Jim Jones

=== Relocating Peoples Temple ===
{{Location map many
| Brazil
| label=Belo Horizonte
| label_size=80
| position=left
| lat=-19.9 | long=-43.9
| marksize=7
| label2=Rio de Janeiro
| label2_size=80
| lat2=-22.9 | long2=-43.2
| mark2size=7
| position2=bottom
| width=220
| float=right
| caption=Jones' Brazilian locations.
}}
In 1961, Jones warned his congregation that he had received visions of a nuclear attack that would devastate Indianapolis.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=76}} His wife confided to her friends that he was becoming increasingly paranoid and fearful.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=75}} Like other followers of William Branham who moved to South America during the 1960s, Jones may have been influenced by Branham's 1961 prophecy concerning the destruction of the United States in a nuclear war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=67352 |title= Colonia Dignidad and Jonestown |author1=Collins, John |date=October 7, 2016 |publisher=San Diego State University |access-date=August 15, 2017|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple}}</ref> Jones began to look for a way to escape the destruction he believed was imminent. In January 1962 he read an ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine article that purported South America to be the safest place to reside to escape any impending nuclear war. Jones decided to travel to South America to scout for a site to relocate Peoples Temple.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=77}}

Jones made a stop in Georgetown, Guyana on his way to Brazil. Jones held revival meetings in Guyana, which was a [[British Guiana|British colony]].{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=78}} Continuing to Brazil, Jones's family rented a modest three-bedroom home in [[Belo Horizonte]].{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=76–77, 79, 81}} Jones studied the local economy and receptiveness of racial minorities to his message, but found language to be a barrier.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=81}} Careful not to portray himself as a communist, he spoke of an [[Christian communism|apostolic communal lifestyle]] rather than Marxism.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=82–84}} The family moved to [[Rio de Janeiro]] in mid-1963, where they worked with the poor in the ''[[favela]]s''.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=83}}

Unable to find a location he deemed suitable for Peoples Temple, Jones became plagued by guilt for abandoning the civil rights struggle in Indiana.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=83}} During the year of his absence, regular attendance at Peoples Temple declined to less than 100.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=85}} Jones demanded the Peoples Temple send all its revenue to him in South America to support his efforts and the church went into debt to support his mission.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=91}} In late 1963, Archie Ijames sent word that the Temple was about to collapse, and threatened to resign if Jones did not soon return. Jones reluctantly returned to Indiana.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=83–86}}

{{Location map many
| California
| label=Los Angeles
| label_size=100
| lat=34.045 | long=-118.281
| marksize=9
| label2=San Francisco
| label2_size=110
| lat2=37.778 | long2=-122.421
| mark2size=11
| mark2=Blue_pog.svg
| label3=Ukiah
| label3_size=100
| pos3=top
| lat3=39.152 | long3=-123.207
| mark3size=9
| label4=Bakersfield
| label4_size=80
| pos4=right
| lat4=35.368 | long4=-119.018
| mark4size=7
| label5=Fresno
| label5_size=80
| pos5=right
| lat5=36.740 | long5=-119.786
| mark5size=7
| label6=Sacramento
| label6_size=80
| pos6=right
| lat6=38.580 | long6=-121.491
| mark6size=7
| label7=Santa Rosa
| label7_size=60
| pos7=top
| lat7=38.438 | long7=-122.712
| mark7size=7
| width=220
| float=right
| caption=Peoples Temple's California locations.
}}
Jones arrived in December 1963 to find Peoples Temple bitterly divided. Financial issues and low attendance forced Jones to sell the Peoples Temple church building and relocate to a smaller building nearby.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=122}} To raise money, Jones briefly returned to the revival circuit, traveling and holding healing campaigns with Latter Rain groups.{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=122}} Possibly to distract Peoples Temple members from the issues facing their group, he told his Indiana congregation that the world would be engulfed by nuclear war on July 15, 1967, leading to a new socialist [[Garden of Eden|Eden]] on Earth, and that the Temple must move to [[Northern California]] for safety.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=94}}<ref name="NYT1126">{{cite news|author=Lindsey, Robert|date= November 26, 1978|title=Jim Jones-From Poverty to Power of Life and Death|work=[[New York Times]]|pages= 1, 20}}</ref>

During 1964, Jones made multiple trips to California to find a suitable location to relocate. In July 1965, Jones and his followers began moving to their new location in [[Redwood Valley, California]], near the city of [[Ukiah, California|Ukiah]].{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=96}} Russell Winberg, Peoples Temple's assistant pastor, strongly resisted Jones's efforts to move the congregation and warned members that Jones was abandoning Christianity.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=96}} Winberg took over leadership of the Indianapolis church when Jones departed. About 140 of Jones's most loyal followers made the move to California, while the rest remained behind with Winberg.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=96}}

In California, Jones took a job as a history and government teacher at an adult education school in Ukiah.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=98}} Jones used his position to recruit for Peoples Temple, teaching his students the benefits of Marxism and lecturing on religion.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=99}} Jones planted loyal members of Peoples Temple in the classes to help him with recruitment. Jones recruited 50 new members to Peoples Temple in the first few months.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=99}} In 1967, Jones's followers coaxed another 75 members of the Indianapolis congregation to move to California.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=101}}

In 1968, the Peoples Temple's California location was admitted to the Disciples of Christ. Jones began to use the denominational connection to promote Peoples Temple as part of the 1.5 million member denomination. He played up famous members of the Disciples, including [[Lyndon Johnson]] and [[J. Edgar Hoover]], and misrepresented the nature of his position in the denomination. By 1969, Jones increased the membership in Peoples Temple in California to 300.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=126}}