From Nic (26)

I would like to take some time here to express my thoughts and opinions on the recent happenings following the tragic event that has occurred. I would like to address this specifically to those who are inclined to only believe or listen to the handful of negative former members and apostates (I say “handful” because ‘believe it or not’ there is a much larger group of former members who have truly moved on with their lives and who lead productive lives in society to whom I would like to sincerely and highly commend! All I can say to those is God bless you, we are truly praying for you!) who so openly spout off their pontificated and embellished accusations regarding their; and thus mine as well, supposed “evil, perverted, and abusive upbringing”. Then they go so far as to attribute the recent acts of hatred and violence to the Family and the way we were raised.

In saying the above I am not in any way trying to imply that the Family is perfect but I do invite any of you who are to go ahead and “cast the first stone”. The Family is made up of people who are after all “only human” but their biggest desire is to give their all to the Lord and to love and serve Him, as well as love and serve others to the best of their abilities in hopes of making the world around us a better place. Does that sound so weird or perverted to you?

Here is my personal story in brief. My name is Nic. I am 26 years old. I was born and raised in the Family. I, like many others, can say that I have never personally experienced, nor have I witnessed any abuse while growing up in the Family. On the contrary, I believe I had a priceless upbringing, traveling to many places, learning many things, and receiving an extraordinary well-rounded education.

I had an opportunity at one time to live a more “common, secular type of lifestyle” when my parents stopped doing missionary work as fulltime members of the Family. I attended a public High School in Northern California, and basically lived a “normal” life. Through different events that took place and different experiences I had during that time, it made me stop and really think about what I wanted to do with my life, and made me appreciate all the more the blessed upbringing I had. Due to this upbringing and the impeccable education I received being raised in the Family; I was a High School student with a ‘4.0 GPA’, and ‘ranked #1 out of a class of 1800 students’.

All that to say, I had the option to pursue a higher education and go onto a “complete secular life” and most likely become successful at it, at least to some degree. But I saw something during my time in High School that changed my mind. I saw the faces of the many kids around me that were smiling on the “outside”, but “inside” there was something missing. They were not truly happy.

One example being my best friend; he was an incredible drummer, for only being 17 years old; with 20 minute solos in the high school band. He came from a pretty good home and family life as far as I know; he seemed like a pretty well-adjusted, ‘normal’ kid. Well one day he got his hands on some bad drugs that were laced and took them during break at school and nearly died, ending up hospitalized for 24 hours.

There was another kid in my class who we saw everyday, who one morning when we came into class, the teacher regretfully and sadly informed us that the night before, while listening to his favorite bands: “Nine inch nails” and “Skinny Puppy”, had committed suicide. How is that? Who is to blame? That was right there in “my little High School”.

Then on the national news, there were reports of school shootings, with kids killing other kids, people going “postal” and killing their co workers, wars happening around the world, with people being bombed and killed, genocide, etc. You name it.

What’s my point? Well, my point is that all these people supposedly lived “normal” and “abuse” free lives. It’s too bad they didn’t grow up in a “small, active Christian movement” (AKA “a cult, full of perverted child abusers”, such as we are being accused of by a few of our apostates to further their agenda and try to justify the murderous and hateful act that is now being talked about) to blame it all on. Please excuse my sarcasm.

The Family International is simply just that—a small and active group of Christians, whose main goals are to love Jesus, “preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mk.16:15), help others, and win this world for Him. I believe that there is good and evil in this world, God and the Devil, and that there are spiritual forces that will go to any lengths to try to stop the good that we’re doing.

So after my experiences in high school and after graduating, I made the decision to rejoin the Family International, and ended up working with “inner city kids” in Oakland, and “street kids” in San Francisco, doing personal counseling, and onto a wide variety of other ministries of the same type with opportunities to help people physically, as well as spiritually. I got married, and now have two kids of my own, and I plan to raise them in the same awesome group I was raised in, with the same love, nurture and care that I was given, in the Family International.

For me, the Family International is the best place to live my faith, to love and serve the Lord, to help and serve others, and to raise my children in a loving, secure, and Godly environment, and I cannot and will not stand by and let a small group of negative and bitter detractors attack it, try and tear it down, and use it as a “scapegoat” for them being personally unable to move on with their lives.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my story and viewpoints on this!

Nic is a second-generation member of The Family International