In this installment of our ongoing series, “How To Escape from the GDT Cult”, we will focus on the topic of Jobs and Careers and share some valuable resources for church members seeking a fulfilling job independent of the church. As we have previously discussed, Pastor Isaac Noriega of Golden Dawn Tabernacle church highly encourages members to have jobs at GDT Church member owned businesses as this allows him to exert control over these member’s jobs and financial status (such as tithing enforcement as previously discussed in a previous article). This practice creates a hurdle that discourages members from leaving the church as their family’s wellbeing depends on their income.
This is why it is important that you have your own income that you and/or your family can depend on. You will need this income to save enough money to leave the cult, and to secure your financial independence. In order to ensure your income is not at peril, it is imperative that you obtain a job at a business that is not owned by a GDT church member. As some of our readers are aware, there are stories of Isaac Noriega getting former church members fired from their jobs at GDT church member owned businesses due to various reasons ranging from being too friendly with non-church co-workers to leaving the church. Also, try not to work at a business that has church members working there or there is a risk they will try to sabotage your career and get you fired. Based on former member testimony, Matthew Noriega has done this at commercial electrical company as a consequence someone who left the church. He essentially told the company owner that he and the church member employees working at this company would quit and boycott the company (which would drive the business into ruins), if they did not fire the ex-GDT employee. Additionally, try not to tell anyone in the church where you work, especially anyone in a leadership position. Rey Aguirre and the GDT deacons have been known to show up to people’s workplaces to spy on them or for “interventions” or to attempt to sabotage their careers.
Resumes Tips & Resources
Having a resume readily available to apply for jobs is invaluable. If you don’t have a job outside the church yet and also don’t have a resume, you can easily create one using Google Docs for free. They even have some nice templates you can use. If you’re on docs.google.com, just click on “Template gallery” near the top right of the page and scroll down to see your resume options. If you’re already in a Google Doc, you’ll want to click “File”> “New” > “From template gallery” to see all of your options.
Here are some resume writing tips to help make your resume stand out.
Jobs and Careers Resources
Pima Community College has an excellent career planning resources that you can use to help you with career counseling, resume and interview preparation as well as introducing you to potential employers and job opportunities. Check out their student career guide here for more details.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce has a job pipeline for local jobs listed here where they will help match you with potential employers.
If you are interested in trade jobs, there an Arizona Apprentice Program that offers apprenticeship via these employer opportunities that range from barber, to construction, plumber, electrician, mechanic, computer specialist, and many more job opportunities.
Another great program is Job Corps, which provides excellent job training and apprenticeship programs. They offer on-the-job experiences designed to get you workforce-ready. An example of the industries they cover are:
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Automotive and Machine Repair
- Construction
- Finance and Business
- Health Care
- Homeland Security
- Hospitality
- Information Technology
- Renewable Resources and Energy
- Transportation
Generally, JobCorps students are:
- 16 through 24 years old
- Are low-income individuals
- Meet citizenship, residency, DACA or other approved status requirements
- Meet background requirements
- Are ready and motivated to succeed
JobCorps has a lot of benefits, including housing, basic medical care, meals, living allowance, books and supplies, training clothing/uniforms, child care and a very supportive community. Find out more about these great benefits here: https://www.jobcorps.gov/benefits
Find out more about the program and apply at this link: https://www.jobcorps.gov
If you are interested in house cleaning jobs, you can work as a self employed contractor by listing ads on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.
If you are in a pinch, here is a Facebook group (there are many more groups like this) that is posting labor wanted jobs on a daily basis: Tucson DayLabor
Other jobs you could consider that would provide more flexibility are jobs in the gig economy as driving for Uber, DoorDash, running errands on TaskRabbit, and many more. Here is an article that lists out some of the top paying gig economy jobs.
You could also consider starting your own business as long as your business is not heavily depending on GDT congregants for income or employment. Or if you already have your own business, and have the aforementioned dependencies, work to make your business independent of those in order to make your business more resilient once you exit GDT.
Conclusion
We hope these resources are helpful to those that need them. We will be covering additional articles in the future providing resources on topics such as personal finances, food, housing and medical support assistance, and how to process deconstructing your beliefs. Let us know if you have any suggestions on additional how to escape topics we should cover. If you have any jobs and career resource tips and success stories that helped you be successful in escaping a high control cult, we would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Do you have any information you’d like to share about Golden Dawn Tabernacle / Tabernaculo Emanuel? Feel free to comment below, or you can contact us directly at our Contact Us page or via our social media accounts below.
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I remember when I told Isaac Noriega about my college plans after getting my GED. He was not happy to hear that I wanted to go to college. He warned me that education is of the devil, and that college could corrupt my mind and that I would be hanging out with the wrong crowd, and might cave into temptations like “drinking wine”. I want to thank my college advisor for changing my life, because where Isaac gave me uncertainty and fear, the advisor gave me a path to success, resources and encouragement.
I received mixed messages from the GDT church members when I started going to college. One brother who is well educated (and so are his children), privately told me that I should go to college no matter what because it would better my life and that the people in the church didn’t really know any better. Other people would ask me why I was wasting my time going to college, and that it wasn’t worth going when I could be working for a GDT employer in a trade job. They also insinuated that advancing my career wasn’t worthwhile since the rapture was going to take place at any moment. They would look down on me because I was “too educated” which is a result of the anti-education brainwashing they receive. I used to work with a brother who is in the landscaping business while I was going to college, and he would try his best to encourage me to drop out of college so I could work for him fulltime as a landscaper. The irony is that his own brother went to college but the excuse he would use is that we now have progressive revelation, so we know better now.
Ultimately, I successfully graduated from college with a bachelors and a masters and I now have a very fulfilling career because of it. College changed my life, and it was unequivocally for the better. It taught me how to think critically, how to solve complex problems, and it prepared me for an exciting career that I love.
College is not for everyone, so I don’t recommend going to college if you do not have a solid career plan that it will support. Also, trade jobs pay just as much or more than college jobs nowadays (and without getting into student loan debt). I highly encourage GDT members to consider what they are interested in career wise and find a training program or apprenticeship in that field. Find someone in that field and ask to shadow them for a day, ask for them to mentor you, or ask them for a job. If you find someone that loves their job, they are going to be more than happy to share their insights with you.
I have also seen some very successful self employed businesses started by ex-GDT members. In some cases, those business owners have helped each other out with business referrals, doing jobs together, helping with employment, etc. That is such a great way to band together and lift each other up, and be successful.
What Isaac wants is for us not to be successful, and I think it makes him angry to see ex-GDT members be happy and thriving. He wants to see us miserable and in a bad situation, in the hopes that we come crawling back to the church. Let’s not give him that satisfaction!
Great article, great resources thank you GDTR team. Keep going!
Este web a hecho lo que dice la Palabra del Señor en El libro de APOCALIPSIS…
EL CAPITULO 2, VERSOS 2 Y 3.
Sigan adelante, con la verdad!!!
Ahunque no Les gusta, y esten tan enojados los afectados…
“Al que le quede El sacó, que se lo ponga “
I would like to applauded all the hard work that has been put into the great research.
Is there a way that a list of contacts could be created for former or current member’s of GDT/ Tabernaculo Emauel to reach out, Or is this to dangerous? As a former member I felt very alone and would have loved to be able to talk to someone that knew what I was going through.
Try social media. Lots of us are on there
Life will be challenging anywhere you go. But just knowing and tasting the FREEDOM that Christ gives you as an individual makes it all worth it. But I can honestly say that any bad day out here will never compare to a regular day in the cult. It’s such a beautiful difference. FREEDOM. Will getting started on your own be hard? Absolutely. Will you have hardships? Of course, who doesn’t? Will you rebuild, grow, succeed and heal? ABSOLUTELY YES!!!!
Now I understand why people never go back to the cult. We were always told it was because they had crossed a line and were gone to their eternal punishment.( hell bound according to Isaac) or that God had kicked them out. But now I see clearly that it’s the freedom. It’s the beautiful liberty. And we could never offend our God and liberator by going back to the chains He gladly took us out of. All glory and Honor to Him!!
El principio de la sabiduria, ES EL TEMOR AL SEÑOR.
NO TEMAS NI DESMAYES, PORQUE YO ESTARE CONTIGO.
Pruebe el amor de DIOS y su cuidado,
Ud puede salir adelante y estudiar, trabajar, hacer una familia, tener sus amigos, viajar, ..
No permita que Issac Noriega, decida por ud, con amenaza, chantajes, llenandole de temor, y con .ofrescimientos de trabajo, de pareja, de posicion en la Iglesia, como tiene a sus hijos, nuera ,sobrinos, nietos, Les a dado todo a cambio de sus vidas su libertad, estando tan miserables!!! porque todo lo que tienen, nada Les a costado, ..
Ud tiene promesas, de un Dios todopoderoso, que no se limita a ninguna barrera hechos por el hombre, ..
ESFUERZATE Y SE MUY VALIENE!!
asi tiene que ser…pues se toma mucho VALOR para, lograr Tus metas,
quiza enfrente, cosas contrarias, triztesas, temores, insertidumbres, mas alli es donde DIOS se hace presente, YO ESTARE CONTIGO HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO..
SALID DE ELLA PUEBLO MIO, Y NO PARTICIPEIS DE SUS INIQUIDADES…
(Mentiras, adulterous, fraudes,pedofilia,abusos mentales,
Soledad, …y lo mas grabe .Dios ya no ESTA Alli)…
Sean valientes, y abran sus ojos!!
Es una tristeza ver que solamente los “privilegiados” tienen el derecho de estudios universitarios, elegir donde decean trabajar, vivir una doble vida, hijos en escuelas públicas y muchos de ellos con páginas de redes sociales “linkedIn” promoviendo sus negocios. Nepotismo e Hipocresía!!!!!
It is a sadness to see that only the “privileged” have the right to educated themselves, choose where they want to work, live a double life, children in public schools and many of them with “linkedIn” social media pages promoting their businesses. Nepotism and Hypocrisy!!!
I definitely think the lack of these resources is one of the main reasons GDT escapee struggle and become bogeymen for Isaac to point too. When you leave you have a lot of folks watching you. Some want you to stubble and others want to see you make it so they can someday leave too.
This is a great resource for those trying to find a new life outside the prison walls. We are praying that God gives you wisdom to research for the truth and the courage to walk out and claim your freedom
“ what’s a job?”
…Prince Harry
I love that this website is giving out information and resources to help people in GD leave. Keep up the good work, GDTR! Also, advicewitherin on instagram and TikTok is a good page for getting interviews tips and answers. I would also suggest utilizing Google, TikTok and YouTube to get questions to answers you might have. I hope this helps even a little bit to any GD people who left or are thinking of leaving and hope to see more informational blog posts like this in the future! God bless.
Isaac demands tolerance for his abuse. Then he divides the people. And with that strategy he conquers these poor people. There is no stop to his propaganda. The people see that the wall is red. But the generational harm and propaganda makes them say it’s blue. Because it’s what Isaac tells them to see and say.
First thing to do when you get out of this cult is join a gym. Workout, join martial arts, do something to stay busy to keep your mind alert and in sync. As you join these activities you will meet new awesome people. Keep your mind strong and busy. And your body fit which will automatically boost your confidence. As you do this you are learning strength and discipline. Also I recommend hearing podcasts. @beemboldened ministries is another great source of healing religious abuse. Naomi the CEO and founder is an amazing, kind and the sweetest and most patient and helpful mentor. She is always available. She has helped me out so much. Her YouTube videos. Her own story. And she gets us because she also left the WB cult.