So we moved in with our new foster mom, Pastor Rivers. We would have no foster dad, but Pastor Rivers told us we would be surrounded by a huge church family, which she was right about as there were uncles, aunts, sisters, and our niece Pauline. We had no clue who was related to Pastor Rivers by blood but suspected that the church was like one big, huge family. Pastor Rivers had a big bedroom in a corner of the church complex, and we were warned never to come there, which telling a 9-year-old that something is forbidden makes it more interesting. Rowan and I would share a small room in another corner of the church where there was a bunk bed and a place where we could put our clothes. I think that it was an old storage room, but I decided that this could be fun. I would be like a monk living in a cold, empty room.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yCYeiL9CG
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We now had a foster mom, so that creates a problem. What should I now call her in this story? Pastor Rivers or mom? As we already have a mom and Pastor Rivers is now our foster mom, I will continue to call her Pastor Rivers in the story so as not to confuse readers... and myself.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBN7QuCElqU
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Rowan and I had a lot of free time to do things as Pastor Rivers was always decorating the church or working on a sermon or Bible study or something like that. We didn’t mind, as it meant we could have fun. A few days after we moved into our new home, Rowan said we should go rowing a boat. How could I disagree? Rowan always used a canoe, but in the last few months, he was given an old, broken rowboat, which he spent hours and hours repairing. Now was the time for the launch of his repaired rowboat. I was excited to be there, although I did hope that Rowan found all the leaks in the boat. Pastor Rivers could not be there as she was doing some church things. That didn’t bother me, as Rowan launched the new rowboat in the lake with such pride. I of course let him do all the rowing as I sat and did nothing and just relaxed. I knew that this would be one of my fondest memories of our childhood. Rowan was so happy when he was rowing, and it was like we were all alone in the universe. I suppose that I should tell you that Rowan did not find all the leaks in the boat. Suddenly there was a huge leak, and we were underwater within minutes. The only thing Rowan could say about it was to shrug his shoulders and say that he must have forgotten a leak.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1YhJV7WtK
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When I told Pastor Rivers about how my big brother nearly drowned me and we had to drag a sinking rowboat from the middle of the lake. Pastor Rivers joked and told us that at least we had a bath. After this, she became serious and asked if the small storage room was good enough as a bedroom. We smiled and told her that it was, and we thanked her once again for being our foster mom. Pastor Rivers promised Rowan and me that she would find us a small apartment on the church grounds when she had time. This made me smile, as I knew when Rowan had his own bedroom, I could decorate it with frogs and snakes. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZZ6GYUCvo
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On top of the masses we had at Saint Francis, we also were at Pastor Rivers' events at the church. She had about 4 or 5 things going on every day with strange names such as master class, restoration, couple prayers, and whatnot. Everyone had a title in the church, such as senior pastor, assistant pastor, assistant pastor in training, and so many more names. This made things hard as no one had a name tag and they expected to be called by their title, even though we were family. I could not remember who was who, so I did my best to avoid using titles and their names. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTk1sOhZcey
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Pastor Rivers Church was called “The Gospel Spirit Church." Pastor Rivers Church was very different from the Catholic churches that I was used to. This confused me a lot. At some of the prayers, we would just sit in quiet and nothing would happen. I know Rowan was daydreaming and wishing that he could be out rowing, and I was thinking about the choir. We would be brought back to reality again when someone would read a Bible quote, and then there was silence again. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEYzAcmtoY
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Sometimes the prayers were very scary. Let me explain why they would make you tremble. The members of the church would talk a lot about “the enemy,"  which I found out wasn't Voldemort but Satan himself. They would say that Satan was in the world and very powerful, and he wanted to corrupt us, and whatnot. For them, it was important that we talked about Satan, as they believed that we were in our final days. In other words, the second coming of Christ would be coming soon. This seemed to excite the people at the Gospel Spirit Church. I don’t know why, as in my mind, the end of the world seemed scary and painful. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2yAuUS4Vv
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It also confused me that if we were on the last days of the world, why do I still have to go to school and do homework? I tried to tell Father Scott that our new pastor's mom told us that we were at the end of time, so going to classes and doing homework seemed like a waste of time. Father Scott smiled and reminded me that the Bible told us that no one knows when the end of time will be. Since Jesus was resurrected, people have always said we were in the last days and we are still here. It could be tomorrow, and it could be in 1000 years. Even if we were at the end of times, it would be good to do homework, as I would be a smart angel in heaven. It's quite annoying that Father Scott is so smart and always ruins my plans for escaping homework. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfn43pRAD6
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If it was the end of the world, then I was on God's good side. Rowan and I went to the prayers at The Gospel Spirit Church as well as at the Catholic Church where Father James (my uncle) was a priest. To be honest, I liked Father James' masses much better, as he didn’t scream or shout or try to scare me, and most importantly, his masses were not that long. Father James spent a lot of time telling us that God loves us and he wants to be our friend, and we should be nice to each other. It was a different tone than The Gospel Spirit Church. However, I did like the dancing at Pastor Rivers Church. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSDmWhvQbF
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There were no toys in The Gospel Spirit Church, so Rowan and I often watched Pastor Rivers when she was preparing something for the church. She was good at multitasking, as she would be speaking with us at the same time. To be honest, she made me laugh when she spoke. Pastor Rivers had a contagious laugh, and it was so fun when Rowan or I would try and say something. We often couldn’t get a word in edgeways, and it was often like listening to a radio. At least it was not boring in what she said. I loved listening to Pastor Rivers talk and talk and talk.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCh8IbEBdZW
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As I said before, Pastor Rivers had a hobby besides the church. She sold second-hand things. She would buy some old things and resell them at markets and whatnot. This was a way she could earn some money for the huge church rent. She loved selling old things, and if she was not a pastor, she could open her own shop. Rowan or I would watch her set things up, which tended to end up in clutter. I think that Pastor Rivers would have been a good decorator. She loved decorating the church and the market stalls. It was there that she would appear to be the happiest and "normal." We would talk about normal things and just not listen to her talk about God. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhw4vYmc5th
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Luckily, we were still allowed to go to Saint Francis for our schooling. This was great, as we could still be with our friends. They still did not understand why we accepted to be adopted by Pastor Rivers. Rowan and I just shrugged our shoulders every time and told our friends that we were happy and we were glad to be there. We know that Pastor Rivers hurt many at the school when she did not survive as a teacher, but she had already forgotten about it. Once you get to know her, she is a good person, and besides all that, she made us laugh. By the way, they looked at us, they thought that we were still crazy.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEBrjS4YSI
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Maybe they were right; Pastor Rivers was a special woman. She was deeply religious, and God meant everything to her. Everything else came in second place. Pastor Rivers liked to back everything up with Bible quotations. It's like she had a bible quote for everything, even doing homework! Maybe that's why she did so many things at the church. It was just not one thing; it was one thing after another. The sermons were still long, and I would daydream until Pastor Rivers started shouting and screaming. Other times, it would just be Pastor Rivers in the church laying on her stomach with her arms stretched and praying that way. Rowan was never at these prayers, as he did not understand them and would rather fix his boat. I did not mind these laying down prayers. It was quiet beside Pastor Rivers's outbursts of prayers once in a while. I did not pray a lot. I tended to fall asleep.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Pxlraz8Ep
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Father Scott was very worried about Rowan and me. He would tell us that we would end up getting hurt. He thought that Pastor Rivers just wanted us as trophies and she would never have time for us. Besides this, he was worried that our faith would be challenged. We could be confused because she lived by the Bible and not by the Bible and traditions and church teachings like the Catholic Church. I told Father Scott that we were happy and Pastor Rivers was very busy with her church, but we were always with her, and she was good at explaining what she did. I did not say that we slept in an old storage room. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6k3QFZ9bjm
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The first time I got in trouble had nothing to do with tormenting my brother or trying to forge a report card. It was because of a TV series I have been watching. It was called “The Chosen” and was about the life of Jesus. It was Mr. Frank (my choir leader) who suggested that I should see it. Mr. Frank was a messianic Jew and probably the holiest and wisest man that I knew, so I trusted him when he recommended “The Chosen." When Pastor Rivers saw me looking at it, she blew her lid and told me that I was not allowed to see it as it was not biblically correct. This confused me, as it was all about Jesus. I tried telling her that there was a disclaimer at the start of the show that it was dramatised and the idea of the series was to get us to read the Bible. I tried telling her that I liked it as the TV show as it made Jesus look human. In other words, Jesus smiled and joked, and we could even see him tired at times. It made no difference what I said, as Pastor Rivers was on a rant. I doubt she even listened to me as she threw a lot of Bible quotes at me and explained that the TV series was wrong and one should not dramatise the Bible. It turns out that she never even saw it. Whatever the case is, the TV show became more interesting because it was now forbidden. I saw the TV show in secret. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBtRAbpkrp
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I was only 9 years old, and I was surrounded by religion. I went to a Catholic school. My uncle was a priest. My choir leader was a messianic Jew, and my foster mom was a preacher. While others my age heard a lot about what Taylor Swift was doing, I was surrounded by religious opinions and doctrine all the time. Now you would imagine that I would be confused at times, and you would be right. Like once I saw a video on YouTube of an ancient writing was found that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. I asked Pastor Rivers if this was true and once again was bombarded by Bible quotations and a long explanation that Jesus was not married. Jesus was both God and human, and no woman would be good enough for Jesus. I did not think it was important if Jesus was married or not. If anything, it would make him more human. In any case, I learnt now that if I was confused, I should not go to my foster mom, as she did not listen to my concerns. It just allowed her to give a sermon and to be heard. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2eYVweY0w
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If I was smarter, I would not have put my foster mom on a pedestal and know that even a preacher could have major flaws. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNXnKFPZRe
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It was at this time that the choir had another show. Pastor Rivers started to come to all our shows. It was her way of supporting us. This of course made me happy that Pastor Rivers could take time off her church duties and market selling and do what Rowan and I liked doing. It could also be embarrassing, like the time she stood up in the audience before we started a show and started praying for the boys in the choir and that our show would give glory to God. I could feel the other boys glare at me and wonder why my foster mom was doing something like this. One boy told me after the show that her outburst was not “normal.”202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdLNZGpflC
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This show was not one I want to remember. Rowan and my birth mom were also there. She came up to me after the show and told me that she was doing all she could to bring me home to her; however, she did not want Rowan to come back to her. 202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerFkij8MI7
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What would I answer her?202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUTvdrB7Jv
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