Life in The Family International

“And everyone that has forsaken houses or brethren (friends) or sisters of fathers, or mother or wife or children or lands for My name’s sake shall receive an hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life.” Mat. 9:29

In my life growing up in The Family, I moved around quite a bit–especially when I was young. I honestly never really minded the “forsaking” of houses, lands, things etc. In fact I inherited a pioneering spirit from my mom who often traveled by herself with all five of us as children all over Western and Eastern Europe. What I did mind “forsaking”, and it was hard, was my friends! The reason I’m thinking about this is because my very close friend, Charishma, who recently left our home, just came for a one week visit.

Charishma was here in Bangalore when I first came to the city as a sprightly, somewhat lost 19 year old. She made me feel at home from day one. We weren’t that close at first but eventually as different people were called on from our Family home to move onto other places, Charishma and I ended up being the only girls our age in our home. Our friendship developed from there, and well, we were crazy! Our days on Outreach were always incident-filled and we’d somehow end up in the silliest situations. (Like the time when the baby pooped everywhere in the middle of an appointment, or when there was a mouse in someones office, or when we saw the lady with the bush red hair and tiger striped sari, or when some guy ran over my foot… just to name a few.)

Suffice it to say, we were the best of friends and we never thought either of us would ever move on, at least not for a while. Of course the day came when she got invited by another unit to help there because her talents and skills were needed and she left. We all went through our personal little hell that week she left. The Lord had told me that I had to forsake that friendship to really receive everything He had for me that year. Now, aren’t we supposed to ‘hang on to all the good things…’? Why would I have to forsake the one thing that really meant something to me, my friendship? Incidentally, the Lord told her the same thing and one fine day we told each other and had a good laugh/cry. Needless to say, we both went on with our lives and tried our best to make the changes that were required of us in these new situations. Her coping with living in a place like Bombay, a new team, and me having to make up for her being gone in the home. (Thus my new performing stunts!)

I have to say, that things have really flourished, both in hers and my life! Why? Because we obeyed what the Lord showed us and forsook even when it was the toughest call. Now that she is here for a visit we got a chance to talk together and go over what has happened since we last met (which was a whole lot!) Welcoming change is always a toughie, but I’m seeing more and more how much it’s just a chance to grow more. And at the end of the day aren’t we all happier when we are growing?

Char is leaving tonight for Bombay, and though I’d like to tie her to a chair in the living room and see her miss her flight, I know it’s God’s will and this time I won’t fight against it. (should have seen me last time!) I can testify that eventually He WILL give you a hundredfold for EVERYTHING you forsake! So Goodbye Char… I love you and thank you for your friendship and for His friendship most of all!

Vincent and Sara are second-generation members of the Family International and are fulltime volunteers in India. Vincent conducts Outreach activities, designs for Family brochures, and helps in the managerial aspects of Family life. Sara runs a Baby School for Family babies and toddlers, organizes open forums and activities for teenagers, does secretarial and organizational work, and conducts motivational classes for students. More about Sara and Vincent

This entry was posted on Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Family Life, Me. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.