Name: Cheryl Maria Stevens
Age: 21
Location: Ukraine

Before I begin I just want to say “hear hear” to all the wonderful, dedicated & beautiful people who posted on this site. You are an inspiration to me & I love you.

Like so many others, I was entirely shocked that something like this murder/suicide was even thinkable by someone who had grown up in the most loving, caring & beautiful atmosphere that I believe exists on our war-torn, crime-wracked planet. Sure I’d seen some violence in movies or on the news, it’s nearly impossible not to in our day & age, but I’d never heard of something so close to home.

I met Ricky briefly when he was traveling around the former CIS & he passed through our home. He always seemed to be smiling & I remember him singing for us a song that he’d written about “serve one another in love.” Later I heard about his decision to leave the Family & I was mildly surprised, but to hear this devastating news of the manner of his death… I’m speechless! It shows to me the gravity of letting your thoughts be overtaken by negativity & malice!

I was given the privilege of being born & raised in the Family International, and as part of my life of faith I’ve not only lived in over 10 countries (aside from other extensive travels), learned to speak 2 languages well aside from my native English, plus basic communication in another 3 or 4 languages. These are just a few of the many terrific benefits of our lifestyle & upbringing. The trust, confidence, love, faith & sense of belonging are things I would not trade for the most “envied” lives of the richest people in the World.

I was given the opportunity to cultivate my musical & vocational interests &, best of all, to use my talents to help & encourage others & to find the satisfaction of helping change someone’s life for the better. I had a childhood full of the love & well-balanced attention that every child craves, not only from my parents but from the many teachers I studied under. While as a child one may criticize little faults & misunderstandings that inevitably occur, looking back now I can only say THANK GOD for such caring, devoted and talented teachers! I truly am richly blessed!

I’ve heard these rumors about rampant child abuse & other such nonsense. Well sure, in any institution a child is bound to get an occasional unfair spanking or extra chore, but GET REAL, why ever would one want their mishaps to govern their thoughts & actions for the rest of their life? It breaks my heart to know that some cannot let go of that kind of hate, but all I can do is pray for them & move on with my life.—Which, I might add, is TERRIFIC!

I’m still a proud full-time member of the Family International, on my chosen field of Ukraine. I have an incredible & multi-talented family of 7 siblings, & we’re still as close as ever even though 3 of my siblings have chosen different paths. I find it perfectly acceptable for someone to decide that our life of faith & constant pouring out is no longer for them & they’d like to do something else. I greatly respect my sister & 2 brothers for their choices & I love them to pieces for respecting mine. I wish all former members were just like them—& I’m glad that a vast percentage of them are equally as positive & successful in their “life after” & many of them continue to be wonderful people & a positive influence on the world around them.

I’m honored and excited to be a part of the Family International, & those who try to slander us will find that we’re much like the little cork who fell into the path of a whale who lashed it down with his angry tail. But in spite of it’s blows it quickly arose & floated serenely before his nose, said the cork to the whale: “You may splash, sputter & frown, but you never, never will keep me down, for I am made of the stuff that is buoyant enough to float instead of drown.”

So CNN can say what bunk they may & host any farm boy smoking his hay, but this work is of God & no amount of their fraud will ever prevail in this fray.

Cheryl Maria Stevens is a second-generation member of the Family International