FSM 321
CM/FM
Large Petitions Bring
-- Thrilling Accounts of God's Miraculous Supply!
Copyright 1997 by The Family - November 1997
Table of Contents:
Special Intervention from Our Lover Above
2
Tips & Lessons Learned
6
Tips & Ideas of Support-Raising Methods
11
Miracles all the Way to China
15
Over the past year, we have received many thrilling and faith-increasing accounts of how our all-powerful God and Lover is answering our fervent prayers and supplying "above that which we could ask or think." Here are just a few of those accounts, which we hope will fill you with awe and a renewed determination to sample His goodness for yourself! "He's not only supplied but He has abundantly supplied and He has lavished on us many blessings, and good grace has been upon all and with boldness the disciples have given witness, because we have obeyed His commandments" (ML #1:19).
SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS ON FAITHFUL MESSENGERS
From Happy (Simon Peter), Japan:
During a visit to the UK, I met a couple named Stephen and Marie. They have 10 children, from newborn up to age 16, and are living alone at the moment because they can't find anyone to team up with them. They raise their support through witnessing with the tools and provisioning, even though Steven often has to go out witnessing alone, because he can't get a partner. When I met them at a fellowship they were bubbling over with all that the Lord is doing to supply their needs to pioneer Ghana, which is where the Lord has showed them to go.
Even 20 years ago litnessing in London was tough, but in today's AC atmosphere, it's hard to imagine anything grimmer than videoing alone on a London street, trying to support 10 kids! This is what Steven was doing when he approached a man to ask if he'd like to buy a video. The man refused, but when Stephen called after him, "God bless you! Jesus loves you!" the man came back, and said that if they were Christian videos he would buy one. The man turned out to be quite an important Ghanaian official, and was so turned on by the video that he wanted a copy of every video and audio tape that they had, for his kids. When he found out that Steven and Marie were planning to go to his country as missionaries, he offered to pay the fare to fly their whole family there, giving them 10,000 pounds (over $16,000)!
Then one day Marie was out videoing in Hyde Park with one of her daughters. They stopped to provision lunch at a nearby restaurant, and the owner also turned out to be from Ghana. When he heard they were going to his country as missionaries, he was so excited that he offered them the use, rent-free, of his large villa in Ghana as a mission station. This villa is beautifully situated on a scenic beach.
This man introduced them to a Ghanian church in London, and Marie, asking nothing in return, offered to teach their Sunday school class. After a few weeks the church members were so impressed by the positive effect on their kids that they all started buying tapes and videos for their kids and offering to help support Steven and Marie. Steven told me that most of the Ghanaians they have met in London are desperate for Christian input for their children, and love our tools so much that they will often order every single tool available. If this is any indication to how receptive the people will be when they actually get to Ghana, they are expecting to have an extremely fruitful ministry there.
Through provisioning and people they've met, the Lord then supplied all kinds of other items for their ministry, including a Land Rover and a tabernacle tent to hold beach meetings in. They were in a sports store, and when the owner heard they were going to Ghana as missionaries, he went to the window and gave them a large rubber boat that was on display! It was so inspiring to hear how the Lord was just lavishing on them everything they needed.
With the freedoms given us under the Charter to get System jobs and look for ways to raise funds other than distributing our tools, it must be tempting to look for an "easier" way to raise support, one that avoids the humiliation and rejection which are daily part of being a street or DTD salesman. But I was impressed that the big miracles that the Lord did for this family came in the path of doing their duty as witnessers, and through them having the faith that the Lord could provide for them through the tools that He has provided for our support.
It sure is inspiring to see how the Lord is doing miracles with this large family who is really trying their best in spite of what could seem impossible odds.
(Editor's note: Stephen and Marie and family are now serving the Lord in Ghana. GBT! See GV#28.)
SPECIAL INTERVENTION FROM OUR LOVER ABOVE
Just pure faith
From Tena, USA:
After Don, our six kids and I arrived in this new city in our RV, it seemed we had been bouncing around a lot, without finding a suitable house. We were so in need of a place to be able to establish a lasting work! So one day in the park, Don and I desperately cried out to the Lord. Don specifically asked the Lord to do a miracle in a big way, pertaining to finding a house here, if it was His will for us to be in this city.
The very next day the Lord started to work! Nathaniel and Glo called us to say that their answer to our invitation to work in this city with our two large families (Zac and Paloma and Don and I) was YES! This was such an encouragement to us, as we had been trying to find others to work with for months to establish a work in another city, and hadn't been able to. This was only one of God's little miracles, but a very needed one to get us rolling.
The next day, while fundraising, an older man came by and put fifty dollars in our donation can. He was praising the Lord, and kept telling me that just two days ago he had visited an old country church and the Holy Spirit fell on him like a bolt of lightning, and now he just had to do whatever the Spirit told him to do. He then told me that if there was anything else he could do, to please call him, and proceeded to give me his card. I jokingly said, before I even looked at his card, "You're not a realtor, are you?"
He then started saying over and over again, "Well, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! The Spirit has given my work to me now!" His wife then arrived, looking slightly bewildered, and he informed her that they would be changing their plans because he had to find a house for us.
About two hours later he came back with a few computer printouts of different houses for sale. When I told him we needed a house for rent only, he said, "Well, that will be a lot harder since you have so many kids -- but not impossible for the Lord."
We looked at a few houses with this man but none seemed to be the right one for us. We had to go back to the East Coast, so we all got together and made a list of all the requirements that our new Home should have. We added the requirement that we could get the house before the first of the following month, which was a couple of weeks away, as Glo was pregnant and we really didn't have space for her in either of our trailers. Just four days later the realtor we had met called and said he had one more house for us, but it was in need of fixing up. We went with him and -- sure enough, it was the perfect house!
It was in need of some painting and a few minor repairs, so we told the owner that we would fix it up in return for a lower rent. She said, "I believe that God has sent you here to me, as I have terminal cancer and I need good people like you in my house. So I have an offer for you: The first month of rent will be free and you will probably need the second month free also. And don't worry about a deposit."
To our absolute amazement, she proceeded to take the keys out of her purse and hand them over to us; no money, no contract or binding lease -- just pure faith -- hers and ours!
Only the best for His children
From Marty, Anna, Maggie, Taiwan:
We desperately needed furniture, and we specifically prayed for a large, new sofa set. When Maggie called a few stores and found it difficult for them to give, she asked one place if they knew the phone numbers of any factories. She was given an unlisted number.
A very friendly man answered and said yes, they'd be able to help us, and to call back in a week. When Maggie did, he invited us to come and look at a new set to see if we liked it. The first two sets the man showed us were not a very suitable color, and we hesitated a bit.
Then he said, "Well, if I'm going to give, I'd better give something you really like." And he offered us the one we really had our eye on -- just what we'd prayed for: a large, new three-piece set. PTL! He then offered us his truck so we could take it home. When we said good-bye, he asked if he and his wife could visit us and bring their children. We're looking forward to seeing them soon!
On the wings of prayer
From Joy (18), Turkey:
We needed five flight tickets for our young people to attend a Summit video meeting in a nearby country. We had contacted a particular airline six weeks earlier to request their help. We committed it to the Lord in prayer, and sure enough, a few days later one of the top men in the airlines gave us a call, saying they had agreed to help us! Wow! It really blew our minds how easy it was for this to come through, as they just agreed after reading our request and seeing the brochure -- we hadn't even met them personally. They even said, "We can help with the tickets, but it will be difficult for us to help with the visa and the hotel." It was so sweet that they even considered that -- as we had only asked for tickets!
Then our meetings were delayed and we hadn't called or contacted the airlines in a few weeks. We were concerned that everything was still confirmed, so we gave them a call. We found out that the head man who we were arranging it all with was out of the country, and his personal secretary was off on maternity leave! We again committed it to the Lord in prayer.
On the morning that we were going to call again to see if the man was back in, we were sitting at devotions discussing it when the phone rang. Guess what? You got it! -- It was the secretary confirming that we could come down anytime we wanted to pick up the tickets. Praise the Lord! It was such a miracle and we really praised and thanked the Lord for His faithfulness to supply all our needs. We're praying that this could be a regular contact for further needs. TTL! It's been such an encouragement to all of us, and once again proves how much the Lord loves us. -- That we're His little pets!
Into the lions' den
From Dust, Moldova:
A major victory this month was getting free multiple-entry, 200-day visas for everyone in the Home. TYJ! It was quite a trying process, since some doubts about us had been sown in the minds of both of our official visa contacts here. In order to satisfy them, we had to meet a number of times and answer a lot of questions.
Then, when everything should have been set, we were asked to introduce ourselves to the sector responsible for cults. (Our sponsor decided that since we're a Christian organization, we should pass the "cults" inspection before she would stick her neck out for us by giving us visas.) This was a test of our faith, but the Lord was with us all the way.
We were encouraged by the many outstanding miracles He'd done for us over the past months since we'd decided to move here. These served as signs and reassurances for us that we were in His will. So, we marched into the "cults" department, like Daniel into the lions' den, knowing that God would be with us there also. Everyone at home was praying for this meeting, but I still didn't feel prepared. When the department head asked us what we were there for, I hardly knew what to say. I presented the whole picture to him in what I felt was a very awkward, unsophisticated and ineffective way.
He then welcomed us to his country, saying that they were very glad we'd come to help. He gave us his blessing a few times, made a few suggestions of people we might want to work together with, and said that if our sponsor had any questions about us, she could call him anytime! It was such an easygoing, warm response from the person we had expected to be the most skeptical, that we knew it was certainly the Lord's doing! PTL!
God is still on the throne
From Timothy, Rejoice and Dove, USA:
We had been desperately praying for a $500 check that a friend of ours sent from abroad, which was somehow lost in the transfer. We didn't have much hope for this, as things from overseas can easily get lost permanently. But we knew the Lord could do anything, so we kept praying. Then we had a costly repair on our van, and the very day we needed to pay for the repairs, a wire came in for $1,000! Our friend said the lost money finally turned up, and she sent more to help this month! Then another $250 check came in from a defunct insurance policy! It just "happened" to come at the time we were paying this bill! Along with a $50 donation from a friend, these three gifts completely covered, to the dollar, the expenses of this repair. What a miracle!
Two for the price of one
From Abe, Mercy and Irene, Taiwan:
As the weather started to get warmer, our largest refrigerator seemed to imitate nature, instead of keeping its cool. Everything inside started going bad and all attempts to get it fixed were to no avail. The situation was getting desperate, as we have to store a week's worth of fruit and vegetables at a time. The day before market day we prayed desperately for a good, big refrigerator. Then we put feet to our prayers by heading downtown to some shops for secondhand electric goods. We were prepared to spend a little money, but not much.
The first few shop owners were quite hard and unsympathetic, and wanted to charge us quite a bit for rather old refrigerators. We kept praying and looking, when suddenly we passed by a big white refrigerator that was sitting on the sidewalk in front of a store. We walked into the store, which was selling air conditioners, and as Mercy started to explain our work to the lady in charge, she said, "Sure, you can have the refrigerator. Please take it!" We could hardly believe our ears! It was such a miracle of God, as that shop does not even deal in refrigerators, but they just "happened" to have one sitting there.
The next challenge was to get it home, as we couldn't fit it in our vehicle. We prayed and saw a small pick-up truck waiting at a red light. Smilingly, we motioned to the driver. He rolled down his window and we explained our dilemma. He told us he still had some deliveries to make, but that he could pick up the refrigerator for us in the afternoon. We weren't sure if he would keep his word, as people here sometimes don't like to say "no" outright, but he brought it all the way to our door! What a sweet man!
That wasn't all! The same day we saw a used -- but good -- refrigerator sitting outside our apartment building. When we inquired about it, we found it belonged to one of our neighbors who didn't need it anymore. So the Lord gave us two nice refrigerators that day. Thank You Jesus!
More miraculous supply
From Carolina, Jordan, Maria and Josas, Ecuador:
For a few months, our automatic washing machine (which we have had for quite some time) had been broken. We hadn't been able to provision the expensive replacement part, and couldn't afford to buy it. With 21 kids in the house, no washing machine meant a lot of work for the poor moms! Feeling on the verge of a crisis, we went looking for that part. As we passed by a washing machine store, the Lord told us to talk to the owner and explain our situation. Before we knew it, she was offering us a super discount. We explained that we didn't even have that much money. She said to just give her what we had and that we could take whichever machine we wanted, and that we could pay whenever and however we could later, with no paperwork involved.
The next day we went to see her and she bought 12 videos for her daughter -- so we not only paid her back what we owed, but we had enough to cover all the seed corn, praise the Lord! On top of that, she gave us a good amount of imported sweaters, GBH!
Claiming the faith of George Mueller
From Jeremias, Mariane, Pedro and Sara, Brazil:
We really wanted playground equipment for our kids, and we were praying and asking different people if they could help with it. One day we claimed that the Lord would supply it from an unexpected source, as He used to do for George Mueller. A couple of days later, a friend who helps financially every month called us, asking if we would like to have her daughter's playground set. She wanted to get it off of her property so she could build a greenhouse in its place. She wanted it to be gone within a week. The Lord also provided a truck to move it, and all the paint needed to make it look new! Nobody had told this friend we were praying for this, so it was a real testimony to her of how the Lord takes care of us and supplies our every need -- even the desires of our hearts!
TIPS AND LESSONS LEARNED
How much are you willing to receive?
From Josh and Lily, India:
One year ago, while visiting a city in Southern India on a road trip, we came across a very nice apartment in a modern building. The building had very nice facilities such as a playground for children, tennis court, swimming pool, etc., and the apartment itself was also very nicely built. We thought that it would be so nice to live in a place like this, and casually prayed, telling the Lord that if we were ever to move to this city, then this would be the perfect place for us.
Out of curiosity, we made inquiries as to whom the owners were, only to find out that they lived in Nigeria and had absolutely no intentions of renting out their place. We found out that they occasionally came to India, and that this apartment was for their elderly parents.
Now, one year later, we were house-hunting for an apartment in this same city, and somehow the owners of the above-mentioned flat happened to be in town at the same time. We bumped into them by coincidence, and told them how we had seen their apartment a year earlier and thought that it would be the ideal place for us, but had found out that they were not interested in renting it out. They told us that that was their earlier stand, but they had since changed their minds and were now actually thinking of renting it out, as their parents, for whom they had prepared the place, refused to leave their village house for a city dwelling. So it was ours to have if we could afford the rent. But when we heard what rent they were asking, we felt that it would only be a place of our dreams! So we told these dear people that it was way out of our budget and we could never afford it.
However, after they left, the Lord reminded us that the very fact we met them was a miracle, and if He could bring them halfway across the world for us, could He not also take care of the rent? We both felt a strong burden in our hearts to pray for this place again. We told the Lord that we would call these people on the phone, witness to them, and tell them that we had prayed for this place one year ago and that it was a miracle that we even met them. We also told the Lord that if they gave the place to us for free, we would send the money we would have spent on rent to WS.
We called them and they seemed very receptive to our witness over the phone and were touched with our testimony of how we had decided to serve the Lord full-time. We didn't talk about the flat but we said that we just wanted to talk to them and tell them about what we were doing. A few days later, they came to see us. The husband looked us both in the eye and said that he was in prayer and the Lord told him to give us the apartment for whatever we could afford! He said that we were perfect strangers to him and he didn't even know why he was doing this!
The next question came, "So, how much can you afford?" Our hearts missed a beat! Should we tell him that we wanted it for free and that we would give the rent money that we could afford to the Lord's work? My wife Lilly mentioned, "Sir, what we can afford is ridiculously low, compared to the value of the flat."
I hesitated, and, God help me, my faith chickened out at the last moment. Instead of asking for it for free, I weakly named a figure which was 1/3 of the original amount (which is in reality what we could afford).
Without batting an eyelid he responded, "Done! I told the Lord that I would give it for whatever you asked!"
We realized that the Lord had set up the situation better than we could have hoped for, but it was up to us how much we had the faith to receive. It is truly said, "According to your faith, be it done unto you." "His capacity to give is limitless. What we get hinges totally on our capacity to receive!"
Better to stay dropped out!
From Andrew and Mary, Kenya:
A few months back we met a billionaire, Mr. K., through our CTP. After a month or so of ministering the Word to him and introducing him to the Family, he offered to make us the coordinators of his foundation. He gave us the penthouse for our office, and asked us to quote our terms. It seemed like a challenging offer!
After seeking the Lord about this matter, He showed us to give it a try but not to commit ourselves to any contracts or ask for payment. We also hoped this would help us get closer to our king and enable us to minister to him better.
All the staff personnel that we would be working with were very hungry for the Word, and we tried to use the Word in as many ways as we could. Each week we photocopied Word on different subjects, which we then gave out to about 15 people.
After some time, though, we found this situation to be very draining. We had hoped that helping our king with his foundation would help us get further with our CTP and closer to him. We soon found out that that was not where it was at, and that being free to get out the tools and doing follow-up was far more fruitful even in the supply for our CTP, rather than getting stuck in a fancy office with all the frills that came along with it. We had to use a lot of wisdom and pull out slowly in order to not offend our king, and we are trying to give him the vision that we can only offer our help part-time when we can.
One thing for sure we have learned through this experience is that it is better to stay free and not get bogged down in any System-type of setup even if it appears to be fruitful, unless the Lord shows otherwise. We are very thankful the Lord told us to try and see, but not to commit ourselves. Now after this experience, which only lasted for 1 months, we are pretty convinced that it is better to stay dropped out.
Overcoming fear in fundraising
From Stefan Pioneer, Hungary:
Two years ago I was one of the main video distributors here, and somehow the Lord saw fit to use me to get out lots of tools and bring in an abundance of finances, all glory to God. After a year in this ministry, I moved to another field for three months, then returned to find out that tool distribution didn't work for me at all anymore. It was a real fight to get out anything, and we had to travel further and further to get out just a few tools. (One of the reasons was also that this country was going through a time of high inflation rate, tax and price rises, and incredible cuts of social benefits, so businesses and individuals were in a non-spending mood.)
I got so discouraged about it that I started only distributing posters and tracts for free to the poor, and let others do the fundraising. I was able to coast along in the Home for some time without getting involved in fundraising, but the Lord (and my fellow Home members) couldn't and didn't approve of that forever.
The time came when I had to go with my wife on a road trip to a neighboring richer country, whose people I remembered from the past as being quite tough. A brother received encouraging prophecies about our trip, and we went by faith, expecting miracles. And He did it! It was such an inspiring trip; we prayed desperately every day for His leading, and He always showed the way. We met so many sweet, sheepy people, potential future supporters -- and on top of it, the Lord honored our faith with lots of tools out and we reached above and beyond our financial goal. Thank You Jesus! Now I am not afraid to fundraise anymore, and I even look forward to the next trip!
No limits but our faith!
From Simon and Julia, Poland:
The Lord has been doing so many miracles for us lately, and we are learning that He is not limited by anything, except our faith. We see that if we really believe, we will do what we have the faith for and the Lord will bless it. We are also learning to wait, as the Lord does not always answer right away and we sometimes tend to give up if we don't see our prayers materialize right in front of our eyes.
Here are a few testimonies of the Lord's supply, which we hope will be inspiring for you too. What is worth noting is that in Poland, things are not going well for many companies and businesses, and it seems that times are hard for people. In such circumstances, when it's hard for them to give, it's an even greater miracle of the Lord -- showing that He is not limited by anything, even the perilous times. Praise His Name!
Last year, we contacted a petrol company by mail, sending them some brochures of our CTP work and asking if they would be able to help us with monthly donations of petrol. They agreed to give us 90 liters of petrol monthly. They really appreciated our work for the community and said that Somebody must be helping the work that we do! We were so happy that the Lord's work was helped in this way, but this year, because of financial difficulties, they were able to help with only 30 liters. At first we were tempted to look at what we had lost, but the Lord reminded us to always look on the bright side of things and count our blessings: the 30 liters that they do give!
At the same time, we asked another petrol company if they could help us with free petrol on a monthly basis. And here the Lord was teaching us patience and trust, because every time we called for an answer, they said they didn't have time to discuss it yet, and requested us to call later. This delay lasted for three whole months, though I called them often, as they requested. We kept praying that the Lord would touch their hearts, and after three months they finally gave us the answer! "Yes, we will help you and your work with 100 liters per month!" PTL! It sure was worth waiting, trusting that God's delays are not denials. This petrol is a big help to our CTP, as we can then travel a lot and look for willing individuals or companies that want to give of their abundance to needy institutions.
The Lord also helped us to get in touch with the owners of a wholesale car parts shop. First we needed a battery, and after phoning them they gladly wanted to help. When we went there, they asked us if we needed any other parts. We listed a few and they happily gave them to us! Thank the Lord! From that time they have helped us often with what we need. God bless them! Recently we needed something again, but because they had just helped us a few weeks earlier, rather than asking them for the items, we decided to just ask them for information of where we could get the parts we needed. But they again said, "We have these items that you need, you don't have to go anywhere else. Please come!"
Faithful witnessing pays
From Timothy, Rejoice and Dove, USA:
Recently, there have been a lot of folks who seem to think that it's a little risky raising funds "only" through outreach, and who are getting part-time jobs, etc. Though we don't want to belittle anyone's faith, we'd like to encourage everyone that the Lord can and will bless -- financially, with fruit, and in every way, just by going out and witnessing His Words! And that it is possible, and can be even more fruitful, in smaller Homes!
Two years ago, we were having financial difficulties. Though we had a large Home and quite a few JETTs, teens and adults, with several teams out every day, we were basically living hand-to-mouth, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul for every bill, the rent, etc. We ran out of tools between each order. Because of our scrambling to raise funds, we weren't able to do as many other things as we would have liked. It seemed to be a vicious cycle.
Then, just before the Charter, we had a lot of personnel changes. This left us with less than half of our former population, and more than half of these were OCs and younger! It was a change, and we didn't know exactly what we were going to do, but we just kept busy going out witnessing! We went out all summer, had teams out five days a week, set goals, had contests, and just plain had a lot of fun!
Thank the Lord for the vision of SWIFTing and training the children in witnessing. Older ones paired up with younger ones, and we were able to spend some exciting times personal witnessing with them, getting to know them, teaching them the ropes, and learning from them too! Now they are turned on about going out, and some even cry when they have to stay back for some reason. They love to share testimonies from the day, and are instrumental in helping to formulate new witnessing strategies. The amazing thing is that, even with half the personnel and so many children, we got out more tools, and the Lord blessed financially far beyond what we had received during the same months the year before!
As we started our school year last September, we naturally assumed that our witnessing and finances would suffer somewhat, but the Lord did it, and we had a better month that September than any month during the summer! By faith, we had even scheduled our JETTs for four extra hours of schooling weekly, because they had missed some from the year before. Each of the kids has had school faithfully every morning, and our finances and tool output have continued to grow!
Another miracle is that all three of our adult women became pregnant in the same month last year! Two of them had been going out witnessing every day, and were shiners. They were due in the slowest month of the winter, so we were bracing ourselves for a tough time, praying desperately for the Lord's supply and windfalls, etc. But even with two less teams, we have gotten more posters out during January, February and March than during any month last summer! Isn't that incredible? We are just amazed, because it is nothing that we have done or planned; it has just been the Lord's mercy and miraculous supply! Praise the Lord!
One other aspect of this is that we tried for years to build up a Home cushion, but just couldn't seem to save much. We now have a three-month cushion, just by setting aside the extra income every month! Also, we have over a month's stock of tools, and our tool fund is almost $90 per person! Thank the Lord for His mercy and goodness!
MIRACULOUS SUPPLY OF TURKISH BROCHURE
From John YA and Tabitha, Turkey:
This is the thrilling account of how the Lord performed miracles in supplying the printing of 4,000 high-quality color activity brochures for our field, in both English and Turkish.
We got together as a Home to go over the photos we had from the various programs we were involved in, as well as to fine-tune the brochure's text. The next step was to get it translated into Turkish. A friend of the Family gladly agreed to help, so we invited her to our Home, where she worked on the translation of this brochure, as well as other projects. God bless her!
Despite battles, hindrances and numerous delays, the day finally came for us to look for someone who could lay out this brochure, screen the photos, etc. We went out "not knowing whither we went," but the Lord faithfully moved His little chess pieces each step of the way! Company after company said that there was no one who could do the project in its entirety, and that we'd have to approach several companies; one for the layout, one for the photo scanning, one for the printing, and that we'd most likely have to pay for it all! What a challenge!
Finally, someone told us of one place who could do everything for us, but that they would be quite expensive -- completely out of our price range! At that point we stopped and prayed. The Lord showed us to try the place this fellow suggested, and see what He would do from there! -- Exciting!
When we walked into the office, we asked for someone who would speak English, and were directed to a simple-looking man, dressed in jeans and a casual sweater. He was courteous and took the time to look over all our photos and listen to the explanation of our work. He proceeded to show us their workshop where they do the layout and screening. We commented on his very nice setup, to which he replied that he had built it! Our surprise registered on our faces. "I don't really look like the boss, do I?"
"I was expecting someone in a suit and tie," Tabitha said. This really broke the ice, and he explained how he had lived in the States and worked for an oil company, which turned out to be the same oil company Tabitha had worked for before joining the Family!
After talking to him a little bit, he said he'd like to help us; however, his company doesn't do the layout from scratch. He asked us to go home and do the "homework" of laying everything out the way we wanted it, and to call him back.
We did this and came back the next day. He arranged for us to sit with his best computer operator, who was very helpful, and especially patient with us in our ignorance, ha! We spent two days laying out the brochure on computer while the photos were getting scanned. As neither of us has any experience doing this type of project, the Lord anointed the person helping us and he did a terrific job -- one of God's little setups! Everyone at this company was very helpful and friendly, so we wrote them all thank you's and brought them some other Family literature in Turkish, which they were very thankful for.
We were able to spend quite a bit of time over these two days talking and ministering to the owner, who has gone through quite a lot in his life. He is an up-front guy and was very open to the different things we gave him to read. On the second day, we were able to explain to him about salvation and he got beautifully saved. Throughout the rest of the day, whenever he would talk about some of the problems or difficulties he is having, he would say, "But we prayed, right? So things will be okay!" God bless him!
While we were working on the layout, we had mentioned that we will also be needing to find a printer, so he said that he had some friends who were printers and he would talk to them for us. We also needed to find a contact for paper, which is normally very expensive. A few days later we called him and he said he had spoken to a good friend of his who deals in paper, but that we would need to talk to him ourselves. We called him and he agreed to give us the paper for about 5,000 brochures!
When we went to pick the paper up we explained more about our work, and showed brochures from Thailand and Pakistan. As we were leaving, the manager told us to stay in touch, as their company might be able to help us more -- and also that if they came across anybody who might be able to help us they would let us know. (We found out later that this company is one of the biggest paper and printing press dealers in all of Turkey, and that the paper is imported from Western Europe!)
On the printing side, nothing was coming through. We had one referral from a friend, who we were trying to contact, but due to not being able to speak Turkish fluently, we had to wait for one of our colleagues to call him for us. In the meantime, John phoned the manager from the paper company and asked if he knew any printers, as all of their customers are in this business. Right away he said he would help us ask around.
"Funny things do happen," and we went down by faith to the original printer we had tried to provision it from. The owner came out of a meeting to see us, and agreed to do the printing for free! But the story doesn't stop there!
That afternoon John again called our friend at the paper company to tell him we had found a printer, so he wouldn't keep looking around for one for us. But to John's surprise, our friend said he knew already. He told us that when John called him about a printer, he called this same place that we had been trying to call, and the manager said that his workers had told him about us, and then we had also called him ourselves! -- Hound of Heaven, ha! So it was all part of God's little miracles to get this printed and in the process meet a lot of spiritually hungry people.
We couldn't help but laugh afterwards at how it seemed that the Lord really wanted this particular printer to get the blessing of helping us, as he was called by our friend, the paper company, his workers told him about us, and we also called him ourselves! -- Ha! Thank the Lord! Please keep these dear people in your prayers!
These miracles of supply were not only a testimony to us, but even more so to our friend, the owner of the layout company, who watched us complete the entire project without paying a cent! We explained to him that this is because we prayed and God helped us! He is now praying for his personal situation, and also expecting the same powerful God to do miracles in his own life. Thank the Lord, He never fails to supply our every need, big or small!
TIPS AND IDEAS OF SUPPORT-RAISING METHODS
Clowning as a family
From John and Angeles, Portugal:
Several years ago we had just broken up our Combo Home and were on our own. It was summer, so we decided to head for the coast. We had been going DTD, STS or FTF (factory-to-factory), and had supported ourselves fine. But when we got to the beach area, our formerly fruitful DTD ministry proved unsuccessful. We got desperate and called out to the Lord, and He showed us to start singing at the boardwalk restaurants.
So although I only play simple guitar chords and my wife doesn't really sing, we launched out by faith -- as "necessity is the mother of invention." At the restaurants we soon saw we weren't going to make it as musicians, so the Lord showed us to put on the clown clothes that we had stored in our camper. We tried it and bingo! Defeat turned into victory! Our main songs consisted basically of "H-A-P-P-Y," "Wear a Great Big Smile," "The Time to Be Happy" and "Inright-Outright." These last two songs we'd try to get the people or children to do the actions with us. Another song that was a big hit was "We've Got a Lot to Be Thankful For." We would often insert the child's name and sing to him, or to the parents, "We have Mommy and Daddy to be thankful for."
As we went around to the different tables in the restaurants, we would sing and interact with the people. Depending on the restaurants and the amount of people in them, we would lengthen or shorten our time of interaction. After performing at one table, we would offer the tapes and posters, which people usually accepted readily. Then we'd go on to the next table.
We have also tried street clowning, using basically the same songs and skits. We have seen clowns making hats or animals out of balloons and selling them for a donation, but since we don't know how to make them, we thought we'd try it just singing. I would sing while my wife would give out the posters to the people. The posters (we used children's titles like "Your Best Friend" and "Man of Love") went out very well, with good donations. We were soon able to sell tapes in the same manner.
It has been a miracle for us being on our own with seven children, and we are very thankful that the Lord pushed us out into clowning. We feel it's a very fruitful ministry and one that almost anyone could do. You might be able to do it without a guitar, but playing and singing makes it easy -- even with very basic songs. It's a big boost to our fundraising, and an inspiring way to get out the tools. We have also been clowning at old folks' homes, orphanages and hospitals, and have found that our songs and skits, though simple, work. So try clowning! You'll love it and the people will too!
On phone provisioning
From Gem, Canada:
Have you ever had battles about phone provisioning? Well, that was my case and I would do everything to avoid it -- until one day an accident changed all that. I was laid up in bed for awhile, and was desperately praying about what I could do to help the work. The words came loud and clear: phone provisioning!
I protested and argued with the Lord about it, but He won out. But I found that once I stepped out on the waters, it wasn't so deep or scary. The Lord blessed my baby steps, and abundantly provided! I was pretty timid at first, and fumbled my way through at times. But I found my faith growing day by day as I continued trying. I learned to take people's needs to the Lord, and not choke on a certain request ... I have a very rich Heavenly Father Who is very willing to give if we'll seek.
I also learned to pray that the people could feel something different in my voice. I had a lot of days where almost every call I made, the person would complain that I was the 10th person to ask for something. I'd sympathize with them, and it'd eventually end up with me witnessing to them. I'd ask if there was a better time I could call back, trying to leave the door open. They'd almost always say to call back in a month or so.
One company owner told me that in his business he is on the phone a lot, and could tell a lot from people's voices. He said he could really feel goodness and love in my voice, which I told him was Jesus. That encouraged me, because how can these people sense that we're not any different from any other charity group unless the Lord gets across His Spirit to them? Like Dad always said, "Smile when you're on the phone because the person on the other end can actually feel it!"
From poverty to plenty
From Glory, Jeremias and Tiago, Brazil:
When the GNs on fundraising came out and the Homes were encouraged to start focusing on getting out of the sad routine of hand-to-mouth living, we -- along with a lot of Homes -- were wondering how to make this transition.
After praying, we decided to move to a more accessible location to be able to minister to the friends and sheep that the Lord was going to raise up. Once we started having weekly meetings with our friends, they felt more inspired and started helping financially, and this has given us more time to do missionary work in the community.
Also being a small Home helped us to get more done. Right now our Home consists of six adults and three teens. With the Lord's help we've been able to take care of our 14 children as well as all our other ministries.
Another area that started to flourish is our provisioning. Again, the fact that we're closer to the city not only makes it easier to pick up provisioned goods, but also to visit our contacts regularly, which has helped us get where we are today. Provisioning has flourished so much that it has not only been a blessing for us, but for other Homes in the country as well. From the abundance of the provisioning has developed the ministry that is one of the most rewarding for us. About every week we send about 30-40 big boxes to different Homes throughout the country with things like canned goods, coffee, cleaning supplies and toiletries, toys, etc. All this to say that the Lord never fails. If we just obey and do what we can, He will do the rest!
Prayer brings in our needs
From a Home in Thailand:
On our prayer day we made a detailed prayer list for the needs of the Home, outreach and follow-up, and some worldwide requests. One of the prayer requests was for more clothes for the Home, as well as for some of our regular CTPs. Shortly afterwards, people just began visiting the Home and donating clothing, without us even asking. Some of them were people we had been trying to get over to visit our Home for a long time, but when we took our request before the Lord, He answered wonderfully by not only supplying the needed clothing, but also bringing over the sheep He knew needed to visit! Thank the Lord for the power of prayer!
A clown, a business card and a churchful of Pentecostals
From Mark Yielded (20), USA:
I am on my way to Russia and I've been going out clowning every weekend raising funds. I'd been praying that the Lord would lead me to some people who could support me monthly once I go there. One morning while I was praying, I felt that the Lord had something special in store for me that day, and it turned out that I met a man who was interested in my mission to Russia. We exchanged business cards. I thought no more of this short encounter until the next morning, when this man called and asked me to come meet the elders of the church that he attends, to give my testimony and see what they could do to help me.
So I went and met the pastor, showed him my photo album and explained my vision for going to Russia. He was very impressed, and asked me to come back next Sunday and give my testimony to the whole congregation in his black Pentecostal church. Throughout the next week I prepared a flier with my background and testimony and some photos, my vision being to hand these out after the service and collect addresses for support.
Sunday morning, bright and early, I met with the pastor and the elders before the service, and we prayed for an in-filling of the Holy Spirit for the Lord to work this Sunday. My turn came to give my testimony and I was nervous about it, but I told them that I was claiming the verse, "Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it." And I prayed the Lord would bless the testimony. I briefly gave a testimony of my life and how my father was a converted Jew, which interested them. Throughout my whole testimony the whole congregation would burst out with loud praises and tongues, which broke my bottle, but after a little while I was speaking in tongues along with everyone.
After the service ended, the pastor called me for a photo session, saying that I was a missionary from their church and how turned on everyone was with my testimony. He said that as a church they were considering supporting me every month, and that the offering from the morning service was their humble gift toward my trip -- which turned out to be $350! Praise the Lord! I was also able to get addresses of ten people who personally wanted to support me.
So don't hesitate to go along with Dad's vision to go to the churches, because some of them are looking for missionaries to support, and they have the means.
Presenting our friends with the pledge program!
From a Home in the Middle East:
In our area, the Family's presence and work is still young, as it's only been slightly over two years since we have been active in this country. Thanks to the Lord's leading and open doors, we have received and followed up on many invitations for CTP projects which are keeping us very involved in children's education, handicap care, work with refugees, and more! Needless to say, our financial support, not only for all these programs but also for the running of the Home as well, has been a constant challenge. Income from tool distribution is simply not sufficient in our case, and for security reasons we haven't had much of a mail ministry either.
After prayer and discussion, we felt that the Lord was leading us to embark on a pledge program push whereby we would ask our existing friends and contacts, many of whom had helped only occasionally in the past, if at all, to consider committing themselves to a regular monthly donation towards our work.
At first we thought this may be a bit of a bold step, and we did wonder, somewhat nervously, what people's initial reaction would be. We don't have years of service or reputation in this particular field to refer to. Most of us come from countries considered more affluent and wealthy than the one we are ministering in. Sometimes we felt that we didn't understand the people here well enough to present our need and get a positive response. Logistical questions also came up, for example, should we present an actual pledge coupon for people to "sign on the dotted line," or would this approach be offensive to our friends and end up doing more harm than good?
Any such questions, reservations and comments were addressed and prayed over and we then went ahead with a plan that seemed good to all. A request letter was drawn up which was then critiqued and approved by each outreacher and teamworker. The outcome was a two-page letter containing a summary of our local CTP activities, our request for monthly commitments of financial help, and an anecdote or two on the theme of giving.
A coupon was made available separately so as to give the option to present it or not on a case-by-case basis, and this seems to have worked well. We also discussed together which friends and contacts should or shouldn't be approached with this request, and each outreacher drew up a list of those they were responsible to ask. We gave ourselves a few weeks to contact everyone, allowing of course extra time for many to think it over and give us their reply at a later follow up date. We regularly brought this push before the Lord at our morning devotions, and often prayed for individuals whom we would be approaching that day, or those who had already been approached, and whose decisions were still under consideration. Sometimes we wondered if we were ever going to see any results. Nearly all our outreach time was being spent on this push, and we didn't even have the little income we used to have from distributing tools anymore.
We would like to testify that the Lord blessed this step and has in fact amazed us by meeting our small faith with inspiring results beyond our expectations. In a little over six months, He has raised for us a reliable income of $1,250 per month in solid pledges from about 15 people. Others have helped on a less regular basis above this and yet others are still considering their commitments, so our efforts have definitely been paying off. Praise the Lord!
One pleasant aspect of the pledge program is that you usually get to see each donor at least once a month, not only to pick up their gift, but also for a good feeding and follow-up visit with them. This is encouraging as otherwise we tend to look to fresher outreach or other "quick income" methods, rather than investing the necessary time into feeding people as we should.
CTP activities are an important aspect of this program and we have needed to do as much as we can in the way of CTP projects in order to stay credible. It's easy for people to relate to this type of "good works" for the community, especially as we minister in Muslim fields.
In some cases we have also presented our pledge program to first-time contacts, which has also proven to be fruitful. Our letter of introduction of our local work and needs includes an option for "regular financial support." This letter is part of our presentation album and is also the one we send to people whom sometimes request a fax of introduction before granting us an appointment. Encouragingly, in either case (whether we are asking a new person, or an established friend to help) we have never encountered a negative attitude towards the fact that we asked for monthly commitments.
We feel that this is only the beginning, as the potential to raise more long-term support is still great. We know that as we continue to be faithful with those that we do have, the Lord will lead us to more avenues and open doors for regular support. With this program comes a real sense of responsibility towards each of the precious people the Lord raises up to support us, for us to feed them spiritually and be faithful with them.
We are very thankful for the progress the Lord has blessed us with and we pray this testimony may encourage you to also launch into an exciting pledge program in your area if you haven't already!
"If you seek, knock and ask, He will help you find, open and get!"
Much love, Your Middle East Pioneer Team.
(Editor's note: Do you have a support-raising method that you'd like to share with everyone? Write in and tell us about it!)
MIRACLES ... ALL THE WAY TO CHINA!
From Noe, Joy and Patricia, China:
Probably our greatest victory this month was to arrive on our new field of China! However, this happened as a result of some mighty victories won through prayer, as well as lessons on knowing when to move, and when to be still, when to fight, and when to cease our own struggling and just stand back and see the Lord fight for us! Certainly our experiences from the last few months were designed by the Lord to prepare us for this field, where we must listen to and follow the whispers more than ever before! He has been teaching us through various trials and tests that under our new circumstances, we will have to leave our old "accomplishments" mindset behind, learn to love and trust and follow Jesus like never before, and just come to the place where Jesus is truly the One Who is accomplishing it all, with us simply loving and obeying His slightest commands as yielded channels! Then He will bring along His sheep, work in hearts, give His message of love and hope to the truly hungry ones here.
One major event that brought about some of these lessons (and, TYL, resultant victories!) was that, after the Lord had clearly shown us to come to China, and we shared this vision with our friends, one person in particular offered to donate about 70% of the funds we needed. Others pledged to generously help as well, so that it looked like everything was "in the bag"! Needless to say, we were very excited and thankful, and began feverishly preparing to move. However, just a few weeks before our planned departure date, almost every single one of our pledgers apologetically explained that they would not be able to come through with their promised donation due to various extreme circumstances! Wow!
We were crushed, and also perplexed. We began asking, "Are we on the right track, in the Lord's will? Or did we get our signals mixed up somewhere?" This sure got us in prayer, seeking the Lord desperately to find out what He wanted to show us. When we got in a position to listen, He faithfully showed us that He wanted to supply our every need, but that He wanted us to wait on Him, hear from Him, and look to Him ... which in our excitement and feverish activity we were neglecting to do! He also lovingly encouraged us again that He had indeed given us our direction for China and that we were being sent as His ambassadors.
After this, we knew we would have to resist getting frantic, and spend more time in prayer, the Word, and hearing from Him. As we did, He blessed our other activities and raised up the amount we needed in only a few days, and from some of the most unexpected sources! One remarkable day, just five days before we needed to leave, we got together for a little meeting, and realized that we would need a fairly large amount of funds to be able to go. We didn't even have our tickets paid for! We took the need to the Lord in prayer, specifically asking for this amount, which was not a round number, but a kind of "odd" amount. We wanted to be specific!
He showed us a few doors to knock on, which we did, but by the end of that day, we had received only about 2% of the amount we prayed for, with only four days to go! Rather than get discouraged, we remembered that the Lord had promised He would supply, and joked that well, we only had 98% to go now, and after all, it was a start! We also then realized that, due to an upcoming holiday, we actually only had one more day to find our friends in their offices before they took off for the long weekend! We kept remembering how excited Grandmother (Dad's mom) would get when things looked impossible and she expectantly waited to see what miracles the Lord would do!
The next day, Noe went to see a faithful friend who had offered his help. We expected him to give a small donation, as he had not been a supporter before, but rather a provisioning contact. When this dear one gave his check, Noe was totally flipped to see that the amount that it was made out for was the exact amount we had prayed together for! Yet Noe had not mentioned this amount to our friend at all! We all shivered with excitement to think of all the behind-the-scenes activity in the Heavenly realm that must have occurred in order to get the message through to our friend to write out this odd amount on his check!
Then, maybe to just be extra sweet and to show us that He wanted to do above and beyond what we had asked, the Lord supplied even more funds that day, which turned out to be a special help towards other upcoming needs, and even some things we had not foreseen when we had first prayed. TYJ for such specific answers to prayer -- such sweet tokens of Your love! "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Copyright (c) 1997 by The Family