Famous Cults: Jonestown - Increasing Members

The Headquarter in San Fran
         At the headquarters in San Francisco services were held, which have been described as being a lot like Baptist Church Services because of their engaging and excitable nature. As the temple grew, more full time workers were needed.
It became popular for people to quite their jobs, sell all their belongings and simply work for the temple.
As described in the PBS Documentary: The Life and Death of Jonestown working at the temple was excruciating.

People worked 20 hour days with few breaks, getting little to no sleep. 

It is possible that this was a tactic by Jones. Workers became sleep deprived and unable to make decision by their own will, following Jones blindly.


Jonestown, Guyana
         While members were fervently working at the San Fran headquarters, Jones was planning to build a new town in the rural jungle of Guyana. He believed in Marxism and said he wished to build an ideal society where all were equal.

          One day Jones found out that ex-members of the group had spoken to a journalist about their negative feelings about Jones and the temple, he found out that the article was to run the next day. Due to his paranoia he ordered all members who were planning to move to Guyana, to leave that evening.