Children are a heritage of the Lord & the fruit of the womb is His reward. This verse sums up my feelings of the upbringing I had in The Family, and reminds me of the responsible attitude and conduct which I saw continually portrayed by my parents and caregivers throughout that upbringing. I am a second generation Family member, the oldest girl in a family of nine children. Because of my parents’ deep faith & love for the Lord I was given the privilege to be raised in what I consider the absolute best environment in the world.
Throughout my 29 years I have never personally seen nor experienced anything unloving, dangerous or damaging to myself or any other children as I grew up in Family communities all throughout Australia, India, Japan, the Philippines and New Zealand. Absolutely no form of abuse is tolerated in The Family! We were raised and still live according to the loving, Godly principles laid out in the Bible and my present lifestyle clearly reflects that for any objective inquirer who should care to hear a firsthand account from one of the allegedly “abused, deprived victims.”
I live in
Mexico
along with my husband & our five children (ages 1-11 years old) who we feel are a reward & honor to raise. Our expanding missionary work to help the needy people of this country has many aspects ranging from giving physical aid, in the form of food, clothing, medical supplies, toys etc… to the more important spiritual aid, that of counseling, mentoring, comforting, encouraging, assisting and guiding; And this all for a very broad variety of class and culture within Mexico.
We daily interact with extremely diverse individuals from opposite walks of life i.e. orphans, delinquents, homeless families, college students, educators, lawyers, businessmen, policymakers, and officials just to name a few.
And this work is done by a team largely comprised of Family young adults ages 18 through 31, most of whom have been born & raised in The Family. The superior training that we received all of our lives has proved its value in the amazing things which we have accomplished. We were raised to be adaptable, relatable, versatile, persistent, industrious, have a strong work ethic, and we were well prepared to approach life so that we would excel in whatever capacity we chose.
Besides all the missionary work we of RESCATE are doing, there is the somewhat behind-the-scenes work of organizing, people handling, managing, accounting, organizing and fundraising. All vital to keeping our team of 28 people operational. And this took exceptional training as well! You try to run a business and then also live with your 27 other coworkers every day and notice the tact, concern, love, unselfishness, patience and countless other values needed to be productive. We were given that extra measure of morale needed by growing up in the Family.
I know that the Family in the best place for children to be raised because I lived it. –My husband lived it. –The 8 other second generation Family adults I live with lived it & we are all still living it. My eight brothers & sisters—apart from my eldest brother who moved on & has since become a very useful citizen to secular society—are all also still living it & making a difference each & every day in their respective mission fields.
April Fischer, second generation member of the Family International.
Age 30
Happily Married 11 years
Born & raised in The Family
Currently a missionary in
Mexico
with “Proyecto Rescate”(Project Rescue)
