Deborah 13: Servant of God
Deborah Drapper is a very different from the average teenager living in Britain. Deborah lives in a remote corner of rural Dorset. She rarely leaves the farmhouse where she lives with her dad Andrew, mom Ruth, and eight of her ten brothers and sisters. But all that is about to change. This summer Deborah will spend a few days with her brother at University, to get the first taste of what life in the outside world is really like.
Deborah is the fourth of eleven children aged between eighteen months and twenty one years. Her older sister Rebecca married at nineteen and is now a mom. At twenty, Matthew is the oldest of the boys and the sibling Deborah is closest to. He's just back for the summer from the University in Buxton where he's studying to be a chef. Matthew won his place at the University despite never attending a traditional school. Like all of the Drapper children he's been educated at home.
Deborah is a strict Evangelical Christian. She believes she found God at the age of six and has never looked back. She's been invited by council youth worker, Phil, to join him on his friday night rounds, meeting teenagers in Bridport. She's decided to take Matthew along for moral support.
Each day before school starts, the family meet for Bible study. Andrew and Ruth use a traditional translation of the Bible and believe in teaching the children that not one word of it is open to interpretation. While the youngest children nod off listening to the Bible every night, Deborah prefers creationist's sermons found on the Internet.
Every summer Deborah joins the rest of the Drapper clan, to perform a puppet show to the unconverted at a nearby holiday park. Matthew's invited her to stay for a few days when he goes back to Uni in Buxton. Now that he's living away from the family he wants to make sure she's prepared for what life will be like beyond the four walls of home. Matthew's keen to get Deborah as many new experiences as possible during her visit, so he's lined up a shopping trip she's unlikely to find in rural Dorset.
I see a highly intelligent and mature young lady with huge potential, but I also see fear. I feel for her but I hope she finds her balance and peace with her faith. No 13 year old, of human being for that matter, should have to live in fear because of their faith. I wish her all the peace in the world, I hope she never loses that faith and only lives in love.
I agree with her 100% BUT, there is a point where extreme is extreme and I think she is kind of self righteous and maybe she should be an EXAMPLE for others to follow instead of talking hell damnation and start talking of God's love for us all. Maybe her parents have scared her so bad, it is called mental abuse.
As I watched I felt Deborah was trying to take on the sins of everyone by attempting to save everyone she met. This is what Jesus did for us. I don't believe he wanted us to take on the sins of the world. We can show them the way and we can offer a hand but beyond that it is up the person to find Jesus.
I didn't agree with everything in the film but I found it interesting. I wish the family well wherever they are. It has been about ten years since this documentary was made. It would be good to hear how Deborah is doing today.
I could see in the eyes of Deborah a young teenager who has such strength and wisdom for a girl of her age.
Some of the comments tagged to this video are so demeaning and outright cruel and insulting. It is no different to cyber bullying and those concerned should be erased and prevented from making further comments. No doubt the harm they intended to cause should be referred onto the police. Deborah was a minor at the time of making this documentary and should have been offered the normal protection the law was designed to do in such cases.
One more comment the interviewer should go back to relearning journalism for asking such petty and pointless exploratory questions.
I cannot understand why genuine, educated atheists would use this documentary as a platform to preach their point-of-view. this young girl deserves to be respected during her forming years.
Stay strong Deborah and remember that Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:11-16: "People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do, you will be happy. Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did the same evil things to the prophets who lived before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on. You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven”.
I'm 79 years old now, and have yet to be convinced by any evidence that there is anything supernatural. Proof that there are no gods or goddesses is quite obvious if you can rid yourself of the idea that you will be punished and sent to hell if you don't believe what you're told. EVERYONE lies to children, everyone..... teachers, preachers, parents ..... all telling them what they wish were true. But consider this...... There are thousands of children who have been abused by religious leaders, pastors or priests or whoever, and the children suffer their entire lives from it. But the churches protect the priests, they move them to another parish or church or country, where they continue their lives unpunished. So where is God? Do you expect me to believe that God allows the children to suffer horribly, but doesn't punish these priests? ........ No, there are no gods nor goddesses. You have only to look at the world and the thousands of gods and religions that men have created throughout the thousands of years of our evolution. Religion is a social structure, created by humans, which serves the social purposes of group identification, control and belonging. Where is the evidence for anything supernatural?
My sister was named Debby Servant. She died before I was adopted by William Servant.
Her sister could not be a 'mom' as she is British and 'mom' is an Americanism rather than correct English.
I can see there are a lot of conflicting arguments in the comments section of this debate. And while I firmly believe that there is a God who created us, I think some of the points brought up can be quite extreme, like how for telling a tiny lie we will all go to hell and burn. I honestly hate the extremist thoughts about God being this reflection of Adolf Hitler or some kind of dictator, who can flip through the book o' rules and tell us straight away that we won't be seeing any more of him or Mr. Happy. There is a reason why the Bible - which you should not take for word as it is extremely outdated in modern society, and even if it was taken seriously then it would be alright to stone a rebellious son to death - says that God loves us and that he is Our Father. He is kind of like a man we can go to with our problems and just chat with, or have any old conversation with because he is like our Father. And if God loved us then there would be no sending people to hell UNLESS it was a serious crime e.g. murder or rape.
A 13 year old girl thinks she's a "wretched, horrible person". How terribly sad.
What has opened to Deborah and where is she now? The last I've seen any activity was from 2012 when I google searched her.
Truly inspiring documentary.. I wish I was like her when I was her age. So fearless and eager to spread the word of the God.
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worst documentary ever seen feel pity for BBC
how can she serve god without serving the planet
she need counseling and to be educated about where she can find god before she get lost
she is craves fame and attention and god is her tool
she is trying to sell god. she don't know what she is doing
poor kid blame on her parents
"little knowledge is very dangerous"
Every Born Again Believer in Y'shua, must be filled with the Holy Spirit promised by Y'shua to accurately live according to God's Living Speaking Word. The holy Spirit is God's Holy Spirit here on Earth to teach us God's Breathed Words of LIFE to us, because man's soul is not saved-(God dwells in our spirit) and unrenewed minds (Adam's nature) can not know & understand the revealing of God's Truth. We must learn humility for God to raise us up into this new life so that we can become ONE with Him (John 17.)
Servant of delusion.
Deborah Drapper was not quite correct about all humans having broken parts of the 10 Commandments and so, are bound for hell, eg white lies, coveting, taking the name of God in vain(for saying, "Oh, my God/OMG", "for Christ-sake", etc).
At MATTHEW.19:15-26, the Word of God implied that there were Jews who had faithfully kept all the laws of Moses, including the 10 Commandments, and offered animal sacrifices for their unintentional sins.
.......Yet, Jesus Christ had stated that they were still not perfect, wrt salvation or the qualification to inherit the kingdom of heaven. To be perfect, a do-good'ing, righteous and law-abiding Jew had to also believe in Jesus and follow after Him, in order to also inherit heaven, ...besides having already gotten a good, prosperous and long life on earth. Bear in mind that heaven only comes after death or leaving this rotten earth.
B4 the 1st Advent of Jesus(in the years BC, eg the era of Moses was around 1500 BC), all Old Testament figures who had faithfully kept Moses Law qualified for heaven, eg Moses, beggar Lazarus, Elijah, etc(LUKE.16:19, MATT.17:2 & 27:52). This is explained at 1PET.3:19 & 4:6.
.......But after the arrival of Jesus(in the years AD, eg 2014 AD), this was no longer true for the Jews or for Gentiles(=non-Jews), ie the Jews had to keep Moses Law plus believe in JC, in order to inherit heaven or eternal life.
.......For new Gentile Christians(GC), ACTS.15:29 states that they had to gradually learn to keep all the non-burdensome laws of Moses(eg the 10 Commandments, LEV.10:9 & 18:22, DEUT.18:9-14, etc) plus believe in JC for their salvation. GC can exempt themselves from all the burdensome laws of Moses, eg circumcision, kosher foods, keeping Sabbath on Friday, etc.
At MATT.5:27-30, JC had elaborated on this fact, ie whenever people harbored immoral lust in their hearts towards another, they were already bound for hell, ie they did not hv to commit adultery b4 being sent to hell. This meant that all humans are bound for hell bc they often harbor all kinds of evil/sinful thoughts in their hearts and minds, eg lust, hate, anger, greed, selfishness, envy, jealousy, fear, worry, doubts about God, etc.(MARK.7:21, JOHN.8:44, MATT.16:23 & 23:27)
.......This is the inheritance from Adam's Original Sin, which all humans are born with, ie evilness/sinfulness in their hearts and minds(=the carnal flesh).
.......Be aware that while still living on earth, the committing of sins/evil-deeds, eg adultery, rape, murder, stealing, cheating, bearing false witness(=perjury), blasphemy, etc, will usually result in being cursed/punished by God or His agents, eg the police/govt, demons, etc.(DEUT.28:15, GAL.6:8, ROM.6:23) There is quite a big difference between sinning-in-thoughts and sinning-in-deeds.
Bc of Adam's Original Sin, a great gulf separates heaven and earth.(LUKE.16:26) Hence, narrow is the road that leads to heaven, but broad is the road that leads to hell. Hence, a believer like Deborah Drapper is in the minority, even in the West, eg England.
The only way to escape from hell is for people's inborn Adamic sin nature to be atoned for. God the Father in heaven has provided for this atonement, ie the blood of Jesus on the Cross.(LEV.17:11, HEB.9:22, ROM.5:12-18, JOHN.14:1-6 & 3:16)
About 2,000 years ago on earth, JC was like a human-robot, subjected under the full remote-control of God the Father-in-heaven, via the Spirit. JC was sent to earth for the specific purpose of "saving" believers from hell.
.......This is similar to a hobbyist on the ground controlling a small remote-control helicopter/aeroplane in the air, via radiowaves.
Peace.
I'm not so sure that this is a beautiful story. I was very much like that at 13, sheltered, naïve, in a world of my own. Little did I know that I had a VERY rude awakening ahead!
What I say next will sound controversial but I believe that if Deborah manages to go to a secular college she may be inadvertently setting herself up for sexual assault by her attitude and her hypermodesty. Sad to say, there are people out there who think there is nothing wrong in forcing another person's sexual initiation and look upon women like Deborah as a challenge. Her very modesty and sexual unavailability could make her a target for such people. On the other hand, the girl who went around inviting people to write on her boobs may be in far less danger of sexual assault because of her attitude of freedom. Rape is not a crime of lust, it is a crime of anger. As in let's teach that snooty Christian b***h a lesson.
I can imagine Deborah being "befriended" by a group of people who pretend to be interested in her message and invited to a party. This time around her big brother is not around to protect her. Little does she know that her food and drink may have been spiked, The next thing she knows is that something sexual has happened to her but she cannot remember how or any details. This is traumatic enough for anyone. For someone like her, it could push her right over the edge. Especially if she was taught that women get raped because they were asking for it.
I did not have that particular experience because by the time I went to college I was much more worldly and I had learned that not everyone who approaches you In friendship is a friend. I did however, experience the anger of men who took my refusal to have sex with them as a personal insult, and had some very close calls. My Deborah-like attitude also did not win me any friends in the workplace. On at least one occasion my work was deliberately sabotaged to get me in trouble with my superiors, who were not at all sympathetic.
And yes, there were people out there who applauded the destructive course I was on and said what a witness I was and what a beautiful testimony for the Lord. These were the same people who turned their back on me in my hour of need. They were not there to help me defend myself against the supervisor when my work was sabotaged. They were not there at all for any of the things I went through. All they could offer from their comfortable and secure positions in life was "rejoice because this is part of being a Christian."
So no, I don't think this is a beautiful story. I think it is a tragic story.
A beautiful story about one of God's chosen and how she witnesses to the beauty of a Christian life in Jesus!
I believe those parents love that child more than anything, (with the possible exception of god), they seem like great people. This is of no relevance to the fact that she seems to live terrorised by the idea of eternal damnation and is totally equivocated about big bang and evolution, thus ill educated. It's a horrible question to answer, but we need to ask, is it really fair to allow parents to indoctrinate their kids and shelter them from the world they will one day have to be a part of? Further to allow them to deceive their kids out of commonly accepted facts of science, simply because they are in conflict with their religious dogma? Where's the line where that child stops being someone's child and begins being a citizen of a secular nation?
The brother is gay. I wonder how the family will take that when he comes out?
I could tell Debra was lying about not wondering about other children
and many of the other questions she was asked. She looked like she was
about to cry during the barn questioning. I feel so sorry for her. Funny, how she criticizes the big bang, evolution and does not even have a basic understanding of the two. She also holds science at a higher standard than she does her religious beliefs.
i have the priveledge of calling this family my friends they r amazing loving kind people who give there all to everything they do i have fallen on hard times and they have all been there for me and my family whos to say there way of life is wrong i know myself and my family have become better people since knowing this family
This is a suicidal cult if ever I saw one. Those parents are bigots who are leading their flock into a dangerous Waco scenario. Turn away now people before it's too late. Save yourselves and follow evolution.
A lot of my collages at my research lab did not watch TV and they do not know how the Kardashians or Lady Gaga looked like, but this is not a result of ignorance (unlike those kids). Ignorance may be a blessing, but they are missing out a lot of opportunities for learning when their brains are developing, and will probably have a difficult life out of their family.
Well, I'd rather live with the Duggars. At least they don't spend every waking moment judging others.
Deborah is miserable.
I'll bet her brothers' room mates couldn't wait till she left. They were so nice to her, really lovely girls.
Her brother is very good to her. She's very lucky to have him.
I'd rather stick a needle in my eye than check out her blog.