Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in Stonewall. <\/a><\/p>\nKing said cults and closed societies generally pursue people who are experiencing feelings of hopelessness.<\/p>\n
A Manitoba social worker said the connections offered by these groups are powerful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re just not getting what they need, so they\u2019re looking elsewhere for it,\u201d Jola Hnatiuk said. \u201cSometimes they\u2019re so vulnerable, they don\u2019t realize they\u2019re falling under a grooming pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hnatiuk, who works with vulnerable people, aged 12 to 29, both in and out of the city, said people can become ensnared extremely quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone is meeting all of your needs and you feel safe with them, you tend to give more of yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
King said in many cases abuse and manipulation are present in cults and closed societies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very comfortable saying that it\u2019s happening globally,\u201d King said. \u201cThe challenge is to what degree?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said 1970s and \u201980s cults would offer a more \u201cbrick-and-mortar\u201d approach, with recruitment taking place on street corners and doorsteps.<\/p>\n
The advent of the internet, and specifically social media, has made it easier to draw people in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a real challenging period of time, where like-minded people can find each other much easier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Online videos, digital imagery and keywords are used to recruit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese cult leaders have become really good at casting a broad net and then waiting for the right people to reach out to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raising awareness about cults and closed societies is important, a Winnipeg counsellor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need one another to help prevent distortion of thought and belief,\u201d said Gerry Goertzen, a psychotherapist with more than 20 years experience.<\/p>\n
He said when people become engaged in these societies, their perceptions of reality may be warped, causing them to think only one person \u2014 or group \u2014 can truly love and care for them.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"Sign](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/headstart-thumbnail-sunrise-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe isolating effect of that, in my mind, would be dangerous,\u201d Goertzen said.<\/p>\n
Goertzen said supporting someone involved with a cult can be challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be some real wisdom in the approach so that it doesn\u2019t further isolate, or push that person further into isolation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is the person? Who is the loved one and what is their history? What is it they need? There\u2019s a lot of questions that would need to be processed before coming up with an approach for helping that person.\u201d<\/p>\n
morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t![\"Morgan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/260604-Morgan-Modjeski-0001-e1780620664424.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\nOur newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An expert on cults is warning Winnipeggers predatory groups are not only still present but are pursuing new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":956205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-956204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/956205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"SUPPLIED](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/4686355_web1_MK-Railroad-2024.jpg\")