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A conservative Christian family moved to Russia to escape LGBT ideology – only to melt down when their bank accounts were frozen and there were no English speakers to help them.
Farmer Arend Feenstra and his wife Anneesa made the decision to move their family of 10 from Canada to Russia a month ago, but their dream appeared to go quickly downhill upon their arrival.
The proceeds from selling their farm in rural Canada were immediately frozen as their Russian bank deemed the sum ‘suspicious’.
And their struggles led Anneesa to erupt into a rant about their new home – which only made matters worse after Kremlin officials took a dim view of her insults.
In a since-deleted video on YouTube, she railed against not being able to speak the language or solve their issues, saying she was ‘very disappointed in this country at this point.’
‘I’m ready to jump on a plane and get out of here. We’ve hit the first snag where you have to engage logic in this country and it’s very, very frustrating,’ she reportedly said.
After the video was taken down from their account Countryside Acres, Arend shared a groveling apology video where he said their ‘thoughts aren’t always conveyed properly.’
In a follow-up video from February 11, Arend said their funds were no longer frozen, and they intend to stay in the former Soviet nation ‘for the long haul.’
Arend Feenstra and his wife Anneesa (pictured together) have attracted attention after moving their family of 10 from rural Canada to Russia to escape ‘LGBT ideology’
The right-wing family’s move hit a snag as their bank accounts were frozen as soon as they arrived in Russia
When the family made the move, Arend justified the decision in a press conference as he felt that ‘Canada is not the same country it used to be.’
‘We didn’t feel safe with our children there and for the future,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of left-wing ideology, LGBTQ, trans, just a lot of things that we don’t agree with they teach there now.
‘We wanted to get away from that for our children. But also, for economic reasons, the farming has better opportunities. We felt that Russia was best.’
He insisted that Russia has the ‘strength’ to ‘stand up against Western pressures’, and The Kremlin would be able to keep ‘that stuff away’ for years to come.
‘Other countries are under the Western influence and wouldn’t be able to stand up against it,’ he concluded.
In previous videos, Arend reportedly ranted about his ‘disgust’ at seeing ‘homosexual flags everywhere’ in his neighborhood, claiming it was a bad thing that it ‘is openly celebrated and worshipped almost.’
The homophobic family’s decision to flee to Russia comes two years after the nation passed one of its strongest anti-LGBT laws yet, effectively outlawing any public show of support for gay people.
Before their move, the family said they received assurances from Russian officials they would help set them up in the country.
However, once they arrived and transferred the money from their farm sale, an automatic warning alerted the bank to the large sum, and it was immediately frozen.
Despite the setbacks, Arend insisted they are remaining in Russia, saying: ‘We are perfectly happy here, we’re not planning on leaving here, we’re not stuck here, we’re not hostages’
Arend seen in his follow-up video after his wife’s rant, titled: ‘WE ARE SORRY AND WILL DO BETTER’
The homophobic family’s decision to flee to Russia comes two years after Vladimir Putin (pictured) passed one of its strongest anti-LGBT laws yet, effectively outlawing any public show of support for gay people
Arend said in one YouTube clip that they were informed the money seemed suspicious, and were subsequently left with almost nothing to live off as they couldn’t access their funds.
The family’s move hit yet another snag when they tried to unfreeze their money, because the lack of any English speakers – and their inability to speak Russian – left them scrambling.
Explaining the difficulties in his apology video, Arend said: ‘As much as banks have been very frustrating in Canada for me, I know that I can desk in a chair across from someone and explain it.
‘And that’s the frustrating part.’
Amid their fury at having their money frozen, Anneesa reportedly took to their YouTube account to vent her anger at their move to Russia.
‘I’m ready to jump on a plane and get out of here. We’ve hit the first snag where you have to engage logic in this country and it’s very, very frustrating,’ she said in the video which was reportedly deleted.
Arend mentioned that ‘it was requested to remove’ the video, however he later claimed that Russian officials haven’t pressured him to remove it and they edited the clip on their own.
He also claimed that his family has no plans to leave Russia, and are in it for the ‘long haul.’
In his apology video, Arend clarified that his wife was merely frustrated with the situation of their money being frozen, and insisted the rant was not aimed at Russia as a nation.
Arend justified his family’s decision, urging ‘large families, Christian farming families, conservative people’ to follow them to Russia
As the Feenstra family’s decision to move to Russia attracted media attention, Arend said he has been aware of the coverage, but warned his followers that ‘Western media for the most part is very biased, corrupt probably.’
‘Lots of lies, lots of nonsense being spread around the West about us,’ he continued.
‘We are perfectly happy here, we’re not planning on leaving here, we’re not stuck here, we’re not hostages.’
Arend urged others to follow his move to the former Soviet state, claiming officials ‘make it easy’ for Americans to move to Russia.
‘Especially large families, Christian farming families, conservative people, and they want them here… there’s tons of land and opportunity here,’ he added.
The Feenstra’s have racked up over 120,000 subscribers with their videos, however the comments show many have taken a poor view of their move to Russia
‘You went from a freedom index of 98/100 in Canada to 16/100 in Russia. Political Rights get a whopping 5/40 and Civil Liberties 11/60. OMG good luck family,’ said one.
Arend also claimed that his videos ‘prove’ that Russia has a free press – leading viewers to dare him to say a single negative thing about Vladimir Putin or the conflict in Ukraine in one of his videos.
Despite the critics, Arend insists he has no regrets and is glad to have moved away from Canadian society.
‘I just want to farm,’ he concluded.
‘I just want to farm and raise my kids in what I believe is a free country.’
Some also warned that the family may want to be more careful with its criticism of Russia in the future, following the arrest and detainment of numerous people for making complaints.
