Her father was a Nazarene minister, and she is credited with bringing the "fundamental Pentecostal principle of being 'Spirit-led'" into the movement she eventually came to lead.
Trained as a stenographer, she became the personal secretary to David Berg, the group's founder, and was instrumental in transcribing his classes.
Throughout the 1980s, she dictated and enforced elements of discipline, ending, for instance, a training program for children she deemed too harsh which included public beatings during “exorcisms” in front of peers.
[5] Rodriguez's childhood (Berg was his stepfather) was recorded in a book called The Story of Davidito, which was meant to be an example to other members on how to raise their children.
[2] According to the book, Zerby participated in the alleged sexual abuse of her son, alongside David Berg, from the time he was 18 months old, and allowed her seven-year-old daughter Christina to be raised in a similar manner.