My Name is Yamashita Miho Ryan. I have experienced a perfect 18 years 6 months and 7 days of love, friendship, shepherding, and LIFE here in the Family, in Japan.
My life:

I wake up every morning at 7:30.

Till 11:00 I watch my 2-year-old nephew, put him on the potty, clap and hug him when he does what kids should do on potties. Do his schoolwork with him, watch a video etc. (I do this because my sister-in-law—his mother—isn’t the strongest of persons and her body requires a lot of sleep and rest. I also do this because my older brother—his father—has things to do around the house that I could not do. I do this because it’s the least I could do to “make it easy for others to be good.”)

From 11:00 to 12:30, I cook lunch for the 14 people I live with. From 1:00 to 1:30 I do the dishes. from 2:00 till 3:30 I have time to myself. I write, read, draw, paint, sing, dance, go on walks, sleep—do anything I feel like doing. Then afternoon work starts which means I cook dinner, or do some other clean up jobs around this house.

By the end of the day I am normally tired. I am craving sleep.

This is my life; this is what I’d say I do on a normal day-to-day basis. Sure, maybe not all of it I LOVE doing, but we in the Family are raised to learn to serve others above yourself. We learn to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

We are taught important morals that benefit others in this world other than just ourselves. If we were “Abused” the way you crudely claim we are, why would I live my life for others? Why would I sacrifice my time to reach the lost out there? Why would I put aside worldly comforts to serve someone other than myself, and do all the Family is training me to do?

I highly doubt the Family is to blame for what Ricky did. If I learned to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, than I’m sure other people in the Family (including Ricky) also learned that same principle, and the murder of another person would IN NO WAY be the result of those teachings. You would only think so because he was just like you, he spoke of the exact things you still speak of, and if the Family weren’t to blame then something about you or your lifestyle would be. And no …you wouldn’t want to admit that living a life full of hatred and plotting revenge would result in the murder of another human being and then suicide. Sigh …I pray for you.

I am happy here in the Family. I have my loving brothers, sisters, family and friends to give me my a hug, kiss, compliment, and laugh of the day. We all have our professions; maybe not everyone in this world is doing a job they love doing, and for that I feel lucky because here I have a chance to live what I truly have a passion for.

I have a passion to live for Christ; I have a passion to win the world for him. I have a passion to love my brothers and sisters and to be there for them till the day I die. I have a passion to LIVE. To be thankful for the things I have and not moan about what I could have. To be thankful for what the Lord has made me instead of moaning about what others out there get to be. And I am sure there are many other teenagers in the Family who share the same passions as I do.

And if you think you can come and make a mockery, to degrade and spit on my profession and what I am giving my life for, I would watch where you lay your hands because we WILL rise above. We WILL come through your fire and offensive accusations as better gold. Your words and accusations hurt, yes, but they are nothing more than scratch marks to this body that the Lord, in time, will so easily heal.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 4th, 2005 and is filed under Speaking Out, By Age, Where From, 18 to 24, Archived, Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.