The Family in Action!--#5 DFO
Family Children Are Not "Abused"!
Reflections on Child Abuse in Today's World
From Ivan, the Lawyer Who Represented Lamb's Children in a Recent Court Case in Australia
(Excerpts of His Letter to a Family Teen)
Copyrighted May, 1994 by Family Services, Zurich, Switzerland
Dear Joan,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your lovely Christmas card and the lovely thoughts that came with it. God bless you.
You and many other teens and JETTs (preteens) in The Family have asked me on numerous occasions about my experiences with children who have been abused in various ways.
After being involved defending The Family for over two years now, I am realizing more and more how accurate my original feelings were in relation to the lack of abuse that you and others in The Family have suffered.
Joan, I think nothing illustrates this better than reminding you what I did the very first time your Auntie Lamb brought her children to see me. As you know, one of the areas that I specialize in is dealing with abused children. As soon as I saw Lamb's children--and as is my usual practice, I saw each one individually--I just knew that there was something deeply spiritual and happy about each and every one.
In fact, the first impression I had from them was so great and powerful, that this really strong feeling came to me that I should do something and take a risk that would normally go against all my training as a barrister. I felt inspired to do something that to an outsider would appear to be almost like throwing Lamb's children into a lion's den, just like what happened to Daniel and the early Christians.
As you know, I phoned up the barrister for CSV (Community Services of Victoria--the social services agency here in the state of Victoria, Australia, which has brought the case against Family members) and suggested to him--to his great surprise--that Lamb's children be referred to any psychologist that the CSV would care to nominate.
I had prayed about this and just knew that it would be all right. My long experience and my own faith were added confirmation. What I was not aware of at the time was just how much I had been led to make that decision. As you know, not one but two miracles then happened.
CSV chose a very senior and respected psychologist who does a lot of work for the police and indeed also lectures to police trainees. Not only did this man give a favourable report, but now, praise the Lord, he is testifying on The Family's behalf in the case involving you and the other children here in Melbourne. In fact, he has also publicly spoken out on television and radio here strongly in favour of The Family.
Can you imagine the court's reaction when he will be asked how it was that he first became involved with The Family, and the answer that he gives is that he was chosen by CSV? Ha!
Regarding disciplining children, as you know, Grandpa has said, "Be sure your first admonition is loving, gentle and prayerful and with a good reason." I only wish that persons in the system used such principles before disciplining their children.
In my practice I have seen some terribly abused children. I have been invited to speak publicly many times on the subject of child abuse, and I have also written on this subject.
Of course, I am not a psychologist, but there is just something about a child who has been beaten, humiliated, never loved, or exploited in any way that reveals itself pretty quickly.
Leading textbooks dealing with sexual and other abuse mention certain changes that occur to such children. Common amongst these changes include aggressive behaviour (such as yelling, hitting, or breaking things); depression (demonstrated by difficulty talking to others or lack of appetite or unhappiness); withdrawn behaviour (such as withdrawing from usual activities or spending less time with friends or other children); concentration problems (such as memory loss); nervous and/or emotional problems (for example, quick mood changes, inability to relax, restlessness); anti-social behaviour (such as hanging around with bad crowds, running away, etc.) and lots of other commonly encountered problems such as panic or anxiety attacks--even sometimes having great fear of the dark or even generalized fear, such as fear of riding in a car or of leaving home.
The appearance or presence of these behavioural symptoms from time to time is not necessarily any indication of "child abuse" going on. There are lots of other reasons a child may behave like that. The child might be jealous of a new baby, or not understand a room change or move, or be affected by a playmate or a companion, or be worrying or fretful about something he overheard and misunderstood. Children who were thought to be inattentive or "spacy" have even been found to simply be hard of hearing, or are very bright but unchallenged. Interpreting every peculiarity in a child's behaviour as possible "child abuse" is most unwise. For the most part behaviour problems, if minor, will just be a passing phase or momentary problem. However, if these problems are very severe or continue over a period of time, or appear with several other warning signals, they will certainly require attention, help, counsel and prayer.
The area is very technical and I'm not suggesting that if you have ever felt one of the above feelings it is a sign of abuse.
You also asked me what is it that I see in a child that makes me suspect or believe that a child has been abused. In addition to the technical symptoms I already mentioned, my suspicions are aroused when I ask a child if it is true what is alleged against the parent, and the child says, "No," but then the child shows no emotion, looks down, won't look me in the eyes, and is not spontaneous or outgoing. I would be surprised if you know anyone in The Family like that.
Joan, I have also in my practice seen lots and lots of horrible cases. Confidentiality prevents me from describing them in great detail, but I can and am allowed to describe them in general terms. I don't want to upset you or anybody else, but could you imagine anyone in The Family being forced as punishment to sit on a hot plate on a stove by his drunken father until he suffered severe burns on his buttocks? Another example that immediately comes to mind is the teen of a so-called "religious" family being locked outdoors in the middle of a very cold winter in the countryside for something very trivial. Or can you imagine a parent or someone looking after a four-week-old baby throwing it across the room, causing it to bounce off the wooden slats of a cot before hitting the wall?
I could go on and on about symptoms shown by children who have been abused in the system, but it would only be upsetting or even harmful if a younger child were to inadvertently see this letter. Therefore I won't mention other horrific cases I have dealt with over a decade.
Recently I have been privileged to see and to talk to Family children in many countries around the world. Not once have I ever seen or been to a Family Home anywhere in the world where any child has shown any symptoms of abuse or anything that would cause me to be concerned.
I will never forget a five-year-old running to her father, who at that stage in time was doing some videoing for me. The child had tears streaming down her face. Do you know why she was crying? She was saying over and over again, "Daddy, Daddy, it's parent time!" Immediately her dad comforted her and we put the videoing off till later. This is just one of the many examples I witnessed of a lot of love and consideration being shown to the children in The Family.
Certain persons in the system say that you and your fellow teens and JETTs in The Family show no "emotion". Such comments usually come from social workers, who, out of shame for having acted too hastily on malicious misinformation fed them, are now fearful of legal action or being severely reprimanded for their blunder. Rather than simply apologizing for their actions they go to absurd lengths to find fault. Such "sour grapes" comments are lame last-ditch efforts to save face by creating a fault, where there is no fault, then stubbornly clinging to it as a justification for their violent intervention into your lives. Some people have been so desperate in their search for an excuse that they have accused you all of being too well-behaved, using the illogical argument that since most of the young people they work with show strong negative emotions, like hitting, kicking, screaming, cursing, and manifesting all kinds of aggressive behaviour, and since Family children and young people seldom act that way, they conclude there must really be something wrong with you. They can't understand why you don't appear to go all to pieces and get horribly upset by being separated from your parents like system children would. Of course they don't understand your faith and trust in the Lord & the peace that He gives you.
Anyway this argument that you don't show enough emotion is something that angers me so very much. I've had many a laugh with numerous JETTs, teens and YAs (young adults); I have seen them laugh with one another, play tricks on each other and even on me! If these young people are "abused," I believe that all the textbooks on abused children would have to be rewritten! I have also heard a very senior barrister in Melbourne describe the JETTs and teens he saw as "delightful". He and I are both parents.
I was therefore not surprised when even an independent team of government psychologists described certain JETTs and teens of The Family who they had at great length psychologically examined, as "emotionally well-adjusted".
As I said at the beginning of this letter, that was my feeling right from the first five minutes when speaking to one of Auntie Lamb's children. It is very rare that I have ever had such a strong feeling so soon in any matter in the Children's Court. I believe that in the serious areas of the Children's Court, I have the largest practice in the whole State, so I feel that I can say this with some hindsight.
Joan, please believe me, a barrister has to live up to a very high standard of ethics and integrity. If I had ever felt any concern for any of the Family children here or in the numerous countries overseas I have visited, I would never be afraid to ask questions, or if the answers were not satisfactory, to bring matters to the attention of the court. Not only have I never had the need to ask a single question in relation to a single child, JETT, teen or YA, but I can only repeat what a barrister in Sydney said about the Family children: "I wish that my children were as happy and as blessed as those in The Family."
I remember a witness in Lamb's case saying about The Family that he could not understand how so many people could live harmoniously together. This was, in fact, a witness called by CSV! I, who have observed Family members in many Homes in different parts of the world, can understand the reason. It is because of the love, faith and good shepherding that you have received.
If you think these are just my views, let me reassure you and your Family that I have shared my views with other lawyers in numerous other countries and they are all in agreement with me.
I hope this answers your main questions. Lots of love to your family.
Love, Ivan
The Story of Mene!
The Other Side!--As Told by Her Cousins!
Many of us knew and lived with Mene, a former Family teen whose accusations and outright lies have been used by our enemies to try to discredit The Family. When hearing about some of the things she has said, Family teens wanted to step forward and set the record straight! Among these were her cousins, who knew her well. Through legal statements which are accepted as legal evidence in court, they have explained the situation as they saw it, so that they could speak out for the Truth, fight for the right, and defend the faith! Praise the Lord! Following are excerpts from their sworn affidavits*:
(Blessing's affidavit:)
"Mene had a very ideal situation to live in."
MY NAME IS MARIA Blessing Berg, I am 18 years old. My grandfather is David Berg, also known as "Father David". I am a cousin of Mene Berg. I testify that the following statements and facts are true.
I was born in England and I've lived in Macau, Southern China, for most of my life, where I grew up on a farm with my family on a missionary outpost on the border of China and had a wonderful happy childhood, bringing the simple message of God's Love and Salvation to many. The Chinese village where we lived was strictly Communist, but over the years, through my parents' good Christian sample of love and caring, the people of the village have grown to trust and respect us and now this village is mostly Christian.
This is a testimony of my time there, especially relating to the time when Mene, my cousin, came to live with us for a few years [from 1987 to 1990]. It was very disturbing for me to hear of the various accusations that she has made regarding the situation there, having lived there myself with her firsthand and having been through it all and known that the situation was very different than the way Mene described it to be!
There are so many lies spouted out by backsliders and even friends, people whom we were so close to before, that we can start to wonder what truth is, but I want to testify, having personally lived with some of these people, that there is no question whatsoever that The Family is it! I lived with Mene for almost four years, she is my natural cousin, but that doesn't stop me from seeing the truth.
I was very happy when Mene came to be with us and quickly we became friends, in spite of the fact that there were a lot of funny things about her and she was somewhat crazy. She would often hallucinate and begin to talk to people who didn't exist and see things that didn't exist. She would imagine things about different people, too. It was hard to know what she was thinking because she would be sitting with you talking and looking so sweet and friendly, and then suddenly she would say, "I see you falling down a cliff and smashing your head..." and she would very often be seeing violent pictures. She was also quite schizophrenic as she would be fine for most of the time, really sweet and friendly, but then she would suddenly have these violent outbreaks and she would be a completely different person.
Because of her condition she did need a lot of extra care and help for most of the time. However, she had a lot of liberties, and as long as she was doing okay she would get to do a lot of different fun activities. We often worked together in the kitchen during times when she was doing well, and we had a lot of fun! She was very happy and we used to do bread baking together quite often. We worked together on various activities. Even though she was quite feeble in her mind, she was still able to do quite a bit and she had a lot of fun working on the farm. We would also go swimming and care for the animals at the farm, etc.
The adults responsible for caring for Mene were very close friends of my family for many years and were almost like a second pair of parents for me, as they had lived with us for many years through much of my childhood when I was growing up, and were very kind and understanding people. Mene had a very ideal situation to live in, in this beautiful farm and had the chance to go at the pace she needed to go, and she also had these very sweet and understanding people who were looking after her.
The teen programme that she refers to as being some horrible torture place was a situation where she could have this kind of care in a very beautifully ideal situation. It was a very good situation for her and nothing like the way she describes it!
As far as the mental torture and mind control that she has written about, I know that on the outside she would be looking perfectly fine and act as if everything was all right. But in her mind she may have been thinking of how she could kill you and all kinds of crazy things. One minute Mene would be fine and then the next minute she would flip and just go crazy and violent. If you had someone like that in your care, you would want to know what they were thinking and how they were really doing. You would keep a close eye on them and be sure to take extra good care of them, more than you would for a normal healthy person. There was nothing such as the terrible mind torture that Mene talks about.
Mene says that through this terrible mind control they drove her crazy, whereas quite to the contrary, it was under the care and oversight of these loving and concerned people that took care of her that she did very well and recovered quite well and was able to take part in the many normal daily activities and go out to many fun outings with the rest of us teens there.
She was still mentally weak and occasionally had relapses, but she always recovered. When she finally did crack [in 1990], everyone did everything they could to really help her, but it became apparent that her situation was beyond our limited experience and capability. We had to take her for professional help lest she'd do herself or anyone else some serious injury, as she had no control over herself by that time. After some time she was doing better, so my parents decided that it would be good to take her to the States to live with my grandmother where she could continue to get the mental care that she needed.
This is a true accounting of her time living at the Macau farm and what it was really like for her and how she did! Being quite close to her, I was very disturbed to hear that she is now working with Deborah [Davis], my aunt, to fight against The Family and against Grandpa, who did everything he could to help her too! After she first went back to the States she was still writing us and we got a letter from her saying she was going to churches and testifying on behalf of The Family, testifying of how the Lord and The Family delivered her from her mental instability. Then all of a sudden, she gets in contact with Deborah and completely changes her story!
As mentally unstable as she was, it is not hard to believe that she could come up with such fantasies and stories of all the "horrors" that happened at our farm. She was having very violent thoughts and was often thinking about horrors in her mind. So how can you trust the testimony of someone who has actually been diagnosed as being this mentally disturbed and unstable, and who has been in a mental hospital for so long? Any honest observer, who is looking objectively at the situation, should be able to clearly see that she is not the poor tortured victim that she claims to be.
At first it was very hard to believe that she was actually saying all these things, and I could not understand what would make her turn so against the very people that were trying to help her! But now I see more clearly and I believe she is doing all this to try to remove any guilt she may feel about the situation and to try to take any blame off of herself and to try to excuse herself for what happened.
When she first came to us she was completely, literally crazy. She would be talking to you one minute and then talking to an invisible person the next, constantly hallucinating--not just daydreaming. She could not tell the difference between reality and the imaginary; she didn't even know what was real or wasn't real. So I don't see how she could so clearly recall so many of these incidents that supposedly happened as far back as when she was four years old, when even to this day she can't figure out what is real and what is not real.
We make mistakes, we're not perfect, there are a lot of faults that we can find if we look for them. If I take the time I can find different things in The Family that bug me or people I don't get along with, or different times I've had a grudge against someone. But if you look at the life of love and happiness that we have, even with the little things that annoy us, and then look at what these others outside of The Family are going through, things that outsiders have confided in me, there is just no comparison!
If I start to think about it, I couldn't possibly count how many souls I've led to the Lord, how many people I've reached and ministered to! I wonder how many people's lives Deborah has changed for the good? How many people were really helped and found true love and happiness by her, or by her ministry?
As for Grandpa, there's hardly anything in this life I'm more sure of than his love and faith in us. It's his and others' faith in me that has brought me through so many things. I know he has faith in me! Every time I write, he's always faithful to respond. If I have questions, I always get back the answers to my questions. He prays about it and gives what he feels the Lord has. I believe Grandpa lives for nothing but others!
I know we're doing the right thing beyond a shadow of a doubt! I'm proud of my grandfather (you can underline that three times!), and I'm proud of this Family and all that it's doing. I wouldn't lose it for anything in the world. All these lies only make me all the more positive that what we're doing is true. It's just so encouraging! You can almost laugh at all these lies, they're so ridiculous! You just want to laugh at it and tell people the truth.
I wish I was eloquent enough to say what I feel. I'm not much for words, but I do want to say that I pledge my love, loyalty and service to my Saviour and Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ, and to His Endtime Prophet, Grandpa, and to His Endtime Army, The Family, the Revolution for Jesus; and by the grace of God I'm determined to be a faithful soldier, striving always to fight for the right, stand up for the truth, and to love and win as many souls as I can to the Heavenly Kingdom.
It's such a privilege to be in this Family! I believe it's the most exciting place to be and the most exciting time in world history as we go on into the Endtime. All the Prophets have dreamed of our day! So "let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith"!
Maria
August 10, 1992
(Aaron's affidavit:)
"Sometimes Mene didn't even know who she was."
MY NAME IS AARON BERG. I am 19 years old. My father is Jonathan Berg, and my grandfather is David Berg, also known as Father David. Mene Berg is my cousin. I affirm the following statements to be true and factual.
Mene has come out with a multitude of lies and accusations against The Family and Grandpa, mostly regarding her time at my grandfather's house and then in Macau. In short, it was basically a "sob story" of her treatment and supposed abuse by her grandfather and her guardians and others.
In light of this, I'd like to expose her lies and accusations, mostly because some people could possibly wonder about her "sob story". The Family hasn't published much about her situation in the way of facts and details, mainly because it really isn't so inspiring or uplifting. But as she's gone to such an extreme to speak against The Family, I feel it is now necessary to tell the truth about her as I knew her.
Upon first appearance, Mene would seem to most people to be a normal person and generally in her right mind. This could be one reason why our enemies have so easily believed her story. But in reality, she was far from normal. Sometimes Mene didn't even know who she was, because through so many years of yielding herself to evil thoughts through her pride and fantasies of spiritual power, fantasizing that she was playing with evil spirits, as well as a fascination for evil and violence, she was unable to control her own spirit.
She was at times bombarded with a flood of thoughts and pictures of horribly violent acts, and had no qualms in talking about and describing them to your face. While carrying on a normal conversation with her, out of the blue she would say something like, "Right now I'm picturing an axe in your forehead," or, "I see a knife in your chest," and go on to describe the gory details.
Her guardians had sometimes gotten up in the middle of the night and found her violently trying to strangle herself. Contrary to the story she is now telling the public, we were not "cruelly abusing her". She was quite schizophrenic, and so for her own safety and that of those who were watching over her, there were occasions when she was temporarily restricted from harming herself or others until she came to her right mind again.
In a newspaper interview, Mene accused us of many abusive acts which she says she remembers very clearly. But what I can't figure out is how someone who was so absolutely mixed up between fantasy and reality, and who a lot of the time wasn't even mentally there, could remember so much. What she "remembers" so clearly, most likely never even happened. She would sometimes even tell her guardians that she was having sex with the Devil and that she enjoyed it.
Many times trying to talk to her was like talking to a wall. There was no reaction and a totally blank stare. God only knows where she was at or what she was dreaming about.--And trying to get her attention and "bring her back" was often useless. That's not to say that she was always a total "zombie", because Mene went through many stages and at times even seemed to be making real progress. When she would cooperate with help from others, then the Lord was able to give her the power and strength to get some great victories in her life, and in many cases, to overcome these influences which she claimed to be in communication with.
But just as it says in the Bible, because we have the majesty of choice, if we choose to reject the Lord and His Truth and yield ourselves to the Devil, then we put ourselves beyond the reach of the Lord's help or interference, which was so often the case with Mene. She would become very proud and fall right back into an even worse state than before. It was often a case of one step forward and two steps back. As you can imagine, it was very discouraging and heartbreaking for the ones who were giving all their time and energy and had devoted their very lives to trying to help Mene make it.
She was so feeble-minded that she couldn't even do the simplest of daily routines and chores without direct adult oversight. She always had to have someone around her to keep her from accidentally or intentionally hurting herself or others.
At one point she seemed to be doing very well, and for a number of months had showed many signs of improvement and progress, etc. But it was at this time that she finally snapped, and for some reason, she went beyond our ability to help her, so she was taken to a government mental hospital where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and given drugs to sedate her. When they brought her into the doctor's office to examine her, she jumped up on the table and was violently scratching herself, screaming and grunting like a wild animal, so it took an unusually strong dose of drugs to calm her down. Even before she was taken to the mental hospital, from one moment to the next she was a totally different person and didn't even know who she was.
I'm sorry to have to dwell on the negative so much in this declaration. But considering what Mene is now saying about The Family and those who gave much of their time in trying to help her through the days, months and years of battling for her sanity and life for the Lord, I feel it necessary to expose the reality and the facts about how far gone she is, to dispel any doubts people may have after reading her "sob story".
Aaron Berg
August 11, 1992
(Josh's affidavit:)
"It was very sad for me to see the state that Mene was in."
MY NAME IS JOSH BERG. I am 20 years old. My father is Jonathan Berg, and I am the grandson of David Berg, also known as Father David. I am the cousin of Mene Berg. I declare that the following statements are true and factual.
It's not really anything new for Mene to be making herself out as a wonderful person, as ever since I've known her she's tried at times to be seen like an innocent little girl and tried her best not to reveal what she was really like. She would take this so much to the extreme that she thought she could hypnotize people and control them and have them deceived. When I first met Mene I thought she looked like a pretty harmless girl and she was very sweet in what she said, but later on she told me that she had actually been trying to hypnotize me so that she could cast a spell on me! I was very shocked and it was hard for me to believe that about such a seemingly nice girl.
It wasn't until after living with her for a few weeks that I started noticing some very strange things about her, such as her mumbling to herself when she thought no one was looking. Later on I found out that other people had seen the same thing and that she was actually trying to curse people when she did this. I also noticed her looking like she was praying while she was reading the Bible--closing her eyes and moving her mouth, but she didn't look quite normal. Then later she actually told someone that she was praying against the Bible and its effect on her, as well as cursing people she was reading about in the name of the Devil.
She also confessed to having many visions of the most violent things you could imagine, and imagining that she was doing something terrible to the people she'd be having a friendly conversation with.
When I and the other teens living with me started noticing strange things about Mene, her mumbling and making distorted faces in private, etc., we had not yet been told anything about her previous problems. Her coming to the farm to live right with all the teens was supposed to have been a chance for her to have a completely fresh start. None of us knew anything about her problems that she had been having for a long time already. This was so she wouldn't have any reason to feel like a problem case or discriminated against, or that people didn't trust her and love her. It was also so that she could have a chance to live with teens her own age who could show her the right sample and how much fun it is to serve the Lord.
This was really the mercy and love of my grandfather, who was willing to try anything to help her do better. So she moved right in with us, just as many other teens who had come there, and she participated in the many special and fun activities which we were having at that time, as well as our normal daily schedule.
But in spite of all the forgiveness, help and loving encouragement she was shown, it was only within a few weeks that we started noticing the sad state she was in and it then became necessary to expose her condition to everyone to explain about her very strange behaviour. We were in a way surprised, because she did put on quite a good front for awhile, but at the same time it did answer a lot of our questions about her and what we had noticed. Apparently by the time she came to live with us she had been having problems for quite awhile before, which is when Grandpa's talk to her was given, "The Last State", which was later published for The Family. That had been a direct warning to her that if she didn't change and get desperate, she would end up going totally crazy, which is what we had started to see and was eventually fully fulfilled.
It was very sad for me to see the state that Mene was in and it really broke my heart to see someone I knew and loved, given over to the Devil to the point where she actually worshipped him. I did try to help her as much as I could, as did everyone else there at the farm, by showing her lots of love and helping her to feel needed and spending lots of time with her. But it seems like her mental condition was so unstable that even if she started doing good for a few weeks and stopped thinking violent thoughts, etc., that she'd eventually just slip right back into it as soon as something didn't go her way.
Even to someone who didn't know her very well, she seemed like she was slow mentally, which was apparently a symptom that she was losing full sanity. Seeing her condition was very sobering for me, and I'm sure it put a strong fear of the Lord in everyone else who watched her literally choose the road to insanity. Just reading how Grandpa had warned her that she would become insane if she continued choosing her evil fascinations, really puts a fear of God in me to not take the Word of God lightly and to heed the Lord's warnings, as they will in fact, and always do, come to pass if we don't obey.
I know that Grandpa loved Mene very much, especially because of all he tried to do to help her for so many years. It's hard for me to believe that Mene would say such terrible things about him after all he did for her and even after all he's done for all of us, giving his whole life to serve the Lord and help us. I know that Grandpa carries a great burden in leading our whole Family, so it makes me so sick to hear of all the lies and false accusations brought against him by our vengeful enemies who are now using this definitely very mentally unstable girl as a puppet to spread their lies and propaganda.
Due to all the love and attention that Mene received during her time there in Macau, she did change and do better at times, but during times when things would go against her personal wishes, she would slip into her bad state. It was about three years after coming to Macau that Mene finally totally lost her mind. In the last state she went from bad to worse so rapidly that there was nothing anyone could do to help her, and she had to be taken to a mental hospital.
I was with Mene during and after her stay at the hospital just before she went back to the States, and I was totally shocked by what I saw. She no longer had full control of her body and she was not at all the same person that she had been. In fact, I didn't even recognize her and could hardly believe it was her. It was really really sad and there was nothing that could be done to help her except to pacify her.
Josh Berg
August 10, 1992
(David Hosea's affidavit:)
"I am very grateful to my grandfather for his personal interest, love and care, and have nothing but love, gratitude and respect for him."
MY NAME IS HOSEA BERG and I am the grandson of Father David, the second son of Father David's son, Jonathan Berg. I am the cousin of Mene Berg. I am 21 years old and was born in the Children of God, and raised there and in The Family. I am married and have a beautiful one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. I swear that the following declarations are true.
I have heard about the lies that my cousin Mene and Aunt Deborah have been publicizing about my grandfather. I know that my aunt has been lying about us to the public for years, but has just recently been using my cousin to help her tell her twisted stories about our Family.
In light of this, I feel it is my right to also speak out and help refute and expose their ridiculous lies, the falseness of which my brothers and sisters and I, and more than 20 other teenagers, are eyewitnesses of. The farm that Mene came to stay at was my father's farm, and was taken care of by myself and my brothers. We were all teenagers at the time. I, and I know all the rest of us, would be willing to stand up and tell the truth and refute these lies, because I know and have seen personally the excellent family care that was given to Mene--in spite of her being a case that most people would have given up on long before.
It was only because of my grandfather's love and care and concern for her that he felt that bringing her to our farm would be a happy place for her, and that she would be able to benefit from her interaction with us, her cousins, and other young people her age. Even though Mene had confessed to having violent thoughts of destroying herself and others and attacks of schizophrenia, our family, at the request of my grandfather, still took her in and tried to lovingly help and nurse her and give her a home--all of which has been at my grandfather's expense. So it is with great indignation that I view the fact that she is saying such horrible lies and accusations against the hand that has fed her and cared for her.
I am very grateful to my grandfather for his personal interest, love and care, and have nothing but love, gratitude and respect for him. I would indeed be willing and happy to stand and refute from personal experiences anything said against him or his work that he has put into this Family in court or to the media or any other place where such accusations may be voiced. I and my brothers and sisters are living proof of his care, as are countless other young people and teenagers around the world who benefit likewise through his standards and teachings set up for our benefit. My grandfather is a very loving and deeply caring person, concerned about every individual.
I also wanted to point to my Aunt Deborah's personal family. Most of her children have become a detriment to society: one was serving time for armed robbery, another has been in a correctional institute for some time. Her former husband, Jethro [John Treadwell], has served time for fraud. Whereas all of my family have been on the foreign mission field for most all of our lives and we are still dedicating our lives to being missionaries and winning souls.
If Aunt Deborah thinks she has Mene as her new star witness against The Family because she's Father David's granddaughter, then I also can speak up just as much, being his grandson!
Hosea Berg
August, 1992
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Teen Deaf Ministry Takes Off!
From Timo (18), Southeast Asia
BEFORE I START, I'd like to really thank Grandpa and Mama Maria for their vision and prayers for the Deaf Ministry. When teen Isaac, who is deaf, came to our Home, the Lord gave me a real heartfelt desire to minister to deaf people and I started learning sign language. Then while witnessing one day, a brother met some deaf teens and wrote them a note inviting them to come and meet with us. This initial meeting went very well, and soon we were seeing them every week.
One boy, Otto, is especially precious. He really loves the Lord and the Word. In just a few months he has read our "Treasures" book and all four Gospels and now reads our "Daily Might" and "Growing in Love" booklets every morning. He is very turned on to the Word and is growing as a live-out disciple. He and about 15 of his deaf friends who work at the same factory have been really attracted to Jesus and they refer to us as "the people who work for Jesus." Though they can't hear the music, they love the songs from our Video "20 Minutes to Go!" and follow along in their songbook as they watch the Video. The songs "Watch Out for 666!", "Why Is that Tear in Your Eye?", and "Green Door!" are some of their favourites, because the pictures move really fast and bring the words to life.
We met another precious deaf couple while distributing Posters. They liked the Posters we showed them, and after they prayed to receive Jesus we asked them, "Where can we meet more deaf people?" They led us to a meeting place just down the road where we found a group of young adults who all prayed to receive the Lord. They are potential leaders and are already helping us in our Deaf Ministry to Otto's friends and others.
Isaac and I now give follow-up classes to our deaf friends once a week. A lot of them have their own "Daily Mights" and really enjoy the Word. One of our most potential disciples has gone witnessing with us a few times, including making a trip to witness to his old friends at his former school. He helped us witness to his former teacher, who got saved, and he won many other souls there.
The Lord is continuing to lead us to many precious deaf sheep, most of whom have real tender hearts, readily accept the Lord and quickly get turned on to the Word. Praise the Lord! It's a ministry that requires real perseverance and faith, but with lots of desperate prayer the Lord has broken through with many beautiful miracles. It's a whole new world for me and other hearing teens in our Home, and this is Isaac's first real witnessing ministry, so we would all really appreciate your prayers!
PRAYER REQUEST: Deaf ministries worldwide: that the Lord will continue to anoint our deaf and hearing members involved in these ministries to seek out and strengthen His deaf children and continue to raise up labour leaders among them to help in this special ministry.
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"Deal thy Bread to the Hungry!"--Isa.58:7
From a Home in the U.S.A.
OUR HOME HAD RECENTLY PRAYED for an open door to begin a ministry to the destitute and homeless, so when we began receiving large donations of baked goods--much more than we needed ourselves--we knew the Lord was beginning to answer!
After one of our first weekly pick-ups, we stopped by to visit another friend, who manages a fast food restaurant. As we returned to our van, we were struck by how many needy people there were camped out on the street. This wasn't a slum area and these weren't just bums, but people from all different walks of life, obviously struggling through hard times. They reminded us of those Grandpa has been encouraging us to help, referring to the verse, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor" (Psalm 41:1).
As we started passing out bread to needy passers-by, word spread quickly and it wasn't long until we had drawn a crowd. For over an hour we were busy passing out bread and our Posters, witnessing, and praying with many to receive Jesus. We made lots of precious friends that day who were so thankful. Thankful for the bread, yes, but even more thankful to find that they are not forgotten--that somebody loves them!--Jesus!
When our friend, the restaurant manager, saw what we were doing, she was thrilled. She was especially impressed with our teens' example of dedication and encouraged us to make this a weekly event, which we have. She even offered to hang a big sign in her window, notifying those we ministered to of the date and time of our next visit. Each time, our friend is so happy to see us as we roll up each week and each time people seem to come from everywhere to get fed--both physically and spiritually. Praise the Lord!
PRAYER REQUEST: "Consider the Poor" ministries (see Psalm 41:1) now undertaken by many Homes and areas worldwide--that they will have fruitful outreach and follow-up, for more open doors and the Lord's supply for these projects.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family