TO THE FAMILY INTERNATIONAL, MARIA, PETER AND
PARENTS; AND MY APOLOGIES TO ALL SGA’S
Hello, my name in the group was Mercy. I joined The
Children of God, A.K.A., The Family International in 1971 and quit
tithing as a TRF supporter in 1991. I pioneered many countries in the
Far East during the early days. It is recorded with pictures of me in
the Childcare Handbook, the Book of Remembrance, Family Magazines, etc.
I was young, enthusiastic and dedicated to following Jesus Christ.
About 5 years ago I decided that I would write the
story of my time in TFI for the world to see and especially for my
children so they would know the truth. I saw how TFI, through its
leadership, was trying to change their history and whitewash the past. I
saw that TFI was twisting the truth about their selves and trying to
cover up the many abuses that occurred during their FFing, sexual
revolution, teen training camps and victor revolution era. I decided
that I had to do something so that the truth would be known and recorded
in history. You can read my story on ExFamily.Org entitled It’s My Life,
Mercy’s story. I guess I followed your founder’s admonition; “If the
truth kills, let it kill.”
The sexual revolution that David Berg (Mo) advocated
in his Law of Love doctrine and fiercely defended by yourselves is your
legacy and one which you are responsible for. You cannot change your
legacy, but you can admit to it and declare it as ungodly and inhumane
and abusive particularly to the young children that were subject to the
indiscretions of adult members. You should be remorseful and crying out
to God for forgiveness.
Whenever I see any of these publications again, such
as The Davidito Book, Flirty Little Fishy, Heaven’s Girl and even the
myriad of FFing and Law of Love publications by David Berg (Moses
David), I become disgusted, sick to my stomach and ashamed that I ever
partook in any of these edicts by Moses David Berg. I am disgusted with
myself that I allowed my children to be a part of this grand experiment
of yours and grow up in it. I have asked God for forgiveness and I have
asked my children for forgiveness and I apologize to all the young
people that were affected adversely by this upbringing.
I would think that you would do the same. And not
only would you apologize and admit that these were ungodly and abusive
doctrines, but that you would also hunt down any accused abusers and
bring them to justice in some way. And if there are no laws in place to
prosecute them, you can at least excommunicate them from ever returning
to being around children again and instruct them to make a written
apology for their offenses so as to have it on record, instead of
putting them in leadership positions or around little children. This
would be the due recompense these young people deserve and the justice
they are so rightly looking to you, their parents, to procure for them.
But instead you blame them and call them Vandari as a way out from
facing up to your own sins that you have committed. How many of us
parents when our children were acting up were sent to our rooms by you
and your leadership to fast and pray for deliverance because we had not
raised our children right. You should be doing the same.
When someone like Daniel Roselle comes to you and
tells you he was abused, instead of brushing him aside like his parents
have done to save face, you should be investigating and finding his
abuser. If I were Daniel’s parents and had the power of leadership that
Ado and Kana have, I would be looking for the abuser and apologizing to
my son for allowing such things to happen to him, not calling him a
liar. What makes them think he is a liar? Because they have manipulated
his sister to say he is? How many of us knew what was going on in the
homes when we put our children in other people’s care? And just because
these young people have only started talking now or years later means
absolutely nothing. For one thing, they were told this was normal, they
saw all the sisters going topless, they saw the dancing videos, and they
read it in the Childcare books we fed them and which you have now
destroyed due to its criminal contents. It wasn’t until after they left
your closed society that they were able to look back and rightly assess
that what they were subject to as children was sexual abuse.
Also, if you care to talk to any experts in the
field, it is very common for sexual abuse victims to not want to talk
about what happened to them and to hide it. I know, because I did. As a
budding teenager of about 13 years old, I was jumped by a group of boys
playing football who sexually molested me. I never told my mom, ever. In
fact, I never told anyone until I was in my 40s. For some reason, I
thought it was my fault and I hid it within myself. This is very common
and for you to use this as an excuse to not believe your own offspring
shows your own ignorance and lack of understanding of the situation.
Either that or you just want to flatly deny it so you do not have to
face up to the consequences. The world you have created would crash and
you would not know how to handle it. Believe me; I know what that
feeling is like.
I am ashamed for you and I am ashamed for Ado and
Kana. I stand behind Daniel as a bright young man who is telling the
truth. I saw it when I saw him declare on television what happened to
him. I saw his body tremble. It takes an awful lot of courage to risk
reputation and an unfavorable notoriety to talk about such personal
issues on national television. This is not a “Vandari, apostate” son,
this is your offspring that was abused by the environment you raised him
in and of which you refuse to acknowledge. You have created this world
of hell and it will live on with you until one day you chose to make it
right. Until then, you will have more Ricky’s and more Daniel’s.
Maria and Peter, you claim that there are many quiet
exmembers who do not become what you call apostates. The reason why they
are quiet, you should know, is not because they are supportive of you,
but just the opposite. They are embarrassed and they are ashamed and
they remain quiet so as to protect their own children. They want to move
on and not think about the years they wasted in a sex cult and the
things they subjected their children to. They also cannot tell people in
the real world what group they were a part of for so many years because
of the stigma and because people would not understand. Don’t you get
tired of trying to hide who you are because of your own doctrines?
Many are dealing with issues that have surfaced since
they moved out into a society that understands sexual abuse. They have
found their own children were molested. Or else, they did not understand
that having their young teenage children on a sharing schedule was abuse
and are now dealing with the fall out. You cannot deny that this did not
happen, it’s all over the Family News Magazine Encyclopedia that I have.
I read testimony after testimony encouraging the teenagers to join in on
all the sexual fun. These young pre-teens and teens are now young adults
who have come into their own and they want you to answer for these
crimes.
Before God finds you wanting, you need to listen to
them.
To all second generation exmembers; please accept my
sincere apologies for all you have suffered and for my part in it. I try
in my own small way to undo some of the damage, but I know it’s not
enough. I think of you all as one of my own. I taught so many of you in
so many F. homes and I think of that as my best memories. Again, I’m
just so sorry for how you have suffered and I validate that you have
suffered. I stand behind you; you are not Vandari or bitter apostates.
The more Peter and Maria promote this theory, the worse things will
become. No, you are all very bright young adults who are angry at your
parents for so many things. For allowing Aunty or Uncle to molest you,
for not giving you a proper education, for not preparing you for a world
outside of TF bubble, for leaving you with no family or outside contacts
for support, for sending you to teen training camps when you should have
been going on family outings or hanging out with friends, or studying
about history. I understand. Yet, in spite of this and the
insurmountable odds you have been up against, you have for the most part
excelled and done well in your young lives. Kudos to you!
Rest in peace, Ricky
God help us all
Formerly Mercy