90 Children of God Stay in L. & C. Park

Alton Evening Telegraph, Illinois

October 23, 1969, North America

Ninety young people, calling themselves God’s Children, proclaim the Lord will bring about a great revolution in America and punish its people for their sinful ways.

Camped in the Lewis & Clark Park near Hartford, the group is encouraging young people to take up God’s work and eliminate sin in the United States, “—or the revolution will surely come,” they say.

Asked if their messages have anything to do with the war in Vietnam, Lvi said: “That is only a small part of the trouble in the United States. The real problem is sin.”

The young people, 18 to 25 years of age, have given up worldly things to help demonstrate their dedication to God’s work.

The only luxury items they have are trucks, trailers and cars in which they travel from place to place, like the Children of Israel following Moses. They have some money derived from the sale of their homes and personal belongings, which is divided equally among them.

They live in tents, dress plainly, and eat simple food given them by well-wishers.

They have taken Biblical names as a reminder that old men no longer exist, and that all things have become new, according to Jonathan Hosea Levi, one of the leaders.

During their vigils, Levi said, the group will dress in sack cloth representing penance, wear an ox yoke to signify bondage, and place ash on their foreheads to demonstrate fasting.

“We take no thought of what we shall eat or wear, for if we seek the Kingdom of ‘God, then these things will come to us,” Levi said.

“To us,” he said, “Christ is a living person, who wants to live through us. He laid down his life for us, so we should give our lives for our brothers.”

“We may not be able to change the political or economical situation of the country, but we hope we can change some people spiritually.” Levi said.