La Luz Del Mundo’s ‘Apostle’ Leads His Church From Inside A Jail Cell

In April, after a California court of appeal dismissed criminal charges against Naason Joaquin Garcia, the Mexico-based religious group known as La Luz Del Mundo invited its millions of members around the world to thank God together in a shared prayer.

“Let us be prudent,” the invitation advised, “and wait on legal proceedings, trusting that the awaited day will come, because the Church is confident in the honorability of the Apostle of Jesus Christ.”

Naason Joaquin Garcia (right), the leader of a Mexico-based evangelical church appeared with his defense attorney Ken Rosenfeld for a bail review hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court July 15, 2019. (Al Seib/AFP via Getty Images)

Garcia, 51, has led the organization also known as the Light of the World Church since late 2014.

The charismatic preacher was born and raised in the Guadalajara neighborhood where his grandfather started this religious group, and where his father served as its leader for 50 years.

Today, the neighborhood is something like the Vatican for members of La Luz Del Mundo, which makes Garcia something like their Pope.

The charismatic preacher was arrested last summer at LAX, after three girls and one woman in L.A. County reported abuse to the California Department of Justice’s clergy abuse tip line.

The California attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case, says Garcia used his authority within the church to coerce young girls into sex acts. Garcia denies these allegations.

Last June, Garcia was charged with lewd acts upon a child, conspiracy to commit human trafficking and forcible rape. At his arraignment, Garcia pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing.

In July, Garcia was arraigned on an amended complaint that also included new charges for the possession of child pornography. At that arraignment, he also pleaded not guilty.

In September, Garcia’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that he had not waived his right to a speedy trial on the second set of charges and that he was being held unfairly. The trial court denied his motion, and Garcia’s attorneys appealed to the California Court of Appeal.

The court of appeal reversed the trial court, dismissing the case on a procedural basis. The court did not weigh in on the merits of the criminal case. The court of appeal dismissal isn't final for 30 days, and Garcia will continue to be held in jail until then. State prosecutors say they have the option to re-file the multiple felony charges against him.

Throughout the ordeal, Naason Joaquin Garcia and his supporters have denied the charges.

Garcia’s criminal trial is in limbo, but for now, he’ll keep running La Luz Del Mundo from behind bars, as he has for the past year.

A LIVING ‘APOSTLE’

Garcia isn’t simply the leader of this religious group, which claims hundreds of churches around the world and dozens here in Southern California. The organization’s millions of followers believe Garcia to be God’s only living apostle in what they call the one true Christian Church — just like his father and grandfather before him.

An image of Naason Joaquin Garcia on display on the La Luz Del Mundo (The Light of the World) Church in Pasadena, California. (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

His central role in the religious movement was on full display at a choir concert held in his honor at L.A.’s Grand Park back in December.

“This is the fifth anniversary of the man who we — who has been sent by God, the leader of our Church as well,” said Ari Martinez, a lifelong church member from East L.A. “We’re just celebrating his work. He’s been working tirelessly since I’ve known him.”

A display at a La Luz Del Mundo event in December, celebrating the 5-year anniversary of Naason Joaquin Garcia becoming the group's leader, or “apostle.” (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

Martinez was one of about 2,000 church members gathered to celebrate the half-decade since Naason Joaquin Garcia took over as La Luz Del Mundo’s apostle after his father, Samuel Joaquin Flores, died in December 2014.

Choir members from temples across Southern California sang their hearts out in front of L.A.’s City Hall.

Choir members from around Southern California gathered in downtown L.A. to celebrate five years of “Apostle” Naason Joaquin Garcia in December 2019. (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

Nicholas Ynda is a pastor at the downtown LA temple. He says spirits are high even with their apostle behind bars.

“The theme or topic is to be grateful to God for the last 5 years of blessings that we’ve received,” said Ynda. “Of course, everyone knows about the ongoing criminal case. It’s something that the Church is going through.”

Garcia’s five years as ‘the apostle’ have been defined by his efforts to grow the Church outside Mexico, opening churches in all 50 U.S. states and 58 countries worldwide.

“Naason’s originality was to tour the world continuously and try to argue that this is a universal church rather than Latino or Mexican,” said religious scholar Massimo Introvigne, managing director at the Center for Studies on New Religions. “He more or less succeeded.”

Ynda, who was baptized into the church 16 years ago, said he believes the accusations might actually help the church grow.

“It does bring notoriety to the church, of course, and it is possible that God could use that for the growth of the Church. If you look in the scripture, men of God have been talked about poorly, and God turns that around for good things often.”

La Luz Del Mundo's Grand Park display for the fifth anniversary of Naason Joaquin Garcia's leadership. (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

The idea that a jailed church leader could be good for a religion might sound hard to believe, but it’s backed by sociologists and religious scholars.

“Outside attacks and ridicule actually reinforce religious groups,” said Massimo Introvigne. “Members realize how they see themselves is very much different from how the world sees them and normally react by strengthening their community engagement and commitment. Even if the apostle is found guilty, history and sociology show that high commitment groups do not decline and may even grow.”

In December 2019, La Luz Del Mundo members in Los Angeles hold up their cellular devices during a large gathering in Grand Park celebrating their 'apostle.' (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

As the December Grand Park event came to a close, the crowd broke into a chant of support for their apostle.

“Somos de Naason Joaquin,” they chant. “We belong to Naason Joaquin.”

THE HOLY SUPPER

In February, with ‘the apostle’ still sitting in an L.A. jail cell, more than 10,000 members of the Light of the World Church from all over the West Coast packed the Pomona Fairgrounds grandstand for the group’s annual Holy Supper event.

About 10,000 members of La Luz Del Mundo gathered in February at the Pomona Fairplex to celebrate the U.S. version of the religious group's annual Holy Supper ritual. Men sat on one side of the grandstand, women and children on the other. (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

Women sat on one side, wearing veils and wailing out in prayer. Men sat on the other, just like inside Luz Del Mundo temples.

“The world’s already made a decision on who we are,” said Jack Freeman, a minister from Redlands. “They call us a cult. They call us violent. They call us brainwashers, they call us so many different things. But right here, we’re in our biggest event, and we’re just here happy, we’re joyful. Nobody’s forced. We’re here with our own free will because we want to be a part of this.”

This annual event is the U.S. twist on the group’s annual Santa Cena gathering at the Church’s headquarters in Guadalajara — which draws hundreds of thousands every August.

This year’s ritual was adapted to fight the spread of coronavirus. Freeman said it usually involves thousands of people drinking grape juice out of the same cup.

“But because of the scare of the virus and our desire to keep our members safe, each person gets a little cup now,” Freeman said.

The event is about remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and communing with God, said Freeman — not worshipping Naason Joaquin Garcia, as the religious movement’s detractors suggest.

“I care about him a lot,” said Freeman. “I love him. I know who he is and I respect him very much, just as if you had a pastor who looked after your soul, you would love and care for him as well because of the spiritual nature of the relationship. But you’re not going to worship him. You’re not going to pray to him. You’re not going to throw yourself at his feet like what’s being said. That’s ridiculous.”

La Luz Del Mundo members prepare the Holy Supper in February in Pomona. The ritual typically involves thousands of people all drinking out of the same goblet, but because of coronavirus, individual cups were used for the first time ever this year. (Aaron Schrank/LAist)

But as volunteers prepare the Holy Supper, representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the crowd sings a song called “Nard of Justice and Glory,” about God choosing Garcia as his apostle.

“His election gave me a new reason to believe and proclaim,” they sing. “Naasón, apostle of the Lord. Naason Joaquin!”

Women belonging to the religious group La Luz Del Mundo gathered at the Pomona Fairplex for the groups annual Holy Supper event in February 2020. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)

La Luz Del Mundo’s apostle is what makes the religion different from other homegrown Pentecostal groups in Mexico, said Patricia Fortuny, with the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology in Mexico.

She said Naason Joaquin Garcia is La Luz Del Mundo’s greatest strength and also its greatest weakness.

“It’s fantastic for the people,” said Fortuny. “They feel special and chosen to be part of the primitive Christian church. But it’s also a problem. Most Pentecostal churches in Mexico or the United States do not worship their pastors, and the ministers and pastors do not control or coerce the people in the same way that they do in Luz Del Mundo.”

“THERE’S NO SIN IN HIM”

Sochil Martin, center, with lawyers Jeff Anderson, left, and Deborah Mallgrave, speaks at a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. Martin has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the leaders of Mexican megachurch La Luz del Mundo sexually abused her since she was 12 years old. (Stefanie Dazio/Associated Press)

In her bombshell lawsuit, the 33-year-old accuses Garcia of running La Luz Del Mundo like a predatory cult of personality, manipulating members into donating all their time and money to the Church, and making himself rich in the process.

Garcia and the church deny these claims, and Martin’s lawyers say the case is ongoing.

From childhood, Martin claims she was told that the apostle was without sin and even taught bible verses meant to justify his sexual contact with kids.

“I was told that he can do anything, and there’s no sin in him,” Martin told me in an interview recounting the charges in her lawsuit.” “So when I would see things happening growing up, deep down inside I would ask myself questions, but you’re supposed to slap yourself and say, ‘Snap out of it, no. That’s not a sin for him.’ There’s no sin in him. He can lie. He can rape. He can do whatever he wants, because he is the Servant of God and the apostle of Jesus Christ.”

Before becoming the apostle, Garcia was a minister at churches in Huntington Park, North Hollywood, Santa Ana and the flagship temple in East LA. That’s where Martin first met him in 2003, when she was 16.

At that time, Garcia’s father Samuel Joaquin Flores was the apostle and Garcia was launching the church’s new communications department, Berea International, spreading La Luz Del Mundo’s message to the world with radio programs, videos and social media posts.

Garcia enlisted Martin into years of unpaid work on the project and later forced her to have sex with him, she claimed in the lawsuit.

People congregate in front of the La Luz Del Mundo (The Light of the World) Church in Los Angeles. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

Martin claims in the lawsuit that on one occasion, LLDM members in Southern California were encouraged to donate gold jewelry and heirlooms to the apostle, which were melted down and used to paint the molding on his new home in Los Angeles.

Martin says cash donated at La Luz del Mundo's temples feeds Naason Joaquin Garcia's lavish lifestyle. According to the complaint, Naason Joaquin Garcia owns two private ranches in Redlands and South Texas, which house exotic animals and vintage cars.

"For far too many La Luz Del Mundo members, everything they have is taken by LLDM. Every dollar they make goes to La Luz Del Mundo because they truly believe their money will be used to do the work of God on Earth," Martin said. "But all the hard-earned money goes to making Naason and his enablers rich."

It wasn’t until 2016 that she says she found the courage to leave the Church. That’s when Martin claims Garcia dispatched three members of LLDM leadership to try to buy her silence for half a million pesos.

“When his bishops came, they didn’t bring a message of “Hey, the Servant of God wants to talk to you guys and tell you how much he loves you,” Martin said. “It was full on, ‘What do you want and how much?’ Our world just shattered. I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is a business.’”

The leader of the Church of the Light of the World, Naason Joaquin Garcia (left), walking among his parishioners in Guadalajara, Mexico in August 2017. (Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images)

Since 2018, Martin says she has been working with authorities to help investigate and prosecute La Luz Del Mundo's leaders and prosecute Garcia.

She says she still feels the grip of the power institution everyday, but her lawsuit was one step towards freedom.

“In filing the case, it’s sort of like taking my life back, proving to myself that I’m not that slave anymore, that I have power, that I have a voice, that I don’t belong to anybody anymore. And it was sort of like coming out into the light.”

And with the criminal case against Garcia in limbo, Martin says she hopes her civil case can help hold him accountable.