Hi, my name is Marie Claire! I am a full time member of the Family International! I am 21 years old and have been born and raised in the family! I was born in New Delhi India and have lived in different countries throughout my life as a missionary such as Bangladesh, Italy, Spain, Romania and India!

My parents are missionaries in the Family as are my three brothers! I just wanted to give my side of the story about Family life I know a lot about the family I have been a member for 21 years I love my life and serving Jesus in the way that I do! I find that the family is an ideal place to be and I find great fulfillment in my work and I intend to do this for a great deal longer as long as there are people to be reached with the love of Jesus! There is no unemployment in our line of work!

I think more people should ask us the younger generation of the Family to tell our side about the Family international after all we are the ones in it, if we are getting abused and mistreated we should be the ones to ask, if our lives are so horrible than why not ask us about it? If I didn’t like it here I would leave! No one is forcing me to be here – I want to be I want to do what I am doing and I enjoy it!

Our work in this country majors around orphans and the youth! A few days ago I came back from a ten day trip to two provinces with a group of dentists, we treated the teeth of 300 orphans, I have no background in dentistry, I only have a high school diploma, but since going on these dental trips I know how to mix the paste for the fillings, I know the name of all the instruments, how to sterilize them etc! We also have a family time project with one orphanage we have been working with for three years, 20 to 25 orphans come to our house every Sunday and we do projects with them, feed them lunch, make them feel loved and needed! If they have problems they come to us, we are like their family! At Christmas we went to a center for abused girls where we help out from time to time, they had 18 new comers who had recently been arrested after a brothel raid, they were coming down from drugs, and desperately miserable it was a Christmas party but they refused to eat or join in with any of the games, we talked to them for 2 hours, told them we loved them and that there was a God that cared for them, they opened their hearts to Him and us! They agreed to eat and sang Christmas carols with us at the end they were hugging us and wouldn’t let us go, “you gave me a new meaning to my life” they told us! It is experiences like these and many others that make my life worthwhile that make me do what I do! I couldn’t think of a higher calling than to share God’s love with people! I think the general public should hear more about this about the lives we are changing about the good we are doing, we should be fairly represented! In one country I lived in I had the opportunity to go to school, (previously I had been home schooled) for 5 years, I have to say that I didn’t really enjoy the experience! I missed the Family International I missed growing up with like minded people, with people who believed like me! Since I was in school six days a week I couldn’t tell people about Jesus as much as before and I missed that! When I finished school and went back to being a missionary I was so happy. Finally I was going back to the life I loved! I understand that there might be those who do not agree with us, and this life is not for everybody, but this is the life I chose to live and I think that fact should be respected! I have a number of friends who have left the Family International and I respect them, and the decisions they have made, I understand that they have chosen a different path, and they respect me and the path I have chosen! I am in contact with a good number of them and we still maintain a good friendship! That is the way it ought to be!

What happened with Ricky is very sad, that he would go to the point of killing someone is deplorable! I can only pray for anybody involved in this that they will realize the damage that they have done! In our group we have a firm belief in God and the Bible and we base our beliefs on the Bible! The Bible says thou shalt not kill, it says to love your neighbor, Ricky was doing none of the above in his acts! By his actions he went against everything we believe in!

I would like the world to know that there are young people like me in the Family International who are happy and fulfilled, who like their job and what they do and they are here because they choose to! Nobody is forcing me to be here I am here because I want to and I am happy being here. I love my life and I don’t want another one and I would like people to respect my choices and those of my peers to let us live our life the way we choose it and the way we feel called to by God! I have fond memories of my youth and I am having good experiences everyday. I feel like I am doing the right thing to bring Joy to my part of the world, to bring sunshine and joy into a poor persons life, to bring a ray of hope into a lonely person’s universe, to kiss a abandoned child and make him feel loved – all this and more is what makes my life worth living and I am thankful I have the opportunity to live my life this way! I am grateful to all those who have taught me all I know and have shared with me their experiences in these different domains! I am sorry if some people didn’t feel as happy as I do in the Family International, I wish they did, but I am a satisfied customer that’s all I can say: “it works for me”!

Thank you for hearing me out
Sincerely
Marie Claire

Marie Claire is a second-generation member of The Family International