From Joana Gonçalves, 25, Brazil.

I am appalled and saddened to hear (once again) allegations with no truthful foundation whatsoever, been stated against the Family International, accusing our group of being an unsafe and unsuitable place for children and young people to live and grow in, amongst other accusations. And as such, I would like to make my voice heard as one who has grown up in the Family and has experience a wonderful and privileged life with the many benefits of living in a group that’s sole purpose is to help its fellow man and to follow Jesus command to “Go into all the World and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16.15).

My name is Joana Gonçalves, I am 25 years old and Portuguese by birth. My parents joined the Family when I was a baby and since then have been part of the Family International working in Brazil and Portugal. Since I can remember my life has always been full of excitement and new experiences as we traveled to many different places telling people about God’s love and helping the lost and destitute. We reached out to every class of people giving them counsel and encouragement and it gave me a good foundation and a unique comprehension of people’s hearts and minds and their need to find some meaning to their lives. Through these experiences I was able to see how I was so abundantly blessed to have parents and teachers that loved and cared for me and used every opportunity to teach me something useful for life. Each one of them was very special and important in my life, as they dedicated their time and efforts not only in my academic education, making sure I learned and improved in every subject, but also in helping me during difficult stages, giving me counsel and encouragement when I needed it. Not a single one treated me in any way abusively or harshly as some are stating.

When I was 12 years old I attended normal public school for the next 4 years in Portugal and it gave me a glimpse of how formal education is in main-stream public and how very much ahead the Family is in this area. Not only was I able to befriend “normal” kids my age but I was also able to excel above and beyond and consequently have better grades then them in every subject. I’m so thankful that I was able to experience that time in public school because it made me thankful for our home schooling in the Family, and for our loving and caring teachers contrary to the ones I had during that time who weren’t at all concerned about us and if we learned or not. At age 16 I was granted my heart’s desire to return to Brazil and continue my job as a full-time missionary and working with the people that I so learned to love in my younger years, and since then I have never regretted the choice I made.

I think we young people in the Family are given an excellent training not only in the job of being professional missionaries but also in vocational training and practical things, as the group gives us opportunities to learn subjects that we are interested in and that will be beneficial for our lives. I am totally convinced about this after living this past 3 years in one community with only second generation young people and just now recently moving on to another community. Our team started with 3 young people and it soon increased to 7 during the following 2 years. Each one had their unique talents and know-how—Web design, video editing, video director, artist, musician, secretary, teacher and many more … each one of them extremely talented and gifted. During the time we were together we were able to put our talents to good use, make a difference, be a help in our community and raise funds for our home and projects as well. We had to in a way fend for ourselves, with the Lord’s help, and we did great and succeeded wonderfully. We also had a great ministry with University Students that each week flocked to our apartment and office to receive counseling and Bible classes.

Our projects and Newsletters are posted on the site www.outlookbrazil.com, so you may see for yourselves what I mean. I do not in any way feel I’m at a disadvantage with young people my age, whether in my education or experience as one of my ministries is counseling and giving Word-based studies to all types of people; ranging from lawyers, doctors, university students to orphan kids. My heart is filled with happiness and a sense of accomplishment when I feel that my help was in any way a blessing to people’s lives and that I had a part to make their day a better one and bring hope to their troubled life. That is what I want to do for the rest of my life, give my services to mankind and give back to the Lord everything He abundantly gave me so freely.

I know that every single Family young person has the capability of being and doing whatever they put their minds to, whether being a full-time missionary or choosing a different profession, and all thanks to the amazing and wonderful life-style we grew up in. Once in awhile I meet people that heard or read about us on the internet and of course through sources that are usually negative or pejorative so when they get to see for themselves they are dumbfounded to find out that all that they heard was a bunch of lies and conjured stories, as they see in us an example and a reflection what the Family International is really all about. We are the proof that the Family International works, who can deny such obvious evidence?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2005 and is filed under Speaking Out, By Age, Where From, With Photo, Latin America, 25 to 35, Archived. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.