The Sacrament

Hi. I'm Sam Turner and we're here at VICE Headquarters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

with one of our favorite fashion photographers,

Patrick Carter. Just a few nights ago, we were all hanging out together

when he let slip a comment about his sister that had us practically speechless

for the better part of an hour.

After hearing the full story, we immediately thought,

we have got to do a piece on it.

Should I read it?

Read it.

Okay, it says, "Dear Patrick, sorry you have not heard from me in so long.

I have been working hard with everyone to build a community

where we can finally live free as God intended.

We're not there yet, but we're so close.

It's the most beautiful place I have ever been and I would love if you came to visit.

We have so much love here but I miss your face."

Then it says "Love, Caroline," and there's a phone number.

We've been to some of the most chaotic,

fucked up, war-torn places in the world,

but never somewhere for something as personal and bizarre as this.

So here we are, about to leave New York City,

to set out to find your sister in a remote part of the world,

to see what this community she is living in is really all about.

Maybe we can call this one the "VICE guide to the Carter family reunion".

One night to be confused one night to speed up truth

We had a promise made

Four hands and then away

Both under influence

We had divine scent

To know what to say

Mind is a razor blade

To call for hands of above

To lean on

Wouldn't be good enough for me, no

To call for hands of above

To lean on

Wouldn't be good enough for me, no

I'll be back tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

I'll wait for one hour and then I will leave. With or without you.

- Don't worry, we'll be here. - I'm not worried. 8:00 a.m.

- Who is Patrick? - Yeah. That's me.

We were not told you'd be bringing others.

There are three total.

Is there a problem? We're all together.

We have to get clearance to bring them to the Parish. Please, stop filming me, sir.

They came with me. I can't just leave them here.

My sister invited us. My sister's name is Caroline Carter.

Hold on.

- I don't understand if there's problem. - Hold on.

It should be all arranged.

MAN (ON RADIO): Okay. Bring them in.

Copy that. It's okay.

- Come with me. - Let's go.

It's okay.

- Get in the back. - The truck?

Get in the back.

So far so good.

Well, here we are, we made it, kind of.

We don't have a local fixer on this one, and the first thing that happens is

Patrick almost getting into an argument with one of our guides.

You know those are the guys you want on your side

when you are out in places like this.

Maybe New York has made me soft, but these are the moments,

every time we make one of these things, where I realize

- it might have been the worst idea ever. - No, we've definitely had worse ideas.

No, we've definitely had worse ideas.

I don't know why you're laughing. Get a shot of his shoes.

Where did you think you were going, wearing shoes like those?

I thought you traveled for work all the time?

Yeah, to LA, and fucking Paris.

Closest I come to this shit is shooting some model in a field in Jersey.

Dude, you're in fashion, you should own some boots.

Turn the camera off!

Turn it off! Turn it off!

So things have not improved.

We didn't get shot, but we have to be careful

not to let them catch us filming.

Patrick is over there explaining who we are, what we're doing.

I'm not sure if that will make things better or worse.

We're hoping that he can find his sister and straighten all this out.

And if Patrick starts to get shot at, I'm going the fuck that way.

As quickly as possible.

They want our passports, but I'm not giving up my passport to anybody.

Also, there is some talk of a donation.

Not sure how sizeable that donation has to be.

So far this is nothing at all like the hippie commune we were expecting.

Patrick? Okay. See, there she is.

Hey, it's okay guys. It's okay.

Caroline, did you tell them? All right, come on guys.

Oh, I'm so glad you're here. - I'm so glad to see you.

- What's with all this? - Oh, I'll explain it inside.

- Hi. - Hi.

- I'm Caroline. Nice to meet you. You too. - I'm Sam, this is Jake.

Hi. We didn't know you were coming. I'm so sorry.

It's just... We're really happy to have you.

There's someone cleaning out a cabin right now for you both.

Great.

- Is it all right if I keep filming? - Yeah. Yeah, of course, of course.

You can film whatever you like.

I would just hope that you would leave this last experience out.

It in no way reflects what you are about to see.

The guns are just a precautionary measure because of where we are.

Down here everything needs some level of security.

- Sure, we understand. - You want to go inside?

- Yeah. Yeah. - Yeah? Okay, cool. Thanks, guys.

My God, I can't believe I'm looking at you right now.

- Your hair is so short. - Yeah, I cut it.

- You look good. You look healthy. - Thank you.

Oh, just wait until you see it all. Here we are.Welcome to Eden Parish.

Oh, just wait until you see it all.

Here we are. Welcome to Eden Parish.

What do you think? It's great, right?

FATHER (ON MIC): Children, we have some special visitors to the parish today.

Let's show them our hospitality

and represent ourselves in the ways the Lord has taught us.

- FATHER (ON MIC): God bless you all. - Oh, yeah.

I don't think that we slept more than three hours in a night

for six months when we were building it.

But Father had a vision, and he was of course right.

And we built Heaven here on Earth.

- Who is Father? - Oh, right. Yeah.

Probably sounds weird to you guys, huh?

Well, he's the guy that started all of this.

He's the reason that I'm still alive. He's the reason that all of us are here.

He's a genius, I swear.

I know it sounds strange, but we all call him that because it's just easier for us.

- Is that him on the loud speaker? - Uh-huh.

Can we speak with him at some point?

Um.

Let me see what I can do. I know you guys are Patrick's friends and everything,

but we've got to be really careful about media exposure.

None of this would be possible without some level of secrecy.

Secrecy, from whom? People like us?

Or you mean like the local government?

A little of both.

There are some people out there that want to stop what we're doing.

They think it's wrong, but I personally have no idea

why anyone would think that this was wrong.

I've never been so happy in my entire life,

and we grew up wealthy on the upper west side.

But that's not living, at least not to me. This is living.

We all built this together as a community.

We would do anything to keep it safe.

So some of our residents agreed to move out of here

so that you guys could stay here with us tonight,

but Patrick is going to stay with me in the main house.

And I know it doesn't seem like much,

but you guys should be pretty comfortable for the night.

When we first got here, some of our residents said that

they had the best sleep of their lives.

It's so peaceful and just wait until you see the stars.

- They're so beautiful. - It's great, thank you.

Should we come find you once we get settled?

We would actually like to talk to you at some point if you're cool with that.

Yeah. Sure, sure. Just... but take your time because I would really

- love to spend some time with my brother. - Take him, we can't give him away.

But really, if you guys need anything at all, anything,

the main house is just across the field, just behind that pavilion.

- Do you see it? Yeah.

Feel free to just wander around and get acquainted with the place.

Our residents are really nice people.

- Sounds good. - Mm-hmm.

- You ready? - Yeah.

Well, welcome.

- Thanks. - Mm-hmm.

Okay, I guess I'm going to go with her for a bit.

- All right. See you in a few. - Later. See you, man.

You want the top or bottom?

She's selling this place pretty hard. Right?

- Best night's sleep of your life... - Yeah.

How freaked out were you back on the truck?

Dude.

Why did they have machine guns?

I'm gonna switch cards so if anything gets weird,

we at least have the footage we shot so far.

Good call.

FATHER (ON MIC): Peace I give you, children.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.

FATHER (ON MIC): It's another day for us in paradise.

Hi.

when brothers and sisters live in unity.

God bless you all.

Hi.

I do not know who to approach first.

They'll come to me. Hey, how you doing?

Not that one, I guess.

Oh, got her. Got her.

- Hi. - Hi.

How are you?

- I'm fine. How about yourself? - I'm very well.

My name is Lorraine Davis, but everyone around here just calls me Miss D.

So how did you get involved with this place?

Through the church. Now Father had came into the area where we lived

and I had seen signs plastered all around town.

Signs inviting people to come out and to help better themselves

and to get a better relationship with God.

So I went down there to the church

and before that sermon was over, I was sold.

That man has a way of speaking,

a way of making you just feel better, and I'd never felt that way before.

And it wasn't long after that he chose me