MAMA'S LETTERS OF COUNSEL TO JUAN, ABI & DUST!--LETTER NO.2, PART II.--By Maria
Maria #118 DO 2622 5/90
1. Now is the Lord's time to zero-in on personal habits & growth & clinical training so we can be even better samples, & even better witnesses for Jesus! This is a new day & a new period in our growth. It will have nothing to do with whether we're nationals or we're foreigners, or whether we're Shepherds or sheep. The important thing is that we are yielded to Jesus, have signed a blank sheet of paper & desperately desire His Will for our lives, & are committed to making whatever change is necessary, no matter what it takes! If we can fulfil these requirements, then we'll be successful in whatever training comes our way!
2. How fast we grow & change will depend on how yielded we are. Even with a late start, I believe that you & all of our sweet people in Latin America who are truly yielded will be able to catch up with & even possibly overtake others who have been benefitting from good training for years, especially those who are still refusing to change old habits & manifest a humble, sacrificial "little people" spirit.
3. THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE, SAD TO SAY, WHO HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF RECEIVING VERY GOOD TRAINING for YEARS, but because they have REFUSED to make the needed changes in their lives, they remain old bottles--inflexible, stuck-in-a-rut, self-righteous, having the FORM & all the right words, but without the POWER & the LOVE thereof. They've learned the letter of the law which killeth, but not the Spirit which maketh alive. After seeing your progress, Juan, I believe the Lord can change ANYONE as quickly as they desperately WANT to be changed, & as much as they are WILLING to endure the dying daily which it demands.
JUAN'S PROGRESS!
4. SO, JUAN, I WANT TO COMMEND YOU AGAIN FOR GOING AHEAD OF YOUR FLOCK AS A GOOD SHEPHERD & LEADING THE WAY BY BEING A GOOD SAMPLE to them of forsaking pride, sensitivity, old habits, independence, & admitting that there IS a better way, & desiring with all your heart to have it. Now, as a result of your yieldedness & commitment, the Lord has done the rest: Given you a multitude of victories one after the other in the form of dramatic changes in many areas of your life, & He has begun the process of making you a new creature in Him, & enabling you to walk in newness of life.
5. SURE, THE OLD HABITS CROP UP FREQUENTLY TO TRY TO DISCOURAGE US & MAKE US FEEL LIKE WE HAVEN'T CHANGED & we haven't gotten the victory, but they're just lying vanities. So just rebuke the Enemy & try again! "Whom the Lord hath made free shall be free indeed!"--Jn.8:36. He's DONE the work but it may take you a while to indeed see the evidence of it. Right now you have to believe by FAITH. But as you put your faith into ACTION, you will begin to SEE the results!
6. We realise that you never received very good training in the areas of communications & handling of people, & in fact, to the contrary, you received very poor training. Nevertheless, your love for Jesus & for the Word, for us & for your flock, & your obedience to Him, have far outweighed any lacks in these areas, & we believe your heart has been right before the Lord. Sometimes Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart!--1Sam.16:7.
7. In the areas I've mentioned above where you are far behind, I believe the Lord is going to help you catch up quickly because of your sincerity & desire to learn & your yieldedness to the Lord. I love you very much, Juan, & consider you a very precious man, in tune with the Lord, & loyal, obedient, full of faith, vision & initiative. I know the Lord didn't make a mistake in putting you in this position.
LESSONS MAMA IS LEARNING!
8. YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO HAVE LESSONS TO LEARN. While Dad was praying for me the other night, the Lord told him that the reason He couldn't heal my eyes yet was because I had a lot more lessons to learn if I was going to become the Queen that He wanted to make me. Right now I'm still pretty much learning to be a good follower of the Lord & of Dad, & learning to be a good deacon & to take care of a lot of the business, administration & organisation of the Family that Dad should not have to be so burdened with & involved in anyway.
9. Of course, he did have to be deeply involved in it for a long time, many years, until he was able to train me & Peter & others to take more responsibility in these areas. Although he continues to be very involved with the major plans & major new directions the Family takes, & although he leads the Family by the directions he gets from the Lord both spiritually & organisationally, he leaves a lot of the lesser details up to us so he can spend his time in the Word & prayer & doing the Prophet's job that he was meant to do.
10. I am trying to help him by doing some of the deacon's job that he shouldn't have to do, & tend to the things that would keep him from giving his full time to the Lord & the Word & prayer. Even all of the details of administration that I'm covering in this Letter to you are things Dad expects me to take care of, while he gets the general guidance & direction from the Lord, such as the "Latin America Is It" revelation that helped us to turn more of our attention towards Latin America. (See ML#2573, GN403.) Anyway, it should encourage you that you're not the only ones who are learning lessons now!--We all are, including me! PTL!
SPEAKING IN ENGLISH
11. I'M GLAD, JUAN, YOU HAVE DECIDED TO PRETTY MUCH SPEAK IN ENGLISH WITHIN YOUR SMALL COUNCIL MEETINGS because I do think it helps you to stay more on guard than if you were speaking in Spanish, & to be less familiar with the people there. So I commend you for your decision on that. But of course, in your large meetings where mostly everyone speaks Spanish, you should continue to speak in Spanish. Just make sure that those who don't understand Spanish have a good translator or interpreter.
GOOD SAMPLES OF TAKING CHANGES!
12. I'M REALLY PROUD OF THE PEOPLE THERE AT YOUR PLACE! They're being real good samples in trying to do their best to conform to the training & to welcome the needed changes.
TEAMWORKERS RELAXING TOGETHER!
13. Juan, I think it's real sweet how you & Abi can go out to a little place for dinner once in awhile. I think it's not only sweet, but very needed for you, as such busy top leaders. Possibly you would want to include Dust in these dinner dates as well, as it's good for you all to not only work together, but also have the opportunity to relax together.
TAKING TIME FOR R&R!
14. THAT WAS REAL GOOD NEWS ABOUT YOUR PLANS TO RENT A CHEAP LITTLE PLACE NEARBY FOR R&R (Rest & Recuperation) so that those in your Training Center have the opportunity to take some time off every week or so. I definitely think you need it.--And where there's a NEED, we can expect the Lord to SUPPLY!
KEEPING EACH OTHER INFORMED!
15. I KNOW IT'S DIFFICULT IN A TEAMWORK TO ALWAYS FIND THE TIME TO FILL EACH OTHER IN ON ALL THE BUSINESS & TALKS THAT YOU HAVE WITH OTHERS. We have a problem with that ourselves sometimes, even informing each other of the talks we've had with others just in OUR Home! I was thinking about how you could do this more faithfully, & it came to me that you could make each other a 10 or 15-minute TAPE summarising the highlights of any business you've transacted or any counselling you've done with others. Then these tapes could be listened to even when you are not available to each other, & could be left for you on your desk so that you could listen to it whenever you have a few minutes available.
SOME QUOTES FROM DUST
16. I suppose Dust has told you how he appreciates you, Juan, but I might quote here, (if you'll allow me, Dust) what he said in his recent report tape to us:
17. "I couldn't help but be very impressed by Juan. What especially impresses me is how willing Juan has been to forsake his own pride & sensitivity & how excited & enthusiastic & receptive he is about the changes that are taking place in his own life personally & in the Work in Latin America. During one of the first meetings I attended while here, he was so enthusiastic in welcoming & backing the training that's about to take place.--And at the same time, he honestly acknowledged his own shortcomings & weaknesses. Another thing that stood out to me about Juan is his love & loyalty to Dad & to Mama. These seem to be quite outstanding to me.
18. "Another point that I'm very impressed with & for which I deeply admire Juan is his willingness & ability to `take it.'--His willingness to acknowledge his shortcomings & his strong desire to want to change. Juan is by nature a very proud Latin man, yet he is willing to forsake all that because his love for the Lord & the Family, & for Dad & you, simply outweighs his pride. In other words, his love for Jesus outweighs his pride. His love for Jesus is greater than his pride & his sensitivity, & he is willing to forsake those things to be what Jesus wants him to be.
19. "Juan also seems to be quite strong in the Word, both in his everyday conversation & in his talks & exhortations to the flock & individuals. He is constantly referring to the Letters & the Scriptures, & quoting them. The Lord seems to really anoint Juan in his talks & exhortations.
20. "Being around Juan these last few days I'm very convinced, more than ever, that Juan is the man for the job! And I very much agree with you, Mama, that he is a very precious man, in tune with the Lord, loyal, obedient, full of faith, vision, & initiative.--And I already love him very much as you do. And I also very much believe that the Lord has put him in this leadership role, & that the Lord still wants him in this position."
VIDEO PRESENTATION TO THE LATIN FAMILY
21. One more thing I wanted to comment on, Juan, is your first rough draft of your video presentation. I thought it was very good. You did real well & I was very proud of you for venturing out into something new that you'd never done before, & doing a real good job on it--with the Lord's help. Your prayers were really touching & heart-felt, & I think it's going to be a big blessing to the Latin Family.
22. Now normally we don't get involved in details like suggesting what you should say on a video, or editing your TLC Newsletters, let alone commenting on what language you hold your council meetings in!--But in order to advise you now on the eve of your Continent-wide training program getting underway, we are zeroing-in on some of these things to try to help you get off to a good start.
23. We were thinking that since this video doesn't have to have a time limit on it, that Abi & Dust could also take the opportunity to each share what is on their hearts, more than just the few words of greeting that we previously suggested.
ABI'S WARNING ABOUT THE RESULTS OF RESISTING CHANGE!
24. ABI, MAYBE IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR TESTIMONY OF THE BIG CHANGE THAT YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH IN JAPAN WHEN PETER VISITED & moved in at the School there. You could probably identify with how some of the folks in Latin America may be tempted to feel, with all of these changes coming about--not only in actual training centres--but in EVERY Home in Latin America. You could mention how most of us have our own little way of doing things, & like to have everything set up & running the way WE want it to. And then when all kinds of changes start occurring & really "upsetting" some things, WE sometimes get upset as well!
25. YOU COULD GIVE YOUR HISTORY, HOW YOU WORKED IN UNITS & YOU WORKED AT THE JUMBO & HAD RECEIVED A LOT OF TRAINING & COUNSEL. Then when you went to Japan you were one of the main Shepherds in charge of the Japan School & the training there, & you were modelling it after what you had done in previous situations. But then when PETER came & was able to spend some months at the School in a supervisory position, he ventured out with many NEW changes & ideas, a lot of them resulting from direct counsel from Dad.
26. AND THAT WAS WHEN YOU REALISED MORE THAN EVER BEFORE THAT YOU WEREN'T SO OPEN TO CHANGE. In fact, you RESISTED it to such an extent that you began to get into a real bad state. You could explain how you became critical & self-righteous etc., & that you got to the point that you were so out of it that you had to have a major deliverance.
27. You could tell them that you hope that when these changes are presented to them that they don't react the way that you did, but that they will be open to change & yielded. Explain how you ended up having to make the changes anyway, but that it became a lot easier & you grew a lot more when you finally just yielded to them. Explain that once you start that resistance & rebellion & not yielding, you can get very far afield & actually become so far gone that it is very difficult to pull out of it.
28. THE YIELDING IS THE INITIAL STEP THAT THE ENEMY FIGHTS SO MUCH. After you've yielded, the REST of it is relatively EASY! But when you DON'T yield initially, then EVERYTHING is very HARD, & it's just fight, fight, fighting the Lord's Will the whole way through! It's just a CONSTANT BATTLE & you get resentful, bitter, rebellious, critical, practically every bad thing you can think of if you don't yield! And the Lord's Work goes on without you anyway, & you get left behind & eventually cast aside if you don't get the victory.
29. You could give them a warning of what happened as a result, & how you really went through it & ended up in a very bad state. Because we don't want to give anybody the excuse that, "Well, Abi is a top leader & she said she resisted change so we can do it too," you need to show what torment of mind you went through & how it was very difficult for you when you resisted.--And it was not only difficult for you but for other people who had to work with you!
30. I know you've given this testimony to individuals quite often & you've probably had lots of practice at it by now, so with the Lord's help, it should be fairly easy for you to give it on video. You've got to have that warning attached to it, that, "If you don't yield, the same thing could happen to you, or even worse!"
DUST'S VIDEO CONTRIBUTION
31. And, Dust, I think you could say something similar to what you said in your report to us, some of which I quoted earlier for Juan. You could also bring out the other fact you mentioned in your report, from when you were in Argentina some years ago. You were a DAS there, when Faithy & Juan passed through on their "String of Pearls" visit, & you felt that some things were handled improperly & you even felt that you were mistreated. But that doesn't keep you from loving Juan & admiring him, because he's learned from his mistakes. We have all made a lot of mistakes, & because we've repented & apologised, the Lord has forgiven us & we hope others have forgiven us too. Besides, it wasn't his intent to hurt anyone.
32. Maybe you could even weave your recent failing in Scandinavia in there somewhere, pointing out that you've also made your share of mistakes not only in the distant past, but you're continuing to make mistakes. Bring out how we all are sinners together, saved by grace, & we just have to continue to keep trying & keep repenting & keep forgiving one another.--And all just looking unto Jesus to pull us all through together! So, Dust, this is the other reason why I think the Lord allowed that to happen--so that you would have a fresh new example of a recent failing that you could share with others to show that you understand them, & that you can relate to them & their failings because you're not so perfect yourself.
JUAN'S VIDEO APOLOGY
33. AND FOR YOUR PART, JUAN, OTHER THAN THE VERY GOOD MESSAGE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY PRESENTED TO US FOR OUR APPROVAL, I think it would be very helpful & would diffuse a lot of people's criticism if you would tell them something like you've already told US: That, since you've been receiving this training, you're seeing that there are many ways in which you did things & different ways you acted, & some of your methods of operation that may have hurt or offended some of them.--And that it really breaks your heart to think that you've offended people or mistreated them or mishandled them in any way.--That you love them very much & never wanted to do anything to hurt them, & that you've asked the Lord & us to forgive you.--And you hope they will forgive you as well. As the top leader of Latin America, you do take the responsibility for many of its problems. And as you mentioned in your report, now you want to do all you can to get behind this training programme & to change & to be a good sample of how things should be done in counsel & working together in unity, love, openness & honesty.
34. YOU'VE TOLD ALL OF THIS TO US, JUAN, SO I KNOW YOU'LL WANT TO SAY THE SAME TO THEM. Whenever new methods are taught & new procedures implemented, it's human nature for people to look back on the old & criticise the way things were done before, & consequently the people who instituted or allowed them. Part of it is usually justified & part of it is unjustified, but nevertheless it usually happens. And since you're the only leader, or at least the major one, in evidence, they usually will blame things on you. So whether you are wrong or not, if they THINK you're wrong, it's best to apologise & to set a good sample for others in asking for forgiveness since most of them ALSO could have done better, & will probably need to apologise THEMSELVES to someone. And by your doing so, you set a good example.
35. There, now you all have a difficult assignment! But I know the Lord will give you the grace & we'll certainly be praying for you. I'm afraid, Juan, you'll have to bear the blame for a lot of past leaders' shenanigans & activities.--And there are probably a lot of things people still hold against them that they might hold against you as well. You'll also have to take the blame for things done since then, when, although you were doing your best, in some cases you just didn't know what to do or how to do it & may have erred by not counselling with others enough, or laxness in correcting others, or lack of clarity when giving instructions, etc.
36. Well, you may feel like you have more NWOs than anyone else! But the truth is that the entire Family is in the same boat! It's just that if you are one of the top leaders, your NWOs get scrutinised much more closely than anyone else's, & you also get more criticism.--Especially when you make mistakes.
37. Sometimes people can be pretty hard & self-righteous, not having "walked in your shoes" or realised your circumstances. But thank the Lord, most of our Family is very forgiving & very precious & very loving as a whole. I think most of them realise that leadership isn't easy, since many of them have had to be leaders at one level or another. That's what goes along with leadership, not only the credit but also the blame, justified & unjustified. We all admire you, Juan, for being able to "take it," passing the credit for the good things on to the Lord & taking the blame yourself for the bad. God bless you!
THE "PASTOR & EVANGELIST" PARALLEL!
38. ON ANOTHER TOPIC, WE'RE ABOUT TO PUBLISH SOME NEW GNS & FSMS ON PRAYER. SOME PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY GOING TO LOOK AT ALL THIS PRAYER MATERIAL & SAY, "WOW! A PRAYER REVOLUTION!--A big NEW subject! All this new material we've never had before!" It reminds me a little of the story of the evangelist & the pastor: The pastor has been preaching a certain message for YEARS, & the evangelist comes in for a one-week meeting & emphasises the same subject, & everybody goes all ga-ga over it as though they'd never heard it before!
39. Juan, you may be tempted to feel somewhat similar, in that here you were the pastor & you were preaching some of these things for years, but when the new training push comes along with new leadership & they say some of the same things, all of a sudden people respond like, "Oh, we've never heard it or seen that before, & it's so wonderful!" You'll just have to roll with the punches & forgive people for their denseness, & just be glad they're finally getting it!--Because that's just human nature! Things have to be repeated over & over & over, & many times people don't get it until it's said some different way by a different person, or shown to them in a different context.
40. In my Letters on prayer that we're now working on, I'm not really saying anything different from what Dad has always said & always practiced! I'm just saying it in a slightly different way & putting a renewed concentrated emphasis on it. And everybody we've shared it with is all turned on to prayer all of a sudden! Well, praise the Lord, I'm glad they're getting turned on to prayer if they haven't been before. But really, there's no excuse because Dad has preached & practiced this since the beginning.
41. I think one of the major reasons for people thinking it's something new when it's presented by a different person or in a different context is often because formerly the "pastor," for example, may have been preaching the same thing over a period of many years, but it wasn't in such a concentrated dose as when the "evangelist" comes in for just one week & really socks it to them on that subject every night.
42. DAD HAS PREACHED ON PRAYER FOR YEARS & YEARS. Then I come out with a couple of GNs totally dedicated to the subject of prayer at the same time that Peter comes out with a couple of FSMs totally on prayer. It's all put together in a very CONCENTRATED form, & suddenly a lot of people wake up & get the point! Juan, some of the things you've probably been saying for years are now being said by the new leadership, but they're saying them in a new context with a concentrated training push, & people suddenly get the point.
43. Just thank God that they do finally get the point! And whoever gets the credit, let's try not to mind. Let's just be thankful that the Lord is getting the credit & that people are finally seeing the Light! PTL!
44. OK! Praise the Lord! I love you! God bless & keep you! It's been so good talking to you, & I hope it hasn't been too hard for you.
I love you!--Mama
P.S. GETTING THINGS OUT IN THE OPEN
45. JUAN, ABI & DUST, I KNOW THAT SOME OF THE TOPICS I'VE TOUCHED ON IN THIS LETTER WILL UNDOUBTEDLY STRIKE AT SOME OF YOUR SENSITIVE SPOTS, especially if you haven't already discussed these things with each other. But maybe you just need my little push to help you start getting everything out in the OPEN so you CAN discuss it & pray about it instead of letting things fester inside through misunderstanding & misinterpretation. If some of my counsel seems a little one-sided, that's probably because I only GOT one side to comment on.--In other words, only one of you mentioned the subject. But I figured in the long run you'd probably rather have me bring it up & say SOMETHING about it than nothing; at least it will help you get it out in the open & get things cleared up & come to a good understanding about things.
46. So please don't be offended at each other for not speaking up about some of these things prior to telling them to me on tape. Perhaps what I've said in this Letter will make it easier to discuss these things together. If you all make an agreement that you won't mind what the other says in his communications to us, it may help in your relationship, & as a result help the Work, plus you may be able to get some good counsel on these smaller issues that will prevent your having more serious misunderstandings. Of course, the ideal is to discuss such matters openly together without needing us to mediate, & we believe that, in time, you'll be able to do this.
47. And speaking of getting things all out in the open, I have a request. If this idea of getting everything all out in the open seems like a difficult thing to do amongst the three of you, what I'm going to ask you about now may be even more difficult.
48. The Lord had put the burden on my heart to give some sort of message to the Family in Latin America on the eve of this Continent-wide training push. Initially I had thought of writing something to the Family there which one of you could read & include in the video you're making. But the more we prayed about & discussed it, the less I seemed to be able to know what to say.
49. Finally, after I got this Letter dictated to you, the Lord gave me the answer: That it would be more effective to publish this Letter for the World, many areas of which are now beginning training pushes. So rather than only the Family in Latin America benefiting from a little speech dictated to them, all of the Family could also partake of the counsel given herein, & learn from your good example, Juan, of taking correction, taking the blame, being open to change, accepting training, welcoming new leadership moving in with you, breaking old habits & making new ones! It would also show them that we're not just talking about putting an emphasis on training in all areas, but we're actually doing something about it.
50. IT WILL, GOD WILLING, MOTIVATE THEM TO FOLLOW THE SAMPLE THAT ALL THREE OF YOU ARE BEING IN LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER, & unselfishly forsaking much of the independence that each of you have had previously, to form a strong united three-fold cord. I discussed this idea with Peter & others, & the idea seemed good to them too. So now we just want to ask YOUR permission since, of course, this has been a very personal Letter to you three, & has many things in it that if published would, of course, be another forsaking of your pride & sensitivity. But I really believe the Family will ADMIRE you for it & will want to FOLLOW your very good sample. However, we won't do anything further on this until we hear your answer regarding this idea. (They all cheerfully agreed to publishing these Letters for you, GB'm!)
"IT IS GOOD TO BE HUMBLED!"
51. P.P.S. JUST AFTER DICTATING THIS LETTER WE RECEIVED YOUR LATEST REPORT TAPES: I was real pleased to see that things are going well amongst you & in the Work there. That's an interesting verse that the Lord has been giving you, Juan, Psa.119:71, which, as you said, has a slightly different translation in the Spanish Bible: "It is good for me that I have been HUMBLED, that I might learn Thy Statutes."
52. We understand how it must have been humbling &, in fact, even devastating, to hear that comment by someone, to the effect that before the new leadership arrived in Latin America recently they had not known if the Letters could really be lived or not! To think that the thing you really desired the most--to be a reflection of the same love & mercy that we have been to you--you fell short of. And, as you said, it's also been quite humbling for you to have your different weaknesses exposed, & the weaknesses of the whole area. But even if you failed to show ours & the Lord's Love to others as much as you would have liked, I'm sure the Lord knew you wanted to, & He has answered your prayers by bringing some others who could help you in this job.
53. But, thank the Lord, Juan, that it has caused you to go to the Word with a much more open spirit & made you able to say, "It is good for me to be humbled, because now I am desiring the Word more than ever!" And so you can also say, "Thank the Lord I desire my NWOs to be exposed to people now." When I heard you say that, I knew what a tremendous victory you had won! Hallelujah!
FOR ABI
54. Abi, Dust was commending you for your training sessions & Shepherd's meetings, & says the Lord really leads you & you do very well.
55. Abi, good for you for trying to answer people's OHRs at your local Training Center, at least for a little while. I know you can't keep it up, but you can explain that the fact that you've made an effort & you've done it for awhile shows that you really love them & are concerned about them, but hopefully soon you're going to have to share the burden with others & teach others how to do the job.
REGARDING TRAINED PERSONNEL
56. And, yes, Juan, I certainly agree with the viewpoint you've shared with Abi, that if you can't get any further trained personnel from the East, the Lord is going to have to do the job without them by raising up local personnel. I know trained people are always a blessing & a help, & you have to have somebody that is trained to start with, but you do have somebody, & that's you, Abi, & now Dust, & even a few others, so I'm sure the Lord is going to use the ones He's supplied to do the job.
57. I don't foresee very many other people being freed to go to Latin America from the East, since so many have already left Japan & Thailand, & they are now very much hurting for personnel themselves. It may take you longer without more trained personnel to train those in your care, but it's not impossible, & in fact, it's very possible, & we know the Lord will help you to do it! You'll have to use what's already in your hand, but the Lord is very able.
DUST'S WEIGHT LOSS & RESTRICTIONS!
58. PRAISE THE LORD, DUST, FOR THAT GOOD REPORT ON YOUR LOSS OF WEIGHT SINCE YOU'VE BEEN IN LATIN AMERICA! PTL! I'm sure it's very encouraging to see what the Lord can do with real cooperation from you. I liked your explanation to our Family Teen: "Just because Uncle Dust at 43 is overweight & doesn't eat bread is no reason for a slim 17-year-old not to eat HER bread."
59. I WAS GLAD TO HEAR, DUST, THAT YOU HADN'T BEEN DRINKING ANY ALCOHOL SINCE YOU'D BEEN THERE, & that you didn't miss it at all. Therefore, I guess you were probably able to accept our restrictions a lot more easily since you had ALREADY put such restrictions into effect YOURSELF before we even mentioned anything about them. I've got to commend you for your thought of possibly putting YOURSELF under a restriction of not ever touching any more alcohol, but I don't think you would be able to live up to that by yourself, & that's why OUR making the rule & the restriction will be more effective in helping you to keep it.
LESSON ABOUT BEING "NUMBER ONE"!
60. DUST, I HAD TO LAUGH WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW YOU WERE PROUD OF EUROPE BECOMING NUMBER ONE IN THE STATS & that perhaps your motivation wasn't altogether pure! I talked to Juan once about that same thing, that even if his motives for wanting Latin America to be number one in the stats WERE out of pride or competitiveness or whatever, the Lord even USES our natural tendencies, & sometimes even our rather questionable motivations, to accomplish His Will & His purpose! I'm sure He would PREFER that our motives were altogether pure, but He wants to get His JOB done & He'll use whatever He CAN to get it done. So I wouldn't feel too bad about wanting to be number one. I just hope that now you'll strive to invest as much in the Latin work as you did in Europe.
JUST TRUST THE LORD YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE!
61. AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE THERE YET, OR DON'T SEE HOW YOU'RE NEEDED AS MUCH in Latin America as you were in Europe, well, just WAIT awhile & I'm sure you'll find out!--Either you will see it for yourself, or the Lord will show you, or Juan & Abi will tell you, or Dad & I will tell you! But one way or the other, I'm sure you'll find out soon. I think that's a very normal reaction when a person is transferred from one job to another: The interim period is more of a rest, "get acquainted, learn-what-your-role-is-to-be" time. So, be PATIENT & trust the Lord that you're in the right place, & what you have to take by FAITH NOW, you'll know by SIGHT soon. (Well, I was glad to hear later on in your tape, Dust, that you've gotten a victory over this. Praise the Lord! I knew you would!)
62. I'm glad you've put yourself in the learning mode & see that there is a whole lot you can learn from Abi & Juan. And I'm sure there are lots of things that they can learn from you as well.
LEADERSHIP SEPARATIONS!
63. DUST, WE'RE THANKFUL THAT YOU'VE BEEN WILLING TO LEAVE YOUR WIFE & CHILDREN TEMPORARILY BEHIND IN EUROPE where she is very needed, while you take up your new duties in Latin America. In fact, you've had to do this a couple of times, & it's certainly borne good fruit. (Hopefully Anne & children will be able to join you in Latin America in the next few months, D.V.) We understand that it's a personal SACRIFICE, but the Lord has definitely HONOURED it. You too, Abi, have had to do likewise, forsake those whom you were close to, & be apart from your children a great deal of the time.
64. IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE TOP LEADERSHIP OF NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA AT THIS TIME, ONE REASON WHY ALL OF THEM ARE BEING SO MIGHTILY USED could very well be because they too said "yes" to the Lord when they were brought to a decision in their life as to whether they were going to insist on staying with their mate or splitting up & working in separate ministries for the Work's sake. Although it was understandably difficult & caused some personal pain, especially at first, their present ministries & fruitfulness far exceed the comparatively small sacrifice they may have had to make.
65. It seems that this is often part of the price of leadership. This is something the Lord has been requiring more & more of our leadership, mainly because they've proven to be more effective separate than together. Of course, there is no need for me to repeat everything I've already said in the "Separations" Letter, but it's wonderful to see more good fruit borne as a result of many of our leaders' willingness to sacrificially separate for the Work's sake.
THE MORE YOU FIGHT, THE STRONGER YOU BECOME!
66. WELL, PRAISE THE LORD! I LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH & AM CERTAINLY PRAYING FOR YOU IN THESE EXCITING & CHALLENGING TIMES! I'm real proud of you all for continuing to FIGHT in SPITE of the discouragements & disappointments & obstacles. The MORE you FIGHT, the STRONGER you BECOME! Just make sure you're fighting the DEVIL & not each other!
67. And make sure you're encouraging each other & loving each other as He has loved you.--Growing together in love & in Him! And may the peace of God that passeth all understanding, keep your hearts & minds through Christ Jesus, Who is able to keep you from falling & to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!--Phil.4:7; Jude 24. Amen! ILY & PFY!
--Much love, Mama
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family