Former Peoples Temple member recounts Jonestown Massacre of 1978

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - On Sunday, Nov. 18, forty years will have passed since the Jonestown Massacre where more than 900 members of the cult group Peoples Temple were compelled by their leader Jim Jones to commit mass suicide by cyanide in a settlement of Guyana.

Jonestown was the largest mass murder of American civilians until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

Jones' message of social justice and his racially-integrated congregation attracted mainly black followers. He and members of his church moved to Guyana and set up an agricultural commune known as Jonestown. 

Jones confiscated passports, swindled millions of dollars from his followers and manipulated them with threats of blackmail, beatings and death. Entrepreneur and ordained minister Ed Norwood was a member of the Peoples Temple at the age of seven.

Norwood described his experience as a young member of the cult in an interview with Isiah Carey. He says he wants to share his heart in educating younger generations about the lessons of Jonestown.