Female members of Children of God, or "fisherwomen," would apply their sex appeal on "fish" β men from outside the cult often, but not always, having sex β using the occasion to proselytize and seek donations.
Children of God have defended it as a way of "bearing witness" for Jesus to people who would not otherwise be open to it. The term is derived from Matthew from the New Testament , in which Jesus tells two fishermen that he will make them "fishers of men".
The targeted men were called "fish". The cult published several documents with exact instructions. Flirty Fishing was defined as using sex appeal for proselytizing. According to The Family's history, "Father David [Berg] arrived at the rather shocking conclusion that Christians were therefore free through God's grace to go to great lengths to show the Love of God to others, even as far as meeting their sexual needs. The Children of God practised flirty fishing and escort servicing from until , when it was officially abandoned, in part because of the AIDS epidemic.
Researcher Bill Bainbridge obtained data from TFI suggesting that, from until , members had sexual contact with , people while practicing Flirty Fishing. Though the cult had no problem ignoring Christian norms on fornication , it did follow Christian beliefs when it came to birth control. Ex-member and critic, David Hiebert, states the practice was "used to curry political favor" in countries CoG had migrated to.
Witnessing and disciple winning were by no means the only focus of Flirty Fishing. Even before , FFing had become a primary source of financial support and political protection. Many female disciples established long-term relationships with wealthy or influential men. These men often provided money, food, clothing, housing, and other needs, including legal advice, help in immigration, and protection against social and political repression.
