk.

'The organization planned to hold a summer camp for the SM division officers' children,' Sergey said.

He explained that he left the neo-Pentecostals because their pastors started pressing their flock for money and demanding 'tithes.' 'All the time you are told that if you are faithful to God you should give more and more, this being a showing of your faithfulness,' the former member of The Word of Life added.