It’s that time again - that time being the time that I feel like doing another interview. It’s been a bit of a gamble doing these interviews and this particular one feels like more of a gamble then the other ones and here’s why. See, I want to interview a couple with kids, so I hopped on el MO site photo section and found this fine-looking couple named Ezra and Gigi. I know them only from the MO site and My Conclusion, our Family version of Googling someone. e.g. “I myconclusioned you”. Also, I have carefully analyzed my Clustermaps and I’ve noticed that I don’t get a whole lot of readers from Brazil, which is where they last were according to My Conclusion, which means that I have to count on the chance that someone who reads my blog from Brazil will know Ezra and Gigi and pass it on to them and that they’ll want to reply to a interview from a strange woman they have never met who puts headless photos of herself at the top of her blog. So yeah, a bit of a gamble. Still, hope springs eternal and God and the Internet have not failed me yet in this regard, so here’s to hoping!

(Speaking of hope; Robin, I hope you will finish your interview. It seems so selfish to ask when you’ve already given such a bounty of information. But I do hope, and I’ll keep hoping, because hope springs eternal.)

Interview guidelines, as ever, are found here. By the by, I’d love to get answers from the both of you on all but the top two questions, but I’m guessing that if you get around to answering, it’ll probably be around 11:30 at night and seriously cutting into your window of opportunity for conjugal congress, or some other time when you’re equally pressed for time, so if you both can’t get around to most of the questions, I understand.

Gigi, how did you meet The Family International and how long afterwards did you join?
Gigi: My best friend at the time, was who met the Family first. We were both lawyers, party partners, we basically did everything together. Her boss met one active member who sold him a phone line, and who was also a lawyer! That’s probably the reason why my mom thought it was a lawyer’s sect. Ha! Anyway, she witnessed to him and invited him for a bible class at her house. He went and really liked it, so started inviting my friend to go with him. Since he was her boss, after some time it was kind of weird to keep saying “no”, so she phoned me and said:” Oh, I guess I will have to go to this bible class…” I told her that I wasn’t going, no way! I believed in Jesus, but I really disliked churchy people, especially the ones saying hallelujah all the time, getting super loud and all that goes with it. It ended up that she really liked it, and told me that the kids were super sweet, etc. I asked her: “Do they say hallelujah?” She answered:” Well, yes they do.” I said: “Are you out of your mind? There’s no way I am going!” To make a long story short, after seeing the change in her, and after a night that she was convicted and told me that she was going to the bible class, instead of going to a super nice outing with “me”, I was really curious to go and see what it was all about, since we were very close and I knew she wasn’t the churchy type. I finally went, liked the people, loved the children, but was still really attached to my old life, until the Family retreat came, which totally changed my life because there I felt the Spirit of the Lord so strongly inside of Me, and I felt His love so tangibly that I was on a high and didn’t want to ever come back. It was something between me and Him, that He knew was needed to convince me to change my life. So I started going to the discipleship classes, stopped smoking marijuana and was an active member (although the Family didn’t have this classification at the time). After a year I already knew that I wanted to join and be a full time missionary since I disliked being a lawyer in a corrupted and antichrist system. So I quit my job, and here I am! My flesh family thought I was going nuts and my dad even said I wasn’t his daughter anymore, etc. But nowadays they respect my choice and we have a nice and close relationship. It’s been eight years now and I am happier than ever and wouldn’t trade life in the Family for anything, absolutely A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. The Lord gave me so much in return for forsaking my old life, the best being my precious children and my husband.

Ezra, what role did you play in your large family when you were growing up? Were you the small one that got picked on or the one that was always getting the other kids into trouble, or were you the golden child that was always telling on everyone? What is the best part of having so many brothers and sisters?
Ezra: I am third oldest, so suffered a little at the hand of my older bros, and likewise did a little of the same to my younger siblings, but I generally got along well with my family, and my brothers are to date still my best friends. My sisters are cool, too. I miss not living near them for the last ten yrs. I think forsaking my flesh family is the greatest sacrifice I’ve done for the Lord.

Well, first of all, how many kids do you have? And secondly, I’ve heard different things from different couples, but what was the biggest adjustment for you guys: having the first kid, the second kid, or the third etc. and why?
Gigi: We have 2 kids. João Gabriel (7) & Ana Beatriz (5). I really like being a mom. I didn’t feel I needed an adjustment because I just loved it! I was ready. The Lord gave me the anointing, the grace, the love. For me it was fun. I have fun with my kiddos. I can’t imagine life without them, for real. They added so much to our relationship. We enjoy being parents. It’s fun. It’s a total joy.

Ez: I agree.

How did you two meet and who fell for who first?
Gigi: We met at an open bible class in a bowling place at a mall here in Rio. I went to another city for a while and when I came back we saw each other again in another bible class, and with a help of a couple that are our friends (Tigo & Juju), we started dating. I think we fell in love at the same time.

Ez: I had just returned to Brazil from visiting my parents, and was wondering if I should stay here or go to another field. Also, I was 26 and hadn’t been in a serious relationship yet, and I was kinda wondering if there was someone for me in the Family. Many times I was tempted to give in to the come-ons from the system girls, down here, thinking they could ease the loneliness. Well, right after I came back, I hooked up with Gi, and that changed everything. I may have fallen for her first, but I’ll never admit it.

What is the craziest thing the Lord ever told you to do?
Gigi: Hum…I guess for me it was to drop everything and join the Family. It was crazy, radical and soooo good!

Ez: I think it was when the Lord showed us to visit her parents, and we ended up staying there for almost three months, during the Brazil punishment, while we were looking for a home. It was a tough experience living with non-Family members for that long, and I’m thankful the Lord gave me the grace.

If the Lord told you tomorrow “My children, leave Brazil!” what is the first country that comes to mind where you’d want to go serve the Lord?
Gigi: I don’t really have one country in particular in mind, although I know Ez would like to go to China (Oh My, I feel so not ready for China!). Anyways, I like Greece, Tahiti, Maldives, places like that, with gorgeous beaches. I guess people in these sunny, beautiful places have such a longing to know the Lord better, and I have such a longing to go tell them about the Lord’s love in a sail boat across those magnificent, perfect beaches. And we could have 12 foundation stones classes at the beach, and the Active Members would bring me fruits and coconut water in beautiful decorated trays…
The truth is I try to not think too much about it and let a personal preference intervene with His will, so I keep it real and simple. Although there are some countries that I think are exotic and I would like to be able to go there and interact with people, I try to just let it happen. He knows best and I want to be in His highest for My life, this is the perfect place to be, and it’s where I belong.

Ez: China. I wanna live someplace where people know very little about Jesus, so that they either like it or they don’t, or they learn to like it. –But I can’t stand witnessing to people who are familiar with Jesus and have lost respect or interest in Him. God; give me the patience!

Are the 30’s really easier then the 20’s like everyone in their 30’s tells you? How are they easier, if they are indeed easier?
Gigi: I think it is easier in a way since you are still young, can still do fun things without having to deal with young people looking at you as a total weirdo. But at the same time you do have more experience in life, maturity, you are more centered, and that’s nice. I guess you enjoy yourself and life better and deal with things easily, with a more mature perspective which makes things less complicated. You know it is not worthy going through the trouble of getting things too complicated anyway.

Ez: Each year has just gotten better for me.—Not easier. Some of the perks are:
being able to draw from my own experience,
realizing that bad things usually seem a lot less bad the next day,
understanding human nature and people a lot better,
suddenly remembering all the wise counsel from parents and teachers that I was too young and cocky to accept before,
and the sex is better, though I don’t really know why.

This last question is something I’ve developed just now that allows me to assess your personality types effortlessly. Name the first Bible verse that comes to mind, right now!
Gigi: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Simple, straight to the point, yet so, so powerful and true. Tell me if His Word is not the coolest, more revolutionary and radical thing ever? I love it!!! I love the Word!!! I love Jesus!!!

Ez: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” We’re gonna win, baby! WIN! Born winners. Now, how do you think that makes the Devil feel?