Family Care Foundation: A Front Group for The Family Cult
Editor's Note: For additional articles by Samuel Ajemian, see CounterCOG newsletters.
FAMILY CARE FOUNDATION
A FRONT GROUP FOR THE FAMILY CULT
This newsletter contains sexually explicit language.
Copyright © 2003 by Sam Ajemian
Newsletter # 16, Part I
The Family aka the Children of God (COG) have shocked the world with their practices of free sex, prostitution and sexual molestation of children. In a well-known custody case in England during the nineties Judge Ward found that child adult sex was widespread in the group. His conclusion was based on testimonies of those abused as minors as well as internal publications.
The most controversial material on child/adult sex published by the COG, "The Story of Davidito," clearly describes sexual activity between Karen Zerby’s son Davidito with his nanny Sara Davidito. (Karen Zerby is the group’s present leader.) The following quotes taken from it are self-explanatory. "[Davidito at 20 months old] gets quite excited when I wash his bottom and his penie gets real big and hard. I kiss it all over till he gets so excited he bursts into laughter and spreads his legs open for more. . . . When playing on the floor he’ll oftentimes spread his legs open for me to kiss his penis (what we call his ‘penie’). He got to where he liked it so much he’d pull people by the hand down onto the floor and would spread his legs apart for ‘the treatment.’" (Sara Davidito, "The Story of Davidito," hereinafter BOD [Zurich, Switzerland: World Services, 1982], pp. 334, 335). "He pulled me down to kiss him, then pushed my head down to kiss some more!" (BOD pp. 392, 393). Davidito was 2 years and 4 months old at the time this was written. Referring to the above, Judge Ward wrote that the text "cannot be interpreted otherwise than Sara kissing the boys penis." (Judgment p. 84). Davidito at 2 ½ often asked Sara to dance for him. "I dance topless or nudie most of the time." (BOD p. 407). "Davidito acts very anxious to take his nap nowadays. He’ll eagerly get in bed and lie quietly under his sheet and play with his penis. I think lately he prefers that more than to have me do it for him!" (BOD p. 410). "He’ll sometimes just jump on top of me real quick, hunch away and then jump off again and say, ‘Do you like that, Sara?’ But his usual, more gentle and preferred approach is, ‘Let’s go wash penie’, and then I know what he really wants!" (BOD p. 426). During a "come-union" or orgy, Davidito "wanted his turn, and as soon as I got into bed he jumped on me and said, ‘Sara, love me!’. . . Mommy [Karen Zerby was] outside the door listening to him. ‘Sara, now kiss it!’, and then he began to laugh and laugh. ‘Oh it flopped in your nose!’" (BOD p. 457). The above was written in March 1978 when Davidito was 3 years and 2 months old. "We had a nice picnic lunch . . . right by the riverside near our house. [Davidito] wanted to bring a blanket and a scented candle so that we could make love, but there were too many people around so we didn’t quite get to the climax." (BOD p. 464). Describing a different occasion on the same page, Sarah writes: "We got undressed and he got real affectionate. . . . He usually wants love sometime every day, whether it be cuddles and kisses, nippies and bottoms, or just bouncing together in bed, Hallelujah!" (BOD p. 464). After citing this passage Judge Ward commented: "What can this be other than that this 3 year old boy was participating in sexual shenanigans with his nanny?" (Judgment p. 86). "While on the airplane David said, ‘Hey! Let’s love-up!’ I said, ‘David, we can’t do that here!’ and he said ‘Oh, I know why! Because we’d probably break the chair!’" (BOD p. 551). There are many pictures showing Davidito involved in sexual activity, in one of which Sarah is performing oral sex on him.
We read in the literature that David Berg, the group’s founder, was pleased that Sarah was willing to have sex with anybody including with Davidito. Sara’s husband Alfred Strickland Kelley aka Ready was sexually involved with his own daughter Davida. Judge Ward said that there was evidence that Steven Douglas Kelly aka Peter Amsterdam (Zerby’s present husband and co-leader of the group) had molested two minors. (Judgment p. 119). One of these minors was Berg’s granddaughter Merry Berg aka Mene. I would be surprised if any of the people in Berg’s house did not participate in these illegal acts. It goes without saying that Zerby was in the thick of it, Berg with Zerby on one side of the bed and another women on the other, sometimes a minor. Zerby has written in the clearest terms possible that there is nothing wrong with adults sexually fondling children. She later shamelessly lied that they don’t believe in child-adult sex and that the group should had "explained better" that sex of adults with minors is wrong. She was trying to say it was all a communication problem.
Judge Ward thought otherwise. He clearly stated that Berg promoted child-adult sexual behavior. (Judgment p. 108). He wrote that "Berg bears responsibility for propagating the doctrine which so grievously misled his flock and injured the children within it." (Judgment p. 112). He said there is "overwhelming evidence that the high leadership within The Family has been guilty of child sexual abuse." (Judgment p. 120). He made the following statement: "I am totally satisfied that there was widespread sexual abuse of young children and teenagers by adult members of The Family, and that this abuse occurred to a significantly greater extend within The Family than occurred in society outside it." (Judgment p. 111). He said he is satisfied that "a significant number of children . . . had masturbation and even sexual intercourse forced upon them by adults." (Judgment p. 282). Referring to the bad publicity the Family received that whole period of time he said: "They have been rightly vilified by the media and pilloried by the press." (Judgment p. 112).
It is a well-established fact that Berg sexually abused both of his daughters and at least two of his granddaughters. His younger daughter Faithy Fischer has converted to her father’s ways, going so far as to encourage the group’s parents to sexually fondle their children. (Judgment p. 81). In one of Berg’s pamphlets titled "My Childhood Sex! - Doing what comes naturally!" he talks about the time when as a baby his Mexican nanny was performing oral sex on him until she was discovered by Berg’s mother and the baby-sitter was slapped out of the house: "I told you about my Mexican baby-sitter when I was three. . . . She used to s..k me to sleep for my nap every afternoon. I loved it! . . . I had orgasms and really enjoyed it." (Berg 779:2, 4). Fischer wrote a poem at this time in response to "Childhood Sex!" about when her father was front-rubbing and masturbating her when she was a child. The short poem is titled "Faithy’s Reaction to ‘Childhood Sex!’" This is what she wrote addressing her father: "I like it! It reminded me of how you used to put me to sleep when I was a little girl, 3 or 4. Wow! Daddy did it best! Back rubbin’, that is, and front rubbin’ too! . . . Daddy just made me feel good all over and I didn’t know why, but it would really put me to sleep with a sigh! PTL! [Praise the Lord] I don’t think it perverted me none at all, but it sure converted me to His Call! So I believe our parents should try it, and help our kids get the natural habit! We pray it’ll work, then junior won’t be a sexual jerk! It worked for me as you can see, I just do what comes naturally! Oh I could write a book, but this is just a look, into my childhood sex!" (As quoted in Judgment p. 81). As we can plainly see not only Fischer speaks positively of her father fondling her sexually as a child, but she encourages the group’s parents to do the same to their children.
There is an incident mentioned in the literature describing Berg fondling her and Sara’s vaginas with his big toe under the table. Former member Marina posted the following concerning this: "Do you remember the description of DB [David Berg] at the table goosing with his foot Sara Davidito and his own daughter Faithy? It was sort of a contest on who would climax first." (Marina, Excognet.com, [May 9, 2000]). In 1986 Fischer and top leader Grant Montgomery led a large meeting of teenagers in Mexico where she was involved sexually with minors.
In 1992 Fischer established Project Aid/Siberia (PAS), a non-profit organization set up to do humanitarian aid distribution. Around 1997 there was a split between Fischer and the Family due to her problem with alcoholism. PAS continued independently of the Family, still part of the same polluted stream. The statistics are impressive. For example in 1999 under "Food For Progress 1999" sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture PAS distributed about 17,600 tons of food in seven Siberian regions covering a geographical area the size of the third of the United States. PAS conducted televised press conferences with top regional officials in all seven regions. There were more than thirty articles in the local press praising the program and over ten radio interviews, and numerous awards were received from Siberian governmental and private institutions. Fischer wrote that then First Lady Mrs. Clinton during her trip to Siberia congratulated PAS for their work. Fischer has also received a medal of achievement from the State Department for her activities there.
Giving out food is only part of what Fischer does. The main reason she was there was to preach Berg’s heresies and to recruit people to their perverted ways. As Archpriest Alexander Novopashin in Siberia wrote in an e-mail message to me, "While they are in charity activity they don’t forget to spread Berg’s ideas." He writes that Fischer was involving people in activities that are morally offensive and that her neighbors "were shocked by her behavior, by her orgies with a lot of young people."
What all this means is that a charity organization sponsored by the US government was a cover for Berg’s followers. All these tangible and intangible benefits went to the dedicated and brainwashed followers of David Berg. What a better way to open people’s hearts to your particular group than to be giving out lots and lots of free food. It’s the greatest public relations tool there is. The fact that they work with the US government raises their prestige in the eyes of the poor even more. The moral support that is generated from all the awards they receive and all the positive coverage in the media further reinforce the faith that people have in them and more and more doors open up to them. It is bad enough that this cult was born and raised in America to now export it to Russia in this manner. What is even more upsetting is that in the case of a charity like PAS government money is used, taxpayers footing the bill!
I have notified the USDA but I wonder if the State Department, the White House and other government officials both in the USA and Russia and all who have worked with and honored Fischer know of her past ties with the Family or that she is David Berg’s dedicated daughter. There is a photo of Fischer with the US Ambassador to Russia James Collins. I wonder if he knows. Heart to Heart International sponsors medical projects worldwide. I alerted its president, Dr. Gary Morsch about Fitcher with whom he had dealings earlier on in the country of Georgia not knowing who she was. He thanked me for the information I sent him saying it was very disturbing and that he doubts he will be working with her again.
The problem with cults has become so big in Russia that in 1997 a law was passed against distribution of literature and doing humanitarian work if it involved religion. We read in the Family’s literature: "We were just informed by one of our friends who did a little checking up on us that we are on the top of the KGB blacklist here as being a dangerous religious sect." Also: "The Family are on the top of the government hit list of the groups that they want to get rid of in Russia!" ("Victory Review ’97!" Steve Kelly 3159:167, [01/98]). John Paul, an assistant of Fischer thought they were safe: "With the recent laws being passed there [in Russia] suppressing the freedom of religion, this Humanitarian Aid project gives us legal right to remain in the country." (John Paul, NDN newsletter, [3/98], Vol. 3, #8). It didn’t help Fischer however when the truth came out as to who she was.
At some point during the late nineties, Fischer’s identity was exposed in the media. One of the articles mentions ex-member Julia who was given books for beginners and didn’t see anything bad in them until she saw one of David Berg’s books in which she was shocked to see "dirty porno pictures." The article also mentions Natalie Ivanovna, the mother of a member, who also was shocked to see a cult book for inner use only, where among other things she read that there is no longer such a thing as adultery for them. Fischer was pressured by the PAS staff to return to the United States in order to distance herself from any further attention. For the same reason the PAS web site was shut down.
PAS is just one of the humanitarian outreaches the Family has started since the early 90ies under the generic name "Consider The Poor" or CTP ministries. In 1992, the same year that PAS was established in Russia, in Florida a team of members of the Family enlisted as Red Cross volunteers to help with relief efforts after Hurricane Andrew. There they met President Bush and through this chain of events were invited to the White House where they sang at a reception during Christmas. Since then Family members have participated in more such events. The following are thank-you notes from the White House! "Dear Family Teens, I loved hearing from you and catching up on your news. I am so proud of you and what you stand for. Warmly, Barbara Bush." "Dear Family Singers, Thank you for the generous support of the 1995 White House Easter Egg Roll. Nearly 30,000 attendees joined us for the 117th year of this White House family tradition. Your efforts contributed significantly to the success of this event. Sincerely yours, Hillary Clinton." Here is one from former President Jimmy Carter: "Dear Family Singers, I was so pleased to have the opportunity to hear you sing. Thank you for sharing your talent with us. I appreciate the video, and will be sure that my granddaughter gets to enjoy it. Rosalyn joins me in sending you our warm best wishes. Sincerely, Jimmy Carter".
In January 1997 the Family established Family Care Foundation (FCF), a California based 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit charity. President of FCF is Grant Collin Montgomery aka Gary, aka Hosanna aka Paul Papers. I know him fairly well as I lived with him for a short time in the late seventies. Free sex and prostitution (flirty fishing) had recently become a cult-wide practice. I was sexually involved with his ex-wife Abigail in more than one occasion. One time she told me she couldn’t because she was infected with VD. My impression or understanding back then was that Montgomery was also infected. I had approached another ex-wife of Montgomery, Rose, but she also said she was infected. VD was widespread in the group. There is a cult video where among other pornography Abigail is having sex with another member of the group.
Abigail would fly to London for a few days of sex and fun with an Arab civil engineer. Then when she would come back to Athens she would go out soliciting free food with me at an open air fruit and vegetable market. People who were donating would be horrified if they knew she was basically a prostitute for a sex cult. I remember reassuring a Greek businessman that we were a very legitimate missionary group, knowing full well that if he knew the truth about us, he would most probably had never helped us. This is the kind of deception we inflicted on the public. This is the kind of deception the Family inflicts on the public to this day! (There were businessmen however that were helping the group and in return were having sex with the women.)
Until Berg’s death in 1994, Kelly and Montgomery were his two right hand men. Montgomery lived in Berg’s house for over a decade and was his top representative, responsible for carrying out his instruction and mandates. He was the one going all over the world making things happen. After Berg’s death his mistress Zerby married Kelly and Montgomery was given a prominent place as the group’s Prime Minister making him the third person in the hierarchy.
Despite their pretenses during the first half of the nineties that they were becoming more conservative, they have since received what I consider the most sacrilegious so-called revelation according to which the Family’s Jesus seeks to get involved sexually with the members. It is called the Loving Jesus revelation. Men starting at age 14 are taught to masturbate to Jesus and to imagine they have vaginas and to fantasize that Jesus is penetrating their imaginary vaginas with His penis! Zerby in "Cool Tips for Hot Sex" published a list of sexually explicit phrases to be used while having sex with Jesus. I apologize for the repeated use of the f word and other such words in the following quotes, which by the way appear unedited in the original text, as do all four letter words in this article. "For those of you who may have a hard time thinking of love words to say to the Lord, we’re including the following list of examples. . . . I want to enjoy You, Jesus, to look at You, to taste You, to feel You, to f..k You! . . . You turn me on! . . . You’re beautiful, Jesus, and so sexy - sexier that I ever dreamed - so handsome, so naked and so hard! . . . I’m really getting horny for You, Jesus. . . . I want to show You how hot and horny and passionate I am for You! . . . I want to s..k Your penis. . . . I’m wild about You! I’m crazy about Your penis! . . . My p…y is excited for you, Jesus! . . . I’m so excited and I’m so horney for You, Jesus! . . . You’ve got to f..k me now! . . . I can’t wait any longer! - I’m overcome with desire for You, for Your penis. . . . I’ve got to have You inside me! . . . I’m hot for You! My legs are spread to receive Your penis! . . . I’m desperate for Your big, hard penis! . . . I need Your penis! . . . Come into me, Jesus. F..k me. . . . F..k me! . . . Hurry, Jesus! I need You now. . . . F..k me long and hard and deep. . . . Longer, harder, deeper! . . . Yes, yes! F..k me, f..k me! Don’t stop! Don’t stop! . . . Don’t stop! Don’t ever stop f..king me! . . . Your penis drives me wild. . . . How I love to f..k You! How I love to be f..ked by You! . . . Thank You for letting me explore You naked body in all its majesty - to hold You, to kiss You, to s..k You, to f..k You. . . . You’re so wonderful!"
Elsewhere we read that Zerby believes she preexisted and was Jesus’ lover in heaven before she came to earth! Jesus tells her: "You are Maria of the End, the prophetess, the unlocker of the mysteries of heaven." She is told that her birth was a turning point in the history of life on earth. She was sent to this planet so that we here can partake of her beauty and purity. She is a magic rose that has power to touch and heal. What deception! He tells Zerby whom He calls His nymph: "You used to dance for me a lot. I got so excited when I saw your sexy body." When she gets back to heaven Jesus and Zerby are going to sail in her favorite yacht having sex both day and night. "I’m talking about stuff that’ll blow your mind," He says. "We will be honeymooners. We will be on fire for each other, constantly hot, constantly turned on. We will ravish one another day and night. We will f..k to our hearts’ content! You will continually cry, ‘Give me more! Give me more!’" (As quoted in NDN, 3/30/00). He says: "You, My darling bride, are one of My most ardent lovers, always opening up to Me and letting Me love you and f..k you and enjoy fervent and passionate lovemaking with you." (Zerby 526:79). Zerby tells Jesus: "We love You, Sweetheart. We praise You, and love You, and can’t get enough of You. We love how You f..k us and love us and care for us." (Zerby 507:362).
Jesus tells Steve Kelly whom some former members call "Queen Peter": "You can lie in my arms and feel Me close to you. I want to hold you, love you, make love to you. We’ll have sweet love-making together." (As quoted in NDN, [May 9, 2000]). The following is from Kelly. "I wanted Him [Jesus] so badly, and told Him so. He held me, loved me, caressed me. We made love together through the words we shared. Our lovemaking was passionate, erotic, exciting." (As quoted in NDN, [March 7, 2000]). I have heard that Kelly was visiting the group’s homes to encourage and promote this new practice of Loving Jesus. A former member said that Kelly had come to their home and taught the women by demonstration how to masturbate to Jesus. He would get in bed with them and show them what to do. I have heard that he calls himself Jesus’ vagina, actually calling himself Jesus’ p...y! I have also heard that there have been repeated prayer requests for the healing of Kelly’s penis. This is the number two man in the group after Karen Zerby!
Montgomery had a hard time with the Loving Jesus revelation. He writes that he struggled with it, had a negative reaction and doubts, that he felt the worse than he had ever felt in his lowest low. He did nevertheless "take the suggested steps to love Jesus in this new way." Eventually Montgomery got the victory especially after some prophecies from Jesus directed to him personally. He now writes: "Showing my love to Jesus in this new way now seems to flow more naturally. I express my love to Jesus intimately by saying love words to Him, and I show and tell Him that I am truly thankful for His Love, whether it be with others during a date, or while alone." He then goes on to reaffirm his commitment to the cult: "I have had the privilege of living and working closely with Dad, Mama and Peter [Berg, Zerby and Kelly] for many years. I know that Queen Maria and King Peter are right, and I declare that by the grace of God I will follow closely, ever more closely with each passing day. . . . Long live the queen and the king! Long live the ‘Loving Jesus’ revelation! Long live the radical spirit of David [Berg]! . . . Love, Gary" (Taken from "I Felt Like a Shmuck! - But I Shtuck!" - By Gary FSM 290 DO, "Loving Jesus" Reactions - Part 2 -- Reactions to the "Loving Jesus" GNs, Parts 3 through 6 - For Junior Teens and Up Only!) Montgomery has since denied that he wrote the above but he is lying.
For more than ten years up until the late eighties a lot of the income of the cult came from prostitution. Without the abundance of cash from prostitution and unwelcome by a number of countries due to the bad reputation generated because of prostitution and child abuse, many returned back to the States and Europe. The court battles that followed were financially costly for the Family. Berg died in 1994. The group claims they are receiving messages from him and from other dead people including Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. She promises in those messages that she will have sex with them when they get to heaven.
Zerby was very excited about these messages supposedly from the other side and wanted to publish books containing these. They were thinking of starting a for-profit business to mass market these books as well as other products created by the Family in order to generate more money for the group. Thus they started a special publishing unit called GPU or General Public Unit. It was a catastrophe as most if not all people involved with it left the Family. Montgomery was sent to help. The GPU project was abandoned but a new and somewhat similar plan, the Family Care Foundation was adopted.
We read in the group’s literature that the Foundation’s "three main exempt purposes as recognized by the IRS are (1) missionary activity, (2) religious publishing and (3) supplying goods and services to the poor." (Kelly 3159:122). I have noticed that in their internal literature there is an emphasis on the missionary side of things and on their web site an emphasis on the humanitarian side of things.
Dr. Christine Mlot is the Treasurer of FCF. She is also a member of the Family. Once she told a Russian immigrant woman they were helping with food that the good thing about women in the Family is that they don’t feel lonely as there is communal sexual sharing.
In their earlier 999 tax forms they had put 10612 South Morada Drive, Orange, CA 92869 as their address. Since then they have moved to a new location, 1373 Marron Valley Road Dulzura, CA 91917. (Tel. 619-468-3191 ext 10). It used to be a Bed and Breakfast Inn called Brookside Farms. In this new location they have established yet another program called The Spiritual Retreat and Missionary Training Program.
Former member James Penn, one of the founding members of FCF, in 1996 served as the Secretary-Director sitting on the Board of Directors. In 1999 he resigned from the board and left the Family after being a member for 28 years. Like Montgomery, Penn lived with Berg for many years. He clearly states that FCF is a Family front group. There really is no question as to this being the case. Though on paper FCF is its own separate legal entity, in actual fact it is a fundraising front group for the Family. The Family created FCF, it controls FCF and FCF is run and operated by Family members. In every possible way it is the Family operating under the cover of its legal entity. FCF does not operate under World Services, the group’s administrative body. But a ministry does not necessarily need to be part of WS to be part of the Family. Montgomery resigned from his position as Prime Minister but that does not mean he has resigned from being a member of the Family. Former member RC said he had exchanged emails with Montgomery about a year earlier and that Montgomery "was open about his Family membership." According to information from another former member there are sexual freedoms practiced at Brookside Farm like in any other Family home.
A multitude of projects operate around the world under the FCF umbrella and most of the money and goods raised go to these projects. They are part of FCF’s Mission Support & Humanitarian Services Program (MSHSP). Were the government to seriously audit FCF it is very likely that they would find that every single one of these humanitarian organizations all over the world are communities or individuals belonging to the Family. Many of these projects have been proudly displayed on FCF’s website http://www.familycare.org/ and it indeed looks very impressive. (For reasons that I do not know, all US projects were removed from the site). I am sure many looking at these pictures would never imagine these fine looking people could have any connection with a sex cult. Let me give you a who-is-who tour of some of the people that I recognize and tell you a little about them.
Art and Becky Lindfield are India Coordinators for a FCF program called Immediate Disaster Relief (IDR). Art is none other than King Arthur of the FF (Flirty Fishing) letters, Berg’s writings on prostitution. Volume IV of the Mo letters (Berg’s writings) is usually referred to as the FF volume. About the first 150 pages of the FF volume are devoted to the "King Arthur series" named after him. One of Berg’s letters in this series is called "The Hooker! - A Fisherman Instructs His Bait!" Some of the language is shocking. Berg and Zerby are in London, England in 1973 where they are initiating prostitution euphemistically called flirty fishing or ffing, and Berg is sending Zerby to have sex with different men. Berg is telling Zerby about one of these men: "F..k the daylights out of him. . . . I as good as told you to go over there and grab his d..k out of his pants and massage him" ("The Hooker," Berg 505:16 [2/74]). "I told you to go over there and take his peter out of his pants and do it right there." (Berg 505:18). There is more of this kind of language in the rest of this publication. There is a drawing of a woman doing exactly that, that is, sticking her hand inside the man’s zipper. Elsewhere in the series there is a drawing of Art been masturbated under the covers. When Zerby moved Lindfield was assigned to Becky, one of Berg’s "queens." Some of the material in the King Arthur series is written by the Lindfields. Becky’s daughter Sharon is married with Grant Mongomery.
Art and Becky Lindfield are also project managers for "New Horizons - Student Interchange" in India. Here is what they say about this ministry: "A host of teenagers and young adults from the USA have participated in the New Horizon Student Interchange since its founding in 1996. After completing their training, the majority of these young people commit their lives to various humanitarian aid projects oversees in India, China, Vietnam, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, and Europe." The impression formed by many reading the above would be that young people from various US schools attend this course. I highly suspect that most if not all of these so-called students are simply young members of the cult. It sounds more like something set up as part of the process of transferring young members to various countries.
Jeremy Spencer needs no introduction, though he looks much older now. He is a former member of the Fleetwood Mac music group. There is a video of him having sex in a park with another cult member’s wife. In this video a supposed stranger (another member of the group) is walking through the park. Spencer asks her to go have sex with this total stranger to show him God’s love. In the next part of the video we see them having sex. When they are done, she returns back to Spencer, who is seen reading the Bible while waiting for her return. We see in these internal Family videos Spencer’s then about 13 years old daughter Heidi dancing naked for Berg. Her younger sister Marisha (about 4 years old) is also dancing naked. Marisha testified in court. Judge Ward said about her: "[Jeremy Spencer’s] own daughter with understandable reluctance complained that he abused her as I find he did." (Judgment p. 119). At the age of 6 Marisha "had to ‘help her father out’ which meant caressing him and mutual masturbation." (Judgment p. 91). Spencer molested Mene also: "Among the men who abused [Mene] was Jeremy Spencer." (Judgment p. 91). He mentions again Mene’s sexual abuse by Spencer on page 119. Spencer has written a song about Jesus having sex with Mary and Martha in the Gospels.
Paul Peloquin and Linda Perfilio are project managers for "Focus On Kidz" in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Their purpose is to "instill family and character-building values." On a similar note we read that FCF conducts seminars that deal among others things with "responsible sexuality" and "child abuse"! They are trying to appear as champions of the exact opposite of what they are and do and believe. Let’s start with Peloquin. Judge Ward wrote that "Josiah (Paul Peloquin) heads EURCRO." (Judgment p. 14) EUCRO stands for European Central Reporting Office. His leadership position was just under Kelly and Montgomery. In one of the videos Peloquin introduces a woman who dances for Berg and ends up masturbating to him while speaking in tongues, while Peloquin is kissing her! Peloquin was heavily involved in the production of these pornographic videos. He was also very involved with a Family group called Music with Meaning (MWM). Mene and other teenage members of MWM were videotaped dancing naked for Berg. Judge Ward wrote the following concerning Mene: "She was sent to Greece to join ‘Music with Meaning’ and from then on it was constant sexual activity. She said: ‘Paul (now the European CRO) immediately started sexual interaction with us doing everything except penetration. I began to realize I was expected to be ‘revolutionary’, that is to say sexually to service the different men aged 25 to 30 plus.’" (Judgment p. 91). Later on Judge Ward again repeats that Peloquin "corrupted and abused the young girls who were part of the singing and dancing troupe." (Judgment p. 119). Linda Perfilio (bible name Kezia) is Peloquin’s wife. She is "Merry Mom" mentioned in the Judgment. (p. 14). She is one of about hundred or more female members that dance naked in the videos. In one of these, members that she introduces talk about their ffing activities in the Phillipines. The group there was heavily involved in servicing sexually members of the military. Linda Perfilio was a visiting overseer of Family homes in that country.
Kay Pribyl aka Seek is a well-known member of the Family. She had sex with then nine-year-old Aaron. She was pregnant at the time. It was just part of the sex schedule for the home. She was the one who approached him about it. In the literature we read that her son Jason, 9 years of age and her daughters Shera 8 and Summer 6, have "quite a little love triangle going." Here are some of the details as recorded in the literature: "One night I knew Shera was looking forward to being with Jason, but he was with Summer. I asked Shera about it and she said that Summer was a little discouraged and Jason was trying to cheer her up before he came to bed with her. (Judgment p. 66). Jason at about 13 was involved sexually with an adult women. Seek "let her girls run wild with older uncles and Mexico was notorious under her reign." (Dan C., movingon.org, 2/27/03).
Tim Peters of Helping Hands has been featured in the media. He sends food to North Korea. He is a member of the Family.
Thomas B. Bergstrom has been with Family Care Indonesia for 13 years. I was sexually involved with his wife while I was in the Family, both of us together with her in bad at the same time. I have since repented of that lifestyle, but he has not.
Mike Edwards and Cindy Thompson are project managers for Milk for Many, now renamed Mexcity Mission. Milk for Many in 1998 received the "Freedom Works Award" sponsored by US House Majority Leader Congressman Dick Armey. Edwards aka Dust was a top leader in the USA, a CRO, for many years. I don’t know if to this day the Congressman knows of the Milk for Many - Family connection.
Another highly honored CPT outreach was run by Zachias. He was awarded the "Parent of the Year" award. Having met and talked with his ex-wife and some of his children, I doubt very much that he comes anywhere near to deserving to be named the best parent of the year for the entire United States of America. Maybe one of the worst parents of the year would be more appropriate. Former members were particularly angry about this award because of the cruel way that Zachias had treated minors and adults when he was in charge of one of the Victor Camps, the group’s prison-like retraining centers. Zachias lied to a reporter that he had never been in the Family. Internal publications and pictures clearly show that he was a member and that for a time he was a childcare worker for some of David Berg’s grandchildren in Italy and Hong Kong. It was finally admitted that he had been lying. He was forced to return the award.
There are others I could mention but I will finish with Ado. He is a high-profile member of the Family. I had met Ado recently and he had spoken to me about his ministry to young kids with problems, taking them on camping trips, etc. Soon thereafter I happened to see his picture on the FCF web site as one of the project managers. It was then that I realized that people that were members of the Family ran these projects. Until then I thought that FCF sends money and goods to unrelated humanitarian agencies or poor people around the world. Imagine some poor parents sending their kids on camping trips with Ado and others, thinking they are been helped by a wholesome Christian environment and have no idea their child is getting indoctrinated by the Family. Ado’s own son, Daniel, is a voice against child abuse in the Family. He is accusing the group of damaging a generation of children, that they have wreaked havoc in their own children’s lives.
There is a long history of this group hiding who they are, the most classic case of which is that during the late seventies they changed their name from Children of God to the Family of Love and then The Family and pretended to have disbanded. During the early nineties a policy was adopted of using a multitude of names other than the Family for their individual communities. They were pushing the idea that they were independent missionary entities loosely associated to each other. Now dozens upon dozens of small humanitarian groups are operating all over the world under the cover of innocuous sounding names. A list of many of these names can be found on http://www.exfamily.org/ under the "Pseudonyms, Fronts and Umbrella Organizations" section. These multitudes of project names mask the truth of who these people are, they conceal rather than reveal their identity. I am certain that in many cases the people in the host countries have no idea that the nice humanitarian group from the West that they have opened their hearts to are members of this notorious sex cult.
Former member MG who recently left the group said the following regarding this aspect of hiding the truth from the public: "About being on the field with a ‘local NGO [non government organization] work’ . . . we did that for our last years in the Family, it’s how we got support, and it’s also how you can relate to other missionaries and humanitarian aid workers or government officials without saying that you are part of the Family. We did some good, but in our experiences, the humanitarian work was often just a front. (MG, NDN, [Feb 3, 2002]). Speaking of a particular CPT project he said that "they lived in fear and dread that their NGO foreign friends would discover they were part of the Family, and they’d end up getting banned or at the worst lose the support they were getting from the international community." (MG, NDN, 6/15/02). He continues: "Sometimes we completely lost some of our very best friends. People who really loved us and Jesus, but when they discovered that we were part of The Family, we could not regain their trust." (MG, NDN, 6/15/02). He discussed the subject again on exfamily.org: "Once we lost a whole bunch of Christian friends and contacts the minute they found out we were Family members. We were in one of the big cities of this big E. European country. Most of the local churches loved us, they used the Treasures all the time and were coming to our home to get more and more. . . . We were regulars with the puppet show, etc. at a whole slew of services. Then an American missionary who also worked with these same churches visited us. He knew everything about the COG/Family but he didn’t say so at the time. After leaving he visited some of the pastors he knew. He told them that we were actually COG/Family members. He showed them some passages in the Treasures that expound on the Law of Love. He also had some other articles in their language that had been written about the group. In one day we found ourselves 100%, completely ostracized, and totally cut off from all of our former friends in the churches of that city. . . . This happened two years before we left The Family. . . . As a Family member you are constantly on your guard and hiding part of yourself from even your closest outside friends." (MG, exfamily.org, [Dec. 11, 2002]). Whiskers says the same thing: "Too many homes were calling themselves a NGO or a charity with names like ‘Healing Hearts’ etc, and not revealing to their friends and contacts, that they were members of The Family." (Whiskers, exfamily.org [Dec. 4, 2002]). "I can remember how it cut off support and how our home lost a whole host of friends when word got around that we were F members." (Whiskers exfamily.org, [Dec. 4, 2002]).
In the five year period from 1997 to 2001 FCF has received close to four million dollars worth of contributions or almost one million per year, half of which in cash. Close to three million has been distributed in the three year period from 1999 to 2001 or one million per year, half of which in cash.
It appears that the cash is redistributed internally to their own projects and programs, one part of the Family, the FCF, funneling money to another part of the Family, the FCF programs and projects. My understanding is that these internal transfers from one hand to the other are recorded on their tax reports as expenses. Let’s say a corporation in the USA donates $100,000 for a particular project. The check is made out to FCF, which keeps 10% for administrative expenses, and the rest of the amount is sent on to the designated project. The cash transfer is shown on the IRS 990 form, documenting that an expense of $90.000 has occurred. The big question is how is the pie cut? Does the cash for the most part or even exclusively go to pay for rent, travel, production and publication of literature and generally expenses that have nothing or little to do with helping the poor? If not even a penny reaches the poor in a direct way, would this be outside the legal perimeters as set forth in non-profit law and by the IRS? It may be legal to raise money just to support missionaries without any money going to the poor. If however the donors give the cash with the understanding that most of it would end up in helping the poor in a material, tangible way, it would certainly be outside the ethical perimeters if these funds go to themselves to run their communities around the world and only a small portion or none of it ends up for charity. This would be deception and it is probably illegal. Finally, even if all of the $90.000 goes directly to the poor, it is wrong for FCF to keep the $10.000 tithe or even a single dollar if sincere people are giving without knowing the FCF-Family connection.
Lots of non-cash items are also donated to the FCF. Let’s say that a corporation or a local business donates $10,000 worth of goods. The Family uses some of this for themselves (usually the best portions) and the rest is distributed to orphanages, schools, shelters, old-folks homes and prisons. The children sing songs as part of the event, distribute literature and videos. They take lots of pictures and/or videotape the event. All this is sent to FCF, which in turn displays them on their web site. The donors look at all this, they like what they see and the corporation money keeps flowing in.
According to MG who spent years in Eastern Europe, a lot of the humanitarian aid that the Family provides "was nothing more than countless shows in schools and orphanages." He tries to be fair: "I don’t want to say they don’t do any good, but it isn’t humanitarian aid work that is making much of a difference. The truth is that the Family humanitarian aid work compared to the jobs and money and help that most NGO’s provide for needy areas is pretty second rate." He says that with a lot of the clothes that they distributed, it was stuff that no one could use. The following account he gives provides in my opinion a true picture of the parasitic spirit in which things are done: "Some guys that live in the West, provision clothes and other humanitarian aid goods, then they’ll make a 3-4 week summer trip to homes in needy areas, distribute the humanitarian aid, getting photo documentation of the project, and then they’ll return to their home field in the West and use the PR materials they gathered to use in fund-raising for their own needs throughout the year until the next trip comes along the next summer." He writes about the emphasis for documentation of these events: "One fact really sticks out for me. We had a mail ministry, and quite often the only reason we did humanitarian aid work was for the PR photo opportunity." Another former member puts things in stronger terms: "I saw the same thing in Indonesia. Folks would just lay around the combo and the big homes partying all month until it came time to make a report (to justify their support) and then they were of to the boonies for a day to take photos. We learned to be hypocrites in the Family. Even worse than the churches. We pretended to be doing great things but in fact we were reproaches to the name of Christ. Thank God we were able to pull out and repent. I don’t believe the good works of the Family amount to a hill of beans. A clown skit is not humanitarian aid. The Salvation Army does so much more." (Texas Ray, 3/29/02). One former member made the following comment: "It is just a big big version of the little prayer letter we used to send home to get money. Theirs is at a corporate level. In other words, they are mostly helping themselves and throwing in some works of ‘charity’ to justify their getting money from businesses and corporations. Clever, but not clean." (Sure it is Family, 4/13/01). Having been a member of the group myself for over ten years and having studied them for years after that I am fully aware of the pervasive spirit of deception in the cult. It is actually a part of their doctrine. It even has a name, "Deceivers, yet true." Another biblical term they use for it is "spoiling Egypt" meaning exploiting the outside world. I highly suspect that deception is center stage in their fundraising and humanitarian activities.
There is no question that they do some good with their humanitarian projects. Humanitarian help is part of what they do, but it is also a bait.
The main priority of Family members worldwide whether or not they operate under the FCF umbrella is to preach their perverted form of Christianity and to make converts. In their literature there is an account of some members going to a church in Europe to volunteer their services. When the pastor found out who they were he threatened he would call the police if they didn’t leave. I would have done the same. In Africa Family members were going to schools to do plays, sing, etc. When those in authority found out they were members of the cult they put their schools on alert. (Paul Harris, "Schools Alert for British Child Sex Cult," The Telegraph, UK, [3/24/00]). Good old common sense would lead one against having anything whatsoever to do with them in any way, shape or form. Or you could end up losing a lot more than you might possibly gain, including a member of your congregation or a student or a son or daughter. Then you may find yourself being blackmailed into being nice with the group if you want to hear from your loves ones now in the Family, get birthday photos, etc. If you think I am exaggerating, I am not. This is how the game is played.
FCF runs a Wedding Chapel at Brookside Farm, the proceeds of which go to support the foundation’s charitable projects. Though it is a for-profit business, since it runs under the FCF umbrella, my understanding is that the earnings from its operation would be non-taxable, a tax shelter. This is not the only place where the Family has gotten into the wedding business. A missionary in Japan told me they do the same there. I wonder if people getting married at Brookside Farm know of its connection with the Family cult. I know it would bother me greatly if I found out a member of this cult conducted my wedding ceremony and I am sure there are many others who would feel the same way.
In addition to the FCF and its programs and projects there is a network of other entities that the Family has created. Activated Ministries is a newly incorporated 501©(3) non-profit Christian organization. It is an evangelistic arm of the Family and they are open about their connection: "Activated is created by the international fellowship of Christian communities known as ‘The Family.’" Activated has branches around the world and they are distributors for Aurora Productions. Aurora is the copyright holder of Family products and a product creation and marketing arm of the Family. If you visit the Family’s web page you will see many Family products advertised there. Those interested in buying such products are referred to Aurora. MG says that both Aurora and Activated are based in Zug, Switzerland. (MG, exfamily.org, 01/16/03). A multitude of Family products, including music tapes, videos and booklets are sold on the Internet through Aurora, Activated and other Family related web sites and the Activated product catalogue.
Another important Family created business is KidzVids International. www.kidzvids (19703-B Eastex Fwy 99 Humble, Texas 77338). They claim to be the Internet’s leading source for Christian programming. They seem to be doing well: "This month was the greatest ever in out sales department, as our shows went out to the four corners of the globe. Many more than we had ever anticipated decided to give their children the very best in Christian video and audio entertainment by ordering our materials during the past weeks." (Jan. 2003). One of their products is titled The Luvvets, an old Family puppet show. Some of the titles of The Luvvets video shows are The Green Door, The Golden City and Life After Death, all of them titles of Mo or Berg letters. One of the video covers in the Family Fun series is a drawing of Berg and Zerby. Kidzvids provides a variety of other products for children including coloring books as well as on-line activities.
The best known of the children’s video series the Family has produced are Kiddie Viddie and Treasure Attic. Both shows have won awards. Kidzvids says concerning Treasure Attic: "This is a collection that is destined to become a classic series for generations to come." In the 2002 Activated product catalog there is a logo with a picture of a dove and underneath it we read: "The Treasure Attic Video Series is recommended family entertainment by The Dove Foundation." The Dove Foundation is a watchdog group that provides a rating system as to what is appropriate for families to watch. Treasure Attic is hosted by Uncle Jim aka Solomon Costa Rica aka Roberto Fernandez, a member of the Family, and his puppet friends Peepers and Bunny Bigword. Uncle Jim’s picture is seen on many of the video covers and other products, a lot more than any other member of the Family. In contrast to the image of a role model they try to project, in one of the internal videos Fernandez is singing to an audience of about 20 or more ffers among whom Miriam Williams. The lyrics are not in English but it is obvious it has something to do with flirty fishing. (In 1998 after leaving the group Williams authored a book titled "Heaven’s Harlots - My Fifteen Years as a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God Cult.")
Fernandez joined during the seventies sometime around his mid-teens. The following quotations are from e-mails from a former member who was the leader of a home where Fernandez lived in his early days in the Family: "[Fernandez] said in his personal testimony that he’d engaged in some homosex as a preteen after his family moved to the States." (RP, Nov. 4, 2001). He was "in his own words a ‘Teen prostitute’ at about 13-14 yrs of age." (RP, Nov. 8, 2001). "Several brethren claimed [Fernandez] was caught on different occasions and secretly chastised." (RP, Nov. 4, 2001). It gets a little complicated at this point because the group for a time did allow man-with-men oral sex, though anal sex was never permitted.
In his late teens Fernandez moved into a threesome relationship with Rick Dupui (aka Watchman) and Dupui’s wife Katrina. A woman having two husbands is not uncommon in the Family. Later Dupui was sent to Japan where he helped establish the Family’s video ministry. He left the group in 1992 and later testified against them during the English court case. Judge Ward said he did not doubt Dupui’s "account of the events of November 1983 when they were in Dominica and the son and daughter of Peter Amsterdam and the daughter of the financial minister of the group visited with the child care couple in charge of them. This couple approached RD and RF and asked them to share [sexually] with the girls who were only 10 and 11 years old. The little girl presented herself in a sarong with no panties. She masturbated [Dupui]. He says that RF later told him that he (RF) had done likewise. [RF had written an affidavit in response to evidence Dupui had given and in it had claimed that no sexual activity occurred at all.] In his oral testimony, RF went further than he did in his affidavit, admitting that at one point they asked to see his penis and he showed it to them." The judge said he is satisfied that RF "allowed if not encouraged these girls to masturbate him." (Judgment pp. 92, 93, countercog.excult.org).
Dupui repeated the story of his sexual experience with Kelly’s daughter on the American Larry King TV show. He has written that about 5000 minors have been sexually abused in the Family. He said his son Romeo had been molested by his child-care helper. In former member Sylvia Padilla’s manuscript we read that then seven year old Romeo complained once about his nine year old step-sister: "Rosita is being mean, she doesn’t want to s..k my penis." (pp. 195, 196). There are many stories of child sexual abuse in the Judgment and elsewhere and the few mentioned in this article are not by any means isolated incidents.
Fernandez is denying he is a Family member though he admits to being a member in the past. He says he met the Family around the time of the Jesus Movement. "I was in and out of the group for a while . . . and after a while I started working independently." (Letter to Bill Curtis, Dec. 4, 2002). "I have been independent for so long." I have "acted independently for years." We already know that Fernandez was a member of the Family during the English court case in the nineties. Judge Ward said Fernandez was a respected member of the video ministry not far removed from the top leadership. Two years after the English court case, in 1997, Uncle Jim is mentioned in the literature in connection with his work with the Family’s International Video Ministry. (Kelly 3159:83). I did a copyright search for Treasure Attic, a series in which Fernandez is the protagonist and 20 out of the 29 videos in the series are listed. It shows that two Treasure Attic videos were produced and copyrighted in 1991, two in 1992, two in 1995, four in 1996, and ten in 1998. Fernandez was very much in the Family in 1998, very involved in the production of ten videos during that year, almost one per month. I also did a copyright search for Fernandez, Robert and a separate one for Aurora Productions. They both led to a Family product titled "The Final Stand" directed by Robert Fernandez and produced in 1998 under Aurora Productions. Fernandez is listed as one of the Board of Directors of Family Care Foundation for the year 2000. There are five directors listed and he is the third after only Montgomery and Mlot. The facts presented above show a picture very different from the one that Fernandez is trying to draw for us; it shows not someone working independently since long ago, but someone steadily positioned in the hierarchy. There is a consistent pattern of his involvement in important things in the life of the cult. There are few members for whom it would be harder to hide their involvement with the Family. The more one studies the Family the more will see a constant, consistent, long term pattern of lying and deception of the kind that is shocking considering their claim to be the best Christians on planet earth.
Back in 1989 the Family established International Video Ministry (IVM) in Japan. In 1999 IVM relocated from Japan to California, not far from Los Angeles, where they changed their name to Sunny Side Up Entertainment. www.sunny-sideup.com (19495 Lobo De Pradera, Murrieta, CA 92562, tel. 909-694-6755). Fernandez is the heart and soul of SSU and his name appears again and again in the credits. Under the Company History section of their web site they explain that "in 1989 a team of concerned audio-visual professionals of several nationalities came together in Japan for the purpose of creating wholesome, educational entertainment videos for children." They add that "members of this original team came together to form Sunny-Side Up Entertainment, founded in March of 1999." They are not volunteering that this team in Japan in 1989 that they are talking about is none other than the Family’s International Video Ministry. Even so, the above amounts to an indirect, though unintended admission that IVM and SSU are one and the same.
I called SSU and was told they are not connected with the Family. Soon thereafter I received an e-mail from Fernandez flatly denying Sunny Side Up is part of the cult. A number of former members think otherwise: "For sure Sunny side up is the Family. . . . Note in their web blurb they talk about international experience, especially in Japan -- 1989, when video production started. . . . It is definitely Family." (Seeker, movingon.org, 11/27/02). "I can remember how it was published that the IVM was moving from Japan and was relocating as Sunny Side Up in California. It was in a Grapevine or GN. In other words it was a 100% Peter/Maria/WS sanctioned and financial project." (Whiskers, exfamily.org, [Dec. 4, 2002]). "Not too long ago in the Family it was common knowledge that Solomon Costa Rica and the Japan video production team moved to CA and were re-establishing productions known as, guess what? Sunny-Sideup Productions." (Sniffin’around, exfamily.org, 11/27/2002). "Sunny Side Up - 100% run by the Family. They changed the name from ‘IVM’ to ‘Sunnyside Up’, after they relocated from Japan to the US. (One who knows, movingon.org, 11/29/02). "When I was in the Family, I used to work on the video series ‘Cherub Wings’, and with Robert. . . . Yes, those that make up Sunny Side Up are in TF [The Family]." (Migs, movingon.org, 11/28/02).
Former member RC was in the Family for about 20 years and for a time was a top leader who was later replaced by Montgomery. He is presently a salesman for Christian videos. He writes: "I spoke to several Family members . . . that I met at a trade show they exhibited at. My wife also met RF at one. . . . They did not deny being in the Family." (RC, exfamily.org [Dec. 5, 2002]). "They explained there were in [The Family] but the biz [SSU] was NOT an official Family project." (RC, exfamily.org, 11/27/02, emphasis in the original.) They did not however deny (like Fernandez is doing now) that they are members: "SSU never denied it to me when I met them." The way it was presented to RC is that SSU is a personal initiative of Family people who set up a separate company in partnership with non-Family companies. It really does not make that much difference if SSU is not considered an official Family project as long as people who are members of the Family run it! A possible motive for all this distancing between SSU and the Family and keeping themselves at arm’s length from each other is so that SSU can work with other outside companies without the liability of their association with the Family.
The letter Fernandez sent to Curtis reveals details of his dealings with various Christian companies as for example his "involvement with United Bible Society for an animated show" or his helping Pluribus Media produce a Bible Interactive CD. He mentions sending Cherub Wings scripts to Visionvideo and EWTN and other organizations to look over and for their input "to make sure that the content was correct biblically and in every other aspect." Meanwhile Fernandez was hiding from them who he really was. Even RC though sympathetic to the Family, uses the world unconscionable referring to SSU’s withholding from their partners their association with the Family.
Fernandez was working with Visionvideo on a new project called "Torchbearers" and was sending them scripts and SSU was getting "the project animated and recorded etc., as usual" when myself and another former member contacted Visionvideo. I told them that I was shocked to find out that SSU was working with a Christian distribution company like theirs. Bill Curtis in his reply to me said he was deeply concerned about these news, which came to him as a total surprise. After the connection with the cult was exposed Fernandez offered to turn the Torchbearers project over to Visionvideo: "I know that this also brings up involvement in ‘Torchbearers’ may I suggest not involving Sunny-Side Up? If you feel okay I can continue to do the scripts and get the project animated and recorded etc., as usual but not under any company name it can by yours. I am also more than willing to drop any mention of my name in the product and would help you just get it done even coordinating the animation with Asia and the people that we work with in other countries. I would be happy to get them in direct communication with you." He is desperately trying to do damage control. If "you need to drop us, I will do all I can to repay you and restore any damage done to your ministry." He should had thought of all this earlier. Fernandez says he did not mention his "past" ties with the Family because he did not see the need to do so since as he claims he left the group a long time ago. I am 99.999% percent sure Fernandez is a member of the Family to this very day and that he is simply lying. Family members have such an exaggerated idea of their own importance that it really does not matter much what happens to others around them as long as the Family gets as much benefit as possible from any given situation. Visionvideo has put all future projects involving SSU on indefinite hold.
One SSU video that is already out and is been sold and is airing all over is Cherub Wings. www.cherubwings.com There are 16 videos in the Cherub Wings series. Visionvideo is the distributor for 13 of them. Two of them are listed on Visionvideo’s best-seller list. Fox Home Entertainment is distributor for the other three. Fernandez in an e-mail to me denied Cherub Wings is a Family product: "This series was written by me with consultation to no one except other companies we were producing it with." In a letter to Bill Curtis he made the following strong assertions: "For the record, let me state again that ‘Cherub Wings’ is not a ‘Family’ production." "There is no connection with ‘The Family’ at all . . . nor was any of it’s content ever under anyone’s approval other than our own as a company." (Dec. 4, 2002).
The following statements from several former members show otherwise: "My little sister, the one in the Family, is a distributor for Cherub Wings. I have her business card that shows this. She is 100% into the Family and does nothing else in her life. She referred to the videos as ‘our videos’ and proudly told us you can buy them at Wal-Mart. . . . It is clear that my sister considers them Family videos." (Big Sister, movingon.org, 11/28/2002). "The family co-produced [Cherub Wings]. The homes are selling these videos like the KV's [Kiddie Vidies] and TA's [Treasure Attic]. (One who knows, movingon.org, 11/29/02). "I have personally seen Family members selling Cherub Wing videos. . . . I do know they sell them." (Indian Joe, exfamily.org, 11/28/02). Cherub Wings is "a Family production, no matter what name they use." (PD, movingon.org, 11/27/02). "I guess for me it’s undeniable, I heard about it a few years ago, saw the videos, my sister-in-law’s brother is involved in producing them and he is still in the Family, and is completely a Family product." (PD, exfamily.org, 11/28/02). "I saw copies of a couple of them before they were finalized and on official videos. My sister-in-law’s brother was part of the project to produce them, they are made at that Home in Temecula [Southern California] I believe, where the IVM (International Video Ministry) relocated to after they left Japan, and are no longer called the IVM." (PD, exfamily.org, 11/28/02). PD sent me some further details in an e-mail: "Philly is a SGA [second generation adult] who has worked together with the IVM team for years, while in Japan and then when they relocated in the States. About a year or so ago my sister-in-law who is Philly's younger sister, lent me some of the videos that she had received from Philly, and that's how I heard about them. I assume they are Family produced because they are being designed and put together by Family members. Philly has not left the group, neither has Solomon." (PD, 12/16/02). "All I know is that it has been made by Family members." (PD, 12/16/02).
They wanted to make it clear to RC that Cherub Wings was not a Family conceived or executed project and that it was a totally separate and personal effort. Again, I can’t see the big difference between it being conceived or executed by Family leadership as opposed to being conceived and executed by Family members who run SSU. Like in the case of FCF, the fact that SSU is its own separate entity does not make it independent of the Family. SSU is as independent as the Family allows them to be or as much as the Family has directed them to pretend to be. If Family members created Cherub Wings (and they did) it can’t be a totally separate, personal effort. To be a member you have to be a 100% dedicated soldier that follows orders and not long ago the rank and file had to sign an oath of allegiance to Zerby declaring that she was God’s end time prophetess. Faithy can claim she is working independently of the Family since she is no longer in the Family. She is however a follower of Berg’s teachings and the Berg factor is what really counts. It’s all the same, it all comes from Berg, regardless if it is called the Family, FCF, SSU or any other of the many, many names they use.
Fernandez talks of Cherub Wings being sold by distribution companies, churches and stores. I am certain that many buy these videos not knowing they are Family products. Cherub Wings are sold by Walt-Mart. Members often fundraise outside Wal-Mart stores. Former member Holon came close to buying Cherub Wings for her little daughter. This is what she posted concerning the incident: "Being a mother, this just freeks me out! I have seen these videos in Wal-Mart and my kids are always looking to buy videos and I remember my daughter asking me to buy one of them. She saw it and said ‘Oh, mommy look at these cute baby angels.’ I was in a hurry so I just said not right now, we have to hurry. But had I not been in a hurry, I wonder if I would have given into it. The thought of that just makes me sick!" (Holon, movingon.org, 11/28/02). Cherub Wings are also sold by Wal-Mart through their web site where they are described as a popular and adorable Christian children’s series.
Cherub Wings are sold at Amazon. Friedbert Liegel from Germany wrote a very positive review there about Cherub Wings giving it the highest rating possible. According to a former member, Liegel is a member of the Family: "Friedbert Liegel, the dude from Germany who posted all the comments for the Cherub Wings is a FM Family member. His Family name is David Newheart." (One who knows, movingon.org, 11/29/02.) FM stands for Fellow Member, the group’s peripheral, more independent members. A former member sent the following review to Amazon about Cherub Wings: "This video is produced by the Children of God (a.k.a. The Family of Love) cult. They have a history of sexually abusing children and condoning child-adult sex ‘as long as it is done in Love’. This video is part of their new effort to white-wash their past. Be forewarned. Do a Google search on ‘The Children of God’ and on ‘The Family of Love’ before purchasing and decide for yourself." (Nahchey aka Lamont, movingon.org, 11/26/02). Amazon did not consider this an appropriate review and did not post it. The one from the German reviewer remains. I explained to Amazon that he is a member promoting his cult’s product. In the exchange of e-mails I had with Amazon concerning this matter I did not get the slightest hint of their even considering stopping the sale of this product. To be fair to its consumers maybe there should be some kind of a disclaimer stating that according to some former members Cherub Wings is a Family product.
TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), the largest Christian TV network in the world airs Cherub Wings. I have been watching them every Saturday morning at 9:30 am, Pacific Time.
Cherub Wings and Treasure Attic aired several times during December 2002 on the Sky Angel satellite TV network. In the program guide it says about Cherub Wings: "Computer animated angels teach about the real meaning of Christmas." About Treasure Attic it says: "Friends discover the true meaning of Christmas inside the Treasure Attic." They were both on channel KTV (Kids TV). It is one of 36 Christian channels on the Sky Angel system. Another Family video shown on KTV is Huggabug Club. Both Huggabug and Treasure Attic are listed under Family Care Foundation. In 1997 FCF obtained the distribution rights for some of the Family’s children’s videos and these videos have become part of FCF’s Family Education Program. There are four other channels besides KTV on Sky Angel that show either Cherub Wings or Treasure Attic. Treasure Attic appears on Angel One and Cornerstone. Cherub Wings appears on Faith TV. It also appears on Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Channel at Lunchberg, VA! The little write up on Liberty Channel says: "Cherub Wings - a fantastic array of songs, Bible stories, music videos and great animation make up this winner of the 2002 NRB’s People’s Choice Awards."
Cherub Wings airs on the global Catholic TV network EWTV, where you can buy a set of 13 Cherub Wings for $115.00. It is also sold on Crosswalk, which is part of Salem Communications. KKLA radio in Los Angeles is part of this Christian media network. Another place you can buy Cherub Wings is half.e-bay.com
I have watched a few Cherub Wings and didn’t find anything questionable with the content. The problem with Cherub Wings is not the content. The problem is that they are made by the Family. I think that who created these videos, who wrote the music, who wrote the lyrics, the fact that they are Berg’s followers is definitely very much part of the larger picture. One of the people seen in Cherub Wings is Arnold Dietrich, aka Arny aka Big Josh, Faithy’s first of several ex-husbands. He is one of the founding members of the group. The last couple times I saw him he was acting very much like his perverted ex father-in-law, touching and kissing any women he could put his hands on. If the rest of the actors and people in the footage are members of the Family, and they most probably are, the older the footage is the more the chances the young adults or minors you see in these videos have been sexually abused as children. If a particular minor has not been sexually abused, chances are that his or her older siblings have been. The younger siblings may have escaped the sexual abuse but were later victims of horrible physical abuse. Every form of fear tactic and psychological manipulation has been used (and is still been used) to keep these kids in the cult and to make them submit and obey. It is very possible that some of the young adults in these videos were born out of prostitution. The happy little children and babies that you see in these videos could very well be the result of all the free sex that is still going on in the cult. Chances are the 14 year olds and older are involved in free sex. If a young single man impregnates someone else’s wife, the child belongs to the mother and her husband. The biological father is not considered a parent. If a woman was sexually involved with ten different men, even if it is known who the father is, any one of the ten can be chosen to play the role of the father. Even if the biological father assumes his responsibilities as the father of the newborn, it is a temporary arrangement and after a period of time he is allowed to leave his child and the mother and go on his own. Yet they try to present their children as examples of fine wholesome Christian upbringing. One former member put it in perspective when he said about Cherub Wings: "Hey, this is brought to you by the producers of ‘The Davidito Book’ and ‘Heaven's Girl’." (PJ, movingon.org, 11/29/02). Heaven’s Girl is a Family book teaching young teenage girls how to use sex to navigate themselves in various situations. Another former member had this to say: "It's just kinda ironic that child abusers are making money off of children’s educational videos." (Quasimodo, movingon.org, 11/27/02). I couldn’t have said it better. I was looking over the Sky Angel program guide on Christmas Day 2002. I noticed they were showing both Cherub Wings and Treasure Attic that day. God knows how many thousands were watching. I couldn’t help but think about Loving Jesus. The thought of members of this cult all over the world getting sexual with Jesus Christ during Christmas Day, talking dirty to Him, asking Him to have sex with them, masturbating to Him, was particularly disgusting. The Family is not a fit environment for a child to grow up in. Why make their videos part of your child’s upbringing when there are so many truly wholesome Christian and non-Christian videos out there?
All of the projects, programs, ministries and businesses discussed in this long article are legs of the same octopus, the Children of God aka the Family. The COG/Family is not a legal entity and despite the millions it has raised in its over 30 years of existence it has not paid a single dime in taxes nor have they ever published any kind of a dollar and cent financial report. During the early seventies there was an investigation of the group in the State of New York that led nowhere. Now 30 years later there is a need for a bigger investigation. I believe it is high time the authorities step in and do something.
I think that a detailed accounting of how FCF money is spent should be provided. A qualified independent auditor or detective should be appointed to go over the books of all Family front entities for possible fraudulent activities. If they are doing things with their charities or businesses that are illegal, steps should be taken to put a stop to such practices. Even if everything they do is within the law as far as how they run their various projects and programs and businesses, it should be determined whether or not there is a planned effort to hide their connection with the Family. It is morally wrong and at some point possibly illegal for FCF to raise funds without fully disclosing to their donors who they really are or what they really believe. The Family-FCF connection should be exposed to such a degree that it will no longer be possible for them to hide their identity. All should be done that can possibly be done to inform the unsuspecting public who give not knowing who they are giving to and would never give to this perverse cult if they knew. FCF would not receive a lot of the support they are getting if the donors knew the truth. I am certain that many of these corporations would be shocked to find out where their money is going. I think we should contact every single one of these corporations. If they already know the Family-FCF connection but have being presented a sanitized version of the Family’s past and present beliefs we should help them see the true picture. I am convinced that contrary to the group’s assertions, they still believe every single part of their heretical and dangerous doctrines of the past. It is true that they may have completely stopped child adult sex, but that’s only because they had to due to outside pressure.
An investigation should be conducted concerning SSU’s relationship and ties with the Family. We should do all we can to inform the people they do business with, all they enter in partnerships with, all the distributors of their products. They should know they are dealings with members of this cult. Consumers, vast TV audiences and the public in general have no idea the videos their kids are watching are produced by a sex cult. I am sure you have noticed that a lot of the outlets for these products are Christian businesses. People are deceived into believing these are regular Christian children’s videos. The vast majority of Christian consumers would not buy these products if they knew their origin and once informed they will turn to other more wholesome sources for videos for their children. If we don’t do anything it’s just a matter of time before the Family floods the market with more and more products, more than they already have. And we will be partly to blame.
If a novel was written in earlier times about a fictitious Christian missionary organization that was practicing prostitution and free sex and was sexually abusing thousands of children for years and that despite lots and lots of exposure and bad publicity in the media and several raids and court cases around the world they were able to remain free and on top of that have the nerve to produce and sell children’s videos to an unsuspecting public, many would have thought that this kind of a futuristic scenario was too far fetches, too unbelievable, even for a novel. Yet this is a true story. The group is guilty of promoting and practicing things that should had landed many of them in jail long ago. It is a shameful reflection upon society that more has not been done to bring justice to this issue. A vigorous, systematic and thorough investigation must be pursued to identify those many members and former members of the group who are responsible for the sexual molestation of children and minors. Child molesters like Sara, Peloquin, Spencer and others whose involvement in pedophilia is already established in a court of law and/or documented in the cult’s own copyrighted literature should be arrested at once and stand trial for their crimes. Zerby, a US citizen, has been traveling with a fake Australian passport but I don’t think it would be too hard to locate her if the authorities are really serious about all this. She should be arrested and given a one-way ticket to jail. Life in this cult is to this day the only one that thousands of young members born and raised and still trapped in the group have ever known. A way must be found to rescue them from this perverted environment. And lastly it is my sincere prayer that all members of the group will come to their senses just like the tens of thousands of former member had to do, and finally leave.
