My name is Felicia Moore. I am 21 years old and proud to say that I was been born and raised in The Family International my entire life. I am currently a dedicated, sold-out missionary in Eastern Europe. I am writing this in regards to the current tragedy and murder of my friend, Angela Smith, as well as the outright lying, accusing and slander from those who were once a part of our organization but who now apparently have nothing better to do with their lives than attack mine.

You see, I’m your traditional Family kid. I grew up overseas most of my life in large Family centers with many others my age. I received the best care, training, education and practical life skills anyone could desire. I never once left the group nor did I ever attend public schooling at any time. Among the usual schooling by excellent, top notch Family teachers, we also were taught that which would further us and give us the best chance at success in any field once we were older. We grew up in many different cultures with many different traditions, customs and ways of operating. In each new country we learned fairly quickly how to adapt, how to understand and relate to the people, and in most cases we learned their language and became one with them. We learned straight from the Bible, how to get along with others our own age, how to “prefer the happiness of others to our own”, to “do unto others as we would have done unto us”, to “preach the gospel to every creature”, that “honesty pays”, to love others and to love the Lord most of all. I was a very stubborn child, willful and rebellious however not once did I feel my teachers were giving up on me, not once did I feel them apply discipline too harshly. The opposite is the case. They had genuine love and concern for each child; they knew that “we were the future” and they treated us as such. In what public school can you get that kind of attention and individual care? Yup, they’re right, I lived a charmed life.

I met Angela when I was 15 and we became fast friends. It was easy; Angela was and still is the sweetest person I have ever met. She was caring, compassionate, and friendly. She never looked down on or spoke a bad word about anyone. She was bubbly, youthful, understanding and always reassuring and encouraging. She was the closest thing to Heaven and a Saint in my mind. She was all things pure and good, a role model and someone I wanted to be like, and she was a great friend and confidant. When I heard that she had been murdered I was shocked and deeply saddened that someone could take the life of another out of spite and anger. I didn’t know Ricky Rodriguez but had of course heard all about him. As a child I read stories about David, Davida and Techi but as the years progressed I was also aware that he had grown bitter and hateful towards the Family and towards his mother in particular. Still I couldn’t believe that someone who was raised with so much love, care and attention in a Family environment could become so diseased in the mind that he would take the life of another in this violent way. I’m reminded of the verse in the Bible that says: Son shall rise up against Mother and Mother against son and son against daughter and that the time will come when he that killeth you will think that he does God service. (John 16:2)

It sickens and enrages me when I hear all the outright lies being told and then received by many as the truth about my lifestyle and the way I and my friends and family have grown up. What they are saying couldn’t be farther from the truth. Your information is undeniably one sided. What are you doing as a reporter to make sure all sides are taken into consideration and in the end that what is printed is more than just a sensational, tabloid-resembling story? Angela deserves at least that much.

I, for one, have never seen a single instance of abuse in any Family home I have lived in. I have never been abused psychologically, physically or sexually. I consider myself blessed and honored to have grown up in a lifestyle with loving, concerned parents, teachers, guardians, aunties and uncles, Grandpa and Mama Maria whose main concern was that I grew up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and that I learned to follow the greatest commission which was to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” because “the love of Christ constrains me”. These ones are responsible for my lifestyle, character and upbringing today and I couldn’t be more thankful for them and their faith in me, for guiding and instructing me and others like me all these years. My greatest prayer, hope and desire is that I will be able to raise my future children half as well as I was raised by these, in a Family environment, under Family care, guidance, instruction and love. If I can do that then I will know that my children are getting the best shot at life, the best education they could desire, the genuine love and concern for their lives and their futures that will aid them in their growing up into the men or woman that God wants them to be, whatever lifestyle they may choose.

We’re not perfect and I’m not saying that everything in the past was done perfectly either. In fact at different times the leaders of the Family have admitted to mistakes made and have then taken the precautions necessary to insure they never happen again. We all make mistakes, we all fall short; it’s part of human nature. Hey, I’m pretty sure you’ve made mistakes in your life as well and I highly doubt that you could say you’re perfect. So why then do you make it your life’s goal to destroy the Family? Are you seriously THAT bored and unchallenged? Okay, so you have made it extremely clear that you don’t agree with my lifestyle and doctrines. So be it. I respect that. Now give me, my friends and family the same respect by letting us believe and live the way we choose. Jesus himself said, “If this work be of man it shall come to naught but if it be of God no man can stand against it”. My statement on your accusations and sensational stories? “Let him that is not without sin amongst you cast the first stone.”

Felicia Moore is a second-generation member of the Family International.