Help Tear'a Keep her home of 17 years.

Tear'a Lyons is organising this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hello, My name is Tear'a. I am a Survivor of 24 years, from The Cult The Children of God/The Family.

EDIT: Please be aware the lower part of my story has some very detailed disturbing subject matter, readers please be advised.
Please also be sure to click the *Read More* links at the end of every page as this story is a bit long. Thank you!

I am a single Mom of 2 amazing boys. I have 4 cats. I now live on Vancouver Island in a town called Sidney by The Sea. I wanted to share my story and my truth about where I was born how I was raised and what I have overcome to get where I am now and what I am really needing some help with.

To start off I have never gone to school of any kind, everything I know is self-taught so, I am sorry if the writing is not too great. :)

Firstly, I believe in always paying forward, I help who I can and where there is enough food for 3 people there is always enough for one more attitude. It's taken me years to come to an understanding with myself that it's okay to ask for help, even if there is someone who needs it more than me. So, I am asking for your help.

I was fortunate enough to get approved for a Habitat for Humanity home back in 2004. I was given a 17-year mortgage term and at that time it all worked out. Time passes and now it's been 17 years. The director of Habitat changes and the " Don't worry about it, we can just renew it when the time comes if needed" got lost somewhere and no one is taking responsibility for telling me that 9 years ago. I am naive in many things still and fail to collect paper proof as I tend to take people at their word. Lessons learned I guess.

I don't know much about how mortgages and banks and all that jazz works and I tend to just go with the flow and learn as I go.

I was informed by Habitat that they want me to pay out the remaining owed of 44,000 instead of Them renewing the mortgage for another 5 years or so. They said I should seek out additional funding from friends and family etc. or get a bank loan. I don't have those kinds of connections or savings as I only make enough to live month by month, sometimes week by week, and I don't really know many people as I have some stress issues making friends that I hang out with, probably a side effect of being raised in a cult where friendship was punishable by many horrid things.

Heck, I can't even afford a lawyer atm ** Since this was posted I have retained a lawyer, with help of everyone here ** so most of my info is from Google. Amazing what you can learn from a search bar!

I am a Low-income single Mom on Disability, and I make 1400,00 a month, my youngest is still in school and my oldest is struggling with his own battles in making ends meet.

These are my two boys when younger. My joy and my reason to keep fighting every day are for them.

The embarrassment of asking you a stranger for help is overcome because they mean everything to me and I don't want to lose their home, my home of 17 years, the ONLY home I have known as a safe place since coming out of a hellish nightmare of that cult.

I am asking for your help in raising $50,000 to pay off what is owing and to pay any closing fees and if there is 2k leftover, Gosh darn it I want to take these boys to Disneyland once the Border opens for international non-essential travel. I was born fighting and surviving and right now I just need some help, I am not as strong as I once was.

This is a tiny bit of a nutshell story of where I come from, My truth, and My story about how I was born and raised in a cult for 24 years.

I was born and raised in the Cult The Children of God also known as The Family International. 1974 - 1996 Children of God Info Link. I was able to get out of that Cult in 1996 when I came to Canada with my Son, He was about 1 1/2 years old at the time.
I have been diagnosed with what is medically called Complex-PTSD and struggle on a daily basis to keep my head in a good space.

I battle constantly with fears and anxieties brought on by brainwashing and indoctrination of beliefs that the cult has put on me since birth.

Going forward, Logically I can tell myself I am safe, but those thoughts and fears are very real to me every day is a new battle for me to not give up, just one more day.

When I first got out I had a 2-year-old who did not speak English and my people skills were lacking. I had a big distrust of people and resorted to putting on a fake outward appearance of" I'm good" so that people wouldn't ask me things. I have kept my past a secret from most.
I have never felt I fit in anywhere and still struggle with culture shock. Most of my time and energy was put into raising my son and trying to figure out how the "System" works, I was raised to believe the "System" was always out to get me and the government is evil and law enforcement is going to hurt you, anyone with any type of wealth or power is run Satan and the world is generally a bad bad place.

While in the cult I had my name changed every 6 months to a year to take away my sense of identity, I was never allowed to have friends as that encouraged desertion among cult members and made it hard to control us. I had to wear a surgical mask for a year straight with a wooden sign hung around my neck as punishment because I did not smile enough.
The sign read "Do not talk to me I am on silent restriction." it was a heavy wooden sign, I was about 13 years old.

I was beaten regularly and subject to multiple counts of sexual abuse, rape, mental torture, and corporal punishments growing up, starting at about age 8, as that's as far back as I can really remember. I was not raised by my parents as they were sort of shunned by the cult and made to live "Outside" the main core complex areas where I was with other children my age. If I behaved then I was allowed a phone call sometimes or if persecution was underway, I could go be with a parent. My trust was gone at a very young age.

I was being brainwashed to be the apocalypse end of days prophet to guide people and save them for when Jesus comes back in a rapture then destroys the earth of unbelievers. Crazy stuff now that I reflect on what I was taught. Hard to be free of all of it and it's a daily struggle even now.
If I had more resources I would seek out proper specialized therapy as it sucks to always feel like no one can relate to you even when you love them. It's just really hard to find someone who knows how to help someone like me.

Small things most folks take for granted I never had: Birthday Parties, TV, Radio, School, Friends, Grandparents, Toys, and candy. These are some things I never got to experience while in the cult my first 24 years.

I have so much to still catch up on and I am not getting younger, I feel at times I am failing my Boys because I am not able to give them things more wealthy persons could, good education, a car, a trip to Disney land. ( I know, it seems cliche, but I had always told them one day I want to take you guys to Disney land, and now....they are 28 and 19 years old, and I still haven't taken them on a vacation anywhere nice.)

Don't get me wrong, we have gone bush camping and fishing off the rocks and to the lake to swim and I cherish every memory of that. My boys know I have never been wealthy and they never complained about secondhand clothes or foodbank food. I am so blessed to have an Aunt who got me to Canada, to begin with, I owe that woman my life.

Poverty has been part of my life since as young as I can remember in South America, Brasil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Mexico. I lived on the streets while pregnant and gave birth in a Veterinarians' office! There's a story for another day!

My life has been an uphill battle of trying to figure out how life works, making ends meet, trying to not end up homeless on the streets all while trying to catch up on everything I missed while trying to fit into a place I struggle trying to understand. My life gets dizzying!!

Now that there is a bit of a picture painted for you to understand where I am coming from. I want to move on to why I am asking for help from you.

It is my Hope, Dream and Wish that many hands helping me will make my life a bit easier, I am just at a point where I just need some room to breathe and to live a bit for myself without always worrying about where I am going to get enough money to keep my house, shop for food or buy gas for the car. This is the only thing I have that I could leave for these boys once I am gone. I can not express enough how much this means to me, having this safe place that I can be safe from the Cult, safe from the nightmares.

One day if I find the right person to help me I want to write a book, that is another Dream I have to write My story in hopes that my truth and my story can help someone else who is struggling because I need to believe that not everyone out there is a bad person and there is still humanity left in people. I want to help others by helping them stay strong.

Thank you for reading my request for your help.

Tear'a

PS: Some extra pictures of my home and the people who make it a home. A picture says 1000 words is something I read somewhere.

Me at 3 years old in the cult doing a dance for people.

My front yard during a block party that was Viking-themed! My son wanted a Viking birthday party so I decorated our yard up!

My rock garden out front. I collect Hippos, so that rock is there. Hehe.

Our hot water Tank broke from old age, and My Medieval Chaos community https://www.facebook.com/groups/MedievalChaos stepped up when they found out My sons and I had been driving up to the rec center to shower every other day or so for 4 months. They gathered up the funds bought the tank and delivered it to my front door! I was all crying and happy. The power of community can change a person's life for sure!