My name is Kerenina & when I was little I used to proudly tell my friends, “I’m the same age as Davidito!”

It’s very hard for me to put into words how I felt about what happened. It is very, very sad. I want to express my condolences to the loved ones of those who passed away.

I was really hoping that Ricky would come ‘round or somehow be able to get on with his life rather than turn to hate. I’m sorry to say this to his friends, but it seems you did a very poor job with helping him to “move on"!

From 1995 till early 2003, I lived in East Africa. When you live there & work with the poor, the street children & slum people, or even if you just read the local newspaper daily, your perspective on the terms “abused” & “senseless loss of life” are very defined. These people who say they want justice & want to protect others & make things better & safer ought to take a good look at their own perspective.

I grew up in the Family & in some ways you might call my childhood sheltered. I never experienced anything bad, no sexual abuse, no extreme discipline, etc. This was while my family was travelling through a myriad of countries, working with a wide variety of people. I have no complaints about having had a “sheltered” upbringing, even though it may have made things that I faced as a young adult difficult to comprehend or come to grips with.

Although we lived in South East Asia for 9 years, going to Africa was a very big change for me. Children are sent to the streets to beg & beaten if they don’t come home with enough money. Many other children run away to live on the streets to avoid the torment of home. The stories you read in the newspaper are unfathomable. A man attempts to hack his sister & 13-year-old niece to death with a panga (local version of machete) because she doesn’t want to marry off her daughter to an old rich man, but wants her to be free to finish her education. They were barely saved by neighbours. Many are not so lucky.

You may think that’s a horrible story, but do you honestly think that’s any worse than stabbing someone to death because they’re a friend of your mom & you’re upset at your mom for whatever reason???!!!

I am married with two children of my own now, but I was a single mom for 4 years. There have been times, I admit, I have been discouraged & thought of choosing a different lifestyle than being a Family member, but one of the main things that has very quickly made me brush the thought aside is the knowledge that the Family is the best, safest, most loving, caring, wonderful atmosphere to raise children. I would never want to raise them anywhere else!

In Africa, we worked with street children rehabilitation centres. We brought food weekly to the needy in the slums. We organised free medical camps for the poor.—And I can honestly say that I know what poverty is & what abuse is. Don’t tell me your sob stories about abuse. You don’t hardly know what abuse is if you were brought up in the Family. I do know that there were instances where some errant “Family members” did some pervy stuff to individual children (& our leaders have repeatedly apologised for not having been able to prevent these things), but if you want to see abuse without having to scrutinize & look really hard, just take a look at society at large & you’ll get a clearer perspective.

Some people think they’re so hot, so cool, that their ideas are so right.—And they’re so blind to how wrong they are! A young friend of mine that I went to Africa with left the Family & attempted to start a new life, working in Africa. Later I met an African who was working with this friend of mine & when I enthusiastically told him that my friend used to be a missionary, he was shocked. He said, “His attitude toward the Africans is so horrible that if it weren’t for me & my intervention, the workers would have already done something horrible to him. He treats them with such contempt that he’s made them hate him! How could he have been a missionary??!!!”

My hat’s off to those of you who have moved on gracefully & found happiness in your new lifestyle in secular society. I have friends who appreciate all they learned in the Family & acknowledge that many of the qualities that they are appreciated for in the workplace, etc., were gained & nurtured through Family life.—For instance, people handling skills that you don’t acquire through book learning. I continue to wish you all the best.

And for those of you who’re stuck in hate, I know it’s hard to see you’re wrong. I know it’s hard to understand why I like something so much that you don’t. But for God’s sake, grow up! MOVE ON! Do what you want & be happy without shooting down & endangering my lifestyle.—And my children!

Written by Kerenina Solskin, 29 yrs. old, missionary with the Family International