Mexican-American pastor of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of The World) who calls himself “Apostle” was surprised at LAX airport a little over ten days ago when he was arrested on 26 felonies for sexual abuse of children and child pornography. Naason Joaquin Garcia had his own surprise up his sleeve, it seems. The church has bought 25 – 100 hectares of land in Quepos to create a religious complex, similar to ones in Mexico and the one now under construction in El Salvador. The exact size of the complex has not yet been revealed, but plans are to build a church larger than Costa Rica’s National Stadium, offices, shops, and housing for 500 families. According to the church, the Municipalidad has accepted the plans for the complex, land for which was purchased in April of this year.

La Luz del Mundo is growing rapidly in the world, with reportedly five million followers. Male church members keep their hair trimmed short, wear suits, and women wear long skirts and always have their heads covered. Men and women sit separately when they worship. Marriages are arranged by Garcia or other church officials. Their churches display over–the-top grandiose architecture, usually with a quote from Garcia displayed prominently, with his name appearing in larger letters than Jesus Christ. Worshippers are required to tithe substantial amounts each month, and those fees have made Garcia a very wealthy man, according to previous investigations into church finances.

Garcia is being held on 50-million dollar bail in Los Angeles on suspicion of human trafficking, production of child pornography, forcible rape of a minor, and other felonies. The church has denied all charges through their attorney, and declare that Garcia is still their spiritual leader. More young girls have reportedly come forward and described how they were instructed to touch each other and themselves while Garcia watched, and his assistants videotaped them.

Said one former young church member, speaking anonymously about these sessions with Garcia, “It was the most horrifying experience of my entire life to date. I have faced cancer and looked death in the eye and still it didn’t compare to the seven years I had to endure in that cult. The bible teaches that we should not worship false idols … but these people are so brainwashed that they worship a man they call ‘Apostle of God’ and can’t see what it is doing to them and their families.”
California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra stated about Garcia’s arrest, “Crimes like those alleged have no place in our society. Period. We must not turn a blind eye to sexual violence and trafficking in our state.”

The Quepos property was apparently bought at a very reasonable price. Spanish media reported that the purchase had the support of the Mayor of Quepos, and other top officials who believe this will solve a growing unemployment problem in and around Quepos, and be a shot in the arm to the local economy, bringing in many new businesses and opportunities. El Salvador has laid the first brick in their Luz del Mundo construction site. It will be interesting to see what Costa Rica decides to do. The US gets high marks for arresting Garcia, something neither Mexico nor Costa Rica were prepared to do.

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