Help me stay home
Donation protected
Dear Friends,
I am reaching out to you in hopes that you can help me. Not a lot of you know what happened these last few months but here is the backstory - http://thatswhatceciliasaid.tumblr.com/post/111327524859/thebackstory
But an incredibly long story short – My entire family is involved in a cult called Grace Road Church and they have all immigrated to Fiji. I lost all of my personal belongings and my inheritance from my father through this ordeal and was left with no home and no family to turn to. With the help of some amazing people in my life, I was able to find a place to sleep, warm clothes, and food when I returned to Korea. I still felt like my life was in danger because I was very well aware there were members of the cult all over Seoul looking for me and there was even a missing persons report filed to the police. With the help of my loving boyfriend, I got my passport reissued and left for Montreal, Canada with the little savings I had left. I have moved in with him and he has been incredibly supportive of me and helped me find a job. Starting my life over has cost me most of my savings that I have acquired over the past year. For this past month I had been working everyday, waking up at 5am, and picked up another job. Even though I was getting paid below the minimum wage of $10, I powered through because I had nothing else to lose and I still haven’t given up my dreams of finishing college. I found a new job at a small cafe where I was to be paid at minimum wage in cash and I eagerly took the job and was set to be trained the next day. I quit one of my jobs but found them a replacement so there were no hard feelings. However, due to an unfortunate turn of events, the manger decided to go another way before I even had the chance to get trained so now I am left with one job where I only work 12 hours a week. I have been desperately trying to find a job but because of my incredibly poor french speaking abilities, my options are very limited. I am trying to make ends meet but I am making barely enough to cover my rent and I only have four months left until my temporary visitor visa is up and I will have to return to Korea. If you have a dollar to spare or any words of advice or know someone who can set me up with a job, I would really appreciate your help. My main goal is to find a job or jobs where I can save just about enough money to put me through at least a professional school that would cost me approximately $20000 so I can get a student visa and stay in Montreal a little while longer and finally immigrate. I could always go back to Korea but I do not feel safe and to rent a studio in Korea would require me to put down an incredibly large security deposit that can range from $5,000 to $20,000 and not to mention the plane ticket. I hope that it will not have to lead to me leaving Canada and the fastest way for me to immigrate would be to either enroll into a school or find a job where my employer is willing to sponsor me for my visa. I can’t imagine leaving Canada and living alone in Korea because I have already made myself a home here where I feel safe and secure from the members of the cult.
If you have made it this far in reading my story, thank you so much and please help me spread the word.
Also, if you know or heard of anyone attending a Korean church called Grace Road Church, please warn them. The pastor is a dangerous woman, I am not the first victim and there are several branches of this church worldwide – one of which is in Flushing, New York. From what I have gathered, there are a handful of churches in countries in Asia and Europe as well. I have considered taking legal action but due to the complete lack of evidence and willing witnesses, I am left to watch my family get sucked into this horrible group.
I am reaching out to you in hopes that you can help me. Not a lot of you know what happened these last few months but here is the backstory - http://thatswhatceciliasaid.tumblr.com/post/111327524859/thebackstory
But an incredibly long story short – My entire family is involved in a cult called Grace Road Church and they have all immigrated to Fiji. I lost all of my personal belongings and my inheritance from my father through this ordeal and was left with no home and no family to turn to. With the help of some amazing people in my life, I was able to find a place to sleep, warm clothes, and food when I returned to Korea. I still felt like my life was in danger because I was very well aware there were members of the cult all over Seoul looking for me and there was even a missing persons report filed to the police. With the help of my loving boyfriend, I got my passport reissued and left for Montreal, Canada with the little savings I had left. I have moved in with him and he has been incredibly supportive of me and helped me find a job. Starting my life over has cost me most of my savings that I have acquired over the past year. For this past month I had been working everyday, waking up at 5am, and picked up another job. Even though I was getting paid below the minimum wage of $10, I powered through because I had nothing else to lose and I still haven’t given up my dreams of finishing college. I found a new job at a small cafe where I was to be paid at minimum wage in cash and I eagerly took the job and was set to be trained the next day. I quit one of my jobs but found them a replacement so there were no hard feelings. However, due to an unfortunate turn of events, the manger decided to go another way before I even had the chance to get trained so now I am left with one job where I only work 12 hours a week. I have been desperately trying to find a job but because of my incredibly poor french speaking abilities, my options are very limited. I am trying to make ends meet but I am making barely enough to cover my rent and I only have four months left until my temporary visitor visa is up and I will have to return to Korea. If you have a dollar to spare or any words of advice or know someone who can set me up with a job, I would really appreciate your help. My main goal is to find a job or jobs where I can save just about enough money to put me through at least a professional school that would cost me approximately $20000 so I can get a student visa and stay in Montreal a little while longer and finally immigrate. I could always go back to Korea but I do not feel safe and to rent a studio in Korea would require me to put down an incredibly large security deposit that can range from $5,000 to $20,000 and not to mention the plane ticket. I hope that it will not have to lead to me leaving Canada and the fastest way for me to immigrate would be to either enroll into a school or find a job where my employer is willing to sponsor me for my visa. I can’t imagine leaving Canada and living alone in Korea because I have already made myself a home here where I feel safe and secure from the members of the cult.
If you have made it this far in reading my story, thank you so much and please help me spread the word.
Also, if you know or heard of anyone attending a Korean church called Grace Road Church, please warn them. The pastor is a dangerous woman, I am not the first victim and there are several branches of this church worldwide – one of which is in Flushing, New York. From what I have gathered, there are a handful of churches in countries in Asia and Europe as well. I have considered taking legal action but due to the complete lack of evidence and willing witnesses, I am left to watch my family get sucked into this horrible group.
Organizer
Cecilia Lee
Organizer
Montréal, QC