FROM PETER — 15/08/96. DO/TS

Dear Family,

Whether you realize it or not, we are one of the biggest news making religious groups on the face of the earth! We cover the globe — winning souls, reaching the lost, helping the poor, singing, performing, pioneering, risking our lives — all to preach the Gospel. We have miracles happening every day all around the world — miracles of supply, miracles of healing, miracles of salvation, miracles of discipleship, and many many more.

The Family has problems, too. That's for sure. But we are on the move, growing, progressing, changing, and doing the main job that the Lord has commissioned us to do, and that is to preach the Gospel to every creature everywhere. We're doing it and we should be proud of it. We certainly could be doing more, and we can't rest on our laurels or feel like we've "arrived," but we should be proud of how much the Lord is able to do through us despite our weaknesses and failings, praise the Lord!

Our Family accomplishes incredible things every day! If you only knew how much is happening through each one of you around the world, you wouldn't be tempted to wonder that "the Family is not doing much," or is "falling apart," as we've heard some people say.

Of course, it's a little hard for you to know and be proud of all that the Lord is doing through the Family when you aren't fully informed about these accomplishments. Keeping you updated with the current Family news is an area that we have fallen short in, and we're sorry. We haven't kept you well enough informed of all the wonderful things that are happening around the world, as they happen.

We have to some extent tried to provide information for you through the FUN, and when the FUN originally began during the persecution of '93, it did function as somewhat of a "newspaper," providing the latest updates on the persecution battles worldwide. But we now see that a more current and full range of news and information is needed and desired. We want to share with you all that the Lord is doing so that you will be encouraged to know of the victories being won, the battles being fought, the triumphs and the losses, the tests, the trials, the souls won, the challenges we face, and the ground we've gained.

In order to give you this news, we're inaugurating a new Family newspaper, which will take the place of the FUN, entitled The Grapevine. — And we want it to be just that — a grapevine of the hottest, latest news and talk! In other words, what's going on around the world, the good news and sometimes the bad!

This is your newspaper, so in order for it to be interesting, inspiring and informative, we need to hear from you! We need the news from you — your stories, and exactly what it is that you're doing in your particular area of the world. What's the "latest news" from your Home or area? Send it in! We need to hear your opinions, your suggestions, your comments, your ideas. Have you found a new way to raise funds, or a new "consider the poor" ministry, or a new way to organize your Home's schedule? Send it in! Are you a teen who has found an inspiring witnessing method that's real cool and has given you a renewed desire to reach the lost? Send it in! Wanna know who got married or had a baby? — We'll try to let you know. This newspaper is to be your news — about you, for you, and by you!

With this notice you should be receiving the first edition of The Grapevine. Our goal is to, DV, publish this every two weeks, in a basic newspaper format. We want you to be getting fresh, updated news of what our Family is doing throughout the world. But in order to do this we need to hear from you! We need to know what you're doing, what new ideas you've tried or methods you have pioneered which have worked, and even those that have failed. We need to know what cities or countries you're pioneering, what experiences you're having, even the problems you're facing and possible solutions the Lord is showing you. Or if you have a problem and haven't found the solution, let's hear it. We could publish it and maybe someone else who has faced the same problems and found an answer that works will write in.

In this first issue, we've just put together what news we had on hand right now, some of it taken from reports from your CROs, or from letters we've received from the field. But we'd like to expand on it as we do more issues, so be ready for changes in the content, layout, etc., as we start getting more news from you to share with the rest of the Family!

Folks, this is your newspaper! We are going to publish what you write. We won't be able to publish everything we get, but if it's newsworthy enough, it'll go in. And it's going to have your name on it, with locations, dates, and the news that is current! (If you don't want your name and/or location published, please say so when you send in your article.) We are all part of this great Family, and we all want to know what the Family is doing. We want to read about our friends — our brothers and sisters around the world — what they're doing, how they're doing it, and what works and doesn't work. We want to hear how the kids and JETTs and teens are doing, and much more!

But in order for this to happen, you've got to write it and send it to us! You've got to share your testimony! We need to know who is doing what, where they're doing it, how it's working or not working, the battles, the victories, the problems, the solutions. So if you want your newspaper to be a success, if you want to hear the latest scoop, then send it in and, Lord willing, we'll try to publish it. It's news that's written by you and published in your newspaper. Since we don't want The Grapevine to get so long that you don't have time to read it, we'll be trying to keep the articles short. So try to keep your testimonies and articles brief if you can, but don't leave out important or inspiring details that make the news.

What do you say? Wanna go for it? Will you write in? For now, please send any testimonies or articles you have to your CRO office. Shortly, however, we hope to have an address for you to send your articles, comments, notes and inside scoop directly to the "news team" who will be putting together The Grapevine. And, by God's grace, in the not too distant future we hope to supply you with a Grapevine e-mail address, so we can receive the news from those of you who are on-line, right as it's happening! That's our goal. We want to give you the news, the good news of all that the Lord is doing. So don't delay, send in yours today! — And if you send it in we'll publish what we can.

We hope and pray that you will enjoy reading The Grapevine, and that in reading it, it will inspire and help you to know and partake of the wonderful victories the Lord is winning around the world through us all. God bless and keep you!

Love,

Peter

P.S.: In trying to get the news out to you as quickly as we can by issuing The Grapevine every two weeks, we're going to put an emphasis on speed rather than perfection. That means that although our pubs team will be doing their best to "get it right," you may find an occasional typo, incorrectly worded sentence, or layout problem, etc. But we figure that you would rather get the news now — even if it's not perfect — rather than later. So please bear with us. We love you!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family