Former Gloriavale man reunited with family inside the community
Thursday, 25 June 2020
After two and a half years, former Gloriavale man John Ready has been reunited with his family.
Ready was born in Gloriavale, an extreme Christian community on the West Coast founded by Neville Cooper, also known as Hopeful Christian, in 1969.
The community is home to about 600 people, but many in recent years have left and are speaking out about the treatment they received during their time in the community, including beatings, sexual abuse and leaders having control over every aspect of members' lives.
Ready married Purity Ready in 1998 and they have 10 children together.
He first began to question Gloriavale's teachings when his eldest daughter was kicked out of the community for being a 'normal teenager' and questioning what the leaders were saying.
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In 2017, Ready was fired from his job on the Gloriavale farm when he was found with a book which had been left at the community by former members known as “night raiders” who began sneaking into the community at night leaving books and pamphlets questioning the leaders' teachings.
He left the community and got a job at a Rotomanu farm, but his wife believed if she left their children would be destined for hell.
Ready continued to battle with the help of lawyers for access to his nine children who remained in Gloriavale.
He got a house of his own and had regular visits from his children. He also continued a relationship with his wife and their 10th baby was born last year.
But his wife was still not prepared to leave the community, because she believes in the leaders' teachings that if both parents leave, them, along with all their children are doomed, and would not be accepted into heaven.
“It's really amazing how psychologically trapped people are. Young people who leave, it destroys them: the treatment, the lack of support. It's a miracle they survive,” Ready said.
However, during level 4 lockdown he was unable to continue the visits with his children.
“Then level 3 came and I wanted to make up for lost time. Gloriavale put my family in one of the houses away from the main block of people, so they essentially went into level 4 because they were back in contact with me. I had a three-day weekend and stayed with my family but ended up not leaving,” he said.
“If coronavirus had an up-side this would be it, me being back with my wife and children,” he said.
For the past six weeks, Ready has been living in the farmhouse with his family on the Gloriavale property near Lake Haupiri. He continues to work on the Rotomanu farm, and returns at night to his family in Gloriavale. His wife still works in the community, and his children attend school there.
After the first six days the leaders found out he was staying, and confronted him.
“They tried to get rid of me but I said I'm staying with my family and to my surprise they went away. I said to them the only way I'm leaving here is in handcuffs,” he said.
He was getting legal advice, and had no intention of leaving his family.
“When I got back from work on the seventh day my 5-year-old looks up at me and said 'didn't the leaders stop you from coming here.' I just choked out a 'No'. Even a 5-year-old understands that she can't live with her Dad because of the leaders.”
He was grateful to his wife that she had not given up on their relationship.
The leaders had told his wife to call police to have Ready removed, but she refused.
“I stood up to the leaders. Something I was afraid to do my whole life. And they went away. They are still figuring out what to do about the riddle that is John Ready,” he said.
Ready's younger sister Prayer Ready, who had Down Syndrome died in 2015 at 14 when she choked on a piece of meat while locked in an isolation room.
His other sister Connie Ready spoke out about the abuse she and Prayer suffered at the hands of their father Clem. Clem Ready was convicted and sentenced to 12 months' supervision for multiple assaults on his daughter with an open hand or objects such as a shoe, slipper or belt.
A Gloriavale teacher Just Standfast was sentenced to six months' community detention in March 2019 for indecently assaulting a 9-year-old girl by repeatedly kissing her and exposing himself on a bed during a playtime break. He was supported in court by a Gloriavale leader and served his sentence in a farmhouse owned by Gloriavale.