There is not enough room for all the visiting Family members to stay at the Farm, so my father decides to host everyone at the beach as a camping trip. He loves camping, and I’m dancing with excitement to have little Family girls to play with. Everyone is laughing and hugging. I’ve hardly seen my friends Ching-Ching and Sophia, whose families stayed in Macau when we went into hiding. I grab their hands, and we wander a few feet away to whisper our news. I’m glad we don’t need to be Selah anymore.
Our out-of-town visitors love the isolated breezy beach where we pitch our tents under the pine trees near the barbecue pits. We all sit on blankets under the trees to read Mo Letters and sing songs. Then the adults have meetings about policies, witnessing statistics, relocation requests, and leadership responsibilities, so we kids are free to run around the beach and play.
The Family has grown to more than ten thousand members in over one hundred countries. Many of the new disciples have been joining in Latin America and Asia, but much of the increase is homegrown with families having lots of kids. Grandpa doesn’t believe in using birth control: “Children are a blessing from God, and we should have as many of them as we can.” He said that if teens had babies, the teens’ parents would help raise their grandkids as good, youthful grandparents, and babies would keep the teens too busy to get into trouble. While my family got an early start to reach seven kids already, some of the other families are looking to catch up with us soon.
It is a rare occasion for families from the other countries to come together, as travel is expensive, but we feel connected even with the distance since everyone receives the monthly Family News that Mama Maria has been compiling since the RNR five years ago. They have become the social media channel of the Family. Arriving once or twice a month in the Mo Letter packets, they contain private letters written to Grandpa, FFing stories, words of gratitude for the Mo Letters, love letters to Grandpa accompanied by pictures of bare-breasted Revolutionary women, testimonies of salvation and joining the Family, miracles of healing and God’s supply and protection, confessions and lessons learned, announcements of marriages and babies born, news about persecution, media, and court battles. They are an encyclopedia of how-to tips for everything that a Family member needs to be able to do in the “Family way,” from home medical remedies and school activities to how to apply makeup and sew your own sexy dress for FFing.
Grandpa and all the leaders publicly praise obedience to the Family policies and rebuke any dissent. “Sin before all, rebuke before all, that others may beware” is Grandpa’s motto. The Family News even contains critiques of Family leaders, accompanied by letters of apology from those leaders singled out for reprimand. This public discipline of leaders and their published apologies not only keeps the leaders in line, it allows Grandpa to show his rank-and-file disciples that he is on their side and not simply aligned with the local shepherds who carry out his orders. Not knowing if you will be praised or rebuked at any moment keeps people off balance and on their toes—eager to prove their dedication.
Like the communists’ self-criticism technique, we are expected to confess our sins, reporting on ourselves voluntarily—sometimes in prayer sessions or Home meetings or on a written report. This atmosphere of self-confession and vulnerability creates strong group unity. But we also know that if we don’t report on ourselves first, someone else will tell on us. It is ground into us children that if we see a sin and don’t report it, we are as guilty as the sinner and will also be punished when it eventually all comes to light—as many a sore bottom proves.
Grandpa’s public exposure extends to himself. His unfiltered openness about sex, toilet habits, even his struggles with alcohol and his health, is a huge departure from leaders of his day; it demonstrates to his disciples his vulnerability and honesty, allowing even those who have never met him to feel like they know him intimately.
But with the GAF this week, instead of just reading about news and testimonies of all the miracles God is doing for us, we can share our testimonies in person. When they are not correcting us, the adults are eager to share their stories and praise God, quote verses, sing, and hug. It’s a love fest, except for the occasional tense moment between some of the men who think everyone should listen to them. But the Farm is my father’s domain; he and my mother are the Home Shepherds, even though all the adults living here attend the weekly Home Council meetings to discuss decisions.
Since the RNR, Homes are supposed to elect their Home Shepherds, but everyone knows that this is “Ho’s Farm,” and my parents decide how to run things. I can’t remember there ever being an election. The other adults who join the farm form the Home Council, and they have regular Home Council meetings where they can give input on policies and receive instructions. But my parents, with consultation with Mommy Esther, administer the rules based on Grandpa’s revelations in the monthly Mo Letters, from what movies to watch, how much to drink, how many times we should poop, what to wear, how to have sex, how to spank, and how to repent, to how to pray, how to wash clothes, and how to clean.
Home Shepherds report to Area Shepherds, who report to the Country and Regional Shepherds up the chain of command. The higher-level Shepherds are appointed by Grandpa and Mama Maria and live in secret WS Homes. The Shepherds answer requests for help, counsel, correct and mete out punishment for transgressions, and occasionally visit the Homes under their supervision.
My father is running around taking pictures and making short videos of everyone with his Nikon. For years, he has made us film the Children of Love shows for other Family kids. We sing, quote Bible verses and Mo quotes, and do skits to teach other children important biblical and Family lessons. These videos are copied onto videotapes and circulated for families far and wide as Godly, Family entertainment. But today we are making a different type of video.
Grandpa always talks about his love for women: “I’m convinced that God made the most beautiful of His creations last—His crowning creation, the woman! I always admire & wonder at the beauty of the lines, the curves, the forms of His Hands. . . . As far as I’m concerned, the body of a woman is a work of art. . . . And since we’ve been here in this nice warm clime, we’ve been running around naked & getting into bed so often, I hope it doesn’t wear me out!”
In a recent Mo Letter, Grandpa spoke of a dream about heavenly, sexy naked women, Heavenly Houris, appearing to him and dancing for him with see-through scarves. These goddesses also appear to him when he is having sex, and they speak through him in tongues, begging for him to send missionaries to their countries to save their people.