From Joni Myers, 26

It makes me happy to talk about The Family International and our lifestyle. It’s like talking about someone I love—I can’t help but smile and feel warm inside. It has been my choice to be in The Family and with each year that passes I am more and more happy with that decision.

I have a dear husband and four beautiful children. You ask if The Family is a safe place to raise children? I can’t think of a safer or better place to raise children, and believe me; I love my children far too much to have them anywhere near an abusive situation. There is so much that I love about The Family—my Family. In my personal statement here, I’d like to focus on the life of the children in The Family International since I have always loved children and always knew that I wanted to be a teacher or somehow involved in the care of children and now I have my own four angels to love and raise and it is one of the greatest joys of my life.

I love that we focus on teaching our children the Word of God from a young age and how they grow up with the knowledge that Jesus loves them more than anyone ever could and that He is always there to help them through whatever challenges they will face in life. I love how we home school them and are able to personalize our teaching to fit each -child’s needs and that many of them are ahead scholastically than their counterparts in secular schools. I love how The Family produces so many quality materials for our children including storybooks, games, flannelgraphs, activity books, videos etc. to make teaching spiritual and scholastic values as enjoyable and fun as possible.

I love how so much importance is placed on meeting the children’s needs with two boards in place that are operational worldwide to plan recreational activities, camps, vocational and practical life training and provide us with advisories and publications to help us to enrich our children’s lives and make them the best and happiest they can be. I love how I can know that my children and family are always safe in The Family no matter where I am or what home I visit. I love how we believe that it is important to eat healthful foods and to avoid foods that are unhealthy. I love that our children are strong and energetic because of this. I love how we believe that love is the most important thing (I Cor.13) and that our children are taught to be loving, polite and courteous.

I spent 7 years of my childhood in India, then traveled to Japan, Australia & Mexico and had many interesting stops along the way. I love that we believe in “Going into all the world to preach the Gospel.” (Mark 16:15) and that because of this I have had the opportunity to learn new languages, experience new foods, understand new cultures and just have traveling excitement. (My children are presently learning to speak Spanish and love Quesadillas)

I was born and raised in The Family and would like to state very clearly that I have never experienced any sort of abuse during my life in The Family, and neither have my children. Since having my own children and experiencing the immense amount of love that a parent feels for their little ones, my biggest hope and prayer for them is that they will have as wonderful a childhood as I had and experience the security, love, adventure, good education and happiness that I did as a child. This is why I have chosen to raise my children in The Family International.

My heart goes out to those children who have (really) been abused or who have alcoholic parents, or who spend half of their day in a public school with teachers who many times don’t care about them personally, and I wish that they could experience and benefit from the abundant love and excellent care that is found in The Family International, where those negative experiences are non existent.

Joni Myers is a second-generation member of The Family International