I was among the lucky few who were born to Missionary parents in the Family International. I am 25 years old, Australian, was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Asia. I have lived in countless countries and had opportunity to learn to love God above all and to find a higher purpose for my life.

I grew up in a Family International School in Japan where I learned not only my curricular studies but acting, singing, cooking, dancing, teaching, photography, basic guitar and piano, art, Japanese culture and language, public relations, typing and poetry. I have a love for all of these and use most of them in my current work in Uganda.

For the past five years, I have been Public Relations Manager for our center here, I teach my daughter Kaycee’s class. She has been reading since the age of 2 and is now finishing 2nd grade, having just turned 5.–thanks to ordinary Family education and home schooling which I am sold on! I have participated in teaching several seminars for teachers and parents here on our methods of Early Learning with great success. I co-ordinate donations to homes for mentally and physically disabled children, orphanages in Uganda and Congo with children who have faced horrible atrocities, too gruesome to mention, and near-forgotten tribes who constantly face starvation and civil war. I design and layout our project updates, newsletters, brochures and send out an inspirational, “Thought for the Day” e-mail to over 400 business friends and associates. I choreograph and dance for benefit concerts and national functions including Miss Uganda and United Nations Spouses Association’s fund raisers. On occasion, I co-host our live christian radio program, “Get Activated". As a hobby, I have joined the local amateur dramatics society and have performed at the National Theatre, holding lead roles in several musicals and a pantomime.

I have had numerous job offers for work outside our missionary society as have any of the talented young people in the Family. Many of my friends, including my best friend and step brothers and sisters, have left to pursue their own careers and faiths and have done very well. I respect them and still hold a close friendship with them.

The reason I’m still here is that there is nowhere else I feel I can give my life for Jesus by telling others about His love and being a sample of it in my lifestyle and volunteer activities. No where else have I learned about having my own personal connection with Him and let Him guide my decisions.

I am also here because there is nowhere else good enough to raise my daughter. She has had my relatives, who are not in our organization, in awe at her outgoing personality and constant grin, not to mention her scholastic level. She has performed at orphanages and disabled centers the last 3 Christmases and loves singing and acting! Seeing her secular counterparts’ behavioral problems, disrespectful attitudes, addictions to television and computer games etc…, I wouldn’t trade her Godly, missionary upbringing for the world!

If you think she is threatened by abuse, she is.- By anti-religious bigots and apostates who now wish to take the recent tragic events and use them to their own ends. Their goal is to discontinue the Family International through their hate, bitterness and lies.

Why they wish to take their discontent out on those like my daughter and I, saying we lead ‘abused, underprivileged lives’, I don’t know. But looking at my life and all I do, then looking at theirs, slaving away trying to tear others down, I can only pity them.

May God help you get a life. I’ve got mine.

Tina Yamaguchi is a second-generation member of The Family International