Deported Denver-based cultists suspected in Greece
[February 18, 1999]
The latest episode involving the Concerned Christians cult is now centered on Rafina, a
small town 15 miles west of Athens, Greece. Twenty members of the Denver-based group,
recently deported from Israel for allegedly plotting to instigate a shoot-out with
Jerusalem police in an attempt to hasten the return of Christ, are suspected to be among
other Concerned Christians members in Greece.
Greek security officials are investigating reports from the media that some twenty cult
members joined other members of their group in rented apartments and villas in the nearby
hillside community of Neo Voutza. Authorities ordered surveillance of the two sites and
together with immigration officials, are attempting to determine if these individuals are
in fact members of the Denver-based group. Attempts by the Associated Press to reach the
residents at the addresses were unsuccessful. While U.S. Embassy officials in Athens could
not confirm the presence of the cult members, Denver, Colorado police officer Mark
Roggeman, who has been tracking the cult since its inception in the 1980s, believes the
cultists under Greek investigation are members of the Concerned Christians cult from his
city.
Concerned Christians leader, former Denver resident Monte Kim Miller, disappeared with his
followers in late September 1998. Some members resurfaced in Jerusalem only to be deported
by Israel. Miller, who founded the group, prophesied an apocalypse would strike Denver
last fall, and intends to die on the streets of Jerusalem in December 1999 only to rise
again in three days. He has made other doomsday predictions and claims to be the voice of
God.
Israeli and Greek officials alike are attempting to prepare for potential attacks and
disruptions from religious-oriented groups such as Concerned Christians, who are planning
to be in the Holy Land for the coming millennium, which they believe will bring the end of
the world. Biblical tradition indicates the book of Revelation was dictated by St. John
the Divine on the Aegean island of Patmos sometime after 95 A.D. The book of Revelation
includes the destruction of the world by fire and heaven-directed vengeance upon sinners.
Sources
Associated Press, The Omaha World-Herald, February 13, 1999
The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart, FL), February 1, 1999
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