FAMILY UPDATE NEWS #32 -- December 1995
DO
"This is a new anointing and a new day! Therefore, do not hesitate or draw back, for you will feel My power flowing through you as never before. And the anointing that I have for you will not fail, as you stay close to Me and close to the words of your father and close to your queen. I will anoint and I will do it through you, and I will not fail you, for I am always there with you" (ML #2989:99).
December 1995, The Family, Zurich, Switzerland.
(For JETTs and up. Selected portions may be shared with children younger than JETTs at the discretion of their parents, teachers or shepherds.)
NOTICES
WANTED: PRAISE TIME ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN!
By WS Staff
We are planning to put together a pub of ideas for Praise Time with children. If you or your children have come up with any especially fun and meaningful Praise Time activities which you think might be a blessing to the rest of our children, please send them in with your next TRF (under point 2, last page). We will publish as many of them as possible, God willing. Following is an example of the type of ideas we're looking for, courtesy of the OCs in Nathanael, Rebecca, Ben and Spring's Home, USA:
1. All stand in a circle. Each person has a praise verse. After reading his or her verse, the reader gives a hug to the next person who then reads another verse.
2. Record ahead of time a drama tape of thankfulness or praise stories, for example, "Ol' Hallelujah," "Dime from the Sky," or "Fanny Crosby" to listen to at Praise Time. We even recorded praise verses and quotes.
3. Use musical instruments to sing praises to the Lord (e.g., shakers, guitars, tambourines, etc.). All the children have an instrument and join in with the music. The pre-schoolers especially like this one.
4. All blow kisses to Jesus, clap for Jesus, etc.
5. All go outside and find things in God's creation to praise the Lord for.
6. All sit in a circle. One person stands up and reads a praise verse or says a thankfulness prayer and then reaches down and pulls up the next person to read his verse or pray. When all are standing and everyone is still holding hands, praise the Lord together.
7. Kids divide up into teams to lead praise sessions for different days of the week or times of the day. (They know in advance when their turn will be to lead the praise, and can prepare in advance.) (End of example.)
"COMFORT YE MY PEOPLE, SAITH YOUR GOD" (Isa.40:1).
By WS Staff
As you go about your witnessing activities, we'd like to encourage you to please feel free to offer the DFO audio tapes "My HeartYour Home" and "When You Need Him Most" to anyone you feel might be receptive to them! They will encourage and inspire anyone who is wanting a closer walk with Jesus or in need of Heavenly comfort and consolation.
EUROPE
BI MEDIA STORM PASSES IN 24 HOURS!
From reports by Gideon and Rachel, England: "BOY, 3, TO STAY WITH MOTHER IN LOVE CULT!" Such were the headlines that greeted sleepy Londoners on the morning of Saturday, November 25th. The judgment in the BI case had been released to the public the day before when Justice Ward, the judge who presided over the BI case, called the press to the High Court at 10 a.m. In the month that passed since the judge gave his ruling in private to all parties involved, he had added 18 pages to his official judgment, bringing the length of the document to 315 pages. The case had run for 75 days, the longest ever for any wardship* case held in the UK! (*custody or guardianship of a child, especially when the state or one of its official organs--in this case the court--is the guardian)
Initially the news was a media sensation. Our media representatives in the UK split into two teams. Rachel attended the court proceedings and read a prepared statement on the court steps after Justice Ward's announcement. Five TV companies were there, as well as many reporters from the press. Rachel also handed out copies of her statement and a second document containing some of the judge's more complimentary statements about the Family, excerpted from his book-length judgment.
While this was taking place in London, Gideon and others hosted a press conference at their Home in Dunton Bassett, which was attended by all the major newspapers and four TV crews. After reading the Family's statement and passing out copies of the same material Rachel passed out in London, they opened the floor for questions. The reporters asked very pertinent questions, but were not particularly aggressive.
On Friday, BBC, ITV, Sky TV and some of the regional TV stations included the story in their news broadcasts. Some even used footage of Dad from the "Songs of Heaven" show, which had been provided to them by the Family. Eleven newspapers--from the more reputable to the seedy tabloids--ran the story on Saturday. Other headlines read: "RELIGIOUS SECT IN A VICTORY CELEBRATION," "GRANDMOTHER LOSES BATTLE FOR 'CHILD OF GOD'" and "'ORIGINAL HIPPIE' PREACHED THE LAW OF LOVE."
The reporters who visited the Home were apparently impressed by what they saw, as their articles were much more favorable than articles by reporters who had no firsthand knowledge. The front-page article in the Times included a beautiful color picture of Gideon, Rachel and their children, and even the page-six article in the Daily Mail--the paper which was expected to run the most negative article--included almost the entire statement which Rachel had read on the steps of the High Court.
The document containing excerpts from the judgment proved to be very beneficial, as many of the news articles were obviously drawn from that material. The judgment itself, though favorable in its conclusion, contains a lot of harsh criticisms of Dad and the Family, so had the BI team not prepared that summary, it is likely that those positive points would have escaped the reporters' attention and the coverage would have been much worse. Also, because the judgment was so long and the news media operates under such short deadlines, reporters didn't have time to read the entire ruling and were grateful to be able to draw their facts from something much shorter.
Dad was the main target of the judge's censure, as well as of the scathing attacks by the press--especially the more sensational papers. Nevertheless, the positive verdict was conveyed. Some papers ran several articles about the Family and the court case in the same edition, written by different reporters from different angles.
The fact that we won the case shocked and upset members of the ACM in the UK and elsewhere who had anxiously awaited what they expected to be a ruling against the Family and their "golden opportunity" to use the media to malign the Family in the public eye and precipitate a new round of persecution worldwide. Some "cult" watchdogs went so far as to call the judge "deceived" or "deluded"--an action which will not win them favor in the future. Also, the judgment made it clear that the judge's concerns involved past actions and teachings, and that he is persuaded that the present-day Family is a safe environment for our children. That evaluation has effectively taken much of the wind out of the anti-"cult" people's sails.
By Sunday the anticipated media storm had blown over. Most Sunday papers carry a lot of human interest stories, so we expected to see a lot more negative press and misrepresentations of the Family by ex-members. Surprisingly, we were no longer news! Even newspapers which may have already done interviews with our detractors did not use them. Praise the Lord! He answered all of our prayers wonderfully!
A DREAM COME TRUE!
From David and Paloma, Russia: We have always had a burden to work in Eastern Europe, especially the Russian republics. I, David, had the opportunity to go on a pioneer team to Latvia three years ago. At that time the Lord did many miracles in helping us to distribute thousands of pages of literature, lead many Latvians to the Lord, make new friends, and win some catacombers and disciples to the Family. Thank You Jesus! I always had a burden to go back to reach the lost with His Love. I also wanted to give my children the opportunity to experience witnessing where people are so receptive and hungry for the Gospel.
In Western Europe, our family was living in a big combo when the news arrived that Eastern Europe was open for any teams to apply for clearance, including large families such as ours. (We have 10 children, ages 11 to newborn.) Through prophecy, the Lord confirmed it was His will, so we applied for clearance and set a goal to be ready to leave within six months.
We needed innumerable miracles to make this dream come true. At that moment we were in Scotland, almost 3,000 km (2,000 miles) from the former Soviet Union. We had no funds, our vehicle was in no condition to make the long, difficult trip, and we had no one to team up with. We knew the Lord was surely going to have to part the Red Sea for us to move to our Promised Land!
In order for us to get ready, we moved out of our large Home and pioneered a smaller Home with just our family. It was a very special time for us all, as we had to learn how to work together as a team. We had to get organized in order for the kids to get their school time, Word time, witnessing, etc.--And it worked!
We made a very specific prayer list and presented it to the Lord with all of our needs. We named everything from new school books to clothing, a computer, a better vehicle, Home support, and the necessary funds to make the trip and to establish a base when we arrived on our new field. Then we wrote a prayer letter and gave it to all our friends and contacts. We also visited our relatives and supporters in our Home country.
After five months, we were barely making ends meet. Then right at the end of the sixth month, the Lord answered our prayers and gave us $25,000!--Enough to buy a good vehicle and other needs, and still have a reasonable amount of money to make the trip and open a Home! The last day before we left, we provisioned more than $1,000 worth of goods. Praise the Lord! He never fails!
We had a safe trip and that's not all! A week after our arrival on our new field, a friend of the Family offered to let us use an apartment she owns free of charge, which is just 10 minutes away from the city center. We are now very involved in feeding the sheep, ministering to the catacombers and doing outreach with the outside witnessers. It's so inspiring to be in a fertile field!
HEARTS TOUCHED AND FRIENDS WON AT ANTI-ABORTION CONFERENCE!
From Job Robert, Ukraine: We were invited by some friends who are part of a local social organization to attend a three-day conference against abortion, sponsored by "Human Life International" and UNEC (United Nations of European Christians). Esther (catacomber) and I went, though we didn't know what to expect.
There were about 800 attendees, including doctors, professors, lawyers, some government officials, social organizations, the local heads of the Baptist and Pentecostal churches, quite a few Catholic priests and bishops, a few Orthodox priests, and even a representative from the Vatican!
One of the local organizers, a young Catholic priest, was a bit cold toward us the first day. On the second day, although we had been told we could speak to one of the groups discussing what action to take to stop the practice of abortion, this priest put us toward the bottom of the list of speakers. Since many of the speakers were quite long-winded, there was no time for us. Also, we had hoped to show "Mother Let Me Live" from the SOS video, but we didn't have a copy available.
Then, after a break, this same priest announced that he was going to put on "a special video" for a group of about 50 delegates. That video turned out to be "Mother Let Me Live!" We practically fell out of our seats with excitement that the Lord had worked it out for this video to be played! Later we explained to the priest that this song and video were ours, and he was very impressed!
The next day, I took my two daughters, Linda (14) and Maria (12), with me to the conference, hoping to sing for the attendees. The priest was very happy to see us again. When we asked him about singing the song, he said in English, "Oh, yes! Please! That would be fantastic!" and gave us a thumbs up!
Many of the speeches were quite repetitive, so when Linda and Maria came on stage it was like a breath of fresh air! They introduced themselves, read the lyrics of "Mother Let Me Live," (translated by Esther) and sang it for the delegation. There were tears and quite a few requests for copies of the lyrics and the SOS video.
Linda then said, "Sometimes these problems seem impossibly big for us to overcome, but we believe that God's Love is going to conquer the world." Then she and Maria sang "I Believe It!" The whole conference clapped in rhythm, and the priest who heads "Human Life International," who was seated on the stage right behind the girls, joined in on the chorus.--"I believe it, I believe it...!" Afterwards he told the girls, "You made a very wonderful contribution to this congress. Thank you."
Later one of the Ukrainian organizers approached us in the hallway to ask if the girls could return to the auditorium and sing "Do It Now! Right Now!" Linda and Maria went to the stage and sang three more songs. Again, the response was very enthusiastic.
NORTHERN SIBERIA HEARS THE MESSAGE!
From Daniel Mountain and team, Russia: On a faith trip, we took the northernmost train route in Siberia, which no Family member had traveled on before. This led to witnessing and postering in small cities along the way, whose populations had previously heard very little of the Gospel. When our train made a brief unscheduled stop in front of a very isolated military base, we gave out many posters through the window to soldiers on the platform, many of whom wanted extra copies for others at the base. When their stern-faced commanding officer saw the commotion, he came over to find out what we were passing out to his men. He looked over our Endtime and Heaven posters, then allowed us to keep postering to his men! Praise the Lord! (See the full story of this team's journey in an upcoming Hope mag.)
VISITING TOWNS IN THE URALS!
From Abner, Joy, Peter, Clara and Steven, Russia: Recently, we've been able to make a few road trips to different small cities in the Urals, and had an incredibly inspiring time witnessing. There is a great hunger for the Words of David in this area of Russia!
One lady in whose home we stayed kept us awake talking to her about the Lord till 4:00 in the morning. We had to leave the next day, but she was so full of questions and so desperate to find out the answers, that she just wouldn't let us go to bed. She and her brother-in-law (who at first said he was an atheist, but then prayed with us to receive Jesus) stayed awake the rest of the night reading our lit, then made us promise that we would come back to tell them more about God.
In the same city, we also met a sweet family who had been witnessed to before by our catacombers from another city in the Urals. Although the father of the family at first said that he was an atheist, by the end of our visit he turned out to be the "hottest lead!" By then, he had a deep respect for God's Word and agreed with everything we said!--And you should have seen him taking our lit from us! He received each piece with indescribable gratitude!
When we arrived in another town, we saw only wooden houses and very few people on the streets. Well, it took only a half an hour for us to see that the Lord isn't limited by the size of a city! That day we got out about 20 audio tapes, one video and over 2,000 posters!
After a long day of witnessing, the Lord led us to a young lady who invited us to spend the night at her folks' place. We gladly accepted her invitation, and that evening we sang and witnessed to her family. We were the first people to tell them about Jesus' Love in their entire lives!
"I've lived a long life," her aged mother told us later, "but I don't know anything about God. All I know is that He loves me because He sent you to tell me about Him!"
We were also able to follow up on one of the Mail Ministry members from this area. She is a school teacher, and when she first got one of our posters from a friend, she showed it to her class. All the children liked it so much that each of them wrote down the Salvation prayer. Then she and the children wrote the Family to request more posters. They all prayed that the letter would reach its destination and that their request would be granted.--And sure enough, the posters came! The teacher said, "You see, kids, God exists because He has answered your prayer!" We left her with a big stack of posters to distribute, and some of our tapes for the children. She was so happy!
FERTILE KAZAKHSTAN!
From Joseph Daniel: Four of us made a trip to the Kazakh town of Panfilov, which is just 40 km (25 miles) from the Chinese border. It was a beautiful bus journey across plains, desert, mountains, and through a canyon. Almost everyone else on the road was riding on little donkeys or in donkey carts. Panfilov is a town of 35,000. The Lord supplied free rooms at the first hotel we asked at.--That was a good thing, as it may have been the only hotel in town!
The next morning we took our posters to the market where they were hungrily and happily devoured by everyone. One man who was about 40 years old begged us for more posters to take to his town, which is only one km from China! We gave him an assortment of about 300 posters. Before we knew it, we had almost none of our 5,000 posters left!
Soon we found out why the Lord let us get our posters out so fast. The friendly police informed us that since this town was so near the border, it is a restricted area and we needed special permission to be there, which we didn't have. However, they allowed us to stay one more night and return to our home base the next day. That evening we were able to personally feed some of the people we met during the day. Seeing how hungry these people were for the Words of David gave us an even greater burden to reach many of the other towns in this former Soviet republic. Praise the Lord!
PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF!
From Christie, Switzerland: In order to print more Wonder Working Words for Eastern Europe, we needed paper--lots of it!
After months of phoning a company director who had helped us previously, I finally was able to reach him. "You nearly missed me again," he said. "I'm leaving in half an hour for a trip to the United States!" I presented our need in that short conversation, and we arranged that I would send him a letter with further details.
A week or so passed, and I phoned back for the answer to our letter of request. Time and again I was unable to get past various secretaries. Finally, one secretary told me, "I talked to Mr. So-and-so, and he asked me to tell you that he is sorry, but he's not interested in your projects."
My heart sank and I thought, "Should I thank them for their time and just hang up?" But I knew the Lord wouldn't fail us. I hadn't recognized the name that the secretary had given me, so I said, "Oh, but I talked with Dr. M. and he asked me to check back with him."
The secretary replied, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll tell Dr. M. that you called, and we'll answer your request next week!" By the next week, Dr. M. had arranged to help us with 11 tons of top quality paper! Praise the Lord!
MIRACLE OF PROTECTION!
From Paul and Faith, Czechoslovakia: The Lord did a miracle in protecting us while out for a short walk with our two children. We needed to get something from the nearby store, so we said a short prayer for protection and set out. Our six-year-old, Sara, was riding her bicycle, which we had just purchased the week before. She was still learning how to ride it, and was moving slowly. She faltered so we all stopped. Just then a car I hadn't seen or heard reversed out of a driveway in front of us. As I looked closely, I saw to my amazement that there was no driver in the car! The car rolled out into the street and crashed into a fence across the road. (The last person to drive it had failed to set the hand brake.) Sara's faltering had stopped us right before the driveway, otherwise we might have been seriously injured. Praise the Lord for His miracles of protection!
ASIA
VIETNAM UPDATE!
From a pioneer team: Vietnam is having an economic boom, with lots of foreign investment pouring in. Politically, however, the Communist Party is still very much in control from behind the scenes.
Generally, we found the Vietnamese to be outspoken, romantic, and emotional people. They are intelligent and serious about their lives. It's like "Beauty for Ashes."--Their suffering has given them depth, which is quite precious. We also felt an incredible vacuum for God's Love and His Word, and we are burdened to help reap the harvest of souls and disciples amongst these dynamic and diligent people.
Vietnamese youth are all trying to get ahead. In addition to their college courses, most work part time to earn money to study, and then study more at night--usually English or other languages, computer, dancing or sports-related activities. There seems to be a terrific hunger for learning. After years of repression, they want to find out about what they missed. It is a golden opportunity for us to get in there and fill as much of that vacuum as we can with the Lord's Love and Words.
We were able to follow up on some of the people who had been met during previous trips into Vietnam. Many of them have made good spiritual progress with the Word that they have been given, God bless them!
The Lord opened an exciting door for us to teach at an English Club. Very few foreigners teach English in Vietnam, so the Vietnamese never miss an opportunity to speak with a native English speaker. When we taught, the club was so packed with young people that they needed to open up more classrooms to accommodate the overflow! We sang songs like, "Love, Real Love," "Reach for the Sky," and "Peace in the Midst of the Storm!" They learned the words and sang along with us. We also used inspiring and feeding stories from Reflections and Good Thots, which were very well received. Lots of those met at the club have potential, and we are following up on them.
COMPUTERS DONATED!
From Charity and Mike, Thailand: Our Home got two new computers for our children's schooling. While witnessing store-to-store, our YAs met a friendly man who owned a computer shop. He really wanted to help us, so the YAs asked if he would like to donate one of their top-of-the-line computers and he did! Then another computer virtually "fell in our laps" when a computer company asked us to teach their staff English. In exchange for 12 hours of classes, they agreed to supply us with a very good quality computer and color monitor. Praise the Lord!
IT PAYS TO ASK!
From Tim and Cheerful, Thailand: After making a list of our financial needs, we decided to ask each of our friends to double their monthly pledges, which most did. The Lord also showed us to write one man who had previously given us a generous gift, and explain our situation to him. We asked him to help with a large financial need that we had at present, and also asked him to consider helping us with the amount that we were consistently falling short of in raising our monthly budget.
We made an appointment to see him, at which time he said he had decided to give us the whole amount that we needed immediately, and he also pledged to help monthly with the amount that we needed towards our budget! Praise the Lord!
FAMILY PERFORMS AT TOP ASIAN DISCO!
From Andrew, Thailand: Our singing team performed at our city's top entertainment center, which is also one of the largest and best in Asia.
The Lord gave specific direction and counsel to our team, including specific songs which He wanted us to sing in order to show the Thai youth something new and different. The Lord also indicated that we should follow the advice of some of our friends, so instead of using minus-ones as we normally do, one of the club's house bands backed up our singers. This gave them a much fuller look and sound.
The program went very well. The place was packed-out with over 10,000 people! During the program the words, "The Family" and our contact number flashed on huge video screens to each side of the stage, as well as on mini-monitor TVs within the concert hall. The timing of each song, the costume changes, the coordination of the sound and lighting and all the other details worked out extremely well considering how little time we had for coordinating this with the club's technicians.
The fact that we came there to reach out to the youth, speak their language, relate to them and understand their heartcry seemed to really win the crowd. The team distributed around 4,000 flyers and personally met many people. It was a tremendous victory!
PACIFIC AND AUSTRALIA
FAMILY CASE IN MELBOURNE IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED!
From Paul D.: The Melbourne case was permanently stayed, without any further court appearances from the families involved! The mediation order, issued 15 months ago, stated that at the end of that period the case would automatically be permanently stayed unless either of the parties contested on the grounds that the other side had broken the terms of the agreement. Since no one contested, the case was closed!
Locally, this final outcome of the case received quite a bit of objective media coverage. On one newscast, one of our lawyers called for an inquiry into the Department's handling of the case and why so many millions of dollars were spent on persecuting innocent people! God bless her! The Lord surely kept us and won the victory, just as He promised from the beginning! Praise the Lord!
"A REFUGE FROM THE STORM!" (Isa.25:4)
From Tim, Praise and Tabitha, Taiwan: Typhoon Ryan was predicted to be the strongest typhoon to hit the western coast of Taiwan in the last 17 years. With no mountain shield to take the brunt of the power-packed winds, untold damage to the country was expected. We prepared as best we could for the storm, and prayed desperately. The night before the big blow, we battened down the hatches and took all possible precautions--only to wake up to sunshine and very little wind! At the last minute, Typhoon Ryan changed course! All of our Homes on the island were spared. Prayer does it again!
* * *
From Simeon, Japan: The Lord did a miracle in turning away the big typhoon--the biggest since WW2--that was headed straight for the HCS! The winds were so strong and the destruction potential so high that we had to evacuate everyone out of the prefab buildings and have them come into the main building, which was the safest. The very worst of the storm was supposed to hit between 12:00 noon and 3:00 P.M. We had desperate prayer in the morning, and the Lord promised that He would keep us. At around 12:30, the raging winds suddenly died down, and we all thought that we must be in the eye of the hurricane. We sat and waited with bated breath for the second half of the storm to come, which is supposed to be the worst, but for two hours it was as calm as could be. Then we heard on the radio that the hurricane had come within 100 km (60 miles) of us before veering out to sea. We praised the Lord for His miraculous protection! Although we only experienced the outskirts of the storm, there was still a fair amount of damage to our grounds.
It wasn't long, however, before we understood what we had been spared from! The next day there was another hurricane of similar strength in the Caribbean, and the news clips we saw of the incredible damage that storm left in its wake made us all the more thankful for the way the Lord had protected us!
* * *
From Paul, Mary, Teresa, Suzy, Ezra and Maggie, Japan: A huge thunderstorm hit so close to our Home that the time lapse between each flash of lightning and clap of thunder was virtually nonexistent! It was the worst storm that anyone in our Home could remember experiencing, and lasted for two or three hours.
Later, a man from the electric company came around to check all our electrical fixtures and circuit breakers, etc., and he told us that the storm had destroyed the TVs, refrigerators, and phones in many of our closest neighbors' homes. The sudden drops and surges in the electricity had blown most of those appliances! Thank the Lord for the counsel and training we've received about unplugging all the appliances, computers and sensitive equipment. As a result, we did not suffer a single problem from it all, even though one bolt of lightning may have hit right beside our house!
The man from the electric company also told us that a foreign neighbor of ours had a large Oni devil idol over his door, and it crashed to the floor and smashed during that storm! The kids flipped as we all recalled Grandma's story of the Buddha and the temple over the cliff!
GETTING "KID POWER" BEHIND NEW PUSHES!
From Chris, Charity and Becky, Australia: In our Word time with the OCs and MCs, we've been reading excerpts from the latest GNs and explaining to them how the Lord's Spirit is moving in the Family. We also make photocopy enlargements of various illustrations as posters for them to color. They've really been excited and thankful to be included in on the latest pubs, and this helps them feel like they are participating in the new pushes and directions our Home undertakes.
CULTURAL OUTING BECOMES A WITNESS!
From Micah and Mary, Japan: A friend of ours who is also the president of the local PTA (Parents and Teachers Association), asked if our children would like to help him plant rice. We thought it would be a good cultural experience for the kids, so we agreed. He was thrilled to have foreign children help with the planting, and passers-by stopped to watch foreign kids participating in such an important part of the Japanese culture. Our friend felt our kids' participation was so unique that he called the news media, who came and filmed us. He has also invited us to come back and help with the harvesting, at which time he wants the neighborhood to have a big party for us. They will teach the girls how to prepare Japanese food, while the boys harvest the rice.--What an unexpected open door to reach this community! Praise the Lord!
NORTH AMERICA
C.A.N. AND RICK ROSS FOUND GUILTY IN MAJOR LAW SUIT!
On September 29, Rick Ross, Cult Awareness Network (CAN) and two other deprogrammers were ordered to pay $5 million damages to Jason Scott, a United Pentecostal Church member they kidnapped and tried to deprogram in 1991. Jurors found that in abducting Scott from his mother's home and holding him against his will for five days in an effort to force him to leave his church, the defendants had deprived him of his freedom of religion. It is the first time that the CAN organization has been found guilty in a court ruling, and could spell their end! CAN has already filed for bankruptcy!
DC TEAM PARTICIPATES IN COMMUNAL STUDIES CONFERENCE!
From Ahlai for the DC Show Troupe: We were invited to participate in and provide entertainment for a conference of academics held in Florida by the Communal Studies Association. Several academics commented that they rarely see such wholesome, outgoing young people who converse so well with adults. Our performance went very well, and we were able to give the Endtime Message before showing "Watch Out for 666!" We were so glad to have had this opportunity to give such a meaty message to these Utopia- and truth-seekers.
Before our show, as is our usual approach, we arrived early and spread out to meet and make contact with the crowd. It was wonderful to see our young people carry on long, involved conversations with these professional scholars. They had already won the crowd before they ever sang a note!
When it came time for our panel presentation, the Lord showed us to include all 14 of our teens and YAs. After an introduction from Peter's "Moving Forward--the Need for Change" (Peter #76, GN 615), and brief explanations of Dad's Homegoing and the Charter, the YAs and teens shared personal testimonies of their experiences in the Family. They talked about and answered questions on many topics: their lives on the mission field, their personal decisions to continue in the Family, what it has been like for them growing up in the Family, their current ministries, education in the Family, vocational training, personal evangelism, their reactions to the Charter, side-by-side testimonies, teen dating and lots more. After our two-hour session, some scholars talked with us for another hour!
POSSIBLE CHURCH PERSECUTION STIRS UP TEENS AND YAS!
From Jay and Rose, USA: Our Home's ministry in Haight-Ashbury* has been incredible! We're giving Bible classes to very hungry souls, sheep are asking to join, and the common people there love us. (*A section of central San Francisco which in the 1960s was a famous gathering place for hippies and followers of the drug culture.)
Those who run a Christian counseling house in the area, however, have become very jealous of the fact that we are so popular with the street people, and they have begun circulating hate sheets about us to all the kids and merchants. Last night when we went to sing to the street people, this other Christian group was out in force to dispute, argue and spread the usual lies in an attempt to stop our work. Most of the "Deadheads" (fans of Haight-Ashbury's most famous and enduring rock band, the Grateful Dead) can't stand these churchy Christians and shout at them to leave us alone. They know that we love them, whereas these church people never cared about them until the Family showed up. Many of the Deadheads have begged us to not stop coming just because these churchies come out to argue. It's the highlight of their week, some have told us, when we come to minister and sing to them.
These kids are radical rebels against the System and potential disciples, but the Enemy is not going to just let us march in and rescue the lambs and reach labor leaders without a fight. The Lord has given us many prophecies that these are His sheep, and we are not to neglect them, nor choose an easier ministry, nor run away from this battle.
Many of the teens and YAs in our Home were unaccustomed to this frontline type of battle. They're having to learn as they go, but they love the fight! You should see our teens memorizing and marking their Bibles in anticipation for the next round. "So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in Thy Word" (Psa.119:42).
SOUTH AMERICA
SPIRITUAL RETREATS FOR FRIENDS
From Tommy, Brazil: We recently completed our third retreat for close friends of the Family in this area of Brazil. This last one was on the theme "Love Makes a Difference!" It was held at a rented convent, and attended by 22 friends. The schedule was similar to a Family delegates' meeting with classes, rest, get-out, lots of Word time, and a relaxing movie with lessons that reinforced the general theme.
These retreats have brought a real revolution in the lives of our friends, as they get a chance to "live in" with us for a whole weekend (not just attend a weekly Bible class), and get a megadose of the Word and personal time with us! To ensure that our friends get lots of personal attention, we invest quite a bit of personnel into these retreats--about one DO staff member per two friends.
During these retreats, our friends have made spiritual progress. They testify how much we have helped them in their personal lives. One friend also decided to tithe and let us use his house to open a new Home! Others have made commitments to help us in our CTP ministries or to be a greater help to the Family in other ways.
A journalist whom we had only known for one month attended our last retreat. He even brought his wife and three children, and they all loved it! When we asked him what we could do to improve our retreats, he said "Make them four days, not just two!" He couldn't get enough of the Family spirit and the Word!
NEW BOOK EXPOSES INJUSTICE OF ARGENTINE PERSECUTION!
From Jane and Steven, Argentina: A book is about to be published in Argentina which will include 50 pages devoted to our 1993 case there. The project was initiated by Hector Ruiz Nuez, the reporter from Humor magazine who spoke out in the Family's defense during the persecution.
Nuez's goal for this book is to demonstrate to the public that sensationalistic media has created a parallel system of justice--or injustice--trial and conviction in the court of public opinion. "Poder Ciudadano" (Civilian Authority), a well-known Argentine foundation that works to reinforce republican values and the rule of law, and several foundations from Europe sponsored the project.
Six committees were commissioned to investigate and document their findings. Each committee consisted of a well-known judge, a media representative, a lawyer, and a group of soon-to-graduate law and journalism students. Each of the six committees then selected one of the more famous court cases in Argentine history. The committee that chose to investigate our case was headed by Justice Prack, who presided over the Appeals Court that threw out Marquevich's case against us and was the principle author of the favorable resolution. Their investigation has been completed, and the book is expected to be published within the next few months. An advance copy of the 50 pages dedicated to our case shows their findings to be quite objective and accurate. Please pray that this book will be widely read and have a positive effect as to how the public perceives us.
NEWSPAPER PRINTS FAMILY GP MATERIAL TWICE WEEKLY!
From Tommy, Brazil: A journalist who recently became a close friend is now giving us half of the space in his full-page newspaper column twice a week to publish a different page of our GP material and to advertise our tapes and videos. The newspaper he writes for has a circulation of 30,000 and is widely read by the types of people we especially are trying to reach! This space is worth $3,000 each time.
After this journalist got saved a year ago, he wanted to dedicate half of his newspaper column to preaching the Gospel, and decided to allow different churches to publish their messages. He really wanted to put his new-found faith into action, God bless him, and he convinced the owner of his newspaper that this was also in the paper's best interest.
However, after printing several of the churches' messages, he found them to be rather dry and their layouts unappealing. He also had several negative experiences with the churches involved. About that time, he met us and immediately asked if we had any Christian material he could print in his column.
He fell in love with our material, as he believes it has the perfect combination of eye appeal and short stories and quotes that fit in with his other half page of social commentary. He has the vision to also produce an independent monthly newsletter to get out the Word and further promote the Family all over Brazil.
Please pray for this man, as he will have to answer to the churches for his decision to go with the Family and not with them. As a journalist, he has heard all about our controversial side, but his faith in the Family is unshaken. God bless him!
TEENS EXCEL AT SOCIAL WORKER TRAINING COURSES!
From Tommy, Brazil: The Lord led some of our teens to take some training courses for social workers which were organized and run by a non-government organization (NGO). It has been quite a new thing for the teens (and adults) to take secular courses, but the Lord showed us that He would use it to accomplish a multiple purpose: We would learn things that would help us in our CTP ministries; we would make contacts for CTPs in more institutions, and we would be a witness to the others participating in the courses.
Our teens won the hearts of their teachers and fellow students. The main coordinator of the courses was especially impressed with their maturity, and said that their experience with community life greatly enriched the courses. At the courses' end, the teens received diplomas for participating, which have already proven helpful in opening other doors for CTP ministries.
PROPHECY COMFORTS RELATIVES AT FUNERAL!
From Pedro Montanha, John and Ester, Brazil: At the funeral of one of our friends, we were unexpectedly asked to pray. I felt the Lord wanted to use that opportunity to speak, but got quite nervous at the thought of delivering a prophecy, as the request came at a very sensitive moment for more than 100 of the relatives of the deceased who were present. The Lord helped me to take the first step, however, and then He spoke for five minutes about Heaven! The next day we were told that many of the people present were greatly comforted by what the Lord had said.
ANSWERED PRAYER
JESSE CLEARED BY GRAND JURY!
On November 30th, the Grand Jury in Austin finished their deliberations and gave Jesse a "no bill," which means there will be no charges brought against him. Thank the Lord for His marvelous answers to our prayers, and thank you so much, dear Family, for your prayers!
PRAYER REQUESTS
North America:
1. Samuel (9 years, of Andrew and Lily Tall), North America, was recently operated on to remove a large tumor from his chest. Because of the location and size of the tumor, the doctors were unable to remove it. They have now diagnosed the tumor to be a type of cancer that is difficult to treat. It is continuing to grow, and is now beginning to block Samuel's windpipe and hindering his breathing. Please pray that Samuel will be able to breath normally and that the tumor will shrink and then clear up speedily. For the doctors' wisdom and anointing in their recommendations of treatment for Samuel. That the Lord will encourage Andrew and Lily, and strengthen their faith.
Europe:
2. That BI government officials who are reported to be studying the judge's verdict in the recently concluded court case will find no cause for investigation or inquiry into any of our Homes in the BI.
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Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family