Author: Faith Jones
The title of this book is misleading and not even accurate. Before starting to read it I did a little research and was alarmed at what I learned. The Children of God church was pretty far out in terms of their interpretation of Christianity. They have some things common to other religious groups and many that are pretty far out.
Firstly, any religion has to establish a higher being that everyone is eager and wiling to please at all costs. With Christianity that work is done for you. The next is establishing an interpreter for God and the chief operating officer for all the flock. This title went to David Berg, the founder of the Children of God ministry which is conveniently termed Family by all its members. The author Faith Jones is his grand daughter.
Faith has written an engrossing first person account of her life and her mis-adventures in different corners of the world. There’s Macau, Thailand, Japan and even Kazakhstan. And she is barely above 20 during all of this. You would expect someone to be worldly wise with all this exposure to different cultures, but you would be wrong. The Family has very strict rules and Faith is really helpless without them. Her struggle to educate herself, go through all their breakdown punishments, and still come out on top is unbelievable. I am truly in awe of this woman who has overcome incredible odds to now be a highly functioning member of society. It is a riveting read.
