About myself:

Name: Angelina Rieli
Age: 26
Ministry: Secretary
Countries lived in: Brazil, U.S.A., Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary
Countries visited: Mexico, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, England
Some of the things I’ve most enjoyed doing:

• Attending my best friend’s wedding
• Attending one of my best friend’s deliveries
• Caring for my godchildren and niece
• Collecting frogs
• Debating with my friends
• Dinner out with my parents whenever I visit
• Experiencing and learning so many different aspects of my secretarial ministry
• Hearing from my siblings and friends about my nieces, nephew and godchildren
• Helping at the Food Bank and Red Cross in San Antonio, Texas
• Helping my parents set up their (now 10-year-old) work
• Learning popular songs in Turkish and trying to sing them for native-speakers
• Learning to “be a clown” and using it to entertain earthquake victims (in Turkey)
• Teaching blind children and orphaned boys English (Turkey)
• Traveling around Eastern Europe in relation to my work
• Traveling through the States
• Traveling through Turkey to see some famous sites
• Using my secretarial experience and abilities to further the spread of the Gospel worldwide
• Vacationing in Croatia for two weeks

And on and on and on…

childhood:

I’ve heard about supposed “abuse” taking place in the Family I’ve been “subjected to” and raised in. If these allegations are true, my conclusions would have to be:

1. All the mean, abusive shepherds/teachers never made it to Brazil (where I grew up, 0 years – 18 years and two months), praise God! I did not experience abuse of any kind by my shepherds or teachers.
2. My parents must have been extremely proficient at shielding me from the abuses my peers were subjected to, because again, neither my shepherds nor teachers abused me in any way.
3. If I was raised in such a corrupt environment and yet did not experience that corruption – all thanks to my parents, I’m assuming – my parents are even cleverer than the clever people that duped and deluded them. I knew there were clever (to be modest, aherm) genes in me! >:)
4. Adults in the Family carry and use M.I.B.-style memory erasers, hence my inability to recall the abuses I’ve suffered.

Um, I don’t think so!!

I am the oldest of 8, so no doubt my parents went through a bit of a trial-and-error process on some counts in the adventure of raising me, their darling, pudgy, blue-eyed and blonde-headed adorable little pooch. But I have no complaints about my upbringing, the situations I was in with my family, our standard of living, the quality of my education scholastics and social standing-wise.

About my personal family:

My mother was an educated, “straight/square”, non-druggy, upper middle class college student when she “dropped out” and decided to give her life in service to God. I can only say that I sometimes admire her even more than some because she “had it reeeally good” but she gave it all up in order to follow what she felt was a call of God in her life.

My mother continues an educated, non-druggy, upper middle class (as far as relating, though not materially-wise) woman, serving the Lord with the greatest conviction of His calling in her life.

About Angela:

I met Angela briefly before leaving Dallas, Texas, on a mission to Istanbul, Turkey.

Angela was one of those people who – aside from being a fellow Pisces and truly empathizing in an unspoken way with much of what my 20-year-old persona felt and experienced – was in general and with all, as far as I could tell: relatable, funny, understanding, caring, a good listener, supportive… everything you’d want in a good friend, a sister, a mother (though as far as I know, she had no kids), a co-worker or a boss.

She was quirky in a way that made her capable of accepting everyone else’s quirks. Although she was quite physically fit “for someone her age”, she was a small little thing and couldn’t hurt a fly; she gave the impression of being as light and vivacious as a butterfly landing softly beside you.

She understood me without my having to say much more than a few words. She was the only person in the Home, besides me, who loved these sugar-free, salt-free, everything-good-and-yummy-free chocolate cookies that had been donated to us, which we consumed like one consumes popcorn at a movie. If I’d had something shocking or difficult to say, she’s one person I know I could have gone to about it and I would not have been looked at judgmentally or disapprovingly. She had a wonderful sense of humor and fun!

Despite the tragic circumstances of her passing, I can easily picture her being on Ricky’s “greeting committee” [in Heaven], because she was just that forgiving, understanding and willing to accept anyone and anything.

In conclusion:

I have had an excellent upbringing that has equipped me for what I feel is my calling in life: serving Jesus by serving others.

Especially when I take into account the vast majority of the world’s population that have a below-ideal education or standard of life, I have nothing to complain about.

If I be so blessed as to have children, I will not for a moment wonder if this is a safe environment in which to raise them.

I urge those who tend to accuse us of having blinders on and seeing life through a narrow lens to remove the blinders from their own eyes and take a deep breath of the reality that millions of people on earth face on a daily basis – reality which evidently some do not have to face considering they have the time and resources to expend on fighting a group that strives to give hope to those who do have to deal with reality day-after-arduous-day!

Angelina Rieli is a second-generation member of the Family International.