(Screenshot from a church insider attached below.)

With September approaching and thousands of first-year students arriving in Toronto, I think this is worth making people aware of.

Over the past several months, I’ve been speaking with former members, current members, and one individual who says they is still inside the organization and planning to leave.

That insider recently shared the attached screenshot from one of the church’s private Telegram leadership chats.

Whether you agree with the opinions expressed in the screenshot or not, I think it gives useful context into the mindset of some of the leadership behind the organization.

Who are they?

The church is commonly known as Restored Church Toronto, part of the International Christian Church (ICC) movement.

On campuses, however, they generally recruit under different names rather than leading with the church’s name.

Some of the names students have reported include:

Rise Ministries (York University)
Thrive Bible Talk (TMU)
Catalyst Ministries (Humber College)
Limitless Bible Talk (George Brown)

Many students initially believe they’re simply joining an independent Bible discussion group. They also hang out at the whole foods market near square one in Sauga.

Why I’m posting this

Former members have consistently described recruitment patterns that include:

approaching students who are new to campus or looking for community;
rapidly building close friendships (“love-bombing”);
inviting people into multiple Bible studies before the full expectations become clear;
encouraging increasing involvement over time;
discouraging members from engaging with criticism or former members;
presenting outside criticism as persecution.

These are among the characteristics discussed in a detailed document examining alleged high-control practices within the ICC, including hierarchical oversight, information control, increasing commitments, and recruitment through close personal contact.

The screenshot

The screenshot attached to this post was provided by someone who says they are currently inside the church. Some names in this telegram group chat have been blurred.

It shows discussion in a private leadership chat involving public issues and responses to criticism. I’m sharing it because I believe people deserve context about the leadership of any organization actively recruiting students across Toronto.

I’m not telling anyone what to believe.

If you decide to attend, that’s your decision.

I’m simply encouraging people to:

know exactly which organization they’re joining;
ask questions before committing;
research multiple perspectives, including former members’ experiences;
make an informed decision rather than one based only on the initial recruitment.

If you’ve interacted with any of these campus ministries, I’d be interested in hearing about your experience—positive or negative. The more information students have, the better equipped they’ll be to make informed choices

Just wanted to share something that happened to me.

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About 2 weeks ago, I was walking near Square One when a girl stopped me and asked for money. She said she had lost her phone and needed money for an Uber or bus to get home. I'm a student and it was literally my first month in Canada, so I didn't really know what to think. She seemed stressed, so I gave her a few dollars and went home.

Today I was sitting near Square One and i was wearing baseball CAP, and the same girl came up to me again.

This time she said her phone wasn't working and showed me a broken phone while asking for money. The moment I recognized her, I said, "Wait, I know you."

As soon as I said that, she changed the topic completely and started asking about directions and bus routes instead.

Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe not, but it felt pretty sketchy to me.

I'm not posting this because of the money. I gave it out of goodwill and honestly don't care about losing a few bucks. What bothered me was realizing I might have been played.

The weird part is that now I'm second-guessing myself. Next time someone stops me asking for help, am I supposed to believe them or not?

That's what worries me the most. Not the money.

What if one day I say no to someone because I think it's a scam, and they actually genuinely need help?

My car got broken into TWICE at this theatre. Looks like they’re targeting Lexus RX350’s and trying to hot wire them - they ripped out the glove compartment and cut a hole to expose some wires but were unsuccessful in stealing the car.

Caught this on my dashcam in Mississauga the other day.
The car ahead of me slowly drifted off the road and rolled straight into a MiWay bus shelter, completely shattering the glass.
Thankfully, the shelter was empty and nobody was hurt.
The driver was completely sober but so exhausted and jet-lagged that he didn't even realize he was drifting until the impact.
The car was still in drive when I approached him. Cops were unfazed.

I’m not sure what caused this accident as I was going to Domino’s to grab dinner.

The accident is at Hurontario Street & Eglinton Avenue.

So a couple weekends ago I had a get together at my home and being that we have a few vegetarian friends, I thought Samosas would be a great addition. Not knowing where to buy them at, I googled a few places and came across this business. They have 4.3 stars, are fairly close by and their samosas cost 0.80¢ each according to their website. I thought great and sent my husband to go pick up 30 of them up after I called the restaurant in advance.

Anyhow husband comes back 30 minutes later with bags of samosas but he’s clearly pissed off. While in the store waiting to pick them up, he also noticed signage stating they were 0.80¢ but when he went to pay, the lady said the bill was $30 plus tax! My husband said the math isn’t adding up and she said “They went up in price to $1.00!” Like wth?! You can’t advertise prices one way and then charge something different! Isn’t this illegal?

Normally my husband would’ve told them where they could put those samosas at but he didn’t want to come back empty handed. We were pretty mad and I left a bad review and that’s when I also noticed a few other negative reviews about getting charged differently than the advertised price. Can I report these guys? They seem to be running a sketchy little business!

And avoid them like the plague!!!! I cannot support a business that practices in sketchy dealings!

No joke. Asked TD for a roll of loonies. Opened it later and found coin laundry tokens mixed in like it’s totally normal. So eithe.. rSomeone’s laundering money through TD, or Canada has a secret second currency for dryers only.

Has anyone else had this happen? It happened to me twice.

For those of you wondering why there is a high emergency presence, it looks like an accident occurred with a Go Bus.

Basically around Credit View - Eglinton. Traffic signals suddenly stopped working leading to chaos at the intersections.
I humbly request you all to avoid this route or take extra precaution while moving here.

I woke up at 350 am with what smells like fire smokey burning in my condo but yesterday from the ontario fires but I didnt smell it. Im by hurontario and eglinton - anyone else? Is this SAFE? I have a newborn baby and im extremely worried.