Grace J. Adams - Hearken O Daughter: Three Sisters from New Zealand Travel to Waco. Only Two Return...

I met Grace Adams 25 years after the siege of Waco.

I was covering the anniversary of the tragedy and wanted to meet Grace to broadcast her story for an Australian television program called A Current Affair .

Strangely, Grace and I were in Texas almost at the same time - and we both went there for a purpose. Grace, the New Zealander searching for answers to life, and myself, a journalist, searching for answers as to why people like Grace would be mesmerised by a cult leader called David Koresh.

But thats where the similarities ended, and our worlds couldnt have been further apart.

Graces tale is one of tragedy, bravery and raw honesty whereas mine was about a young journalist trying to expose a bizarre and dangerous cult to the world.

As a young woman growing up in New Zealand, Grace felt lost, and hoped Koreshs Branch Davidian cult was the answer to all her questions.

At an early age, Grace decided God was not the man who could lead her to a deeper meaning in life. That man, she decided, was Koresh, the charismatic and controversial self-proclaimed Lamb of God who promised his followers he would lead them to a better life. And an even better after-life.

Grace believed in David Koresh. She believed in his teachings, his actions and of course, his prophecies. She invested her life in this man, but in the end, it hurt her, and destroyed her family.

Graces journey is one of heartache and anguish but its one that needed to be told. Its poignant, disarmingly personal and compelling.

Yet, sadly, instead of enlightenment, Graces journey led her down a dark path of abuse and mistreatment, a result of Koreshs psychotic nature.

My meeting with Koresh came months after Grace had left the compound to travel back to New Zealand. That decision to leave would save Graces life.

When I met the cult leader, he was charming and chatty and the ultimate PR man - even presenting me and the film crew with a case each of Aussie Fosters Lager. A direct contrast to his team of bodyguards who constantly threatened us that we wouldnt leave the compound alive.

Tragically, it was most of Koreshs followers at Mt. Carmel who ultimately didnt leave alive - killed in the deadly inferno that shocked the world.

In my two days inside the compound I interviewed people like Grace who believed in Koresh.

We filmed Koresh ranting to bleary-eyed followers, preaching his version of the Bible, we filmed Koresh leading his rock band, and Koresh showed us around the property. Many of his disciples told me they would die for him. Prophetic indeed.

Koresh thought we were in Texas to tell the world what a guru and a genius and a prophet he was - in reality, we were there to confront the cult leader with the allegations of former followers - that he was abusive, had sex with minors, and brainwashed the people who believed in him. Of course, he had an answer for everything.

Twenty-five years on, I find myself facing Grace in a dark meeting room at the Channel 9 offices in Melbourne, Australia, about to conduct an interview about her life under the rule of David Koresh.

Her voice quivers as I say that mans name. You can almost see her mind flash back to those traumatic confrontations with Koresh, and the tiresome all-night preaching. She cries when we discuss the damage he caused to her family.

Koreshs influence wasnt only on Grace. He affected people around the world. Those who followed him, and the rest of us who witnessed the ultimate fiery end of a despots rule.

The siege of Waco remains one of the most contentious militarised attacks on civilians in the modern era. In a twist of fate, Grace and Poias sister, Rebecca, was caught in the deadly crossfire, and lost her life.

The sisters story of their search for salvation is gripping. How they recount their joint mission for the meaning of life, only to see it torn apart by the evil nature of one man who wielded too much power, is captivating.

Its a story of hope, bravery and resilience in the face of demonic behaviour.

Grace and Poias account of their escape from Waco is also one of luck and loss, and most importantly, lessons.

Theyre ready to tell the world the real story of Waco, and the real story of David Koresh. In the best way possible - their own life experience.

And they tell it from the most genuine and intimate place of all - the heart.

Martin King - Senior Journalist Channel 9 Australia