NZ victims of child sexual abuse in Two by Two church want answers amid FBI investigation

Victims' advocate Jillian Hishon has received dozens of allegations of sexual abuse against members of the New Zealand branch of the church known as the Two by Twos. Photo / Supplied

A secretive, worldwide Christian sect with no official name or property is being investigated by the FBI, as some ministers and church leaders have been unmasked as sexual abusers of children. Now current and former members in New Zealand want the spotlight to shine on the church here too. Dubby Henry reports.

WARNING: This story deals with sexual abuse and may be distressing. *Denotes names that have been changed to protect source’s identity.

Melissa* was a young child when she was sexually assaulted by a senior person in the church she attended in New Zealand.

The abuse happened on multiple occasions. The man has since died but the trauma is still with her.

“It’s played on my mind as an adult,” she said. “The man that did this to me, he was one of the most trusted people.”

Melissa still belongs to the deeply conservative Christian group, often referred to as the Two by Twos. But she says she now has reservations - partly because of the church’s teachings, but mostly due to what she considers to be inadequate handling of a crisis of child sexual abuse.

The Herald is not publishing further details of Melissa’s story as she fears she would be asked to leave the church if she is identified.

The church admits it has failed to adequately deal with these issues in the past. But it says it takes every report seriously and has overhauled its procedures to keep children safe and address past abuse.

The deeply insular, fundamentalist Christian sect has no official name, buildings or property but it’s believed to have more than 100,000 members around the world.

Members often call it “The Truth” - with many believing its teaching hold the only true way to heaven - or “the Friends and the Workers”. Outsiders tend to call it “the Two by Twos”, referring to workers who travel in pairs, staying in a region for months at a time to preach to the faithful.

Workers are meant to be celibate and give up money and property of their own, their lives completely funded by member donations. They are billeted in the homes of local church families and are moved around between regions and even countries as the sect’s overseers see fit.

In February, the FBI began investigating the Two by Twos in the United States, after several widely-publicised cases of child sexual abuse by some of the sect’s most powerful leaders. Advocates for the Truth, a hotline founded in 2023 by former members who were abused as children, has received allegations against more than 700 members - many outside the United States.

As stories began flooding in from Australia, ex-members there set up an Australasian hotline, The Brave Truth Australia and New Zealand. Co-founder and victims’ advocate Jillian Hishon says she’s received about 140 allegations against abusers, and around 20 per cent of those names are from New Zealand. Some were named by multiple victims.

The Herald has spoken to current and former members of the sect, all on condition of anonymity. Those still attending worry they would be asked to leave the church for speaking to media, while ex-members are concerned for family and friends still in the fold.

But they gave the Herald insights into the church’s structure, beliefs, hierarchy - and the extent of sexual wrongdoing that they say has been hidden for too long.

A photo of members of the Truth or the Two by Twos church, taken in Masterton in 1962. Photo / Supplied

The sect has had a significant presence in New Zealand since it was founded in Ireland in 1897, and now says it has around 2500 members here.

Members meet together in homes for Bible studies and in rented halls, often with workers preaching on a topic prescribed by the country’s overseer. At annual conventions members from a region gather for several days to hear workers preach.

Sources told the Herald of a strongly hierarchical, deeply controlling culture with numerous unwritten rules - with some ex-members calling it a cult or “cult-like”. Worldly pursuits like TV and dancing are frowned on, women wear hair and skirts long, and men are heads of the homes, with wives expected to submit to their husbands.

Members live as “oddities”, one former member said, even if they go to secular schools and jobs. Constantly in the background is a fear of being ostracised from the church, and of being condemned to eternal hell.

“I was proud of the fact that I had no mates at school because you’re a peculiar people,” another former member, *Ben, told the Herald. “You put up with shit on this earth … because it means you’ve got treasures in heaven.”

He now believes part of the issue with child sexual abuse is the sect’s insular culture, which leaves members isolated and distrustful of the world outside while believing that “everyone who is inside is good - and that’s clearly not correct”.

For young children or teenagers in particular, workers are seen as “God’s servants” - making it almost impossible to make a report against one who had committed abuse.

“They’re almost ‘demigods’ in their mind - so what, are you questioning God? All of a sudden if you do that, now you’ve got salvation on the line.”

If the abuse came from another member of the congregation, survivors have been conditioned to forgive, not to judge, he said. “You are taught that God’s law is above the law of the land … You are taught that God will deal with issues in his time, so encouraged not to go to law enforcement.”

Many sources also said responsibility had in the past been put on members - including children - to keep themselves safe.

One former member recalls being told as a young teenage girl that a man attending the Sunday-morning home-based meeting had done some “bad things”. She was told to wear a long skirt and keep her knees and ankles together to ensure she would not tempt him. She later learned the man was a convicted paedophile.

Wayne Dean is the “overseer”, or leader, of the church in New Zealand. Answering the Herald’s questions via email, he disagreed that the above descriptions were “church policy, guidance, or accepted practice”, or that reporting abuse to police was discouraged.

But he acknowledged that without any documented policy, “individual views and application of guidance have differed person to person”.

Guidance documents were being developed with help from independent professionals to avoid “confusion and misinformation”.

‘Swept under the rug for decades and decades’

For Melissa, news of the investigation and stories of abuse here and around the world have triggered unwelcome memories.

“Over the last year since all of this blew up, some details … have just been brought back into my mind with such clarity that I thought that I’d forgotten,” she said.

“I know I’m not alone with this - there are hundreds of us worldwide.”

She’s one of several sources who told the Herald they had experienced abuse within the church in New Zealand.

Others were aware of sexual assaults that happened to friends or family, and named convicted or alleged abusers who had been allowed to keep attending church meetings with children present despite the abuse being widely known within the congregation.

They also talked about men who continued attending or even holding meetings in their homes with children present after allegations were made against them, and of accused workers who remained living in members’ homes with children present.

In another case, a convicted sex offender - who was named in media reports - was allowed to continue attending gospel meetings and conventions for a decade until last year. The man, a former church elder, had been required to avoid all contact with girls under 16 for a period of six months but that has long lapsed.

One ex-member recalled being groped as a teenager by a worker who was staying in his family’s home, about a decade ago - though he didn’t understand what had happened at the time.

He never mentioned the incident to anybody until this year, when he realised, in light of the FBI investigation, that he had been groped.

Not all the abuse was at the hands of workers or elders. Ben spoke of being abused multiple times at age 9 by an older boy, who was respected in the eyes of the church because he was “professing” - the group’s term for making a public statement of faith.

Ben recalled feeling trapped into participating, and a suicide attempt followed not long after. He said he spoke to respected senior members of the church about the abuse but the conversation was “shut down” and he didn’t feel he could talk about it.

He left the church aged 17 and has struggled with addiction issues and depression for many years, beginning around the time the abuse happened. Most of his family remain in the church.

While some of the allegations are recent, others are historic, made against people who are now elderly or dead. One current member, *Jennifer, calls it a “crisis in the church that’s been swept under the rug for decades and decades and decades”.

She said most members were good people trying to live faithful lives following Jesus’ teachings. But they were sheltered, she said, and didn’t understand the severity of the crisis.

Sources said the overseers had been aware of at least some abuse but had failed to deal properly with it, or protect children. They also said the practice of itinerant workers living in family homes also left children in those homes vulnerable.

Hosting workers was seen as a great privilege, and they were trusted implicitly to be alone with children, which had contributed to the problem.

But Hishon said only a minority of New Zealanders who had been reported to the hotline were former workers; the other alleged abusers were elders or members, including relatives of victims.

Jillian Hishon, co-founder of the Brave Truth Australia and New Zealand, a hotline for victims of sexual abuse within the church known as the Two by Twos or The Truth. Photo / Supplied

Many victims had not reported the abuse until now, or if they had told someone in the church, it went nowhere. She blamed a culture of not wanting to make trouble, along with disdain for “worldly” authorities like police.

New Zealand Police said they had not been contacted by the FBI and were not aware of its investigation. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care told the Herald it could not find a record of any complaints received against the church here.

However, the New Zealand and Australian branches of the church last year wrote two joint letters to members acknowledging the publicity around child abuse in the church and asking accused or convicted members to stop attending any gatherings with children present.

Overseer Wayne Dean said he was aware of 14 cases of members being asked not to attend meetings. Those cases were allegations, he said. “Until such time the allegation has been cleared these persons will not attend meetings.

“In some cases, the leadership was not aware of the allegation prior to 2023. In other cases, they were and perpetrators once identified to the ministry were removed from positions of responsibility.

“Specifically, in a case of an elder against whom sexual abuse allegations were raised, the meeting that was held in his home was removed.”

Dean was also aware police were investigating at least one ex-minister for alleged historical child sexual abuse.

‘Heads buried in the sand’

Most of those the Herald spoke to said it appeared New Zealand was dealing with the crisis better than other countries’ branches.

Jennifer said the fact New Zealand had asked people to leave meetings meant it was “leading the world”.

“That does not mean we are doing well … but [everywhere else] is just appalling.”

Still, many New Zealand church members are so frustrated they are leaving the church altogether, or are asking questions publicly of the leaders, the Herald understands.

But there is also a backlash from some members, who want those who have been stood down to be allowed to attend meetings again, Jennifer said.

“They’ve got this whole thing that … unless you are physically attending our meetings and being really faithful, you’re not going to get into heaven.”

She says that’s “hogwash”.

“It’s between them and God, it’s nothing to do with us. Them not coming to our church meetings is purely a safety issue … It is the church’s responsibility towards children.”

Many members didn’t want to believe the stories coming out, she says.

“I’m tired of these people that genuinely try to live really good lives, but they’ve got their heads buried in the sand. They just don’t see and don’t want to see.”

Church leaders in New Zealand were trying to deal with the problem in-house “but they’re making a bit of a fumble of it”, she said. “The ministry is not equipped in dealing with this.”

Melissa agreed, saying overseers had been very slow to act when alerted to issues. She had never received an apology from senior members of the church despite them having known about the abuse for years.

“This issue has not been handled right. If it had been handled right, I would not be talking to you now. They need the spotlight on it.”

Church says it’s ‘genuinely sorry’ for contributing to distress

Dean said the church took every report of abuse seriously. It was aware of historic cases where respected individuals had abused people’s trust - and it found that behaviour appalling.

“We acknowledge that these matters were not always appropriately addressed in the past, and we are truly sorry for any immeasurable long-term damage to victims. We have learnt from these experiences, and are constantly reviewing our current practices to keep children safe in our fellowship.”

Dean said the church had previously provided “inadequate” support and communication around sexual abuse.

He blamed a lack of understanding, which meant “what we now know is best practice” may not have been followed.

Overseas, cases have also been documented of workers being moved to a new region or country when accused of abuse, while leaders ignored or hushed up the allegations.

Dean said to the best of his knowledge this had not happened in New Zealand.

“When a substantiated allegation has been made [workers] have been stood down or voluntarily left the ministry.”

Wayne Dean (second from left) pictured with some overseers (leaders) of the Two by Twos. Dean recently became overseer of the group in New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

The Herald outlined several victims’ stories to Dean, who said he couldn’t respond specifically to those incidents without knowing more, but respected that victims may not want to be identified.

But he said there was “zero tolerance of any child being harmed within our fellowship and [we] do not condone behaviour of the type described”.

Asked whether the church planned to apologise or make restitution to victims, Dean said if the church was aware of abuse that had been confirmed through police and the courts, it was expected those dealing with the case would apologise personally to the victim.

“We have deepest of feelings for those impacted by child sexual abuse and we are genuinely sorry where actions or inactions of the ministry have contributed to their distress, and communicate our apologies when this is identified,” he said.

The church also advised victims on how to get help from agencies such as ACC, which provide counselling and financial support.

The church now had a child safety policy and procedures to mitigate risk; actively encouraged reporting of abuse to police; and had raised awareness among members - particularly parents - of past abuse.

It also fully co-operated with police investigations, and supported victims of historic cases to go to police, Dean said.

“All allegations received are investigated and acted on by the church with the alleged perpetrator being removed from fellowship.”

This was a “sensitive yet critical” step and the church was looking for an independent organisation to carry out future investigations, review its policies and provide independent advice. A particular focus for this was regarding allegations received from third parties where information could be “lacking and difficult to substantiate”.

Dean said all workers were trained in keeping children safe, and must sign a code of conduct. He had never faced a situation where a worker refused to sign - that would be considered serious and could lead to them being asked to leave the ministry. Police checks had also been recommended for the ministry.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:

If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, 24/7:

• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
• Alternatively contact your local police station.

If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it’s not your fault.