The “kids room” on the Sabbath was no Sunday school. It wasn’t the sweet garden of cherubs that promotional videos would have the general public believe.

The Sabbath was a whole-day affair, from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. during the summer half of the year. And the kids stayed in the kids room, away from their parents, all day.

There were no activities for the kids—only discipline, meals, and service time. Toddlers were threatened with “pow pow” for misbehaving. I witnessed the church leader’s wife put hot sauce in a child’s mouth to discipline him.

The kids were not the best behaved, but of course they weren’t—they were bored and frustrated. Children of all age groups crammed in a tiny room all day without anything to do.