My name is Priya Desruisseaux I am 16 years old & this is my statement.

I choose of my own free will to be in The Family International.

I choose to follow Jesus & Maria because I believe they have the truth.

I choose to serve the Lord as a full time missionary because that’s what He has called me to do. It’s not easy, nor is it for everyone, but don’t you think that I should be allowed to give my life to help others & obey the Bible without the constant slandering of my faith?

I speak for myself & am not a mindless robot which some disgruntled ex-members that don’t even know me suggest. I have wonderful parents who would not have let me grow up anywhere unless it was a safe & loving, caring environment where I was well educated and happy.

I don’t see why a vocal few would want to waste their lives attacking mine. I am not coerced or forced into doing anything. I make my own decisions, my sister made her own decision when she left The Family & that’s for her own reasons, not mine, but I’m not going to waste my life attacking her & her decisions, that would be stupid.

I feel privileged to be here and am forever grateful to my parents who have brought me up in this life style and faith, & no one will deter me from it. But I will not stand idly by & watch them try to tear down what I love and stand for. This is the truth from someone who has lived in The Family for 16 years. We are active Christians trying to do what our Savior has asked & help make this world a better place.

If they think I’m brainwashed, abused or deprived, well they can come see for themselves before they devote their lives to making lies and false claims. “All that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12). So bring it on, but I think that they’ll find themselves up against a very powerful God. If this work be of man it will come to nothing, but we are of God so there’s no use trying to fight us! (Acts 5:38b-39)

Priya Desruisseaux is a second-generation member of The Family International

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 5th, 2005 and is filed under Speaking Out, By Age, Where From, Archived, Under 18, Unspecified. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.