Leaving the NAR Cult Once and For All: Healing from Wolves
Two years ago, God repeatedly had to tell me to stop grieving Saul when He had me leave my last NAR church based in Hollywood and leave the NAR cult system once and for all.
God is done with the King Sauls—the narcissistic, ignorant and power-hungry authoritarian type of “pastors” and He is looking to raise the Davids with pure hearts and a real desire to give God all the glory.
I believe this is the moment when NAR victims need to speak out—not to rehearse wounds or seek sympathy, but to sound the alarm. To stand firm and say, clearly and unapologetically: “Stay away from these NAR wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
I myself barely survived my past encounters with this big bad NAR wolf and the many false apostles and prophets still aligned with him. My message these days is: “Learn from my scars. Protect yourself. Run away from any NAR church—and don’t look back!”
Hello! My name is Pia Hugo. I am a survivor of childhood sexual assault (CSA) and adult domestic violence (DV). I am also a survivor of spiritual and clergy abuse. I met my NAR pastor, Che Ahn, when he was a nobody. I was 19 and very impressionable. I married his wife’s brother upon his recommendation. My spouse turned out to be an abusive narcissist who eventually became physically violent. When I complained to Che and Sue (his wife and my husband’s sister) and showed them my bruises, they blamed me for not submitting more, obeying more, and they said I just need to “keep doing whatever my husband says.” Don’t question. Don’t use your critical thinking skills. Just shut up, comply, and be silent.
I eventually got a divorce after 10 years and was immediately shunned and later kicked out of this NAR church which was located in Pasadena, CA. Stupidly I went to another NAR church in Hollywood years later. Some of you may be aware of the fact that cults are very hard to leave when you’ve been drinking the Kool Aid for so long (40 years in my case). When this last NAR church ended up being even more dysfunctional and the pastor started having sexual indiscretions and his wife (who was my friend) was forced to divorce him, I was done.
I have been through many years of healing and therapy now. I have dug deep into the Word and listened to scholarly discourses. Thankfully, I am no longer just healing but also learning the Bible anew. I am also confronting the wolves who sought to devour us. I am learning to wield the sword of truth—speaking boldly, standing firmly, and refusing to be silenced—so survivors like us can gather in safety. So we can live, work, and heal together. So we can build spaces of refuge (like here in Reddit), where peace replaces fear and we finally rest in green pastures beside still waters next to our Good Good Shepherd. The only real shepherd we will ever truly need.