FSM
FSM 179 (FN 288) DO
SPECIAL EASTERN EUROPEAN ISSUE!
Copyright: Oct. 1990
by Family Services, Zurich, Switzerland.
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IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE TO VISIT POLAND!
--Excerpts from a Report by Isaac Numbers
I really love you so very much & pray for you daily! It is such a tremendous comfort & strength to have your frequent counsel, encouragement, love & prayers which we greatly appreciate as we have so many "irons in the fire". It is so apparent to us how much it has to be the LORD doing this job! For example, we were already fully booked this month trying to finish the meeting notes & preparation for the following Delegates' meetings when the Lord showed us the need to tune into Eastern Europe MORE by making direct visits. And now, on top of that, we are experiencing some severe persecution in another part of Europe.
We see that we have to cast our burden on the Lord, because it sure is more than WE can handle. So we appreciate your prayers, because we know that's what keeps us going.
THIS TRIP CHANGED MY LIFE!
Recently Lisa & I visited Poland & the Eastern European Border Base. We didn't have a pre-set agenda of what we wanted to do when we went there, but we just felt the burden from the Lord that the brethren there really needed our help. We read "The Way of Pioneers" (ML#2448) the morning we made the decision to visit Poland & it seemed to be such a confirmation that we had to put our shoulder to the rock & push & help our brethren there overcome the initial obstacles they are facing with each new stage of this witnessing push. We had to go by faith because we couldn't see how it would fit into our schedule with everything ELSE that was already on our agenda, but we knew if we prepared our work in the field, then the Lord would help us build our house afterward. (Prov.24:27)
I have found personally that whenever we meet new people or visit a new country, our lives are changed. We are never quite the same again, because we have a new vision, fresh input & new information. But I would say this was the case concerning our visit to Poland more than almost any other trip I've ever experienced before. My four or five days in Poland changed my life as I saw the vast potential of that country, & gained a greater insight into the rest of Eastern Europe. Also it gave me a tremendous burden to see how much we can do to help strengthen the Work there. It is a totally different situation from our Work in the rest of Europe, & it was wonderful to be able to experience it first-hand. We are very thankful that we were able to go.
It was also quite a tremendous experience to see just how mightily & miraculously the Lord is moving in Eastern Europe right now. It was like arriving at the scene of a large circus or major symphony with so many different aspects of the Work dove-tailing together & happening at the same time.
EASY BORDER CROSSING!
Our entry into Eastern Europe was Vienna, & it's only about a one-hour flight from Vienna to Warsaw. When leaving the airport in Vienna, we could see how it is aptly dubbed the "gateway to the East". Minute-by-minute there were announcements on flights leaving for Warsaw, Prague, Budapest or different cities in Russia. There were many Easterners travelling to & from the East at the airport.
Crossing through Customs was very easy. Normally you're given a Declaration Slip, but it seems somebody forgot to give us one at the airport or on the plane, so when we went up to the Customs official at the counter where it said "Nothing to Declare" we asked him, "What do we do? We have some tape recorders & cameras with us. How do we declare that?" He replied, "Just go on straight through here."
We had with us new mailings, 500 pieces of sheep mail, film work for 10 new Posters that we were bringing for a new print run, a stack of Russian Daily Foods, computer equipment & funds for future printing projects, so we were quite loaded down with gifts & tools for the brethren there in Poland. TTL we had real good prayer beforehand & we whisked through without any problems at all!
(Then when leaving Poland, at the airport the fellow asked us for our Declaration Slip & we said we'd never received one, & he just scratched his head & waved us through without any problems.)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF POLAND!
Upon arriving in Poland, we were pleasantly surprised by our initial impressions, as in many ways the reports we'd received from various Western brethren who'd been to Poland painted a rather bleak or gloomy picture of the country. We felt a spirit of freedom & peace, & we didn't have a feeling that we were being observed or hindered by tight security. There seemed to be quite a laxness in the way things operated. Also the Polish people seemed quite sweet, somewhat artistic in their outlook towards life & very expressive. They have a real spunky side to them in spite of the drabness of the Communist regime of many years.
The System works much better than we anticipated. In fact, things in Poland are much more advanced than some countries in Asia such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines or China. It might be helpful to mention to some of our Western brethren whose experience has only been in First World countries that possibly they consider Eastern Europe to be very backward because they don't have the over-all view of what it's like in some of the REALLY backward countries. Since Lisa & I have experienced the conditions of even MORE backward countries such as those mentioned above, it helped us to more easily see the good & count the blessings of how far advanced Poland really is.
The streets were quite wide & well-paved with nice trees lining the centers. All the street lights, electricity & phones worked any time that we needed them. Of course, you do instantly notice that you are in a little bit of a "different world" though, as the equipment & everything that you use looks 10, 20 & maybe even 30 years old, but nonetheless it seems to work.
The Lord is using the new-found freedom & drive towards Capitalism for our own advantage in that there are Western companies coming into Eastern Europe to try to improve the infrastructure. For example, the Germans are working on a new phone system for Poland, so we shared with the brethren there that they shouldn't go by yesterday's conditions, but rather they should PRAY & expect that the Lord will help things to improve day-by-day for our benefit so that we will be able to get the job done quickly, just as the Lord helped conditions to radically improve in many of the Eastern countries in order to help us reap more efficiently.
In the neighbourhood of the Home where we stayed, there are many well-to-do houses & many of the houses we passed by have satellite TV dishes on them. Some of the houses have a Mercedes Benz parked in the front, & many people are building new houses or expanding their old ones. There seems to be quite a boom happening now since many of the old red-tape restrictions of the past have been lifted.
Regarding the local currency, the Zloty: There are about 10,000 Zlotys to the Dollar, so seeing the big figures on the prices took some adjustment at first. The average person earns about $80 a month in Poland. In general, things are quite cheap within the country, although prices have gone up considerably since the previous government. Money goes quite a long way in Poland. For example, a bus ride or a train ride which take 30 minutes costs about five or 10 cents! We bought some pretty postcards at the airport that cost about two cents per postcard.
So many things are quite cheap. You can buy a nice, brand new, straight-from-the-factory, nine-seat passenger van for only $3,500. All you have to do is order it by phone & you can pick it up the next day. TTL, He supplied the funds for our brethren there to buy one of these new vans, as the one they had was a real old relic.
MEETING THE BRETHREN!
Perhaps now I can share a few testimonies of the things that happened while we were there to try to give you a feel for how wonderfully the Lord is working there. When coming into the city from the airport, the brethren picked us up & drove to a very nice campground where we met two MISSLE teams from the London Teen Home that had just arrived the day before. One team was led by Elkanah & the other team was led by Jude & Eden, the Shepherds of the Teen Home. The Lord had supplied them with good caravans & vans for their journey, & all the Teens were on-fire & inspired. The Teens were walking around the campground practicing their Polish using the phrase book, & the national brethren were walking beside them, correcting their pronunciation. It was real sweet to watch.
Elkanah shared his impressions of this whole united push for Eastern Europe. He mentioned that it's so beautiful to see our Family in Europe working together so unitedly & sacrificially. He shared how one of the brethren in England had been saving up to buy a van & shortly after they bought it, they donated it for the use of the MISSLE Teams for the Summer Push. He also shared how the handymen in one Home were working diligently around the clock to help get the caravans ready & outfitted for their trips to Eastern Europe, & how FIVE MINUTES after they put the finishing nails on the project the team was ready to go.
Then we arrived at the Home & within a few hours we were talking to a team from Leningrad, Russia, which was calling in with their weekly stat update. We were able to say "hello" & tell them we were praying for them. Later that evening an emergency printing shipment of black & white tracts arrived. A team here was leaving the following morning for the Soviet Republic of Georgia, & thank the Lord a printer was willing to bump some of his other projects at the last minute in order to get a printing job done for us. So the brethren scattered around sitting on the floor & counted, wrapped & packed lit that evening. Then we were able to have prayer together for all the various aspects of the trip the next day using conversational prayer. The Lord gave an encouraging & inspiring prophecy as well.
The next day we received a phone call from the team in Georgia saying that they'd gotten through safely. Their suitcase was very heavy as it was 90% lit & 10% clothing. They told us how the officials opened the suitcase & looked at all the Posters & were amazed at how many they were bringing in. The team quite honestly & straightforwardly answered his questions, explaining that it was Gospel literature that they're bringing to help the people of Russia. And when the official asked, "Why do you bring SO MUCH?" They answered, "Because there are so many people here & they need this Message so much!" So, in exchange for a New Testament & a few Posters for himself, the Customs official waved our team through with no problem, TTL!
The next day we were able to meet with four other brethren who were coming for a briefing before heading out to the Northern border of Poland where they were to meet with two MISSLE teams who were arriving from Scandinavia & who were going to be spending the next month on the Baltic Coast. Also that night, John arrived back from the printer with samples of the 500,000 Posters that had just been printed by their new contact in Warsaw.
As you can imagine from this description, at every turn there was a new miracle or a new answer to prayer. Some things that we prayed for at the beginning of a meeting were answered by the conclusion of the same meeting, TTL! For example, we discussed with the Teamwork about how important it was for them to try to get their computer equipment working, & by the end of that meeting they came in excitedly telling us that it worked just great, TTL! So things change quite quickly there, but in almost all cases the news goes from GOOD to BETTER to BEST! TYJ!
OUR DEAR POLISH DISCIPLES!
We were very impressed with our brethren in Poland. Although very few Polish people in the general public speak English & very few of our disciples spoke any English at all when they first joined, most of them now speak English quite well. I think we could probably say in general they speak much better English than some of our disciples of other nationalities who have been in the Family for two, three or four times as long.
We also found the Polish disciples to be very open & friendly with us. They didn't show any signs of fear or hesitancy that we have sometimes experienced with other brethren in their initial contact with leadership. We also found the Polish brethren to be extremely sincere & deep in their communications with us.
Lisa & I had a meeting with the Polish nationals one evening & had an open Question & Answer session. God bless them, they were really hungry & excited about the chance to talk with us personally. The questions they asked were real good questions, not "gossipy" questions, but deep searching questions such as: "What did you have to go through to find your present calling?" or "What do you consider the most precious lesson you ever learned?" or "How did you get the victory over self-righteousness?" or "What is it like meeting the Folks?" or "How do you handle your various responsibilities & still maintain time for prayerfulness?" or "How do you implement the Prayerfulness Revolution?" They're very hungry & sincere, & they show real potential as labour leaders.
They also asked some cute questions as well as the serious ones, one of which was, "Do you ever have fun things happen to you or do you have funny things happen to you?" Of course we do, & we were able to relate some of our amusing stories to them & to show them how the Lord helps us to have fun serving Him. That seemed to set some people at ease, seeing we're all human & we have fun, & in spite of our leadership responsibilities, we're just the same as them. It helped to bridge the gap & shorten the cord between us all, & it seemed like it really inspired the brethren to feel that much more loved & trusted.
POLISH NATIONALS--MISSIONARIES TO THE RUSSIANS!
Another thing that impressed us about the Polish disciples is the great supernatural love which the Lord has given them for the Russians. Witnessing to Russians is giving them a chance to be missionaries themselves. And they look at the Russians with real compassion, seeing them as much poorer, simpler & sheepier than what they consider the "materialistic" Polish people. They also feel they have an advantage spiritually in that they've had more spiritual freedom & openness to the Gospel & Bibles for years, whereas those in Russia haven't had that opportunity until just now. So they have a real burden to reach the Russians & they speak with real glowing love & excitement about their ministry to reach them.
There are quite a few Russians that come to Poland every day. They travel in buses, cars & vans & come to what they consider the "West" in Poland to sell their goods, hand-made clothing & different articles for a higher price than they can get back in Russia. So there's a real free market spirit operating in Poland now which is a new phenomenon. As you drive along the highways, you see various goods spread out along the streets & sidewalks where the Russians are selling their goods & buying things that are not available in their own country.
The brethren in Poland are going out each day to reach these bus loads of Russian tourists, & they often win whole bus loads to the Lord at one time! The tour guides turn the microphone over to the brethren so they can witness to all the people on the bus, who all get saved & end up in tears & happily receive the Posters! The Family there told us that about HALF of the souls they win each month are from the Russians they personally witness to in Poland. The brethren, of course, are also very excited about the trips that are heading into Russia at this time & are excited to be able to send lots of Posters & other tracts in with these pioneer teams.
THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO!
Another first impression that we experienced in Poland was how BIG the job is! There is such a vacuum for training & shepherding these precious nationals. In addition to that, the REAPING is going to be phenomenal. We took in with us 500 pieces of mail that had just come over the past few weeks in response to the Posters that had been distributed in Poland in the last month or so. The people had written to the address on the Poster (outside of Poland) seeking help. When we brought the mail in with us, the brethren rejoiced & excitedly went on the attack as soon as they saw it. They were crying as they translated the various heartfelt letters that they'd received from their people. This wave of mail responses means that they're going to have to gear up from being basically witnessing Homes to almost overnight having a full-scale Mail Ministry operation. We'd like to see the area get more financial support from the richer fields if possible. For example, one night we watched a video of the movie, "Field of Dreams" together, which we pow-wowed with the teams that had just come from the London Teen Home & the nationals of the nearby Home. This was an inspiring event, but the TV that we watched it on was a very small one & those at the back of the room would almost need a telescope or binoculars to see anything in detail. So we would like to encourage our Family in the West to provision needed equipment such as TVs, VCRs, good computer equipment, etc. for our Homes in Eastern Europe so they can do the job more efficiently.
While Postering, the brethren tried asking the people if they would like to help with donations towards the printing of more literature. Normally, a two-man attack team in Poland raises about 500,000 Zlotys in a week. (That is about $50.) A MISSLE Team who had arrived in Poland from London went out one afternoon to distribute Posters before heading on the road, & a couple of nationals went with them. They had baskets with them with little signs asking people if they would like to give a donation to help. They tried this out on an experimental basis & that afternoon while the MISSLE teams distributed Posters, the team collecting donations received 500,000 Zlotys, which as mentioned above, is the same amount of donations as is usually raised by a two-man team in a week! PTL! The brethren were inspired to see how the Polish people were quite happy & willing to give & were somewhat missionary-minded themselves.
While visiting Poland we worked on fighting the "it-can't-be-done-spirit". Along with this we addressed the problem of some of the Western brethren's comments & jokes regarding Poland. We explained how, besides possibly being offensive to the nationals, it was not very productive in any respect to make derogatory comments or jokes about the Polish System, because it doesn't inspire faith to get the job done. We shared with them that if they put the same effort into PRAYING for conditions to improve, rather than JOKING or COMPLAINING about how bad conditions are, they would get a lot further in the long run.
MORE ABOUT POLAND!
About a five-minute walk from the Home is a beautiful forest. We'd walk through beautiful groves of oak, pine & birch trees with nice paths winding throughout them. The brethren told us that the Polish people are quite proud of their forests & that's one of their big pastimes, to go walking in the woods there. It is quite beautiful! I hadn't expected anything like that.
Also, we visited the local flea market, which is open each Saturday morning in the center of the city. We were quite impressed with the wide range of articles that are available for sale there. This is again quite a new thing, & the variety of goods increases regularly. The brethren told us that often when you can't find things in the shops, you can find them in the flea market. Just in the few minutes that we were there, we saw all kinds of things being sold, from cute little puppy dogs to microwaves to pirated videos, girlie magazines from the West, computer hardware, video equipment, clothing, household items--quite a range of items, & it was all being sold quite openly! This could possibly even be an avenue where we could sell our Kiddie Viddies.
GETTING THE JOB DONE IN SPITE OF IMPOSSIBILITIES!
When we met in our first planning meeting in May to discuss supplying the MISSLE Teams, the question came up as to how to get so much literature shipped into these countries & through the borders safely. We threw out to them the possibility of printing literature right INSIDE Eastern Europe & trusting that the Lord could raise up contacts within those countries themselves. A few people scratched their heads with some disbelief about the possibilities of this.
At first, the initial reports from Poland were that we couldn't get good contacts & it was expensive & slow, but John went on a special assignment to pioneer printing contacts in Poland. We now have a contact in Poland that prints cheaper than any other price throughout Europe! Their quality is quite good, very good colour, registration & they're able to get the job done for us within one week.
Likewise the Lord has raised up a very good contact for us in Hungary, where the people really like what we're doing so they gave us a very good price & had their people work extra shifts over the weekend to get the job done. Now we're bordering on almost four million* Posters already being printed in Eastern Europe, so that's a tremendous victory. It's thrilling to see that the job is getting done in spite of all the impossibilities. TYJ! (*Editor: Now up to 7 million!)
PLEASE KEEP OUR FAMILY IN POLAND IN YOUR PRAYERS!
You would really be proud of your sweet Family there in Poland! They're precious fighters & they love Dad & Mama so very much. At any mention of Dad & Mama, they were quite moved & teary-eyed. They were very moved when we read to them a message from the Folks that said: "We've been especially praying for the EE Push & absolutely marvel at all the Lord is doing there & how much Message is getting out so quickly! PTL! Please let everyone know that we are absolutely thrilled with the wonderful, united & coordinated effort that all the European Family has pulled together on to make this push possible! PTL!"
Our Polish brethren are very dedicated & loyal & have really followed by faith all these years under rather closed & somewhat isolated conditions. We encouraged them about how the Lord was now rewarding them for sticking, & that now the Lord wanted to grow them up to become Shepherds themselves to help reach the new harvest.
It's interesting to see how the Lord seems to time everything so beautifully, & the Polish disciples themselves commented on how wonderfully the Lord's plans have fallen in place. There was quite an explosion of disciples about five or six years ago, at which time many of our Polish brethren joined. In recent years, however, there have NOT been so many disciples joining, & we could see the Lord's Hand in that because it's given time for the National Church there to get strengthened. Perhaps in the near future we will be facing a whole new disciple boom, especially judging by the sincerity & hunger of the mail responses we've received so far.
Please keep the Work in Poland & in all of Eastern Europe in your prayers as there is so much to do & we all have so much to learn. It's a real revolution & things are moving so fast here! We pray that the Lord will protect the Work over-all & help it to grow & prosper in the way that He wants it to go. PTL! [--AMEN! GBY ALL!--IJN,A!]
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THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN SCOUT TEAM!
From Victor, Lukas, Paul & John
I went into Czechoslovakia four years ago when it was quite a closed country.--The border guards & the people were more oppressed under the Communist regime. At that time I went in by train, & when I got to the border a soldier quickly opened the door, came in, jumped up & down, looked behind my feet to see if there was anything under me & grabbed my coat to check for anything illegal. The soldiers were so stiff & serious. Sometimes they would stomp along the roof of the train, just to get everyone paranoid & fearful. That was what crossing the border was like four years ago.
And when I entered the country at that time, the people acted like they were in prison without hope. They were so oppressed, working with no motive. Conditions were very rough, food was scarce, life was hard. Reaching the people at that time was quite difficult. It was very hard to penetrate that spirit.
THE COUNTRY HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY!
Going in this time, we didn't know what to expect. We hid our lit as much as we could in our van & then had good prayer & headed to the border. When we arrived at the border, the guards opened the door of our van as they joked between themselves. They asked us where we were from, & when we said we were Americans, they began joking about the States, New York, Miami, etc.
One of the guards wanted to look around in the van. So he climbed inside & said, "What's over there?" I started to pull things out of the cupboards when he said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Put it away!" And he walked out. What a difference! I could hardly believe it. The border crossing only took 10 or 15 minutes. The soldiers were so sweet, the whole spirit was different.
THE CZECH PEOPLE ARE SWEET & HELPFUL!
The Czechoslovakian people are so beautiful. We fell in love with them. They really took the lit! When Postering they crowded around us. I think this is one of the first times I've had someone come up to me & ask for lit as if to say, "Please," while holding their hands folded as though in prayer. They were practically begging for the lit, they were so sweet!
When we were there we needed to try to get the Czech phrase book done, which meant we needed to find someone who would be willing to help us with the translation. We didn't know WHERE to start, but the Lord showed us to go to a University. We started talking to this boy who told us he could help us for 15 minutes. The students were all preparing for exams & he had a class soon. He ended up spending a few hours with us, as his class was cancelled.
Then a friend of his joined us & he got him to help too, & then another friend. They took us to their office & spent three or four hours finishing the whole translation! And they hardly even knew us! They were so receptive to the Spirit! When working on the translations they said, "Jesus, come into my heart.--What does that mean, what is that?" One of them got saved just by translating the phrases about Salvation! And then this same fellow spent a few hours typing the whole phrase book for us. They just got drawn into the Spirit. Everyone in the whole office stopped to work on this project for a few hours!
The students there are deep. There is so much potential. They're very idealistic, intellectual, they want a cause to fight for. They're not just daydreaming or going through the motions, they want something to give their lives for. God bless them & Lord help us to reach them!
A DOCTOR'S EXPERIMENT!
We met S., a 32-year-old girl from Prague, who came to Warsaw for a two-week scientific program. She is a doctor, is married & has two children (ages 8 & 12). She didn't know anything about Jesus, & she didn't want to receive Jesus, giving all kinds of reasons why not to & finally saying that people need something to believe in & that's why they invented Jesus, Buddha, God etc. Finally we said to her: "Well, you're a scientist. Why don't you conduct an EXPERIMENT & just TRY receiving Jesus. It changed our lives, it can change yours too."
So we showed her some verses on Salvation & being born again, & she prayed to receive Jesus. At first we didn't know how deep the seeds went into her heart since she didn't show very much expression on her face. But she wanted more & more, so we continued to feed her. We read "Your New Life of Love" with her. She started to change & smile a lot & praised the Lord when praying with us.
By our next meeting, she already had a Bible in Czech. We had told her about the Bible being her spiritual food & she read everything we suggested for her to read. When we prayed together during our second meeting, she thanked Jesus that she had found real friends.
She wanted to see us again & invited us to Prague, as she was worrying about who she could have fellowship with. She was joking that her boss will be surprised when, instead of coming back with new SCIENTIFIC METHODS, she will come back with JESUS!
The very next day the Lord did another miracle & led us to meet her again for a short time before her departure. When we found her she was sitting on a bench reading the Gospel of John! We are going to follow-up on her by mail! PTL!
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SCOUT TEAM THRILLED WITH POTENTIAL OF EAST GERMANY!
Written by Paul Obey
What a privilege it was for us to be on one of the scout trips to East Germany. Before leaving we got together for prayer, and received the Lord's leading & beautiful promises that He had already given us this land for our inheritance, PTL! We were all excited to see what the Lord was going to do!
After a long journey with one of our cars overheating in the mountains, we finally arrived at the border, & lo & behold, we got waved right through without even having to show our passports or any other identification! We could feel a real spirit of freedom & openness. Like so often on the mission field, the main battle seems to be in the physical, but when we got out on the street, distributing the lit, all our worries seemed to just vanish away!
We had our first dinner in a picturesque tavern in Leipzig. The restaurant's sweet waiter gave us a table for ten in a separate room, & right there, hanging over us as if to welcome us, was a painting of Martin Luther! The Lord had already told us that He would send him to be our spirit helper, so we were really encouraged by this. One of God's little miracles!
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!
During our time there we wanted to try out different methods of witnessing & see what could work, & we found out that ANYTHING is possible, PTL. For example, two of us went with two JETTs for an hour of witnessing DTD, & commented, "This is a PARADISE for DTD." People in general do not believe in Jesus, but they all invariably add, "But I would like to know about Him." They are so open to the Gospel, always inviting you in & wanting what we have to offer, PTL!
When witnessing on the streets, many people pour out what they feel right there on the sidewalk, & offer their hearts to the Lord. As an example, one of us met this sweet man & after witnessing to him for awhile, he commented with a broken voice: "Now I can see I made a mistake.--In order to join the Police I had to deny my faith, Lord help me!" But God bless him, he was able to experience the Lord's forgiveness with tears in his eyes as he decided to open his heart to Jesus.
"THIS IS WHAT OUR COUNTRY NEEDS!"
We found a good busking spot in the center of one of the cities we visited. We hadn't even started to sing yet when a big crowd started to gather around us with looks of expectation. As we started singing & others passed out Posters, the onlookers started dropping their donations in our open guitar case.
We would sing half-hour sets, during which time we were also going around to advertise the children's Tapes & they were going out like crazy! We got out 50 children's Tapes in one and a half hours! WOW!
One lady was so appreciative that she came to thank us after the performance & said, "You brought us happiness! That is what our country needs so desperately!" One other sheep, a politician, commented after seeing us singing: "Now I can see what my country has missed for 40 years."
It seems like a few other groups are trying to get in as well, such as Scientology, who were selling their posters at a little stand, & the Bahai's. There were also posters of Hare Krishna on the walls, & a few charismatic groups from East Germany who were passing out invitations to their church meetings.
We were able to get the addresses of different Reform Schools from the City Hall in Berlin. They want us to sing there & are really turned on about it & want to help with generous donations.The Lord supplied abundantly & in one week we were able to distribute 10,000 Posters & over 120 Tapes, & win over 100 souls for Jesus, TYJ!
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EXCITING ACCOUNT OF THE YUGOSLAVIAN SCOUT TEAM!
--From Italian Peter & East European Philip
SUCH A HUNGER FOR THE WORD!
PETER: I have never seen anything as exciting & inspiring as Postering & giving out the Word in Yugoslavia as people are so interested & receptive--really sucking with a great vacuum for the Word. Not even in India had I met such receptivity.
Sometimes in our Postering on the street we tried to be choosy about who we gave the Posters to, but by the time we took the Posters out of our pouch, people were already taking them from us. We didn't have time to stop & think, "Well, maybe I should give this Poster to that person, because it applies more to them...", because by the time we'd take the Poster out, someone would already be asking us for it!
One of the most exciting things about it was how people responded to the lit. In the West most people take a Poster, give it a quick look, fold it up, put it in their pocket & walk away. But there, when people took a Poster, they'd open it & would just stand right there & start reading. You'd see a bunch of people standing around you reading the Posters. Even the ones who were in a hurry to get somewhere would read the Poster as they walked along. We saw hundreds of people walking away with the Posters in their hands, reading as they went, especially at the stop lights, when they had to wait to cross the street.
Out of 11,300 Posters that we distributed, we only found four or five Posters on the ground thrown away. That was such an encouragement to us. Asking for donations went really well too!
PHILIP: There seems to be a lot of potential for Tapenessing, especially the children's Tapes, as those were the first ones that got out! Also there seems to be a lot of potential for getting out the Videos! We tried getting out some Videos, & it seems that most people have a VCR, so that could be a whole new ministry there! Everyone we asked had a VCR--we were surprised!
WHAT IT'S LIKE ON THE STREETS!
PETER: One thing that impressed me was that I passed through Yugoslavia many times about 15 years ago before I joined the Family. At that time I was a Communist, but when I went to the Communist countries I was shocked because the spirit was so grey & gloomy, & it turned me off to that kind of Communism. (Then I met the Family, TTL!) But this time when we went to Yugoslavia I was a bit curious to see how things were compared to back then, & it was completely different.
There were thousands of people on the streets from early morning until late at night. Everyone was going shopping & trying to have a happy time. There are bars everywhere. People flock to McDonalds. The spirit is very relaxed in comparison to when I visited years ago. People are very much into materialism--getting a new Mercedes etc. You see all these new cars around & you wonder how they can afford it! It's quite amazing. The standard of the country is somewhat close to Western Europe, especially in some cities like Ljubiana & Spiit.
It's amazing how packed with people the streets are!--I could compare it to New Delhi or Bombay, where you see millions of people continually passing by on the street. I've never seen anything like that in Europe before. In most Western European cities, during certain times of the day the streets are quite full, but there it was ALL the time, a steady flow of people who are so ripe & ready for the Message!
SECURITY & THE ROMANS!
PHILIP: On the security side of things, people are relaxed & trying to enjoy life, & it seems even the police are trying to enjoy life. There were hardly any police on the streets actually. When we were on the streets giving out the Posters, we hardly met any police at all. Some of them who saw us Postering just passed by & didn't bother us at all.
Also going in & out of the country was so easy, they just waved us through the border without any checks or questions. We just showed them our papers through the car window & they waved us through--very easy.
PETER: The only time we saw a few policemen was when we started to Poster & I was going to take some pictures of Philip Postering & the people reading the Posters on the spot, because coming from the West it was amazing to see people just stand there & read the whole Poster all the way through on the spot. So he started Postering & all of a sudden a lot of policemen passed by on the street. It was like the Enemy was trying to scare us just as we were starting to witness in this particular city. But they didn't give us any trouble at all!
One even came up to Philip & asked if he could have a Poster! He started walking away with two other policemen, so I followed them a little while to see what they were going to do with the Poster!--And the three of them were all reading the Poster together as they walked along! PTL!
Of course, we still have to be on guard, but we didn't have to be afraid or try to hide the lit at all. We had our Posters in a folder, & we'd try to take them out one-by-one to pass them out. But as soon as we took one Poster out people started gathering around & started trying to take them out of the folder!--So you can't really be discreet & "anonymous", because people just flock around you & want to know what's going on.
I don't speak much Yugoslavian, but I didn't have any problem as most of the young people speak a little bit of English, at least they understand a little, & some older people too. There didn't seem to be any language problem, people were just happy that we were smiling at them & would answer back with a smile. They had a really good response towards foreigners--they like to have foreigners there.
FINDING ONE IN A MILLION!
PHILIP: Another little miracle that happened was in Zagreb, where we had decided not to go Postering because we didn't have Posters in the local language, so we went Tapenessing for awhile. That same morning when we had arrived in that city, I remembered a girl that I knew from the city where I was born, who I thought might now be in Zagreb for her studies. While thinking about it I realised that we had been very close friends before, but I had never witnessed to her. So after we finished Tapenessing we were walking down the street, & I asked Peter, "What are we going to do now?", & I turned around & there was the girl that I was thinking about standing right there on the street!
So I was able to witness to her & give her a Poster. She knew a little about what I was doing, & she told us that when her father died a few months ago she started to think about spiritual things & she said, "You know, I was thinking about you & hoping to meet you & hear what you had to say!" PTL! It was a real miracle that we met her because Zagreb is a city of one million inhabitants!
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM OTHER MISSLE TEAMS!
(MISSLE = Mobile Inspired Sacrificial Summer Launch into Eastern Europe)
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
We have been going to the University dorms where we've been able to reach a lot of the students & have had some very good fruit. We've already given four Bible classes to one girl. Another boy got saved, & after praying he looked up & said, "THIS is what the Czech people really need.--They need JESUS!"
While out Postering in the main street, I gave a Poster to two foreign-looking men who looked about 23 years old. They spoke English with an accent so I asked them where they were from. It turned out that they were from Moscow.
They were very excited & one of them said, "We know these Posters! We've seen them before in Russia! You are the Family, right? This is Father David's! We know Piper. He's a rock musician & plays Father David's songs!" There were really hungry for the Word, & I gave them an Endtime News! They gave us their address to be able to receive more Posters in Russian & so we can follow up on them! PTL!
One girl we met Postering didn't know anything about the Bible! When I first asked her if she believed in God she replied that she didn't know anything ABOUT God! I started to witness to her, she got very inspired & prayed with me! Right after the prayer she commented, "Wow, this is wonderful! But why didn't anyone ever tell me this before?!" She was desperate to know more, & felt wronged by the System for never having been told these beautiful things about Jesus. This same girl later on told us that her life was completely changed, & she was so much kinder to her brother, & even to her dog, which she hadn't been before! PTL!
A sheepy girl gave us her address, but the street names have all changed since the recent revolution, & she gave us the NEW street name while our map had the OLD names. So we were looking for her home to follow up on her but couldn't find her. One morning we prayed that we would meet her, & that very afternoon we bumped right into her--a real miracle since this is such a big city! I told her, "We prayed for you, that we would meet you today!" She couldn't believe it & said, "Really? Why would you pray for me?" We said, "Because Jesus really loves you, & we want to talk to you more about Him!" She said, "That's wonderful!" It was beautiful to see how the Lord answered our prayers in every little thing!
EAST GERMANY
I offered a Poster to a teen who was passing by but he didn't want it, so I called out to him, "Why NOT?!" Two minutes later he returned & said, "You're right! Why not? Please give me some Posters, I want to read them!"
One lady scolded her husband because he FOLDED the Poster. She said, "Now I have to iron it, as I want to hang it on the wall."
HUNGARY
We distributed 8,000 Posters at an Alice Cooper concert! It was a real invasion of the Enemy's domain. We met one punk hippy guy, who at first only wanted Posters to sell to be able to get into the concert, as he said that was his main goal & the only thing that mattered to him. But we witnessed & sang to him, & soon he was totally changed! He was hugging us & saying that we were his best friends in the World because we were the only people he ever met who believed him & understood him. He said how he didn't care about going to the concert anymore--all he cared about was to go with us. He cried when we had to leave. We have his address & will continue to follow up on him.
We were Postering on the street, when I noticed a man who was about 40 years of age. I offered him a Poster, which he proudly rejected and said, "I'm not interested! Don't give that to me, I don't care about that stuff!" Later he came back to me and I saw that he had received a Poster from my partner.
He asked me why I was doing this job and I shared my testimony with him briefly. He said that he had never thought that Jesus could love such a sinner as himself. He was very happy to hear that Jesus came to call the sinners to repentance and not the so-called "righteous," and he received the Lord on the spot.
At a disco club we were able to show half of the "S.O.S." Video. After witnessing to the 60 people who were in the disco, they all got saved!
We also met a very popular Hungarian movie & theatre star whom one of the National disciples recognised. He is in his forties, was wearing sunglasses & the latest fashions, & had a pretty girl by his side. He showed a real interest in us. We gave him a Poster & he gave a big donation, & he was very touched by our personal testimony.
He asked us, "What will you do when you get old?" (We felt that, in spite of his popularity & wealth, he probably worries about what will happen to HIM when HE gets old!) We replied, "We'll still do the same, serve Jesus!--Until He comes and even after that!" He left saying he would pray for us. The Posters are reaching people of all types!
People were actually begging for the Poster, "Come". One man spent an entire day looking all over town for us just to be able to get one Poster. He was so desperate & kept repeating, "I want Jesus! I want Jesus!"
Last week a couple who had met a MISSLE team in Romania came running up to us & the husband said, "I've met your people before. We prayed a special prayer with them & something amazing has happened, our lives are completely changed, nothing is the same! I have to meet you again."
Later Paul, who had been on that team to Romania, was able to call & talk with this man for a while. He's really been touched by the Lord's Spirit, & he said: "Remember how you told me to just try the prayer, & Jesus would come in & change me? Well, I tried & it has really happened! It's incredible!"
POLAND
A tram driver stopped his tram, jumped out of it & ran over to us begging for more Posters because his colleagues wanted some. He exclaimed, "We need you!"
A man, 70 years old, said that he felt like a millionaire now because the Lord had let him meet us. He called us his beloved spiritual family, & he said he would be willing to die for us. He was rejoicing that God let him see us doing our Work here! GBH!
The London Teen Home Team went busking on their second day in Warsaw. That day they gave out 9,000 Posters & won over 100 souls & they were filmed by Polish Television for about half an hour!
One young man who got saved through reading the Poster said, "I can't understand why anyone wouldn't change after reading these Posters, because they have such an important message."
This week while we were Postering on the coast, we went to a famous shipyard which employs about 9,000 people. We wanted to meet the workers after work to give them Posters. As we were checking out the best time & place to Poster, we met a man who was the security manager in the shipyard. We talked to him a little bit about our missionary work & how we would like to give the Posters to the people. He received a Poster from us & said he would like to help us distribute them. He told us about the best spots where we could Poster & also phoned the gate guards so that they wouldn't cause us any problems. He also asked for a stack of Posters as he wanted to put them on the walls in every room in the shipyard.
We asked this sweet man if he could help us to contact Lech Walesa to give him the Posters & our Message. Our friend didn't know Walesa personally so he couldn't help us, but he went with us to see the Chief of Solidarity in the shipyard, who turned out to be a very helpful man. He was interested in the Posters & the Message & said he would like to publish the picture of the Poster & an article about us in the monthly Solidarity bulletin. It comes out once a month, 1,500 copies, & is delivered to all the shipyards & to all the main Solidarity offices in the area. Lord willing, it will be printed in the next issue.
As we were in the shipyard the Lord led us also to a man who gave us more information about Lech Walesa, including his office address & his private phone number. We couldn't talk to Walesa personally because he had had an accident & broken his hand, but we left a message for him with a few words of encouragement, & Posters & also a Kiddie Viddie for his children & two Tapes. As we prayed afterwards, we got the verse, "The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord & He turneth it whithersoever He will." So let's not fail to pray for him! PTL!
ROMANIA
When we arrived at the Romanian border, the customs officer came into our caravan & searched it. He found the Red Cross clothes that we were carrying, but was offended when we offered him some. He started thoroughly searching our caravan. He found a package of Posters & opened it. He took them out & started reading one--it was almost like he was hypnotised by the Word, as he couldn't take his eyes off of it! He said, "How many of these do you have?" We told him we had 150 Packs! (Each pack contains 1,000 Posters.)
He was totally taken back, & went outside to talk to the other two officers, & gave them some of the Posters. They all started reading the Posters. We started witnessing to them, & all three of them received the Lord! The younger customs officer asked for a rock music tape, so we gave him a Memo Book Song Tape & he was so happy! After receiving Jesus they were all so happy, & just waved us through without any problems! PTL!
So far in one city we have gotten over 60,000 Posters out--37,000 in one day alone!
The president & three vice presidents of the Youth Foundation received Jesus after inviting us to a short conference where we discussed how we could help each other.
RUSSIA
We just came back from another seven-day trip to Leningrad. This time the Lord helped us bring in safely & distribute 10,000 pieces of lit, as well as win 32 souls. Postering here was like feeding a starving nation, we had to give it out as quick as we could, but still couldn't keep up with what the people wanted.
Many people were asking us for a few Posters to give to their friends & families. Many of them were from different parts of Russia, so only God knows how far this gold rolled.
During our stay, we also met with Piper & Stacey & shared with them the vision of Postering & sowing the seeds here. Afterwards Piper went out with us & really got turned on with this new method. So we left some Posters with them to distribute in their city.
Thank you so much for all your prayers that kept us during this time & all your help that made this trip possible. PTL! Please keep praying for the trips, that they'll continue & be fruitful. WLY!
A team from Poland to Russia reported that a lady there saw a Poster in the garbage. She got it out of the garbage, took it home, washed it, ironed it flat & then made photocopies of it for her friends & relatives. Such is the hunger & vacuum for the Word of God which the sheep there are so eagerly lapping up!
We went on a three-day trip to Moscow. It was the first time that we had the chance to openly Poster in the Capital of Russia! The people there are so very hungry & really searching, & they were literally grabbing Posters from our hands. Their great disappointment in Communism makes it a golden opportunity to give them Jesus!
During our first two days we gave out 29,000 Posters & the next day we spent personal witnessing & 213 souls got saved. TYL!
By a miracle, our first day Postering we met Piper & Stacey. They didn't know there was a team coming. They were just walking along one of the city streets & they saw a lot of people holding Posters, so they followed the stream to its source. Afterwards they joined us & we Postered together. We also went with Piper to a meeting with one of their potentials.
YUGOSLAVIA
We got out over 4,000 Posters in a few hours, plus over 100 souls were won. The young people gather in the square each evening & most of them speak some English. We've started to distribute the Kiddie Viddies & got out eight in just a few attempts.
We met M. who said: "I have been looking for you, because a friend of mine told me there was someone in town doing the same work my husband & I are doing!" She is married to a young ex-Catholic Priest who dropped out of the Catholic Church to marry her when she got pregnant. They are really on fire for Jesus & are trying to win this city with His Love via radio, television, etc.
We went to visit them that evening, & when we arrived she told us that when she had returned home in the afternoon with the "Signs of the Times" Poster, it really shocked her husband, who was at that very moment studying Matthew 24. When we met him he greeted us saying, "So YOU are the people who are doing this wonderful job in our city!" They eagerly took three Videos, 11 Tapes & over 100 Posters to give their friends! PTL!
Tapenessing DTD is very good. Most of the people speak English. They like foreigners & are usually very friendly & hospitable. We also went STS & it was very easy to get the people interested, especially in bars & restaurants where they really like English music.
We tried Tapenessing in apartments & gave out 15 Tapes with very good donations! We also tried the shops in the centre & encountered no problems! It goes very well for an average donation of $11 per Tape.
In less than five hours going DTD, Serena & our Yugoslavian friend got out 17 Tapes with very good donations, which is even better than in Italy! PTL! No one is doing anything like DTD here, so nobody says they already have it or they already gave! PTL!
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WHAT THE PEOPLE OF EASTERN EUROPE SAY!
--Excerpts from Letters Written in Response to the Posters!
(NOTE: OUR MAIL MINISTRY OFFICES FOR EASTERN EUROPE HAVE RECEIVED AN AVERAGE OF 2400 LETTERS PER MONTH DURING THIS WITNESSING PUSH! PTL!)
At home I read your Poster & it is just wonderful. It is written with so much love & affection. Everything I read has made a deep impression on me! The appealing picture is saying so much when you take time to study it! I just couldn't help but write to you! Reading the text sentence-by-sentence, it is like speaking the words out of my heart! It really goes under my skin, as if you were there in front of me, talking with me! (East Germany)
From a 14-year-old girl: I read your story "Incredible Journey". I want to tell you that it gave me hope, joy & courage! This story could even open the eyes & the heart of people who don't know Jesus yet. Thank you very much & please continue to write such true & warming stories about faith. Please also send me more information. (East Germany)
From a middle-aged woman: Today I received "Why Worry?--You're in His Hands!" This title really caught my interest because everyone here at present is plagued by fears of their future material existence!
The "Incredible Journey" has impressed me especially! After over 40 years of unbelief I have found faith after a near-death experience like that! Everyone that knew me from before thinks that I'm completely changed! (East Germany)
From a young mother of four children: We received your Poster entitled "What Everybody Needs Is Love!" & were fascinated by what was written therein. My husband & I have four children. For three years we have been Christians. We try to live & raise our children in the same faith, which is not always easy as we are far from perfect. Last night I was reading your Poster to my two boys & they were listening attentively from the beginning to the end. And the nicest thing about it was that both of them spoke the little prayer & received Jesus in their hearts afterwards. Please send me more of your nice Posters. (East Germany)
From a young man: For many years I was looking for something that could satisfy my spiritual needs. Finally I came to the point that I wanted to commit suicide, & I would have done this if I hadn't met you, who saw in my soul a little grain of a mustard-seed of faith, which although it was small, I hope it will bring forth fruit. Please give me more of this Heavenly information & beautiful Posters as much as you can, because I want to distribute them on the streets, squares & parks. (Poland)
From a 16-year-old girl: I thought that my life made no sense. I was becoming very apathetic & was losing my faith---and then I got your Poster. After reading it I found a goal in my life again. In these simple Words I found the answer to my question, "What do I live for?" Thank you with all my heart! (Poland)
I received your Poster, "What Everybody Needs Is Love", & I believe that the Love of Jesus can revolutionise the World & I want to partake in this task. If it's possible, please send me a bigger amount of your Posters so I can distribute them. Due to my work I can approach thousands of people, so I can do this work of distributing if you're interested. (Poland)
From a young girl named Marta: What has Jesus changed in my life?--He did a revolution! My life became full of meaning & joy! Although I have a difficult time now, I am looking at it in a different light. I am in constant contact with Jesus, & though I have difficulties I feel closer & closer to Him. My desire is for Him to always stay in my heart & continue to give me strength to overcome life's adversities. I owe so much to you. I don't deserve it all, & this is proof of how merciful & good the Lord is in giving me such a chance.
Jesus is greatest to me, & you are samples of His servants & disciples. I long to be closer to Jesus & serve Him with all my heart. My desire is to meet you again & learn from you. Teach me how to serve God & be closer to the Lord. Prepare me for meeting Jesus.
I tell my acquaintances of God's wonderful gift & about the wonderful people I met--you who are reading this letter. All of them would like to meet you & hear it. I love you very dearly & am so thankful that it is hard to express.
Please, write back to me as soon as possible to show me the way to follow the Lord. Please don't make me wait too long for the answer.--I know you are limited with time & I will wait. (Poland)
From Ania, Marta's best friend: We don't know each other yet. After Marta met you she told me all about you. She introduced you as wonderful people who preach Jesus' teachings like His Disciples once did. I'd like to hear you preaching Jesus' Word & teachings, as well as your music. I'm sorry you are so far.
Now I want to write you the most important thing. After Marta came back & after a few talks with her, I received the Lord Jesus into my heart. You can't even imagine how happy I am. I committed myself totally to Him & really believe that He is.
Since that time, my life has changed. I know that Jesus is with me & He watches my earthly life. I'd like to be like Him, but I know I still have a lot of things I need to change.
I want you to know I am very happy. Thanks to people like you, I really met Jesus! (Poland)
From Zlatko: I happened to be walking through my town, when a pregnant woman gave me your Poster. I told her I was a devil, and that no religion nor Lord's Words could help me. But nevertheless, something made me go back and read those two Posters. Reading them, I felt something moving inside of me. Until now I was ruled only by fear, distrust, hatred, and an inability to give or receive love. I felt that you have started to move my soul and heart which, during these years, was closed for all others. Please send me more such Posters. I eagerly await your reply and salute you with love. (Yugoslavia)
From a woman who wrote that she has an alcoholic husband: If you would have seen what tears we had when we received your letter, & how my children were begging me to read it to them! Not only did Jesus come into my heart, but He also came into my home & brought us the help we needed. (Romania)
From a middle-aged woman: Dear Honourable Ones, I was at a real crisis point in my life. I was almost at the end of my rope when I got your Poster, "Why Worry, You're in His Hands!" It gave my soul real peace. I said the prayer many times & because somebody had just loaned the Poster to me, I made a photocopy of it.
When I'm sad or weary I can pull the prayer out & find again what I lost, the calmness & peace of my soul. I feel God sent this Poster to me in the last minute when He stretched His helping Hand towards me again, to receive me amongst His children again. For this reason, I ask you to please send me more literature so I can get my strength from them day after day & so I can be delivered from my spiritual crisis. (Hungary)
From a 57-year-old woman: When I went shopping I got four Posters. I gave two of them away to my family. I kept one for myself and I put one on the wall in the hallway of the building of the City Council. It's been there for about three weeks and nobody has taken it down. It's nice and it's still there. I thought that maybe some people might not know what "His Hands" means so I wrote above it: "God's Hands". (Hungary)
From a young girl: When I read your Poster I felt a little bit ashamed because I don't know anything about these things. The things written are very interesting & I'm curious about what the ancients prophesied. I just realised that I've never even read the Bible. There must be a lot of similar interesting stories. I decided to get a Bible, & I would be very happy if you could send me more Posters. (Hungary)
From a Russian teacher, a 29-year-old woman: The pictures are amazingly beautiful & the texts on the back talk about Eternal Truths in a very simple, easy-to-understand language. We have very few materials with which to teach the children, especially something for the 6 to14-year-olds. I'd like to ask for your help that I could give these Posters to the children as rewards. (Hungary)
From a 15-year-old Romanian girl: Thank you for everything. In January, my sister & I came to Hungary to be with my mother. We went through a terrible revolution in Romania where we lost a lot of our friends. We live here in a tense situation as pilgrims, we don't have anybody & we're not rich. My parents are divorced.
It's hard to get used to a new place, but so far I trusted only in God & He was the only One that stood with me. He's the One whom I love the most. In the revolution in December, I was running between the bullets, but I stayed alive. And now I met my mother whom I haven't seen for such a long time.
The picture & the text on your Poster really touched me, that's why I'm writing you. I'm waiting for your answer! Help me! Peace be with you. (Hungary)
From a sick woman: Thank you very much for giving me "Peace in the Midst of a Storm". Reading the Poster had a real good effect on me, & it caused me to take life's troubles much more patiently. It was good to read a lot of these Truths that were in this Heavenly communication.
I have diabetes & it really discouraged me when I found out about it, & its not very pleasant to get injections every day, but "If we belong to the Lord & stay close to Him, then He always takes care of us." This is true, & I would be very happy if you would send us more literature. Thank you in advance & God bless you, the ones who can comfort those who are discouraged! (Hungary)
From a young woman: Dear brothers & sisters, I was down & disappointed, I was walking lonely when I noticed a very wet Poster on a bench. A very sweet face on that Poster was looking at me & caressed me with its look. At that time this meant a lot to me & I'd like to thank you for it. I dried the Poster & I'm looking at it often.
Unfortunately, my life is unbalanced, because in this material world I'm a sensitive person. I can't find my place, it seems impossible to find it. But in spite of this, I will try to be strong & to follow our King because we owe a lot to Him, from Whom we've received so much. I ask you, please write to me. I'm waiting for any kind of information from you with interest. God bless you & your Work! (Hungary)
From an 18-year-old girl: We were very happy to see your enthusiastic movement, which probably affects a lot of people's lives. That day when I got this Poster, all of a sudden this thought struck me: "In the time of the End, God's Word will reach almost everybody!" (Hungary)
From a couple: We got those beautiful Posters & heartwarming information. My wife & I have two children. We came from Romania & now we live in Hungary. In 1989 we met the Great Truth. In Romania we got to know the Children of Jesus Christ & since then a lot of things changed in our lives. We asked God for a year to help us to get to Hungary, but right now, sad to say, we live in a place where people don't care about God. We trust in God that He will help us, give us strength to study His Word, & that we will be able to live worthy of Christ Jesus one day. (Hungary)
Dear Ones, I'm very happy that finally these beautiful coloured Posters got to us also, & through them I can know how much Jesus' Love is needed. It would have been nice to give out these beautiful pictures & Words in our whole town earlier, then a lot of people could have lived happier, without hate & malice in their hearts.
I read the text on the back of the Poster many times. I already know the prayers by heart & every day I pray when I go to bed. This is wonderful for me. I thought so much that something is missing from my life, I was yearning for something, but by myself I could never figure out what it was. Now that I got these two Posters & read them many times attentively, I realised that yes, Jesus' Love was missing from my life & heart. The words on the Poster explain this so nicely when it says: "It doesn't matter where you're from, what religion you believe in, or what colour is your skin, your heart is just like all other people's hearts--it wants God's Love."
Somehow now it seems like I'm more understanding even with those people whom I'm mad at. I forgive more easily, I'm calmer, more balanced. I got filled with Love! I don't scream any more, I'm not nervous any more, I have become very patient!
God, Who made Man & this whole Universe, sent His only Son here to the Earth so that He could teach us the happy feeling of Love & the Faith in Eternal Life. This is it! I never prayed before. I thought that we came from monkeys, because this is what they were teaching us in the 50's when I wouldn't dare to go into the church, not even in secret, because they would have kicked me out of school!
Now that I'm 50 years old & I have raised my only dear son by myself, without a daddy, which was very hard, now I realise how good it would have been to read the Bible on those difficult, cold evenings & to believe in Jesus & be full of Love in my heart.--How much easier it would have been to endure this life full of fight! Now that my only son is in the Army, my parents aren't alive & my brother died, my days are very lonely. I'm just waiting for my son to come home.
It would be so nice to read the Bible, but I can never afford it. I really would like to have a Bible. These nice Posters with pictures can maybe fulfill this desire a little bit. This is why I'm writing to you, please send me more of these beautiful Posters. I really would like to read them & to know Jesus & His teaching.
If you have a used picture Bible that you could send me, I would be the happiest person in the World, & when my son comes home from the Army, I'll tell him everything! I'm going to teach him Jesus' Love! I will read the Bible to my grandchildren every evening until they receive Jesus in their hearts! Thank you for everything! God bless you! (Hungary)
From a 19-year-old girl: One day I got a Poster called "Incredible Journey", & it's so beautiful that it's hard to believe it's true. Through this Poster I started to think deeply about my life & behaviour, & I was thrilled by the prayer at the end. The words, "I love you", filled me with such joy. I got so much joy that I started to smile right away to other people. I hope that through these Posters which you will send me I will learn to love people & to understand them, & in this way answer the call of Love that God gave me. I promise to share the Posters with others. (Poland)
The Poster that I got really moved me. What you write on the back got me so much closer to God, & I want other people to understand as I do. I love you for this. Thank you. Please send me more & get me closer to God & to His Love for us. (Poland)
Dear Friends, Through your Posters you reached the deepest parts of my heart & you told me that the greatest gift of God for people is Love. Please, if it is possible, I want to be in constant touch with you. (Poland)
From a 17-year-old girl: I got a Poster, "Signs of the Times". I'm a Christian, but for the last two years there has only been darkness in my heart. You brought me back to God. Thank you so much for the joy that fills my soul. Please send me more! God bless you! (Poland)
I was lost trying to find myself, thinking that I'm really nothing & nobody needs me. I'm just a subject of the quarrels of my parents. Somebody brought your Posters to my house. Now Jesus loves me & forgave me for all my sins! Also the simple words, "I love you", brought tears of joy & comfort to my eyes. Nobody ever told me that they love me, not even my parents. (Poland)
I received your Poster & in the beginning I was very skeptical. But, as I later started to read it anyway, my skepticism changed to satisfaction & gladness. (Yugoslavia)
Please send me your Posters regularly. Tell me how to behave in this World so that I can please God. I learned the prayer by heart & pray it when I'm going through hard times. (Yugoslavia)
The flyer which I'm writing to you about was given by the people sent by Christ. It came at the right time, when I started to get lost in the question about what is my purpose in life. Thank you for this ray of hope which I read, "Why Worry--You're in His Hands!" (Yugoslavia)
From a 79-year-old man: I write you because of "Signs of the Times", which I received accidentally, or Christ Himself sent it to me. (Yugoslavia)
Dear Unknown Friends, I have two small children whom I want to raise in the Spirit & faith of God so that when they grow up, they won't yield to drugs, money, alcohol, etc. That's why I think & believe that your Poster is something wonderful & marvellous, & that you need to distribute it to the young people as much as you can, because they are going astray, having no purpose. May God bless you! (Yugoslavia)
I'm 17 years old & have grown up in a Communist regime, so that the questions you are writing about are very distant to me. That's why your Poster made me very glad & made me think. Please send me some more information. If I can help you in any way, I would like to do it. (Yugoslavia)
From a middle-aged woman: Last week in the early morning I was walking down the street & found a piece of paper with text on it. I picked it up & my eyes fell on the word, "Bible". I took it home & read it with great joy. I read my Bible, & I already received Jesus in my heart about 15 years ago. I was reading the Poster & I marvelled how well compiled it is! Even people who don't know anything about Him would be able to understand! Please send me more Heavenly information that I could give to children & adults also. Maybe it's going to affect them so much that they too receive the Lord Jesus in their hearts! (Hungary)
I am a postman, & I tried to explain to people what life & God is all about, & I tried to witness to them with religious literature, of which there was very little under the Communist regime. It was very risky to give such literature to anybody. I was almost labelled as a criminal as if I was carrying drugs or arms! I was also stopped & interrogated by the police, & they warned me that I would be kicked out of my job if I didn't stop witnessing. The Communist Party & Orthodox priests were following me all the time & every move I made would be reported & suspected. I had five children to take care of.
I carried door-to-door hundreds of kilograms of newspapers knowing that they were lies, & all the while I was thinking, "Oh God, when will the day come when we will be able to carry the same amount of Christian literature?" And finally, here is that day! And I'm bringing small amounts of literature to the people, but the need is so great. Now I want to do my best for the Lord because I couldn't do so much for Him these last years.
One day I read your flyer which said that you would send more literature to anybody who would write to you. I want to help you give out this literature in Romania. (Romania)
I am a 21-year-old soldier, home on leave. First of all I want to tell you that by chance I got your leaflet, "What Everybody Needs Is Love". In fact, my sister is the one who brought it home. She went out shopping this morning & someone she had never seen before gave it to her.
At first I was captured by the title of this brochure, because it really says the Truth. Then I turned to the back & was keenly interested in the text. I think that religion & the Bible are current in our country nowadays. Up until now, officially we (the masses) were not allowed to read either the Bible nor any other literature connected with it. But democracy has had its effect, & people are no longer afraid. Now they freely discuss religion & exchange video films. I've seen some of these videos, but that's not enough at all. Since I'm a soldier, I haven't got the time & solitude for serious study. But in two months, I'll be a free man, I'll leave the army.
The Bible is the topic of many conversations, but I am just a listener, always asking questions. Isn't it a silly, absurd thing to be taught at school so many kinds of rubbish, but not to be taught the Book of Life, as I've heard people call the Bible.
I shall seize the opportunity that I've chanced by receiving your leaflet. Please send me a copy of the Bible. I need any kind of Biblical works. Please, don't think this is something like a child's whim, I need the Bible now & I'll surely need it for the rest of my life! (Bulgaria)
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THE WORD IS GETTING OUT!
What an impact we are having on Eastern Europe, especially when you consider that the Posters distributed in the past two months represent: One Poster for every 18 people in Hungary, one Poster for every 24 people in Eastern Germany, one Poster for every 31 people in Poland, one Poster for every 48 people in Czechoslovakia; and one Poster for every 63 people in Yugoslavia!
And considering how many testimonies we're receiving of Posters being passed on to friends, relatives & neighbours plus testimonies of people photocopying the Posters themselves, the actual amount of people having seen & read our Posters is probably much higher than even this! TYJ!
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MIRACULOUS ANSWERS TO PRAYER!
In October 1973, the Lord sent us a message through "our man in Kiev", Ivan Ivanovitch, that the people of Russia "need much more Poster" and we should "put Posters on platform". Ivan prayed, "That they have better Poster, in Jesus' name!" (ML #279:47,48) We're sure Ivan is happy because now, 17 years later, with the doors opening to Russia for the first time, the tools we're using to reach that vast & needy country are the Posters! TYJ!
OVER 27,000 colour Posters were distributed in Russia in the PAST WEEK alone, bringing the total distributed there to almost 180,000 so far! We're getting more into Russia every week, such a miracle! This past week 100,000 Poster tracts were printed, and there's a project of 375,000 colour Posters in the works, so please keep this Russian printing project as well as safe transport of the lit into the country in your prayers!
We visited our printers in Poland to check on our Poster project. The lady overseeing the shop said that she has never seen such happiness & such "luck" in people. She explained that they had been working on our printing project for four days & just as they finished our last Posters their printing press completely broke. She said if it had happened before or during our printing they wouldn't have been able to complete the project for us. We told her that many people had been praying for this printing, so it must have been Jesus that kept the press running, & she agreed.
This week 500,000 Posters were printed in Hungarian & Romanian. We told the printers that we had been praying for the machines & for them too, & they told us that they could tell that we must have prayed because the machines & the work ran so smoothly. TYJ! When we approached the printers about the next job we hoped they would do, we told them how the people react so favourably to the Posters. The boss said, "Don't forget, we're in this together!", meaning they are also sharing in the blessing of getting the Message to the people. PTL!
Thanks for the prayers for more teams into Romania, Russia and Bulgaria! We had three teams in Russia and two teams in Romania this past week, and a team just arrived in Bulgaria. The home base of the Bulgarian MISSLE team reported: "Thank the Lord, the Bulgarian team was able to get off and entered the country, carrying 250,000 Posters! Before departure, they went through quite a few battles with sickness, engine problems, visas, etc. & we know the Enemy was really fighting. But the Lord did it & brought them through safely! PTL!"
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PRAYER REQUESTS FOR THE EASTERN EUROPEAN WITNESSING EXPLOSION!
"And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, & do those things that are pleasing in His sight." (1Jn.3:22)
[ ] For the continued supply of paper, printers and finances to produce the Posters we still need! There appears to be a paper shortage and it's been harder to find good quality paper.
[ ] That the Lord will help us get more teams into Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, and also supply more bookings for trips and invitations for teams going to Russia.
[ ] For protection from sickness and accidents. (We heard there was an outbreak of cholera on the Black Sea coast.)
[ ] For the Lord's guidance and anointing of the Mail Ministry and follow-up.
[ ] For our Eastern European Nationals to benefit as much as possible during this time of training.
"God is giving Eastern Europe its last chance. It's the last chance for those who are turning to Him! It's the last chance for freedom & to reach them with the Gospel. This is the last harvest!--And after this, the Deluge! Help us, Lord, to take advantage of it & to do what You want us to do!
"Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord for giving us this last chance to reach Thy sheep, to love them into Thy Kingdom! Hallelujah!" (ML#2617:1,2,7)
[--AMEN!--PTL!--GBAKYALL! TX! WLY! Lord please help them with this INVASION OF LOVE!]
(Editor's note: God bless you! We love you! We would like to clarify that FSM 176, "The Eastern European Witnessing Explosion!", was edited & prepared with our friends & supporters in mind, & for that reason it has a unique cover, as well as artwork in some of the testimonies. Since this FSM 179 is strictly DO, we did not include the extra "special effects" of artwork in order to save time & space, but that is not to say that the testimonies in this FSM are less important or less inspiring than those in FSM 176. All the testimonies in both Special Eastern European FSMs are thrilling!--We used the testimonies as they came in, in order to get the news out as soon as possible so our whole Family could be inspired, well-informed & able to pray more knowledgeably for this Eastern European witnessing explosion! God bless you!)
Copyright 1996 The Family