TS FAMILY UPDATE NEWS #10 -- January 1996        TS

         "You are going to shine brighter because the world has gotten darker, and your little candles are going to be seen and sought out by many as your rays of hope and faith penetrate the deep despair and fear. Tell them how Jesus came to Earth to love them and how He died to save them, and how He rose again to deliver them into a wonderful New World that they can experience right now on Earth, and also enjoy forever in Heaven" (ML #2948:11).

January 1996, The Family, Zurich, Switzerland.

         (For age 12 and up. Selected portions may be shared with children younger than 12 at the discretion of their parents, teachers or shepherds.)

PRAYER REQUESTS

         1. Mama: Please pray earnestly for Mama, as she is very weak, due to prolonged bleeding that has gone on for the last two months. She is only able to sleep for short periods, a possible symptom of menopause, so she's extremely tired and finds it difficult to do her necessary work or even get minimal exercise. All of this has also adversely affected her eyes, which are now more painful. Please pray for the Lord to stop the bleeding and strengthen her.

         2. Joy, North America: On dialyzer (a life-support machine which performs dialysis) due to kidney failure. Eye trouble in her only operational eye (she is blind in the other).

ASIA AND MIDEAST

UNEXPECTED VISIT IN ANSWER TO PRAYER!
         A few months ago, Family members in India felt burdened to meet a certain businessman whose picture had appeared on the cover of a major magazine. They tried repeatedly to secure an appointment with him, but were unsuccessful.
         More recently, this businessman's family was vacationing at a resort hotel which is near a Family Home. That Home does "consider the poor" programs in the area, and they are well-known and respected locally. During this family's stay at the resort, the hotel management mentioned to them that the Family lived nearby, and recommended that they stop by to see us.
         A whole delegation from this family paid an unexpected visit to the Home, and the meeting was tremendously fruitful. The Home will be ministering to them further, praise the Lord!

THAI HOMES TEAM UP FOR FLOOD RELIEF CTP PROGRAMS!
         (From a Home in Bangkok, Thailand:) The flood relief projects which our Home conducted were a wonderful experience for our YAs, teens and JETTs, all of whom had a chance to participate in some way. It was also a blessing to team up with other Homes on these CTP programs. Each Home helped in whatever way they could, sharing the cost and the load. Doing these projects together also provided very sweet fellowship and brought a strong spirit of unity! Praise the Lord! (For further details of these CTP programs, please see the February 1996 FAR, "Flood Victims Receive Comfort and Aid!")

"GOOD NEWS" VIA MAIL!
         (From Catherine, Arabic Lit Pic:) During a recent Arab Children's Congress, the Lord led us to befriend the delegation from a country where we have no Homes. The head of that delegation, a Christian woman, was impressed with our conversations and the Family materials we gave her--children's materials, a Family brochure and a song tape in both English and Arabic.
         After she returned to her country, I wrote her a letter and enclosed quotes on positiveness. I was pleasantly surprised when I received a reply from her in which she said that she had passed the tape, brochure, and my letter around to quite a few of her friends! She also remarked about how much our friendship with her and her delegation meant to her, and that our sample inspired her to talk highly of the Family.
         I learned a wonderful lesson of the Lord's blessings on perseverance in being loving and faithful in the little things that He leads us to, or whispers to us about, as I didn't think that we had done anything extraordinary and was surprised at such a warm response. Also, this experience renewed my vision for mail ministries. Even in countries where we don't operate now, we can still have a fruitful witness and change lives via our literature. Thank You Jesus!

PAKISTAN PIONEER STORY!
         (From Steven and Dominic, Pakistan:) This past summer we sent a team which included four of our JETTs on a two-week road trip to some of the beautiful mountain resorts of Northern Pakistan. The purpose of the trip was to give the JETTs an opportunity to experience living by faith, to see God's loving care in supplying their needs and to expose them to a greater variety of witnessing. Little did we know then that this would also turn out to be God's way to get us to see the potential of this area, which had previously only been reached by sporadic road trips.
         Throughout our first week, we had lots of exciting witnessing adventures, provisioned all of our meals and hotels, etc. During that time we were introduced to a couple who got saved and then took care of us like kings. They paid our hotel bills, bought us food, loaned us a car and driver for outings to the mountains, and gave a generous donation!
         We were also invited by a very receptive lady to stay with her and her teenage children at their mountain house for a few days. That was quite an adventure for us and our four JETTs--living with four non-Family teenagers for three days! We got very close to them, had daily devotions and heart-to-heart talks together. Two of them received the Lord!
         After returning to our local Home and discussing and praying about the potential of the area we had visited, the Lord showed us to go and open up a Home there. Meanwhile, the political situation in the city where our mother Home is located had worsened. Daily shootings and killings made it increasingly difficult to operate freely, so we're thankful for the Lord leading us to a new situation where things are more peaceful and less tense. In our new location we found a beautiful house large enough to comfortably accommodate our team, and we are all thrilled by the doors of service that are opening up in this beautiful and fruitful field!

LIGHTS SHINE IN THE DARKNESS!
         (From Ruth Fighter, India:) During Diwali, the "Festival of Lights," which is the most important festival in Northern India, we visited our contacts and neighbors with baskets of homemade cookies and cards with verses and quotes about "light." Since our contacts know that we are Christians and our main festival is Christmas, they were very touched that we would come to visit them during this time with gifts. A lot of them responded by helping us with generous donations without our asking, and the sample went a long way in winning their hearts.

CHILDREN HAVE BREAKTHROUGH IN LEARNING LOCAL LANGUAGE!
         (From the Bangkok DF Home:) In order to help our children make more rapid progress in learning the local language, our Home and several others prayed and heard from the Lord about the idea of enrolling our children temporarily in private schools. In each case, the Lord gave the "green light!"
         One of our friends introduced us to the head of a respected private school for about 1,000 children from upper class families. Our children attended classes nearly every day for three months. They were accompanied each time by their Family teachers, who offered to give English classes to the school's teachers and the other children. Upon our friend's recommendation, the school waived the thousand-dollar-per-child tuition fee!
         The Thai school children were for the most part polite, well-mannered and respectful of the adults and authority, etc., and being able to have adult Family members with the children in their respective classes helped minimize negative influences.
         Meanwhile, the school's owners and administrators visited our Home several times. After their initial tour of our house and property, they exclaimed that our Home was "the best situated school they had ever seen!" They were really touched by the spirit and sample that they saw in the Home, even though it was quite simple compared to their very well-equipped school.
         The Thai school had a big party for the children and their parents when the school term ended, at which time they said they considered it an honor that our children had attended their school. But the biggest victory, of course, was the progress the children made in learning the language. It was such an answer to prayer! The children now speak Thai better than almost every adult in the Home, and our Thai members are amazed at their flawless accent!

ROAD TRIP VICTORIES!
         (From John and Rose, Indonesia:) While on the road with our kids, we met the heads of an Islamic student association. It astounded us how hungry these people were for our lit that had been designed for Muslims, and how much they valued it!
         The sister of one of our local supporters also lives in the area we traveled to, and she is the director of a Catholic foundation that operates several schools. We visited her, gave the foundation a sponsored set of videos, and accepted her invitation for us to stay at their convent. The nuns loved the "Fear Not" tape, and practiced it on guitar at night. By the time we left, they had learned to sing "The Lord Is My Shepherd" beautifully.
         The Mother Superior was so turned on by our videos that she phoned one parishioner to tell him he needed to buy a set of our videos for his kids, which he did. A precious elderly nun who cheerfully attended to our every need also caught the video vision. She sold several "Treasure Attic" videos to a wealthy Buddhist man she knew. The foundation wrote a recommendation letter which greatly helped our video distribution in this area, as their schools are quite well respected.
         When we left the convent, all 24 sisters stood on their front porch for several minutes, waving good-bye.

PACIFIC AND AUSTRALIA

GOOD FRUIT OF THE CHARTER!
         (From Angel, Rachel YA and Christian, Japan:) At the end of our fifth month pioneering this Home, we listed all that the Lord had done and it just thrilled us: a new Home, a tight team of teens to work with, a bus for road trips, two other vehicles for local transport, good provisioning and financial supply, drivers' licenses for two of us, and a new baby boy! The Lord has wonderful fulfilled prophecies that were received when the Charter was enacted, in which He promised to provide and care for us all! Thank the Lord for the Charter and the blessing it's been in our lives, drawing us closer and making it possible for us to accomplish more than ever!

PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF!
         (From Anna and Virgy, Taiwan:) We had prayed that our "attack day" would be special and different, but by the end of the morning our team had only gotten out one video. Then, while looking for a place to eat, we came upon a sumptuous "private club" restaurant. As we debated whether we should try to provision a meal there, the receptionist asked what we wanted. "We would like to speak with the manager," we replied. Without question she took us to the top manager, as there were several. We explained our work and told him that we hadn't eaten yet. He smiled and said, "I think I can help you!" Then he led us over to a beautiful table and told us we could order anything we liked. Later he introduced us to the other managers as his special guests.
         Then he sat with us and we had a very inspiring conversation. He told us that he was a Christian, but had put his faith "aside." By this time he had read our brochure and decided he needed to do something for others. For a start, he asked if our children could sing at the restaurant on Christmas! As we talked more, he poured out his heart about many things that he was going through, and we realized the Lord had answered our prayer for a special day!
         After lunch we continued witnessing in that same building, got out 10 more videos, and met some very receptive people who we will follow up on!

NORTH AMERICA

"ARGENTINA TESTIMONY" GIVEN AT A CANADIAN UNIVERSITY!
         (From Claire:) I was invited to give my testimony to a university class in my hometown. The professor was very excited about this possibility, and his class contributed towards my travel expenses. The first hour of the class was devoted to my personal testimony and account of the Argentine persecution, and the second hour was a question-and-answer session. Joining me in the presentation were David Photo and his family, who are members of the local Home.
         The class was huge--550 students in all! Every chair was taken, and others stood in the back of the hall! Throughout my talk the students listened very intently, took notes furiously, and reacted open-mindedly to all that I shared. Then David Photo shared his testimony of meeting the Family in Japan and leaving a lucrative modeling career to join. When his wife and children joined him on the podium, the students immediately fell in love with their two- and four-year-olds.
         After the class, about 20 students stayed back to speak with us, and we invited them to visit David's Home. The professor also arranged for interested graduate students to visit the Home as part of their studies.

Cloistered Catholic order prays for the Family!
         (From Anne, Don and Ruthie, Canada:) We visited the Mother Superior of a cloistered Catholic order to pass on a letter from her nephew, who is a friend of the Family and lives in Belgium. We talked to her through wooden bars, as they live a secluded and contemplative life. The Lord led us to give our testimony and tell her about the Family and our worldwide and local work. She was touched and thrilled, prayed for us, and told us that her whole community would keep the Family in their prayers.

SOUTH AMERICA

CHILDREN'S WITNESSING!
         (From Faithy, Brazil:) Our OCs' weekly witnessing ventures have born tremendous fruit in their lives and given them a renewed interest in taking care of the "sheep."
         One day while the OCs were out witnessing with their teacher, ten-year-old Christopher met a lady and witnessed on his own to her with such conviction and care that she was completely overwhelmed! She was baffled to see a "young child leading" her into everlasting life, and the truth of God's Word! She was so moved and impressed by Chris' zeal that she began to cry! She offered her address to him, and is anxious for him to write her.
         Chris feels very responsible for "his" sheep, and has been faithful with his follow-up. The next time we met this lady, she was really happy to see us and asked for more posters to send to some of her friends. It's beautiful and rewarding to see the Word poured into our children's lives now bearing fruit!

EUROPE

THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR ADFI?
         (From Samuel and Heidi, Europe:) The annual grant to the Association for the Defense of the Family and the Individual (ADFI) from one department of the French government has been cut by 60%, and their support from another department is coming under scrutiny.
         Also, the special legislation against sects which is being considered by the French parliament is reported to be stagnating because the deputies working on it can't believe that all the garbage ADFI has fed them could be true.
         (From Mama: This reminds me of the joke Dad used to tell about the fellow who treed a skunk. When he couldn't get the skunk out of the tree, he said, "Leave him alone and he'll stink himself to death!" Please continue to pray for the ongoing demise of ADFI, CAN and other ACMs who have been attacking us and other sincere Christian groups and churches.)

FRUITS OF FURLOUGH!
         (From Mark and Tab, Southeastern Europe:) We are thankful to be in our new field after a fruitful four-month furlough. The Lord blessed our trip to North America, and we were able to see relatives whom we hadn't seen for almost 12 years! The last time we saw them, they viewed us as "crazy kids with a dream," but after we spent 12 years on the mission field, they had more respect for us. We were able to witness and minister to all of our relatives, as well as old friends from high school, and many received the Lord!
         It was inspiring to be able to openly share with our relatives about our work with the Family all these years, and they were very open and receptive to it. We showed them Family videos and audio tapes, as well as the Insights video. We also explained the outcomes of recent persecution, court cases and official investigations, which strengthened their faith in the Family.
         While we were there, Tab's stepmother was terminally ill with cancer. Previously she had been in a lot of pain, but during the 15 days that we lived with Tab's father and her, the pain had greatly subsided. She testified that was because of the love she received from us and our children. She accepted the Lord with us, and we gave her many of the Family's inspiring and comforting cassettes, which she played continually. Five days before we left the States for our new field, she graduated. Tab's dad had such a peace about her passing, being fully assured that she was in Heaven with the Lord!
         After visiting our relatives, we had very fruitful visits with our supporters. We were invited to share our testimony in 25 different churches and prayer groups! Each place we spoke at took up "love offerings." Our mailing list of regular and occasional supporters went from 75 people to 260! This whole trip was a miracle, and the Lord--through His Love and grace--helped us to do things we never dreamed we could do! Thank You Jesus!

PROMISES FOR A FRUITFUL FAITH TRIP FULFILLED!--AND MORE!
         (From Ivan, Joan and Arthur, Russia:) As we planned and prayed about a faith trip to a resort city on the Black Sea, the Lord gave us some beautiful promises and confirmed our vision to minister mainly to the children, performing in hospitals and schools. He also showed us that we would minister to the top, and that our music would be the key. So with these promises in hand, our team of two adults, two YAs, one JETT and one OC set out to provision airline tickets. The manager of a Russian airline gave us six round-trip tickets and said, "Don't thank me, thank God! He's the One Who told me to help you, and I'm doing this because you're the first people I've met who are actually doing something to help Russia."
         During our month-long visit to this city, we led 1,010 souls to the Lord, got out 62 videos, 47 tapes and distributed thousands of posters and hundreds of Gospels of John. We also performed our music and skit program at six children's hospitals, two schools, the society for the blind, a civic event for 1,000 elderly veterans, and a center for unwanted and runaway children. Each of the children's institutions where we performed also received a set of locally sponsored video and audio tapes.
         Looking back and taking stock of all that the Lord did for us and through us, it was clear that He had fulfilled each one of the promises He gave our team before we started out, some down to exact details. He certainly outdid our proposed agenda, and helped us accomplish much more than we ever expected or dreamed of! We could only praise and glorify Him for such a thrilling time out on the field!

MORE PIONEERING BEYOND THE URALS!
         (From Viera and Matthew, Russia:) In answer to the Lord's call to reach His lost sheep east of the Urals, we went on a road trip to Tyumen, a city of 650,000 inhabitants. The Family hadn't been to this city before. The Lord showed us to go to schools and kindergartens with our marvelous tools. In five days we got out 64 videos and 25 tapes.
         Another idea that the Lord gave us was to go to the churches with our new audio Word tapes in Russian: "Fear Not," "How to Be Happy Anyhow," and "Peace in the Midst of Storm." People were happy to get them, as they are pretty starved spiritually. We found some true believers in the churches, but they receive very little spiritual feeding. When we introduced them to our tapes, they said that was exactly what they needed and were looking for! Both pastors and the congregations were really thankful for these terrific tools! In the churches we distributed 128 tapes in four days. Glory to God! We believe that our tools will not only be a blessing to those who received them, but will also inspire the congregations to start witnessing to others.
         A large part of this city's population consists of young people who study in seven different universities and institutes there. We gave out about 11,000 posters--most of them with the Endtime message.
         One day while we were distributing posters, we met a Christian lady named Galina. She asked many questions and seemed to really enjoy talking with us. She bought two audio tapes and invited us to her home. When we visited her in her apartment, we found out that she was witnessing herself and had led many to the Lord. For several hours we poured the Word into her, reading from Treasures, and singing to her, etc. She invited us to spend the night at her place, and by the end of our visit she told us that she wanted to witness "everywhere to everyone" and give out our posters. "I now believe that it is the duty of every Christian to pass on the Lord's Words and make this world a happier place," she said. She gave us her tithe, and when she saw that we were not quite prepared for the cold weather (we didn't expect this time of the year to be so cold), she gave us her own warm coat. It was such an inspiring faith trip! "The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad!" (Psa.126:3).

EXTENDED ROAD TRIP REACHES MILLIONS AND REAPS DISCIPLES!
         (From Joseph, Joanna and Hannah, Germany:) During a recent seven-week trip to the Ukraine, the Lord gave us five new Ukrainian disciples! We had been giving evening Bible studies to a group of about 10 to 15 people, but we hadn't realized how much the Word was taking effect until the whole group decided to go personal witnessing and distribute literature. At first we went with them to train them, but they soon learned to witness effectively on their own. They also started memorizing the key promises from God's Word! Then five of them decided to give their lives to Jesus and joined us full time! They are a 40-year-old graduate of Kiev University, his 38-year-old wife, their six-year-old son, a 19-year-old girl, and her 17-year-old brother. The Lord could not have given us five more precious, humble, eager-to-learn disciples, and we are already very proud of them.
         Also while in the Ukraine, our documentary-style video presentation of our work was aired five times on local TV and once on a station that reaches the whole republic, so the message of Jesus' Love really went out! We performed our Gospel concert in two prisons, as well as on ships in the port, in the dockyard, restaurants and bars, schools, factories, city centers and on local TV! Our teams also prayed with over 3,000 people to receive Jesus into their hearts, and distributed 700 New Testaments and over 20,000 pieces of other literature!

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