My name is Marie Clair Giustini. I was born and raised in Japan, I am 17 years old. I just wanted to share some things. Although I am in the Family International, I went to public school for 9 years. So I know more about “out there” than people who lived in the Family all of their lives.

I must say that public school wasn’t that pleasant. Actually it made me quite sick. But I did feel sorry for the kids there. People the same age as me were always having problems with their lives, with their parents, with their friends, with themselves. They would usually come and ask me for help. Well not like I knew any better, but I had my Christian parents that taught me about the Bible and the word of God. And I would just give the answers from there, and my friends in school would thank me for giving them the answers they needed. And I always thought I never wanted to have the same problems as them.

I am so blessed. Blessed that I know what to put my trust in. blessed that I don’t have to suffer the same problems with abuse like the public school children, blessed to have loving parents and brothers and sisters such as mine. And that already made me think, what is out there that I want? I saw enough of what is “out there”, I am still 17 but I did more then enough things and tried to satisfy myself. None of those “things” did any good, and my search still went on. But I found out that making others happy is the best life I can ever have. And that is the Family. I found out how you can satisfy yourself by making others happy. I found that I don’t have anything that I want “out there” and it just made me sick and still does.

I learned that this Family is the Family of love. And I need this love in my life. I thank the Family for existing and I am proud to be one of them. Even if some people tell me life is much better out there, how can I believe them? I saw it myself already, that there is nothing that I want out there. I made money by working and bought all that I wanted to buy. I felt happiness for a little while but it didn’t last as long as I had hoped for. And I learned that things of this world don’t make you satisfied to the full degree. I wanted something that would last forever. I wanted love. I wanted freedom. I was peace of mind. I didn’t find any of that out there.

I could have chosen a different life; my parents have respect in the choices that I make. So they would have let me go if I wanted to. But what to say, I didn’t want to. Well maybe I’m ignorant of politics and what have you, but I know that the Family is the place I want to be. I have found the light in my life. And I will never want to go back in darkness again.

Marie Clair Giustini is a second-generation member of The Family International