We seek to live a practical Christian life that mirrors life in heaven.

Where there is perfect obedience to God, complete unity of thought, no self-will, no argument,

or strife, and no sin.

So says the website of a place called Gloria Vail, a place marketed as Heaven on Earth.

Though the name alone sounds like it could be a ski resort or a real estate firm,

Gloria Vail is in fact a 600 or so person community, Reed Colt Compound,

in New Zealand on the beautiful shores of Lake Brummer.

Their vision of a pure earthly paradise is, of course, nothing new. Indeed,

has been around in Christianity from the very start, going all the way back to the concept of the

Garden of Eden. And in some ways, Gloria Vell is indeed adenic. Life within Gloria Ville promises a

kind of innocence and security unavailable in the modern world.

Children dressed identically in long conservative clothing grow up free from the pressures of commerce, media, and personal debt, and are raised into adults surrounded by a close-knit network of their extended families.

As adults, they don't have to go to work for some company that doesn't care if they

live or die as long as they turn a profit. They have skills developed from age seven or so, cooking, sewing,

gardening, and Gloria Ville promises that whatever work they're assigned, though it will not be paid,

it will be meaningful. How lovely. It'll be God's plan for them, a plan that includes providing them food,

shelter, and spiritual guidance. With all of that taking care of, what do they need money for?

All of this was the brainchild of one man, Neville Cooper, the charismatic Australian Pentecostal preacher

had made a name for himself as a young man,

seemingly going to any length to preach his message. In the tradition of American evangelists,

like Billy Graham, he set up high-energy, passionate tent revivals on months-long tours.

But unlike Billy Graham, he made it his mission to get as far out into the wilderness as possible,

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