I have little direct knowledge of this school. SD believed, rightly or wrongly, that the silence restrictions imposed upon him at the Jumbo were modelled on the Japanese experience. Given the high degree of reporting to World Services and the distribution of the information throughout the group, I am in little doubt that there was a cross-fertilisation of many ideas. A number of them would have been initiated by Sara Davidito and Maria in their teen training programmes conducted in their own compound as they grappled with the difficulties presented by MB, and Techi and others. Maria has described the teen schools as undertaking a "revolutionary boot camp training programme", the task of which was:-
"To teach and train and closely shepherd these poor, needy teens and prepare them for the field. This is probably these teens last chance to really make it for the Lord. ... We're supposed to be single mindedly, whole heartedly and with great concentration fighting the devil as a huge warfare for the lives and training of leadership, children and teens." (The emphasis is Maria's)
The close shepherding clearly involved concentrated attention
upon the need to reveal doubts and difficulties in the Open Heart Reports, and then to deal with them, I have no doubt, lovingly and sympathetically, but with a heavy emphasis on reading the Word, which would include the Mo Letters, where necessary writing reactions and, if the difficulties persisted, having desperate prayer sessions to overcome the perceived problem.
I also have no doubt that the teen schools in operation in Japan and elsewhere operated in accordance with the "Basic Training Handbook" published in February 1987. Its introduction offered the children the opportunity:
"To personally experience teen training so that you can take up the challenge to become a teen soldier and disciple of Jesus Christ! This power packed handbook is specially written and designed for the feeding, teaching, inspiration and guidance of you family teens, our hope for the future! In order to fully benefit from the wonderful counsel in this your own basic training handbook, before you even read your first article, you'll need to promise to be open and receptive to life changing lessons to come, and be ready, yielded and willing to forsake any of your old ideas which are not truly revolutionary so that you can become a new creature and a true soldier of Christ. Teen training involves a serious personal commitment to dedicated discipleship. Please desperately pray before reading each article in this book that you will be able to personally apply each lesson to your own needs and spiritual life. Please try to read these articles out loud and unitedly along with another teen or an adult or teacher so that you can fully concentrate and capture the spirit and message herein."
I have not had sight of the whole of the manual. The goals at the TTC included:-
"1. To give our all to Jesus, no matter what tries to stop us.
2. To become revolutionaries for God's entire army.
21. To get training which is chastisement for the End time.
22. To learn yieldedness which is the opposite of rebelliousness and stubbornness.
25. To change and be willing to change
39. To learn how to take correction
54. To learn to be security minded
55. To learn how not to space out or day dream"
I have sight of the "prayer requests of the teens, first Sunday fellowship Japan TTC:"
"We had desperate prayer and laying on of hands for deliverance and prayed individually for each of these specific requests:
For immediate obedience
Against system influence through books
To receive correction
To be able to forsake those in our family who aren't following Jesus
Against compromise with the system" (and even)
"Against fear of gaining weight."
Having looked at the pictures of the children in Japan, having seen the video of the Mexican TTC and having read some of the comment, I am in no doubt that these training camps were highly emotionally charged and pressurized environments for children. They existed for the purpose of changing the children and shaping their lives in order to mould them to The Family's image. The cost to the children was to rob them of their personal identity. It was an invasion of personal freedom. I can well understand that this process sends shivers of apprehension down the spine of this grandmother and of many, many who think like her, all of whom have good cause for alarm. The regime does not win the support of Doctor Cameron who considers it an undue pressure on an impressionable young mind. Nevertheless, sympathetic as I am to those opinions, I cannot find that the essentially religious experience of renewal which was undergone, and in many cases even enjoyed, by these teenagers was so extreme that I can properly find on a balanced view that it was significantly harmful to the emotional and psychological well being of those children.
