“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad” Matthew 5:11-12
As we have shown in the first two episodes, there is a large web of misinformation along with an organized campaign to attack Torben. This is an all but common occurency for every follower of Jesus that is a threat to Satan’s kingdom.
It is also something that Jesus clearly spoke about in the Bible in John 15:18-21 ESV:
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”
We strongly encourage you to avoid watching or sharing hate messages or videos about any follower of Jesus, as it only contributes to gossip and the work of the enemy. The truth is manipulated in such a way that you could get confused and deceived.
Many have already been influenced by the false information that is being presented. And unfortunately it has led to divisions in the body of Christ.
EASY TARGET
Over the years, Torben shared many video messages on his social media platforms. His videos are often spontaneous. That gave room for haters to use clips and edit them, to give the impression that Torben is ‘a liar’ or that he is a person that ‘loves money’.
Regarding money, there are outrageous and false claims being made about Torben’s character and integrity. People who know Torben and have worked with him for years will affirm over and over again, that his sole purpose in life is to tell the world about Jesus, love his family, the church and all the people around him. In the episode above, several people who worked side by side with Torben and handled the finances and administration activities of the ministry have testified about this.
Below we have listed a few claims that people have made on social media about Torben related to money. The claims below do not include a comprehensive list of the accusations against Torben, but are a good representation of the level of misinformation that is being spread.
CLAIMS
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
When Torben came to the USA an individual approached him and offered him a place to stay for 3 months. When the individual asked Torben for his needs, Torben expressed his wish for a bigger place so he could also host members of his team.
The person rented a house and Torben, his family and several friends stayed there. These friends told us the stay was good, but sometimes challenging, because of the number of people. At one point some had to sleep in the kitchen, because of lack of space.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
This cannot be further from the truth. To learn more about Torben, please check his Youtube channel. Pay attention to how little there can be found on money, donations, etc. over the past years. We also encourage you to watch Torben’s movie 7 Days’ Adventure with God that contains a strong message about this topic.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
This unfounded claim has been made in several videos on social media. People close to Torben know this is an absurd claim. Torben and his family don’t have many personal belongings and don’t own a house or car.
Torben and his family have lived in many different places across the United States. The homes they live in are usually close to the location where they are hosting a school or discipleship venue, so it’s practical to travel back and forth.
In several videos Torben is shown in a house where he lived with his family and team for 3 months. It was a high priced rental house on waterfront property with a pool. The home was offered by an individual that wanted to help Torben and his family when they first arrived to the USA. To be clear, Torben was offered this property. He did not choose it. Yet, it was practical for him at the time because it allowed several friends to stay with the family.
Pictures of this house were portrayed in a misleading way to make it look as if Torben is ‘spending donators money on a luxury place’ and to support the false claims that Torben lives a life of luxury.
During events, Torben typically stays in the homes of the people who are in involved in the organization of the event. Torben prefers the company of people around him, to get to know them, to pray and make disciples in these homes over sleeping at a hotel. In the free movie called 7 Days’ Adventure with God found on YouTube, you can see clear examples of how Torben stays in the homes of the local people when organizing an event.
We recommend that you watch that movie to learn more about Torben and his character.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
This unfounded claim has been repeated by several people. Torben is not a rich man and has never had large amounts of wealth.
He is used to having enough for each month and lives with no extra savings.
The ministry pays him a modest salary.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false.
Torben does not receive income directly from schools and kickstarts weekends. Every donation or payment that comes in, goes to the Florida based 501c3 non-profit The Last Reformation, Inc.
Kickstart weekends are free
The kickstart weekends are always free to attend.
Sometimes a refundable fee is charged. This is because haters used to go to the registration page and register all seats. This made it difficult for the team to predict how many people would actually show up. On some occasions this has resulted in financial damage, because a bigger venue was rented than was necessary. To make sure the registration count is an accurate number, a small fee is sometimes charged that is fully refundable upon entrance to the event. In addition, it is common for an offering to be collected to cover the costs for traveling, renting of the venue and other expenses.
Usually an offering is collected to cover the costs for traveling, renting of the venue and other expenses.
Schools are low-priced
Below are the typical prices for TLR schools. This income is used to, among other things, pay the rent for the building, staff and food.
School | Tuition fee range Depending on location | What’s included |
3 weeks full time PTS | $550 – $650 | All inclusive (bed, all meals, teaching, support from large team) |
2 months full time Luke 10 | $1100 – $1300 | All inclusive (bed, all meals, teaching, support from large team) |
In each school there are students that are not able to pay the full fee, but are allowed to follow the course anyway. There is also often a large staff of ex-students to help who need a place to sleep and food. Additionally, helpers typically receive a gift from the ministry to cover their expenses when the budget allows.
Faith
In many schools, the tuition fee is not enough to run the school. It’s always a faith challenge. In several schools all income through the tuition money was already spent on rent of buildings and equipment before the school would even start. Still the Lord provided every time to get all bills for food, traveling, etc. covered.
This faith journey is something TLR also teaches. Many students and leaders can testify of God providing the money at just the right time during the schools.
An extreme example is the very last school that Torben ran in California. Torben insisted on keeping prices low to make it accessible for everyone, despite California being known as an expensive state.
The result was that the school cost ~$24k more than what came in through tuition money. But in the end, there was no debt. All bills were covered.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
Torben does not benefit personally from these sales as he receives a fixed modest salary through the non-profit The Last Reformation, Inc. Sales during events in the United States go to the non-profit The Last Reformation, Inc.
Sales through the ministry’s website are handled by a non-profit in Europe and do not benefit Torben nor his Florida based organization.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
No money was ever made on the Youtube channel of Torben / The Last Reformation. The goal is to keep all videos available to the audience without any ads. (In some cases it’s not possible to remove ads, because of the use of royalty free music that is being monetized by the copyright holder)
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
Torben mentioned the idea to buy the Ark in North Carolina and how much that would cost in one of his videos. He shared that if people were prompted by God to give for this cause, it could be bought.
As the Holy Spirit did not prompt people to give for this cause, this money never came in. Which was good, because it turned out it was not the right idea after all to buy this property.
Source: Youtube
Rating: false
All money that comes in on the GiveSendGo fundraiser is spend on the case. The case is complex and therefore expensive and involves:
- Torben’s asylum case
- The case of Torben’s unjust detainment by ICE, which is seperate
- A defamation court case
- Involvement of various experts