Biblical Answers to the World Mission Society Church of God

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.--1 John 4:1

Are you or a loved one struggling with this group? Do you need Biblical answers about the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCoG or CoGWMS), their founder Ahnsahnghong (Ahn Sahng/Sang-Hong) or their current leader "Mother Jerusalem" (a.k.a. "Heavenly Mother God," Zang/Zahng Gil-Jah, or Chung Gil Cha)? Thank you for coming here. I hope my blog helps you. Questions and comments are always welcome.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ahnsahnghong's Birthday, Baptism, and Death

If you have talked with a World Mission Society Church of God member or visited the official church website recently, you probably already know that this year they celebrated Christmas.  No, not exactly Christmas... they celebrated Ahnsahnghong's birthday which happened to fall on December 25, 2011.  They even have a new website highlighting it.

(UPDATE Jan. 12, 2012 -- That new website is gone, but you can find the information here and here.  It's interesting how much publicity the WMSCOG put into celebrating Ahnsahnghong's birthday Dec. 25, 2011.  Why is there no record of such celebration any other year on their website?)

(UPDATE Apr. 10, 2012 -- That website it back again, but different.  This time it only shows several videos from the WMSCOG's "I Have Already Come" campaign.  Strangely though, it has no apparent link to their main church website.)

How does someone's birthday fall on a different day each year, I wondered?  The lunar (lunisolar) calendar of Korea (same as the Chinese calendar) is different from the solar calendar that we commonly use, the Gregorian calendar.

If you measure your birthday on the lunar calendar, and each year convert the date to the Gregorian calendar, you'll find that it falls on different 'Gregorian' days each year.  This is similar to seeing January's full moon (for example) on a different day of January each year.

I thought I ought to investigate, and not just this, but other important dates.  For your reference, here's a handy Gregorian-Lunar calendar converter (provided by the government of Hong Kong).  I'll go through this step by step...

Ahnsahnghong's Birth Date

The WMSCOG tells us that Dec. 25, 2011 is the 94th birthday of Ahnsahnghong.
They say his birthday by the lunar calendar was Dec. 1.

Actually, Dec. 1918 to Dec. 2011 is only 93 years.  What they really mean (which didn't come across well in the translation) is that Ahnsahnghong's birthday is the 1st day of the 12th month.

You can see in the calendar of 1918 that the 12th month, 1st day, is January 13, 1918.  This birthday (January 13, 1918) was verified by a friend, and also calculates the "94th Anniversary" correctly to Dec. 25, 2011.

From this we need to remember:
Birthday = Jan. 13, 1918 = 12th month, 1st day (early 1918)

Ahnsahnghong's Baptism

The WMSCOG says Ahnsahnghong was baptized in 1948, but the New Covenant Passover Church of God (the NCPCOG, another church founded by Ahnsahnghong) give us a more specific date, Dec. 16, 1948.

Here's the calendar for 1948.  We know they mean the Gregorian Dec. 16, and not the lunar 12th month, 16th day, because that would be January 26.  Jan. 26, 1948 would be too early because Israel did not declare independence until May 14, 1948.

From this we need to remember:
Baptism = Dec. 16, 1948 = 11th month, 16th day (late 1948)

Ahnsahnghong's Death

The WMSCOG tells us that Ahnsahnghong "ascended" (died really, here's his grave) in February 1985.  A more specific date of Feb. 25, 1985, is given in this article (third paragraph under the first bullet point).

Here's the calendar from 1985.
From this we need to remember:
Death = Feb. 25, 1985 = 1st month, 6th day (early 1985)

Now Some Calculations

Since we know these dates, let's see how they work with the WMSCOG's claims that Ahnsahnghong
1)  was baptized at 30 years old, and
2)  preached 37 years (they count this from his baptism, not from when he officially established his own church in 1964.).

First, how old was Ahnsahnghong when he was baptized?
Jan. 13, 1918 to Dec. 16, 1948 = 30 years, 11 months, 3 days (Gregorian)
12th month, 1st day early 1918 to 11th month, 16th day late 1948 = 30 years, 11 months, 16 days (lunar)

Yes, technically he was 30 years old, but nearly 31.

Second, how long did he 'preach' from baptism to death?
Dec. 16, 1948 to Feb. 25, 1985 = 36 years, 2 months, 9 days (Gregorian)
11th month, 16th day late 1948 to 1st month, 6th day early 1985 = 36 years, 1 month, 20 days (lunar)

Just over 36 years--that takes extra rounding to get up to 37 years.

Thought you might be interested to know all that.

Perhaps a greater question, considering the WMSCOG's insistence on avoiding anything with pagan origins,
Why are they keeping Ahnsahnghong's birthday according the lunar calendar, instead of the "Sacred Calendar"?

For more information...
...about the WMSCOG's claimed prophecy of 37 years, please read my posts about David's Throne, Part 1 and Part 2.

I find it especially compelling that they use 2 Samuel 5:4 for this prophecy,
"David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years."

But they don't seem to read on to the next verse, 2 Samuel 5:5,
"In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah."

If God truly meant this as a prophecy about 40 years of preaching divided between Jesus' first and second comings, it would have been divided 7 years and 33 years, NOT 3 years and 37 years.
The "David's Throne" prophecy has been wrongly interpreted by the WMSCOG.

23 comments:

  1. Acts 5:2, 38-39 NIV

    With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

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    1. My friend, your post mixes two unrelated stories. Verse 2 is about Ananias and Sapphira. The second (38-39) is the advise given by Gamaliel about how to handle the apostles. What are you trying to say?

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  2. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, but it would be more helpful if you explain what you are trying to say. You've left this same exact comment 3 times, in two different posts, in the space of about a day.

    I'm going to guess you are a WMSCOG member since they often use Acts 5:38-39 in an effort to get people to leave them alone.

    Yes, the WMSCOG will eventually fail, but in the meantime I'd like to do what I can, as God enables me, to educate people about it and limit it's effect on other people and families.

    Would you agree that Mormonism, the Unification Church (Moonies), and Scientology, and Islam are "of human origin"? They are still around. They haven't been stopped yet. Does that mean their purposes are from God? Should people stop trying to argue against them?

    As for your first reference, Acts 5:2, I'm not sure what you are trying to say with that. Would you like to explain?

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  3. Really appreciate your efforts. Great help indeed. It's just sad (to put it mildly) that there are some so-called mature religious people who easily turn their backs on their old faith without digging deeper into the Truth after attending a session from these modern moonies. May God be with us.

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  4. I praise God to be able to help in any way. It is interesting how similar the WMSCOG is to the Unification Church, the Moonies. And sad, as you say, how many people don't investigate enough before joining, but then Jesus warned us that false christs and prophets would be crafty enough to deceive even the elect, if possible (Matt. 24:24).
    Thankfully we have a loving and forgiving God, who accepts us back like the prodigal son. (Luke 15)
    Thanks for writing!

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  5. actually your wrong on the whole subject, actually you even wrong about the website of celebrating his birthday on chrismas day, I dont know where you got your facts from, unless you have actually been and studided with the church, i dont think you know what they really believe in.

    and they dont follow the lunar calender...

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    1. Yes his birthday 2011 was in fact celebrated December 25th I was apart of that...

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  6. Thanks for your comment, Anonymous, but actually I get my facts from the WMSCOG itself about this. Here is a video of them singing in Times Square on Christmas Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nueTjBJ2jnc
    And the articles I linked to above show that they calculate Ahnsahnghong's birthday by the lunar calendar, and that it fell on Christmas Day this last Christmas, 2011.
    I have studied with the church. If your facts are different than mine, you should direct me to where you get your facts from so I can check it out.

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  7. How are you Genny...? Aroon here. Also sorry for wishing you Happy New Year this late..may you have all the goodness, peace and love this year and forever more..
    God bless and TC and keep spreading awareness...tc..

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  8. Thanks Aroon. Good to hear from you. I hope you'll email me sometime and tell me more about how you're doing these days. Happy New Year to you too.

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  9. Genny, thank you very much for your postings. I am very thankful. I was recently introduced the WMSCOG through one of my friends who is a member. She is a good person and while trying to find a way closer to god, came across this church. She had been asking me to come to the visit the church for a while but I was hesitant. Although I believe in god, (I consider myself, for lack of a better word/description a ‘Non-Denomination christian’) I don’t believe in ‘Blind Faith’. I would like to have a strong belief in something more specific to follow, but with so many religions out there, and all of them claiming that they are right and all the others are wrong, I can’t honestly convince myself to whole heartedly follow any of them. However, I decided to go with my friend to her church the day before yesterday. I felt that I owed it to her due to her being a good friend recently and asking nothing of me. I also knew that she believed in what she was doing and that she had only good intentions by it. When I got there everyone was very nice and welcoming. They were all very kind. I thought I was going to sit through some sort of sermon but instead ended up going into a one on one bible study. I thought that I may be there for up to an hour or so but I ended up spending around 7 ½ hours sitting in this room discussing the beliefs of their church.

    While I typically pride myself on being very logical and careful to not make rash decisions, I am ashamed to say that I was dragged in for around a full day. While being respectful, I skeptically questioned many of the things this person was trying to teach me. He had answers for nearly everything. Most of which he cited the bible. I know there are quite a few similar but different bibles out there but I went on faith that this New International Version Bible was truly an accurate account/translation of the earlier bibles. (One of my biggest difficulties with belief in any one faith, is that things may have been lost in translation from the originals or that some beliefs may have altered the bibles for some other gain or benefit) However, because I believe that not everything in the bible is to be taken as literal, (ex: god creating the heavens and earth in 6 days. Who is to say that we measure the span of 6 days the same way that god does. 6 days could be any measurement of time) I was receptive to his church’s interpretations of many of scriptures. Much of what he told me seemed to fall into place and make sense.
    (will post more in a moment)

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  10. (Continued)
    When he told me that the second Christ had come and I wasn’t even aware of it I was shocked, yet I could also see how something like that would happen. I assumed that with the short time Jesus spent on earth, despite all of the miracles he performed, not everyone on earth at the time was aware of his actions, or even his very existence. So why would it not be possible that something like this could happen if he came again. When shown that Jesus had come and gone and that the beginning of the end had started I was swept up with everything. I’m not gonna lie, I even let them baptize me. I asked that they wait until my wife returned home from overseas in a couple weeks but they assured me that if I did it now I would be stronger for it and better prepared for when she got home as well.

    Today I went online and researched about the church and its beliefs for only two hours and I can already feel my face burning red with embarrassment. I hate preaching or trying to sell someone on something but I was ready to try to convince my family to visit the church and learn the “truth” and now I just feel like a fool. I don’t believe the people there lied to me or anything. I think they really believe what they are saying, but now I feel like the guy who just got lucky by going to the bathroom while everyone else was drinking the Kool-aid. Lol.

    Sorry for such a long winded story but because I am only familiar with pieces of the bible and not more in-depth, I was able to be pulled in. Your blog articles brought to light several VERY important issues for me and saved me a lot of time. Thank you for setting the issues straight based purely on the facts drawn from the bible and not twisting the meanings to support some belief. Lastly, I don’t mean to write this to try to mock anyone’s beliefs, but I do hope that this makes people look deeper and ask why to many issues instead of just falling in line. Thanks again Genny.

    Very Respectfully,
    -Zack

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  11. Zack, thank you SO much for sharing your story! Praise God you figured it out before getting your family involved! I am cheering for you! I hope you will feel like a victor instead of a fool--you have overcome. :)

    You studied with them 7 1/2 hours--it's hard to think clearly after so much time in a study session. Even college classes are limited to 1-3 hours at a time, usually. People generally think and learn better with smaller chunks, and time in between for processing. But wmscog members do really believe what they are preaching, which is what makes them so eager to share it. (Unfortunately it's the same thing that can make them so antagonistic when you won't agree with them.)

    Thank you also for the compliments. I'm honored to be able to help. I'm very curious though (I like to ask everyone I can because it gives me ideas of what to talk to members about), which were the "very important issues" that were the keys to helping you see the truth? I hope you will write again and let me know.
    May the Lord bless you!

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  12. Whoever posted the information about Ahnsahnghong's birth, baptism and death obviously misunderstands lot of things about the bible. One thing that should be considered is when studying the bible, you should look at the bigger picture. For example you went into great lengths to show that Ahnsahnghong didnt preach exactly 37 years by breaking down the gregorian calendar and lunar calender. I applaud you for your efforts. So lets suppose you are correct. Then in that case, the Jesus of the New Testament that all christians claim to believe in is also a false christ. In Matthew chapter 12:40 it is written: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." However, to be completely accurate, if you want to cross every t and dot every i, that verse is false, because Jesus wasn't in the grave for 3 days and 3 night. Jesus kept the Passover w/his disciples on a thursday, he was crucified and buried on a friday and resurrected on the following sunday morning. So looking at the facts Jesus wasnt in the grave for 3 days and 3 night like he said. He was technically in the grave 2 1/2 days, because he didn't die until 3pm (9th hour) and 2 nights So in that case Jesus is a false Christ because he wasn't in the grave 3 days and 3 nights like he said he'd be. However we understand the fulfillment. He was resurrected on the 3rd day after he gave his flesh and blood through the bread and wine, in which he revealed he is the passover lamb. Another similar prophecy is about the destruction of israel. Israel was destroyed in the year 70 AD. However according to Ezekiel 4:6-7 "After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her." The destruction of Jerusalem should come 40 years after Jesus Baptism. Jesus was baptized in AD 27, which means that Israel should have been destroyed in the year 67 AD, not 70 AD. So Israel was actually destroyed 43years later, not 40 years later, so in that case, if you want cross every t and dot every i, thats another prophecy that hasnt been fulfilled exactly to the "T", which would make it false. There are many things like this in the bible. On account of limited space i will omit them. Whether i'm a church of God member or not is irrelevant however, what you are doing is deceiving people. Whether Ahnsahnghong is christ or not, don't you believe people should go to the Church of God and study an see for themselves so they can decide whether what the Church of God teaches is accurate or not? You on the other hand are making great efforts to prove he isnt the Christ. If you really know the truth, then you should be making more effort to lead people to the truth by teaching them the bible as it is written in Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" Did the apostle's Peter, James, John, etc, make efforts to prove others not to follow the false christ? or did they make efforts to prove that Jesus was the true christ? The answer is in Acts 17:2-3 2 "As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ he said. I think you understand the point.

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    1. Hi Topsy,
      Thanks for your comment. It's a bit hard to follow in one long paragraph, so I'm going to pull out a few sentences and respond here...


      "For example you went into great lengths to show that Ahnsahnghong didnt preach exactly 37 years by breaking down the gregorian calendar and lunar calender."

      This was meant as an informational post for those who are interested in these dates. As much as the WMSCOG pushes that Ahnsahnghong preached 37 years, I do find it interesting that they had to round more than what you might expect. He was 10 months away from 37 years, which is almost a whole year. Yes, I find that interesting, though not as compelling as some of the other evidence on this site.

      What I find even more interesting is the fact that they use the lunar calendar to mark his birthday instead of the sacred calendar.


      "Jesus kept the Passover w/his disciples on a thursday, he was crucified and buried on a friday and resurrected on the following sunday morning. So looking at the facts Jesus wasnt in the grave for 3 days and 3 night like he said. He was technically in the grave 2 1/2 days, because he didn't die until 3pm (9th hour) and 2 nights So in that case Jesus is a false Christ because he wasn't in the grave 3 days and 3 nights like he said he'd be."

      Actually, if you want to be very precise, He was only in the grave part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday. You know there are a variety of people out there who try to reconcile this by saying that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, not a Friday like Christian tradition has taught us through the ages.

      The problem is that we try to approach this with our modern thinking and the way we express time in our culture. Ancient Hebrew culture expressed time in a different way, and that's why it's hard for some people to make sense of -- they can't see it in the Ancient Hebrew way.

      Here is a good resource to help explain that:
      http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/crucifixion/1.html


      "The destruction of Jerusalem should come 40 years after Jesus Baptism. Jesus was baptized in AD 27, which means that Israel should have been destroyed in the year 67 AD, not 70 AD."

      How does Ezekiel 4:6-7 refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70? All of the Bible scholars I've read show that it refers to an Old Testament event.

      Also, how do you interpret that it would mean 40 years after Jesus' Baptism, and not 40 years after another event.

      Also, how do you know that Jesus was baptized in AD 27? Where did that information come from? Bible scholars have a range of dates for that.


      "Whether Ahnsahnghong is christ or not, don't you believe people should go to the Church of God and study an see for themselves so they can decide whether what the Church of God teaches is accurate or not?"

      People who have studied personally with the WMSCOG come to websites like this to get all the important information that they are NOT given by the WMSCOG. Once you have all the information, then you are free to decide. When you only have part of the information, you cannot make a fair choice.


      "Did the apostle's Peter, James, John, etc, make efforts to prove others not to follow the false christ? or did they make efforts to prove that Jesus was the true christ?"

      They did both. They spoke out against false christs as they taught about Jesus. I do hope that I am able to do both here also -- show both what is false and what is true.

      I appreciate hearing from you. Thanks again.

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  13. Hi Guys

    I was recently invited by a friend to attend this church's bible study with her and i was looking forward to it but then decided to do a bit of research on it,i went to their site and come across things like the second coming Christ ahnsahnhongs and his wife the heavenly mother, this alone shocked the day lights out of me, it got worse when they claimed that there are actually two Gods, one male and the other female,after this i quickly contacted my friend to let her know about my findings and to my shock she knew all this already and believed it to the bone,she is a very smart person and i still can not believe she's actually buying this obvious crap,now i'm so concern about the whole thing so much that i'm starting to think maybe they have some method of brain washing people because a few of my other friends have got the invite and went,came out completely different, what is really going on here?i am so freaked out by all this, please someone explain to me.

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  14. First off in the scriptures god says in genesis he set the sun moon nd stars in the sky as signs for days, weeks, and months so in actualality the lunar calender is jahovahs calender

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    1. The lunar calendar (which the WMSCOG uses to mark Ahnsahnghong's birthday) is not the same as the sacred calendar (which they use to schedule Passover and the other feasts). The Passover is not in the first month of the lunar calendar, so the numbers of the months are slightly off. But besides that, if you look at the last 10 years, 3 of those years the WMSCOG kept the Passover on the 14th of the month, and 7 of those years they kept the Passover on either the 15th or 16th of the month, according to the lunar calendar. Therefore, this lunar calendar is not the same as the WMSCOG's 'sacred calendar.'

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    2. With that logic I can say the Solar calendar is Jehovah's calendar, too.

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  15. The fact that Ahnsahnghong married a mortal woman and consumated a marriage that produced children is the most disturbing fact of all to me. Mortals inhert sin upon consumation and create children who are born in sin. The fact the their "god" has done this implies that "god" creates sin. God does not create sin and does not sin. He demonstrated his process of creating Adam and Eve and Jesus. Jesus never married and consumated a marriage and had children. Their "god" did these things. Unless they are claiming immaculate conception, Ahnsahnghong had parents and was born in sin himself. It seems the only way they explain away these facts are not to discuss his past or his family. Jesus' geneology is in 2 locations in the bible and one thing that is certain is that we know the "God" and not Joseph is his father. I have yet to see anyone trace his lineage back to David. Which the revelation tells us that the savior is the root of David.

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    1. The moment you touch upon such issues of Ahn's personal life, they sidetrack by saying that one must not look at his human nature but his divine nature. That if one looked at Jesus' human nature of being an ordinary carpenter's son, one wouldn't have followed him.
      I know this is a ridiculous argument but they do use it.

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    2. Wow, I'm literally disturbed by this. The entire time I researched this religious cult, I felt like tearing my clothes off. Completely blasphemous. The very idea that they would have to provide an excuse for the life of Jesus to compare Him to ASH... Such a shame.

      The new enemy is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Do not be swayed.
      David is not God. Michael is not God. Adam is not God. AhnSahngHong is not God
      Where is their identity?
      YHWH means The Self Revealing One.
      Adonai = Master/Owner of all
      Elohim = The all powerful Creator
      YHWH Raah = The Lord is my Shepherd
      " Tsidkenu = The Lord is my Righteousness
      " Mecaddeshhem = The Lord who Sanctifies
      Yeshua = YHWH is our Salvation
      ^(Matthew 1:20-21)
      Throughout Scripture, names identify and give purpose.
      Sin distorts our view of what the image of God truly is.

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  16. ASH is a false prophet. PERIOD.
    Study the Holy Bible, follow your gut feeling which is controlled by the Holy Spirit and read the verses which are before and after the scriptures given by any member of the WMSCOG. e'g. if you have been asked to read Matthew 24:24 then read the entire chapter of Matthew 24. Its all there in the Holy Bible. The satan is very clever don't waste your time and energy in proving him wrong just continue to do the will of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ will come and every eye shall see him and not secretly.


    HOW DID JESUS GO? (Acts 1:9-11)
    HOW WILL JESUS COME?
    He went up! He will come down!
    He left earth to go to heaven He will leave heaven to come to earth.
    He left from the earth. He will come down to the earth.
    He left in a cloud (Acts 1:9). He will return in the clouds (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7).
    He left in a real body (a resurrection body). He will return in a real body.
    When He left people saw Him (Acts 1:9). When He comes people will see Him (Revelation 1:7).
    It was JESUS CHRIST who went up into heaven. It will be this "SAME JESUS" who will come again (Acts 1:11). The same Person who left will be the same Person who will return! Amen!

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