I’m writing in regards to your recent piece on the Family International (formerly the Children of God).

My name is Anaik (Anna) Alcasas, and I was born and raised in the Family International. I’m now happily married and have a one-year-old son. My husband and I, both now thirty years old, are active missionaries with the Family, and we’re confident our son is going to be able to boast of a higher-than-average standard of care and education. The concept of abuse is certainly going to be completely foreign to him, as it was to me.

I’d like to state for the record that I never experienced abuse, of any sort, while growing up in the Family. This is my life experience. The idea that abuse actually occurs to children, or anyone, is horrifying to me. The impression your show has given–by highlighting only negative and frankly outrageous stories of dubious validity–is that we’re an evil cult fit to be blotted from the face of the Earth.

Perhaps you’re unaware of who we really are, and I’d like to remedy that by directing you to a website devoted to giving a voice to me and my peers in the Family. It’s www.myconclusion.com. We are the Family. Any attempts to destroy us, by painting a horrible and completely inaccurate picture of ongoing abuse, could directly affect and harm our own small children, something I daresay nobody would want on their conscience.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Anna Alcasas