There are going to be big programs.
The 2nd of January here in Denmark.
I thought they were doing a documentary about The Last Reformation,
but they've done a documentary where they talk about other ministries
that have gone really wrong in Denmark.
We will go to America and we will be there more.
We actually be five months in America next year. All in all.
I really enjoyed your last video.
I'm happy to hear you're going to the United States.
There I will be able to really take care of you
and your ugly cult.
You destroyed Alice's life.
You are a sick person.
And I warned you I will take care of your cult.
As long as Alice won't be able to get back to her therapy
and live a normal life, I will be on your back.
Previously on our series, we have revealed compelling evidence
that the TV program God's Best Children was not an honest portrayal of Torben
and his ministry.
It was rather a calculated attempt to discredit him.
The goal is to bring Torben and his ministry down.
They tried to get what they wanted through politics
by proposing new laws that were tailor made to target Torben.
Many of you have probably followed the documentary God's Best Children.
And seeing how a preacher commits demonic exorcisms in front
of shaking and crying children.
We agree with children's condition that this kind of behavior
can be described as psychological abuse.
They also twisted the truth by misusing existing laws.
We have asked a number of health commissioners
to watch TV2's hidden recording of Torben Sondergaard.
It's simply quackery.
It is deeply, deeply worrying.
Another tactic used was linking Torben with convicted criminals,
which caused public outrage against him across the country.
This man is downright dangerous and what he practises should be illegal.
In an attempt to discredit him further, they offered him a large sum of money,
hoping to trap him financially.
Torben Sondergaard, a pastor from Denmark, is being detained in Florida
without any formal charges.
With this video series, we want to make you aware of his case
and we will show you evidence that there is a fight going on,
a fight over the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is an incredible story where things are not always what they seem.
In this
episode, we will show you that Torben is actually being persecuted
for his faith in Jesus Christ.
To be persecuted means to harass or punish in a manner
designed to injure, grieve or afflict.
Jesus said a servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
Paul is saying in one of his letters, Everyone who wants to live
a godly life in Christ, Jesus will be persecuted.
Should we be surprised when this happens?
Peter answers.
Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you
as though something strange were happening to you.
When we follow Jesus Christ and want to live a godly life,
we will get trouble.
It's a promise.
But the things that are happening to Torben
is that actually Christian persecution?
Or is it merely that he made mistakes and he has to face the consequences?
To answer these questions, let's first look
at how Jesus was persecuted.
Jesus went around doing good, but he also offended many people.
He hurt the religious leaders in their pride,
and they gradually became more and more agitated with Jesus
and ultimately wanted to kill him.
Jesus had many followers, but he had an inner circle of 12 people.
However, one of these 12 turned against him.
The reasons for this could have been greed, disappointment,
or even pride as it's written.
Satan entered into him and he became an instrument of the enemy
to destroy Jesus.
After Judas handed Jesus over to the religious leaders,
these leaders took him to the authorities.
By applying pressure, the religious leaders
convinced the authorities to make an unjust decision.
To maintain peace, they decided to execute Jesus.
But it's important to see that it's Satan who is working out his plans.
The battle is not against the government or against these religious leaders.
The battle is spiritual.
In Ephesus, it is written: 'for our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.'
Now, you may say, wait a minute.
How can you compare Torben to Jesus?
Torben was not persecuted.
He was simply portrayed in a negative way in a TV program.
Was that not his own fault?
Shouldn't he have been more cautious and not collaborated
with that production company?
Well, there's more to the story that you need to know
to fully understand the situation.
We need to take you back to 2016.
That was the year when Torben's ministry released a powerful film
called The Last Reformation: The beginning.
I was tired of looking for answers and I could not find it anywhere.
This film gained significant worldwide attention
and inspired numerous people to follow Jesus.
However, it was also the year when a fierce battle began.
The forces of darkness began to fight back.
So how did this battle unfold?
We need to introduce you to two individuals
who have been relentlessly attacking Torben since 2016,
and their campaign continues to this day.
They've been operating anonymously all these years.
They discredited Torben and his ministry while remaining hidden from public view.
But their false narrative has been spread everywhere
through the mouths of other people.
The first of these individuals is a citizen of Denmark
and a former friend of Torben who had an important position
in his ministry.
We won't use his real name here
because we're not out for revenge or to damage anyone's reputation.
Let's call him Thomas.
I came to Denmark in 2015 together with my family.
We lived there for over a year.
We worked with Torben at that time in his organization,
and we also met this man.
He was a very good listener, and he was someone
who pulled a lot of information from people.
Very charismatic, but someone who just managed to come
alongside just about anybody and get them talking
and seemed to be somebody that was really nice,
seemed very interested in people.
And my first instinct was to really like him.
And I felt sorry for him when he told me some
of the stories of his life.
And um, yeah, we became friends, I guess.
I met him and I connected very good with him.
I actually became good friends with him.
And I remember.
Uh, getting really close to him.
I liked to work with this man.
We had good times together.
I had good I have good memories of him.
In the beginning he was actually a really nice person.
In that way, he was really involved by helping a lot, where he helped Torben.
He helped other people, including helping me.
He's a very intelligent person and someone that if he's working for somebody
would be an amazing ally.
Really very clever and one step ahead of everybody.
And if he wants to achieve something or get something done, he would.
He was a very likeable person.
He was funny. He was very intelligent.
He had multiple talents.
He was good in basically everything you would ask him to do,
he would do it.
Extremely intelligent, um, and, uh, shrewd.
Very shrewd, very shrewd, very intelligent.
I believe that when he came at first, he was very sincere.
He was very sincere with everything.
He loved what was going on at TLR.
He loved the way God was moving.
I believe God was touching him as well.
And you could see that he was changing and he would go out on the street,
you know, join the kickstarts and everything.
And it was amazing with him.
But however, after I think around a year, um, things started to change with him.
But there was another side of him or another character of him,
which I did not see in the beginning, but I saw later on that he was also very,
very a manipulative person.
And because he was very manipulative where he was really... he was actually
really good at manipulate people and manipulate situations.
And for that reason, he really gained very quickly high position
at that place at Jesus Hotel where he almost somehow...
you can say he became like the right hand of Torben at that time.
Torben really liked him and trusted him.
So he gave him positions and access to basically everything at TLR.
Some of those people he was not happy about,
he often went to Torben and behind their back
where he somehow started to gossip and he tried to manipulate
about them to Torben that they are...
they have a problem or they need to be sent home and all this kind
of stuff. And because of this he often succeed
that some of those co-workers were being sent home because of him.
I would say it's not normal behavior to manipulate so many layers deep.
And it does make that person very powerful in what he's able to achieve
if he wants to tear somebody down.
And I did witness some people being torn down.
But it's very hard when you're in it sometimes to see it.
He'd expressed it, he'd it said that he was actually jealous
of anybody that got close to Torben.
And so he would remove people who got close
or manipulate them either one way or the other.
He would often complain that he have done... he did a lot,
but he didn't get enough credit for what he did.
And that was basically because, I mean, Torben
was the main guy on the videos and Torben was the one also preaching
when there was a kick start and this guy was more behind the scene.
So he pulled me aside one evening.
He felt like there was not enough of credit given to him,
aid given to him like a place to live, a nice place to live.
He was bitter and angry and complaining a lot because of that.
At some point, this man really started to work against Torben.
He started to talk really bad about him, but at the same time,
he showed the Torben a really nice face.
So Torben had no idea.
He thought this was my best friend, someone who's helping me a lot.
But to other people, he would say things like,
Torben hurt me a lot, and he started to try
and convince other people how bad Torben actually is.
And he would actually manipulate the situation in such way
that Torben was at one point removed from his own organization.
It was almost like he wanted me to hate Torben as well.
It was almost like he wanted me to turn my back on Torben
as well and join his side.
And I found out later on that he would do the same to other people,
that he will also talk to them bad about Torben.
And then as soon as Torben would come in or enter into the room, he changed.
And he was suddenly, I mean, very sweet.
So at some point, Torben found out that this man
was actually causing a lot of problems, and he decided to remove him
from the organization.
I got a call from a friend, he said: Hey, if Torben is going to fire this man,
please make sure to change all your passwords
because he will take revenge.
And I was like, Nah...
I couldn't believe it because I was like, it would not be this bad.
I thought I knew this man quite a bit, but he said: No,
it's really bad with this man.
You have to do this.
So I was okay, if you say so.
And actually I didn't believe it, but I changed a lot of passwords,
but I didn't take it so seriously.
A few months later, I found out that actually I forgot
to change some passwords and some really important ones.
So someone logged in into our systems and basically deleted everything
they could find to destroy, to delete.
So, that day we lost all our websites, we lost a lot of domain names
in different accounts, and it was a big disaster.
I think there was more than a year of work completely destroyed.
And for me personally, it was like, how can someone be so evil?
Because I spent so much time myself already in all this, these things,
and just deleting everything and destroying everything,
including the backups, because the backups were also included in this system.
Of course I cannot prove that it was this man,
but I know one thing that I was warned beforehand
to change all the passwords because he would take revenge
and then later this happens.
It's a funny thing that sometimes our strengths
can become our weaknesses spiritually.
You know, the the thing that we have a really strong calling
can also be if it's turned inward rather than toward God,
if it's turned inward, it can become something very destructive
because we've got a lot of perhaps skill or talent that's been given
in those areas.
So I see that with this gentleman, it's a very sad thing
because he is somebody who wanted desperately
to amount to something big in the Kingdom and instead of that,
has found himself involved in something really bitter and quite twisted.
And that's sad.
That's a terrible thing.
And I think that's also why God allows things to happen
as long as He does, because He loves us.
He loves us dearly, He loves our enemies as much as He loves us.
I've still you know, I still care a lot for this guy.
I pray for him, and I hope that he will turn to God.
So that's my hope.
But something else happened that same year.
A lady we will call Alice comes to faith in Jesus Christ.
She has a friend.
Let's name him Gabriel.
Gabriel is a businessman of French nationality.
When he hears that Alice is going to one of Torben's schools,
he doesn't like it because he doesn't believe in God
and hates Christianity.
On top of that, Alice decides to break up with Gabriel
because the relationship is not good.
We called a friend of Alice, who was with her during Torben’s Bible School.
I remember that this guy, he was actually married with another woman
and that my friend was with him over a couple of years
and which means they were having an affair.
From that moment on, he stalks her.
So this guy, he thought that she has gone into a sect
and he was kind of searching everything, what he could from the ministry.
And he was very much against this because he kind of lost her
because of her faith in Jesus.
And he wanted kind of to take her out of this, uh,
and so that he could have her back.
What I understand is that he became someone
that would persecute the whole, uh, ministry with everything he could.
He was very much against it.
The staff and fellow students of that school
received friend requests through Facebook from a Christian lady
with the name of Olivia Tennenbaum.
The account spread false information about Torben and his ministry
and repeatedly used the word 'cult' to address the ministry.
But no one seemed to know her.
It became clear to Alice that this Olivia Tennenbaum
is actually her ex-boyfriend spreading this information.
Yeah, I remember some of the profiles that, uh, all of a sudden was friend
with everyone that we knew, the things that were shared
on the profile, it was very much against Torben.
So much hate, so much bashing.
We asked Alice if she wanted to cooperate with this episode,
but she declined because she is afraid of what this man would do to her.
It has now been seven years since she ended the relationship
and this man is still stalking her.
She describes this man as rich, influential and even
with contacts in the US government.
He also threatened her to not go public with her story
and not to mention his name.
He is the one who wrote the email we quoted at the beginning
of this episode.
I'm happy to hear you are going to the US.
There I will be able to really take care of you
and your ugly cult.
Also several other people we ask to tell their story
for this episode said no.
They said: this man is dangerous and I don't want him to come after me
and my family.
He also wrote to other people involved in Torben's ministry.
Yes. I also received a message from this man back in 2020
when on the TV in my home country in the Netherlands,
there was a program that was very similar to the program in Denmark,
The program is basically the same.
It has Torben, it has the child abuse.
All these lies are also in there.
And after the program, I receive an email from this man
who is hiding behind a fake account, Laura Palmare,
and he writes: Once I told you I'm not the kind of guy
you are used to deal with, and he ends with more to come.
Get your suitcases ready.
Always making sure to not mention his name.
I forgot one last thing.
Don't you ever mention my name on any social media?
I will know it.
And I promise you that you will have serious reason
to fear my wrath.
Obviously, Alice didn't tell you everything
about who I really am.
Don't try to learn it the hard way.
You would regret it deeply. Am I clear?
Somewhere in 2016, Gabriel and Thomas found each other and joined forces.
Several other fake social media accounts appeared. Their sole purpose
was to spread defamatory information about Torben and his ministry.
They created a narrative where Torben's ministry was a 'cult'
and Torben was the 'dangerous cult leader'.
Besides the fake profiles, anonymous reports were sent
to various government organizations in Denmark.
The fire department got an anonymous call that there was a fire hazard.
They checked and everything was fine.
The food control came.
They got a report that the kitchen at the Bible school facility
was dirty and there were rats.
They checked and everything was fine.
The Workers Association got a report that there were people
working at the ministry that were not authorized to work.
They checked and everything was okay.
The tax agency was told that the ministry was evading taxes
and they requested the books for the last two years.
Everything turned out fine.
A Wikipedia page was also created with defamatory information about Torben.
Wikipedia moderators decided that the page needed to be removed.
When Torben was doing a kickstart in France,
the police showed up.
They had received reports that Torben's ministry
was a dangerous cult and were investigating the matter.
People got baptized, set free, received the Holy Spirit, so beautiful.
And in the middle of the most beautiful thing,
the police come, three policemen standing outside
and want to close us down.
And they say something with the building and the man who owns the building.
But we know it's just an attack.
And what to do now?
We have no idea.
800 people. We have no idea.
After we showed them all the paperwork and they saw all the people,
they never came again.
And we were able to move on with the Kickstart with no problems.
It didn't stop there because as soon as we went to the airport
to fly back to Denmark, the police came to check all our bags suddenly again,
and they took us all into a special room.
It was very strange and they went through all our bags,
all our stuff and just opened and took stuff out.
And we just had no idea of what was going on.
And then apparently they told us that they got a report for someone
that we had a lot of money, a lot of cash in our bags.
And it was just strange.
Very, very strange.
And of course, we didn't have anything, so they didn't found it.
And then in the end, they let us go.
But it was just... we started to become very curious about who this person was
because it was like it kept coming again and again and again
that someone would call in to the police and ask them
to check us and to go through us because we were 'dangerous'.
And yeah. But anyway, I mean, Torben never really wasted too much time on it.
He was just so focused on the gospel.
So he moved on.
Month of April, I actually did a kickstart in Switzerland in a city called Lausanne.
During that time, for what I remember, I was excited
and we were preparing to start with the Kickstart.
One of my friends, she actually came to me and she actually told me
in a surprising way that there are police who are outside of the building.
They had a document and someone had made a big complaint
about Torben Sondergaard, about The Last Reformation,
that we were a sect, something to do
.
Autistic and hypnosis.
Hypnosis, a whole.
Lot of things.
And we are dangerous. It was from.
Some place near Geneva.
We don't know, it was not signed.
Over the years, these people have continued their mission
and through their fake accounts, they have been clear about their goals.
We will continue until Torben and his ministry
are completely destroyed.
Hey, Toby Boy, I have to say, I am really enjoying
watching you slowly going down.
Soon there will be nothing left of your freaking cult.
Maybe you should have listened to me when I asked you for help for Alice,
you arrogant moron.
When Torben was approached by a production company in 2017,
he had no idea that Gabriel and Thomas were involved.
Towards the end of filming, Torben realised that he had been betrayed
and that the film crew was in contact with his persecutors.
When he found out, he called the producer.
He confronted him with his dishonesty.
The producer excused himself and said it was part
of the journalistic process to hear both sides of the story.
But was this fair journalism?
We have received information suggesting that Gabriel,
the businessman from France, paid the salaries
of the undercover journalists you saw in our last episode.
The source of this information is someone close to Gabriel.
If this is true, then Torben's persecutors have helped fund God's Best Children.
We contacted one of the journalists.
He said that he felt sorry for Torben, but that for 'legal reasons'
he could not answer our questions.
When we watch the God's Best Children documentary,
we see the presence of both Thomas and Gabriel everywhere.
For example, we see a representative of the organization InsideOut.
According to their website, InsideOut provides support to people
who have broken with a destructive community.
Their website lists Thomas as chairman of the organization.
Bente Boserup, who we saw in our first episode,
is also listed on the InsideOut website as a child specialist consultant.
These people are not independent experts.
They know each other and work with Thomas.
In the program, we see this couple who criticized Torben.
They are friends of Thomas and were under Thomas influence.
When asked why they agreed to appear on the program,
they said that Thomas asked them to do it.
They share a misleading story about Alice, the ex-girlfriend of Gabriel.
So are you worried for her life? Yeah.
I've been since the first day.
We also see this man talking about his friend.
He appears at the end of the last episode of God's Best Children
and his identity is not revealed.
This is Gabriel.
He is the man that has been stalking his girlfriend, Alice, for years.
She has repeatedly told Gabriel to get out of her life,
but he continues to pursue her.
And since this thing started, everything collapsed.
She can actually commit suicide in a blink.
Nobody is here to see what's going on.
Everything can happen.
And they don't know what they're doing.
It's this Last Reformation thing is like a mental institution
where patients are trying to help patients.
They are all crazy.
She can actually commit suicide in a blink.
Gabriel says Alice could commit suicide in a blink.
But here we are today, 4 years later, and Alice is fine.
She is not part of Torben's ministry and never has been.
She just followed one of Torben's Bible schools
and is now part of a church in her home country.
He was doing all kind of things to have contact with her,
even though she blocked immediately every possible door.
He kept finding another door to just try to have contact with her.
He were also sending her flowers.
He, um, tried to have contact with other students at the school
as well as create multiple Facebook profiles.
Typically, it was female pictures and names he was using.
She was really done with this guy.
She didn't want to have anything to do with him.
She didn't even consider to go back to him and she just
wanted him to leave her alone.
She decided to follow Jesus with everything she had.
Around the time Torben realized that the production company
was working with his persecutors, he and his family
received a visit from the Municipality.
They had received a report that children were being abused in their home.
At the same time, a YouTube channel linked to Gabriel
uploaded this video making the same claim of child abuse.
It was a very threatening situation because in Denmark
and other European countries, the child protection authorities
have a lot of power.
Sadly, there are several examples of authorities making bad decisions
and removing children from their parents based on false information.
This was a very intimidating situation for Torben and Lene
because these authorities have the power to remove children
if they suspect any wrongdoing in the family.
Sometimes I get up to three calls per day from people
fearing a forced adoption of their children.
This became more real when Torben was publicly declared guilty.
We agree with children's condition that this kind of behaviour
can be described as psychological abuse.
It was likely for authorities to take action at some point.
Now, do you see the pattern?
These individuals pushed the government but also the media into unjust actions.
Later we will see the same thing happening in the USA.
After the programmes aired on Danish TV, Torben and Lene
fled to the United States and decided to stay there for a while
Seeing the ongoing discussion in the media and government,
they concluded: These people that are persecuting us,
they are not going to stop.
The people of Denmark buy in to their lies and this will continue until I'm in jail.
Torben was advised to apply for asylum.
He did not know that his persecutors had already contacted Homeland Security.
A memo we received, states: On March 27th, 2019, the ICE Homeland Security
Investigations Fort Myers office received information
that Sondergaard was defrauding the sick and elderly
and abusing children.
But why did Torben end up in prison in the United States?
And how were Thomas and Gabriel involved in this?
that we will share in our next episode.