text: The New Zealand family of fourteen who last month walked out of a remote Christian commune that shuns the outside world are adjusting well to life in the wider community, a relative said, with the father accepting a farm job and the family moving into a home with modern appliances. James and Hope Ben Canaan last month declared they were living in a 'false system' and left the Gloriavale Christian Community, located at Lake Haupiri on New Zealand's West Coast, with their twelve children and few worldly possessions. Founded by the Australian-born evangelical preacher Neville Cooper - now known by the name Hopeful Christian - Gloriavale is home to around 500 residents, sometimes known as Cooperites, who wear a plain, blue uniform and reject birth control. Scroll down for video . Free: The Ben Canaan family (picture supplied) have left behind Gloriavale for the outside world. Many family are pictured here in traditional Gloriavale uniforms, although they are now allowed to wear 'modest' clothing . Gloriavale is a Christian community of around 500 people who follow a literal interpretation of the New Testament and reject the outside world . The Ben Canaans fled some 300km south to the town of Timaru, where supporters from the Marchwiel Reformed Baptist Church community have helped them adapt to a world where Christmas and birthdays are celebrated and money is used to purchase goods and services. '(They're doing) really, really good,' said Mr Ben Canaan's aunt, Miracle, who herself fled the picturesque commune with her husband and ten children around six years ago. 'They are adapting very well. They've got a job and everything. They've had a lot of support.' The family left Gloriavale, which is located at Lake Haupiri on the west coast of the South Island, for Timaru, around 320km away . Gloriavale residents do not hold celebrations for birthday parties or Christmas . Miracle, the daughter of Neville Cooper (pictured speaking in a previous interview with New Zealand television) said the Ben Canaan family are adapting very well . The Ben Canaans' close supporters have closed ranks around the family, who last month thanked the community for their support and requested privacy in order to 'settle into our new lives' in Timaru. Sources familiar with Gloriavale, such as Miracle - one of Neville Cooper's ten children - discussed the challenges of adjusting to life outside the commune in general terms to Daily Mail Australia. 'There's just a complete struggle in the outside world,' she said, adding that she had 'nothing' when she left but 'managed to get away' from the community 'without too much drama'. 'It's totally different to what you've lived before. 'You know nothing of just normal, everyday stuff - like renting a home, insurance, any of those types of things. 'Often people don't have their birth certificates or bank accounts. They don't even know how to spend money, how to buy things. 'There's birthday parties, Christmas - none of that was practised in the community... It's huge, adapting (to all of that).' The Ben Canaans will now be able to readily access personal technology, like mobile phones and have a television which they can watch without restrictions. Neville Cooper - now known by the name Hopeful Christian - is the Australian evangelist who founded the Gloriavale commune after clashing with church leaders in New Zealand and Australia. In 1995, he spent almost a year in prison on sex abuse charges . Former Gloriavale residents tend to find it difficult to adapt from the outside world, a former resident told Daily Mail Australia. 'It's totally different to what you've lived before' The Ben Canaans no longer have to wear their Gloriavale 'uniform'. Instead, Miracle said they will now wear 'modest clothes'. The women in the family will also have to adjust to a world where make-up is worn regularly. Author Fleur Beale, who wrote the book Sins of The Father about the 1989 escape of Neville Cooper's son, Phil, and his family from the commune, said the biggest challenge the Ben Canaans would have would be financial, particularly given their 12 children. 'You can imagine what it's like trying to find a place to live with a family like that,' Ms Beale told Daily Mail Australia. Gloriavale residents are often dubbed 'Cooperites'. Pictured is a Gloriavale wedding . The happy couple kiss as they are led from their wedding ceremony . 'You haven't been used to handling money or buying in a shop. And what do you wear?' The details of the Ben Canaans' departure from Gloriavale remain unclear. Miracle said the community was not surrounded with large walls, but: 'There are different types of walls... 'Psychological walls as well as physical barriers, but no access to telephones and long driveways to be able to leave.' A spokesman for the commune, Fervant Steadfast, told the New Zealand Herald last month the family had been permitted to depart. 'If they want to go and live in Timaru, well, that's their choice and that's what they need to do. 'No one is here against their will. We only want people who want to be here.' Nestled on the banks of the picturesque Lake Haipuri on New Zealand's rugged West Coast, Gloriavale is a Christian community of around 500 people who follow a literal interpretation of the New Testament. The community, which isolates itself from the outside world, was founded by Neville Cooper, a Australian evangelist. Cooper moved across the Tasman in 1969 with his wife, Gloria, and their ten children to found a Christian community. As its membership swelled, in 1991 they purchased land by the scenic lake to live off. Mr Cooper - a controversial figure who spent almost a year in prison on sex abuse charges in 1995 - would later change his name to 'Hopeful Christian'. Fleur Beale, the author of the Gloriavale book Sins of the Father, said the most striking thing about Gloriavale was the 'control those in power' - a group of elders - 'had over the ordinary people.' 'The women, particularly - it would be miserable to be a woman in Gloriavale,' Ms Beale told Daily Mail Australia. Birth control is non-existent. 'God wants you to get married and have as many children as you can. That's why they have big families.' Residents are required to wear a uniform. Women generally frock up in long, blue dresses - 'every single day', a former resident named Miracle told Daily Mail Australia. Meanwhile, men wear neckties, dark blue pants and a light blue sleeved shirt. And while the personal use of technologies such as television and mobile phones is rare among 'ordinary people', Ms Beale said the community was 'very innovative', with extensive commercial operations. Residents do not take any wages, but work hard for the community's dairy and deer farms. The community consists of more than 80 families, according to Gloriavale's official website, and they live together in large, communal hostels.
target: A New Zealand family of fourteen walked out of remote Christian sect .
  Residents of Gloriavale isolate themselves from the outside world .
  With a population around 500, they do not use birth control .
  All residents are required to wear blue uniforms .
  They have advanced farming tech but rarely watch TV or listen to radio .
  The 'Ben Canaan' family, as they are known, now live in Timaru .
  They have been supported by local church who have rallied around them .
  The family have moved into a home and the father has a job as a farmer .