FAMILY STATEMENT re NOT WITHOUT MY SISTER

This is the statement Family spokespersons Gideon and Rachel Scott released about 'Not Without My Sister'.

In preparing this statement, we encounter the difficulty of having to publicly

disagree with some former members of our Fellowship, which we have avoided

doing, as we love them and respect their decision to depart from our

fellowship. We have no wish to alienate them or add to their grievances, and

we believe that these former members are entitled to their personal

perspectives, outlooks and beliefs.

However, we believe that we also are entitled to a response, particularly

where The Family International is unfairly maligned and slandered, or where

stories are exaggerated to the point that it is difficult to separate truth

from fiction.

Although many people who have departed from our fellowship testify that their

experiences as a member of The Family International were positive ones, there

are some former members who have had some negative experiences, as in any

organisation.

We are saddened that anyone may have had negative experiences while in The

Family International. Beginning more than two decades ago policies were

implemented to ensure that the rights of our members could not be infringed

upon by others. We have taken great pains, both formally and informally, to

apologise for any grievances they have. We believe that such efforts have

been helpful for all parties involved. Far from being a true story as the

reviewer states, it is a very subjective account viewed through the prism of

reinterpretation. Thus, we will not attempt to address the personal

experiences of former members presented in this book, but rather will address

the main issues.

The Care and Protection of our Children

First a categorical restatement of our policies both public and private

regarding our memberâ?Ts rights, both adult and children Any form of abuse,

whether sexual, physical or otherwise is absolutely forbidden in our

fellowship. Any infraction of this rule will result in immediate expulsion

from our fellowship. We do not condone or permit any inappropriate behaviour

with our children, whom we consider a precious gift from God to be protected

and nurtured.

The Family International recognises that during a short period of our history

our policies in this regard were not clearly articulated, which resulted in

isolated incidences of inappropriate behaviour towards minors. This was

officially corrected in 1986, when it was made clear, and we accept that it

should have been made clear earlier, that sexual contact between an adult and

minor was totally unacceptable. The Family Internationalâ?Ts success in

protecting our children and ensuring their well being has been documented by

court-appointed and independent investigations of almost 700 children living

in Family communities. After extensive physical, psychological and

educational testing, all of the children were found to be healthy with no

sign of abuse in a single case. This total absence of abuse speaks for the

efforts made to safeguard children in Family communities. We question

whether the same statistics could be produced for children in society at

large.

We believe that this book bears witness to the fact that people's experiences

are often re-interpreted upon exiting a religious group, particularly a high

commitment religious movement such as The Family International. We ask

people to come and see our communities for themselves as well as read the

numerous studies which have been conducted by authorities and health care

professionals and the court cases which we have won around the world. Court

cases which we may add only came about because of allegations like this which

have stirred up hysteria against our religious group and have always ended

with judges finding in our favour.

In Australia for example social services were forced to pay damages to the

children for abuse they suffered at the hands of social services themselves.

The facts speak for themselves and whilst we are sad if any former members

have experienced conditions or treatment which is different from our positive

experience of being in The Family International for 36 years, we feel we must

speak up so that the general public does not misjudge our wonderful, well

documented Christian work throughout Africa on the basis of this book and its

allegations.

Gideon and Rachel Scott

Telephone **27 11 3154863 (Johannesburg)



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Family Care Association is a branch of the Family International

(www.thefamilyinternational.org) a fellowship of independent missionary

communities dedicated to improving the health, education, and welfare of

those in need, and spreading God's message of love.

Changing lives, one heart at a time.

Contact us at: Postnet Suite # 548 Private Bag X18 Lynnwood Ridge,004

Pretoria, SA

Tel:073-985-3469 Fax:(021)-993-5231