I’m not just a guy making videos on the internet. First Century Christianity is a real congregation in North Kansas City, Missouri. People donate to us to support the ministry and to help people in our community and in our circle who have needs.
So this is an awkward post to write. But I feel I have to write it.
Two people, the same trap
In the past year, we’ve seen this happen twice, to two people who don’t even know each other. Both fell for internet scams until they had nothing left.
They gave money to help a child who has supposedly been sick every day for two years in Africa, or to someone who is mysteriously in Iowa one day and Florida the next. They kept giving after they lost their homes and needed help themselves.
This means we have to use tough love. If you keep helping someone in that situation, every dollar of food, clothing or shelter you give them frees up money that goes to the scammer. When I’ve talked with both of these people about it, they got very angry and defensive. That tells me this is probably happening in a lot of places.
Scammers who sound like believers
There’s a second kind of scam I see all the time. People pretending to be believers like us send emails from overseas. One claimed to be from the “Sabbath Sentinel Church of God in India.”
They use words they’ve picked up from people in our walk:
- The Sabbath Sentinel, a free interdenominational magazine for Sabbath-keepers
- The Church of God, what many of us used to be called in the Seventh Day Churches of God
- Yahweh, Yeshua and the calendar
They even ask for money to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, right when your own assembly is getting ready for it.
It’s very convincing, and you want it to be true. You want this person to be a pastor in another country keeping the Feast. But the timing is too convenient to be a coincidence.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t give personally”
When one man emailed asking for money overseas, I explained that our charity is set up in the United States and can only help people here. I’d actually prefer to keep it even closer to home, for people we can know and see in person. That’s how we make sure we’re really helping and that things are moving in the right direction.
His reply was, “Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t give personally.”
Then I knew I’d made the right decision. He didn’t respect how our church is organized or our country’s rules. He was just looking for another way into my wallet.
How to break free
If you or someone you love has been caught in one of these scams, the only way back is to:
- Admit you’ve been scammed.
- Cut all ties. Get a new phone number and new internet accounts, and leave whatever social media the scammers used to find you.
- Promise yourself you won’t do it again.
- Start rebuilding your life.
Here’s something hard to hear: if someone keeps taking your money while you’re homeless, they don’t care about you. Anyone with a roof over their head and food on the table who takes money from a homeless person will have to answer for it when the Messiah returns, on the judgment day at the end of the thousand years.
Give wisely
Please don’t give money to people you don’t actually know and aren’t physically helping.
If you want to help people in need, give to a charity that checks who it’s helping. When you donate to First Century Christianity, we do that checking, and your money will not go to scammers, either directly or indirectly.
Other groups in Kansas City do this well too. The Northland Assistance Center works out of the same building we rent. They check every case and help people with everything from housing to jobs so they can stand on their own again.
We need your help
I’m sorry this is an awkward subject, and I expect someone will be upset with me for writing it. But people need to know.
If you’ve helped someone recover from a scam like this, please reach out to me. What our congregation has tried so far hasn’t worked. The people we’re trying to help are still caught up in it, even after we’ve talked with them.
May Yahweh bless you and keep you in the name of His Son, Yeshua.
Shalom, Chris