It seemed that Delhi wasn’t such a bad place after all.  Knowing Raman and Kiron’s friends made all the difference.  They were such fun.  We sat up all hours of the night, eating and talking our heads off.  Jason and Ali, Tony and I and Raman and Kiron took turns going down once a month to meet with them.  They were an interesting bunch and we had some very interesting conversations.

Most of them had been converted into a group called, “The Children of God” or “The Family.”  I remembered meeting groups of them in West Street, Durban in my early teens.  They were the cool, strong-scented hippies who handed out flowers and pamphlets from “Moses David” and told us to “Make Love Not War.”  I wasn’t into making either so I smiled and walked past.

They loved the Bible and had shepherds who would come to their houses to read to them.  They made lots of money that way.  They would also read the sensually illustrated “Mo letters” from their leader “Moses David.”  They believed he still spoke through his letters, even after his death in 1994.

David Berg’s mother was an evangelist during the Jesus Movement.  David lost his way and took thousands with him.  He was an advocate for pedophilia and made a doctrine out of the use of sex to convert people to the community.  They had a ministry called, “Flirty Fishing.”  The most attractive young girls and guys were sent out on evangelism.  Sex was used to make those who were lonely, feel at home in “the family.”  Couples shared each other.  If a spouse was jealous and didn’t want to share their partner, it meant they had issues and needed to change.  Communities were formed and those who joined them were given households to run and children to look after.  Some wondered who their fathers were.

Raman and Kiron and their friends were never in agreement with the “love sharing” practices of the cult.  They only knew they were loved and taught and had a community to belong to. After a year of community living, Kiron started to become uncomfortable with what she was seeing.  It was difficult because they loved studying the Word and sharing it with others.   There was a lot of work to do and everyone did everything.  The kids had jobs in and around the community and weren’t allowed to be lazy.  They were home schooled for fear that those who weren’t part of the community would contaminate them.  Music played a big role and was one of the things that attracted young people to the community. Their weekly visit to Tihar woman’s jail was a highlight.

They believed in spirit guides and the Holy Spirit was believed to be the sexy mother of Jesus. They worshipped love and anything that was done in the name of love was acceptable.  Killing for love was ok too. New converts and disciples weren’t aware of these practices.  There were suspicions but no one really knew except for the main leaders.

So, there were some very interesting times in our conversations.  A big hurdle was that they believed the organised church was the whore of Babylon.  It took them a while to appreciate our community.   When they did leave The Family, all kinds of pressure came their way.

When they saw the huge difference between “Love is God,” and “God is Love,” they made their move.

Love is NOT God.  We don’t worship love.  GOD is love.  We worship HIM.  When we do that, we love.