Maria blames 'apostate-type former members'

Reposted from on MovingOn, where Peter A. is quuoted as saying:

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A number of you have asked how Mama is coping with all of this, so I asked her, and here’s what she said:

“This is of course a difficult time, as my son, whom I loved dearly, has killed someone who was like a sister to me, and has taken his own life. I have felt deep sadness at their deaths.

“Angela was a dear friend of mine for close to 30 years. For the many years she lived with us she was Ricky’s friend as well. She lived a beautiful life, one full of love and service for those around her and for God. While I am sad about no longer having her here with us on Earth, I know that she’s enjoying Heaven, so that brings me happiness.

“Ricky was my son, but I never knew him as Ricky. At the beginning of his teen years he chose to go by the name Pete, a name which he kept until leaving the Family when he was 25. Pete was a wonderful boy—charming, fun to be with. I loved him and he loved me. We enjoyed each others company.

“He left our Home, as a Family member, to go to the mission field. I was proud of him for that. That was the Pete I knew.

“In time he decided to leave the Family. He started to communicate with apostate-type former members, including James Penn. It was then that he became Ricky. He started to write terrible things about me and about the Family. I had read things that were very similar before, in letters James Penn and others had written. He was beginning to take on the complaints of others. Pretty soon his letters were filled with foul language, language that Pete hadn’t used, but Ricky did. Next came the threats.

While I loved Ricky because he was my son, I was deeply saddened at what he had become. The young man who made a foul-mouthed video saying how he wanted to kill me and how he planned to kill Angela, was not the Pete that I had last seen. He was someone very different. He was Ricky, someone who had changed drastically and had taken on the attitudes of those who wished to use him to their own ends.

“I know I wasn’t a perfect mother; no mother is, but during the nearly twenty five years Pete lived with me he was a sweet boy, a loving boy, someone who was happy, who was well adjusted, who had a zest for life. That was my Pete. He became Ricky when he began to rub shoulders with hostile apostates.

“The video he made shows what a tortured soul he had become. This was very difficult to see. What he did was a terrible and seemingly unforgivable thing. I know however, that Jesus died for our sins, no matter how horrible the sin. Jesus died for Ricky, too. I know Jesus forgives Ricky and I know that Angela, who is now in Heaven and wonderfully happy, forgives Ricky, and I forgive him too.”

With the prospect of negative TV coverage on the horizon, we anticipate some difficult days ahead. However, we know that prayer is powerful, and that as we use the unbeatable force of praise, claim the keys of victory, and stand on the Lord’s promises, that He will protect us, keep us, and move us forward. So please keep praying, keep fighting, and keep doing the job of reaching the world with His love and salvation.

Love,
Peter