Note 111 - Workers and Elders Dismissed for
Not Being "One with the Apostle"
Testimony of David Franco, June 18, 2008:
In 2003, André Dong and Peter Dong sold the meeting hall number 4 of the church in São Paulo even though the other elders did not agree with selling it. Without fellowship, they then bought a large piece of land to build a bigger meeting hall for the church and arranged for the building to be built by Peter Dong. They always justified their actions saying that since Brother Dong was the "Apostle" and he was commissioned by the Lord, we had to go along with the purchase of the land, with or without our agreement. They said that it was the "will of the Apostle" and consequently the Lord's will. We were then accused of standing against "the Apostle's will." Because we three brothers—Laerte, Fernando and I—did not agree with such independent decisions and actions concerning the church in São Paulo taken by Brother Dong, Peter Dong and Andrew Dong, we were consider to be "rebellious" brothers.
It became almost compulsory for the saints in the church in São Paulo to read Brother Dong's Booklet Daily Food. The saints were expected to purchase it for every family member. Often the saints bought this book just to avoid problems. The majority of the responsible brothers did not agree with that situation. For this reason they were considered as "rebellious" and "those who were not one with the Apostle." Every time any brother was going to share any message they were obligated to share based on the Daily Food. Those words were considered by them to be the present truth of the Lord's recovery. For a while several saints in the lead shared in the meetings using the general topic in the Daily Food, but basing the content of the speaking on the Life-studies and some of Brother Lee's other books that were completely according to the apostles' teaching. This once again led Brother Dong and his workers to consider us as "rebellious against the Apostle."
One of Brother Dong´s coworkers told me "I am 100% one with Brother Dong. Whatever he says, I agree!" They told me if I was going to be a worker or an elder I had "to be 100% one with Brother Dong" and that if I was not able to do this, they said it was better for me to resign as Brother Dong's co-worker and as an elder in the church. (Note: These same conditions have also been imposed on many other brothers in Brazil, conditions for them to be in the work or in the lead in their church, but also as a condition for them to be in the meetings of the church.) At that moment I realized that the ground of the church in São Paulo had been changed by them because they made absolute submission to one person—"the Apostle"—a requirement for the oneness. I told them that I could not do this regarding anyone except the Lord Himself.
Click on the icon at right to view the document. 
Letter from the church in Ambato, Ecuador, October 24, 2007:
A division was caused directly by Brother Dong in Ambato. When the church in Ambato made the decision to follow the ministry of the age, Brother Dong came to this city and did not seek fellowship with the responsible brothers. Instead, he held a conference in a denomination called "El Pan de Vida" ("The Bread of Life"). Ten saints from the church in Ambato attended the conference. Brother Dong told them that the church in Ambato had become a sect because they had left the apostle's orientation and, therefore, they (the ten saints from Ambato who attended his conference) were then the church and could meet to break bread. Now there is a group of brothers in Ambato who follow Brother Dong's orientation.
In 2003 responsible brothers were designated for the churches in Ecuador. Brothers who had not been meeting in the church in Ambato, including one brother who had been out of the country for five years, were designated as responsible brothers because they were "one with the apostle." The same thing happened in other localities.
Click on the icon at right to view the document.
Letter from Roberto Graner, "national co-worker in Peru," to Andres Capillo, May 14, 2004:
You are Brother Dong's coworker and therefore you are in the work to be one with the apostle.
Statement by Walter Ortiz, October 29, 2007:
Of course, Eduardo [Kalaidjian] realized that this was not right, and he planned to let Brother Dong know about this matter so that he could correct it. He was expecting Brother Dong to correct the situation at the International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones (ITERO) that was going to be held in Brazil that fall. When he got there, he was surprised that Brother Dong did not allow him to enter into the South American co-workers' meetings, alleging that Brother Eduardo was not one soul with him.
It is interesting to note that not only did Eduardo get cut off—after 23 years serving in Argentina as the national leading brother—but all the churches related to him were also cut off from the fellowship of Brother Dong. Those churches included Cordoba, Mendoza, and some in the North.
Click on the icon at right to view the document.
