@Anonymous,
I understand how horrifying it is to hear about the atrocities of the Family. I spent 20 years there and delivered seven children into that cult world. I was 20 years old when I entered, and 40 when I was able to get out. Now I am 63. I met the COG soon after I met the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and as a rich kid who had it all, and suffered a date rape at 17, I was searching and broken. I was attracted to their happy, forsake-all, carefree spirit and their desire to serve the Lord. I was like the frog who jumped into a nice pot of cool water sitting on the stove. It slowly got worse and worse. I was brainwashed into believing we were the spearhead of Christianity, the special elite, head and shoulders above the world-lings, privileged to have our very own prophet and king. I had no prior religious doctrines to overcome, and free love was an attractive concept, particularly when viewed through the lens of Christianity. The soil was ripe and ready for those satanical evil seeds to take root in my heart. I learned from day one, to follow the leader and not question. When I began to question things, it became very very scary, and leaving was even more scary. The Lord made a way to leave France with all my children and return to Idaho in 1994, but it took a few years to fully comprehend what I actually was able to escape from, and the brainwashing that had transpired. We had thankfully missed the worst places in the Family, but still the recovery has been a long hard road toward finding answers to life and those years living in the cult. My children are well, and I am currently working toward a degree in counseling. My faith in the Lord never wavered, and truly, only my faith in the Lord is what has kept me grounded and sane in a world of insanity. Blessings to you. Sincerely, BeverlyAnn