I CHOSE SURVIVAL! – Belinda Rose Christ

I Chose Survival! is an autobiographical account in which the author traces the sexual, psychological and physical abuse she experienced during her time in The Family International, a Christian cult that can be described as fundamentalist and which, under the official guise of teaching others about God in faith and obedience, actually used practices that were not orthodox and interpreted the commandment of Christian love and the Bible for their own agenda.
The author traces her entire experience within the Family, highlighting the deep impact that the constant abuse and torture, both physical or psychological and very often extreme behavior left in her during and after leaving the cult. The whole book is narrated from her point of view, each chapter being an account of a specific period, of physical and/ or psychological abuse and torture experienced more or less directly or indirectly, but also of moments of happiness and joy.
It is a voice of hope, the experience of an individual who managed to get out and back up again. Who will always carry the physical and emotional scars of that terrible period but who didn’t give up.