July 17, 2003
FSM 334 CM/FM
11/98
Copyright © 1998 by The Family
From Russian Bruni (21), Russia:
For about a year now I have a gift of prophecy, but very often I didn't have faith to give something in public. Sometimes even when praying by myself, I think that maybe it's just my thoughts and it's not the Lord speaking. Recently the Lord did a few things to increase my faith.
Right now I'm almost two months pregnant, but it was a miracle how the Lord prepared me. I got my period but it was very light. A couple weeks later, I was praying, asking if the Lord had something in general to say. Here's a part of what I got:
Soon, very soon, you'll see the things happening that will blow your mind. So be prepared. Be prepared in the Spirit by coming to Me and loving Me, reading My Word and studying it. You will be amazed how I engineered all these little things. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. And you'll definitely like it.
For I want you to be happy even here on Earth, not only in Heaven. I want you to see these glimpses of Heaven while you're on Earth, as spiritual experiences and physical also. You'll see it soon. (End of prophecy excerpts.)
I didn't have even a thought at that time that He was talking about pregnancy. I thought that maybe it was a ministry or something that I'll feel fulfilled and happy about. A few days after that I started feeling sick. First I thought maybe I just ate something wrong or it was because my period should come. But it continued for two, three, four days. Then I was re-reading the prophecy and only then I got a thought that maybe it's because I'm pregnant. I thought it was weird that I felt sick, but since I never was pregnant before I didn't know how I was supposed to feel. (At that time I still wasn't late on my period and thought it would come in few days.)
Then one day I was praying as I was going to sleep. I turned my dictaphone on and the Lord started saying: "I do things against your natural expectations very often because I know what's better for you. I give you only the best because I want you to be happy." Then I saw a picture of Jesus, smiling. And I heard the words, "You're pregnant!"
I thought, "What is this?" I turned off the dictaphone and started thinking about something else. Then after a few minutes I felt bad. I said: "Jesus, I'm sorry. I started listening to You, but then I stopped 'cause I thought it's weird, it's ridiculous. So many times I thought I'm pregnant and I never was."
And the Lord said, "But did I ever tell you that before?"
I said, "No. But what if it's just my thoughts?"
He said, "Well, you don't have to believe it, but you'll see it in few days." I decided not to tell anybody about it and see what would happen. And I went to sleep.
The next day I was praying with one of the girls in the Home about different things. I asked if we could ask the Lord about me, as she knew that I felt sick. I didn't know if I had the faith to ask the Lord specifically. But while she was getting a prophecy, I was praying that the Lord would confirm through her what I got the day before. And in this prophecy were two lines that spoke to me. "It's My doing in your life. Wait and see the fulfillment of My promises to you, all that I've spoken to you before. For I bring about that which I've planned in due time. I will reveal My will to you very soon."
After we prayed I said, "You know, I had an argument with the Lord last night." And I told her about it. After I finished she said that while getting the prophecy she also got the phrase "and I created this new life " but she didn't have faith to say it. We decided to wait and see if it was true. And in few days I found out that I'm pregnant. That was really amazing to me!
It increased my faith a lot that whenever we come to Jesus and we're desperate, He's faithful to answer! As the Lord said in "Mama's Surprise": "When you ask Me to speak, when you take the step of faith to verbalize My whispers, when you have the dictaphones before your mouth and you turn them on with expectant faith, then you must know without a shadow of a doubt that it is Me speaking. They are My Words that you are receiving—pure, clear, unadulterated" (ML #3134, GN 743).
Love, Bruni
From Mary, Ukraine:
Recently the Lord showed us that I should go to Europe for a visit to my family and supporters, and especially to see a longtime friend, as we felt that the Lord was working in his life. We received various prophecies which seemed to indicate that I should go, even though we then heard that our friend would actually be visiting here during the time that I was away. We prayed again, and separately the Lord showed both my husband and me that I should go and be a witness to many, giving specific names of people that I would not normally have contacted.
Just as I was getting ready to go, the ride I was planning to get fell through. It seemed that the door was closing, as I didn't have the funds to fly and it would take too long to go overland. I was very happy with this turn of events, as I knew that it would have been a busy trip and I was very involved with the work here.
Then we got a sudden message that the trip our long-term friend and supporter was taking to come here had been cancelled. I had this sinking feeling that I had leaned to my own understanding and hadn't really obeyed and that I was missing the Lord's highest. So we got together again and the Lord said simply, "Go back to the prophecies that I gave you." We did and it was all there—exactly what I was to do.
Where He guides He provides, and in a few days I was on a free flight, which I was able to provision in only a few days. When I got to my destination, a lady came up and gave me her travel card for the metro (I had lived in this large city before and had never had this happen), and the next day in the Home where I was staying there was a brother driving to exactly the same place that I needed to go to see my friend!
The visit went very well. I was able to minister to him and his wife, and the Lord gave me some sweet and encouraging prophecies for them. He was in the Family for several years before the RNR, and the training that he got in hearing from the Lord, following through on what the Lord shows him, obeying the Lord's checks and having a healthy fear of the Lord still shines through after all these years. His wife is real precious too, and very in tune with the Spirit. We are praying about ways that we can help them follow through on some of the things that the Lord shows him. The result of the visit was that he promised a large gift towards a new van which we desperately need for the work here, and which we knew the Lord wanted to supply, though we didn't know how.
From then on the Lord supplied provisioned tickets to most of my destinations, helped me see some of my family that I haven't seen in nine years, minister to my brother who almost joined the Family 25 years ago, and get a new passport for our youngest child in only three hours. (It usually takes three weeks, and I didn't even have all the right paperwork, so it was a huge miracle.) I also got to travel with my sweet daughter who is no longer in the Family, and spend time encouraging her.
The whole trip went so smoothly, and the Lord answered every prayer and fulfilled every prophecy. I learned to "check in" with Him every day so that I didn't miss the mark. It pays to pray, it pays to listen, and most of all it pays to obey!!
From Paul, USA:
I needed to renew my driver's license in Canada, so since we were in Southern California, the closest Canadian border was directly north, near Vancouver. The Lord gave us a check to pray and ask Him to confirm. The results? Something totally contrary. The Lord spoke through Melody and Maria separately on two different occasions that I should go to Montreal (my hometown) to do my license renewal, saying that there were souls to minister to and that He would foot the bill.
My trip to Montreal and my one-week stay was exactly what the Lord said it would be. My aunts, my sisters and brother had all been besieged with heavy battles, as my brother's wife had been committed to a psychiatric ward after attempting to commit suicide. I was able to minister to all of them, especially my sister-in-law with whom I spent the most time.
The Lord promised He would foot the bill for the trip and He did, as I received a gift in hand from my relatives that covered the whole expense. So there was renewal of not just my driver's license, but also renewal of severed family ties, renewal of hope, as well as renewal of faith in prophecy. Thank You Jesus!
—A busy CRO and mother shares personal lessons regarding "The Spiritual Health Revolution" (ML #3184, GN 789).
From Marianne, PACRO:
I'm the type of person that has a lot of energy in some ways, but I don't necessarily have a lot of natural talents or gifts that I can lean on. I basically had to learn rather soon in my years of service to the Lord that unless I have time with the Lord and in the Word on a daily basis, I'm pretty much of a mess. As my responsibilities have increased and my family has grown bigger, it has become more and more evident to myself and to others who know me well that I desperately need the Lord's help to stay in the Spirit and to be able to do the work that I have to do.
A little over a year ago we had our eleventh child. It was a bit of a trial for me to be pregnant again, and I was somewhat dreading the first few months after having the baby, as I knew how much time it takes to care for a little one. I felt somewhat overwhelmed with all there already was to do, and how much attention I needed to give to my other children, not to speak of all the shepherding needs that there always are in our big Home of 120 people (the HCS), and the CRO workload—all of which I felt I was already falling short in!
Right after our little boy was born, Peter came to the School, and he shared the very beautiful messages contained in the GN "Hearing from the Lord Step by Step," reminding us all of the importance of taking that time with the Lord, tuning into Him and getting His direction and instruction on a daily basis. Though I felt very burdened for all the work that needed to get done, on the other hand I really wanted to make the progress the Lord was so clearly asking me to make in my walk with Him.
I realized that if I missed the spiritual training He wanted to give me for the sake of accomplishment, I would really make a mess of things and fail in a much bigger way both in my family and my shepherding responsibilities to the School and to the area.
I'm so very thankful the Lord's given me such a sweet husband in Jerry, who loves the Word and is always right there to encourage me to take time with the Lord and tries (as much as I allow him to!) to keep me from overdoing it in the physical. I tend to be very sensitive about my physical surroundings, and when things are messy or disorganized around me, it's very difficult for me to concentrate on the Word or on the Lord or on my work. So I often get pulled into the physical and then I don't know how to stop, and much precious time is gone which I should have used to get in tune with the Lord rather than to tend tables.
I'm also very thankful for my precious teamworker Timothy, who has helped me a lot with good organizational tips. He's always a good sample of diligently scheduling his time so that the Lord and the Word have first place in his days!
Sleeping with our baby for his first year, I was not always able to rise up before the day started at the School to get my quiet time, something I normally really love to do. Actually, between baby, getting the kids off to their school groups, and doing JJTs, many days I couldn't get to my quiet time first thing, but needed to wait until 9:30 or 10:00 A.M. Of course by then I felt the burden of all there was to do during the day, and knew that I'd be with the children in the evening. So I had to really discipline myself to establish certain habits, and keep reminding myself that my number one priority is to have that time alone with my first Husband, and that if I don't take that necessary time with Him, nothing else will work out!
As soon as I could pull away, I'd try to schedule an uninterrupted hour and a half with the Lord. Because the little house where we live is also used for the babies and toddlers, I had to seek a quiet place. The Lord led me to use a little sound booth just big enough for a desk and an armchair and a little heater. I keep it very bare and simple so that I do not have any distractions (like things to clean or an intercom or phone) during my time with Him. It's very quiet, and somewhat soundproof, so I can talk to the Lord aloud. I can pray, I can praise, and I can sing without being easily heard.
With all the different aspects of our spiritual life, actually an hour and a half goes by really fast, just as "The Spiritual Health Revolution" says, so I then realized that I needed to carefully plan my time with the Lord.
First of all it takes effort to get in the Spirit and let go of all my burdens, my thoughts, and my cares, and to "enter into that rest," so I can really absorb the Word and connect with the Lord. For me that really takes time, because my mind tends to be so active in the mornings and so full of things I need to do or I want to do—preoccupations of all sorts. To help me get my burdens off my back and put them all on the altar and enter into His presence with thanksgiving and with a receptive mind and an empty heart so I can receive His Word, direction, instruction, counsel, whatever is needed for the day, I came up with a little plan which I have tried to follow as regularly as possible.
First I try to take time to praise the Lord. I really enjoy the "To Jesus with Love" book, as well as the Praise Kisses and Praise Poems, which help me to "enter into His gates." Often I read and pray out loud because it helps me put aside my own thoughts.
Something that the Lord showed me at one point, when I was asking Him about my time with Him, was how much I needed to memorize. Through the years I've had quite a bit of difficulty with memorization. In the times when I went through my deepest crises and when even reading the Word was difficult for me because I couldn't concentrate, I found that quoting verses was a powerful way to help me strike at the Enemy's attacks, especially when I had strong battles with fear, worry, jealousy, etc. I had always found it quite difficult to memorize chapters and Psalms, though. For some reason I didn't even get through the basics, such as Psalm 91 or Psalm 37, etc. But the Lord told me that He wanted me to memorize and He was going to help me, so I decided to give it a try.
In the last few months He's helped me to get down many of the chapters and Psalms that I never could retain before. I find that if I do that memory and review at the beginning of my Word time, just for ten or fifteen minutes, it forces me to concentrate. I can't quote or memorize while thinking about something else, so it helps to push all my thoughts and concerns out of my mind and helps me focus on the Lord. I found that memorizing these Psalms and chapters even made Word that I had heard so many times take on a new light and a new life.
It has been very feeding and strengthening. It's a super neat victory, because it's something that I've wanted to do and I've tried to do for years, but it was only when I followed what the Lord gave me personally in prophecy when I asked Him how I could improve my time with Him and then obeyed His instruction, that I saw Him miraculously overcome my handicap in that area.
I find it very helpful to have my notebook right with me, so I can put down all the little thoughts that I've had throughout the morning, things that I remember I need to do, ideas that come on any subject. Unloading my "to dos," concerns and ideas on paper as they pop into my head helps me to then let go of these details while I focus on the main part of my morning Word time with the Lord, which is usually reading a GN, new or old, or an older Letter.
For me to really get the message of a GN I have to read it at least twice. I usually read it the first time to see what it's talking about and where it's going—what the punch line is. But to really assimilate what the Lord's trying to say, I have to go through it a second time. I then mark the key quotes, the promises, the things to do, and pray about how this GN affects my life.
Recently you, Mama, have talked a little bit about meditating on the Word, and maybe that's what this is—the stage where you read something and then you really take the time to see what you personally need to do about it, what changes you need to make, or how you want to feed it to others. Is this a quote you should select to put in your quotebook or on the wall so that you can be reminded of it often? Are there some good passages to share with the children at nighttime, etc.?
When I don't have a new GN to either read or re-read, I have a whole slew of other Word projects that I'm working on.
Near the end of my hour-and-a-half, I try to take ten to fifteen minutes or so to hear from the Lord, either about my day or about specific questions that I have. Because our secretaries are very busy, I usually write the more personal prophecies I receive in my notebook, or the ones that are of more limited interest. This way I can re-read them later, and I have a record of them always with me.
When I take my time to hear from the Lord, I usually read what He gave me the day before and I underline the key points, to see if I've followed up on His instructions. Sometimes I read a few more from the past weeks, because it encourages me to look back and see what's developed since then and realize He did actually talk to me. It also helps me check if I'm following up on His instructions to me.
Right after I hear from the Lord, I usually finish planning my day, pray and go to work. So that basic time with the Lord takes me about an hour and a half, and that is the very minimum. As "The Spiritual Health Revolution" GN so clearly brings out, after that one main meal for the day, I try to squeeze in other "snack times" through the day. Otherwise I cannot keep up with all the great pubs that we receive.
I try to take a little time for Word projects, usually around midday, at naptime, if I can. That's when I try to read the Grapevine, the Zine, the END, and testimonies of different sorts. I've also got various personal projects that I'm working on, like going through the Techi series in the new Lifelines book, studying the Raise'em Right and the newly-pubbed childcare books, so I can make progress in my parenting and better plan my time with the children. I'm also trying to take 15 minutes as often as I can to read the Charter and the new amendments, since it is part of my work and it's important for me to be very familiar with it, just as it's very important for me to keep in touch with the childcare pubs to help me make progress in the care of our large family.
Of course I don't get around to all these projects on a daily basis, but I try to get to at least one of them. There are times when I push more on the Charter and other times I push more on childcare pubs. Personally I have so much Word I need to read, whether it's for my own personal instruction or to help me in my shepherding or to try to be a better mom, or just for fun and interest, that I never have a problem to fill the hours—the challenge is to find them!
I'm so very thankful for the new books that have been printed on childcare and for the children. It's like a gold mine at my fingertips! Having children of so many different ages that I want to feed, besides planning my personal Word diet, I try to also take the time to plan the Word diet for the children for the time that we have together, and having these books to read through with them has been such a super blessing. We just got the new MLK book and our seven-year-old is very excited about reading the MLK book from cover to cover, so that's his personal project. We have also made good progress in the Junior Lifelines. We're starting now to go through the Power and Protection book.
The Heaven's Library mags are very popular with all ages. Recently we didn't have anything new to read, and I pulled some of these older Heaven's Library stories out and I saw how much worth there was in re-reading them. The story we picked was "The Stranger in the Barn." That's quite an exciting one with this JETT-age boy finding a gangster in his barn. It takes place in Ohio in 1920, so we could give a little geography class and then a little history class.
In that particular story there's a beautiful salvation class. It can lead to some good conversation on how each one would handle the situation described in the story. Anyway, when re-reading the older stories I find that I can get a lot more mileage from them and they can really teach a lot if they are expounded on a little bit.
Getting back to my personal time with the Lord, something that He really impressed upon me last year was the importance of taking the time to pray for others. I was fighting many battles of discouragement and condemnation because I felt I was accomplishing so little. Many times I felt I was failing my family, failing the School and in my area of responsibilities, not doing a sufficient job in all of those. Taking time with the Lord on a daily basis was such a blessing to me, because it helped me to realize that I couldn't do it all anyway, or meet my personal standard of accomplishment, but if I tried to follow the Lord's instructions day by day then at least I wouldn't be failing Him.
Many times when I stopped to ask Him what my priority should be, He would remind me of the importance of the ministry of intercession, and that if I couldn't answer all the mail I wanted to, if I couldn't talk to all the people I felt needed the attention, and if I couldn't give my children all the attention that they needed, if I took enough time to commit all these things to Him in prayer, and if I fought for the work, for situations, for individuals and for the children by praying for them, I would accomplish more than I expected.
So I tried to follow through on this vision, and I recruited a few precious ones who were willing to be prayer partners with me. I find that when I try to pray alone, oftentimes I start thinking of other things or daydreaming, unless I pray aloud. But praying with somebody helps me to concentrate. It's been a real blessing to find others with similar burdens and who have the vision to help me with this ministry of prayer.
Through the months, the Lord has kept impressing upon me the importance of being diligent to pray for each person and their situation when I read various reports. Praying for others takes faith because you don't always see the result of your prayers, but He's kept telling me that this was a very important part of my work and that He was counting on me for that. He knows I can't do all there is to do, but one thing I can do that doesn't take too much time is to pray for others.
Often it is a test to take my prayer vigil—an hour of prayer for individuals and situations—but every time I do it I feel such a boost in the spirit. I feel such satisfaction that I have done something for someone, even if I never see it, and at least I know I have pleased the Lord by following through with what He has shown me to do. I know you, Mama, are such a wonderful sample of that.
Sometimes I feel I am not accomplishing much for the Lord. But there's one thing I can do while I nurse my baby, and even while I change him or while I rock him or while I clean around the house, and that is to pray for others—to pray for the work, to pray for the children, to pray for those who are going through it. As the Lord has said in His recent Word, doing that not only bears fruit in the lives of others, but it's reaching out to the Lord, showing my dependence on Him, and giving Him more of my time. It even counts as part of my "nutrition plan"!
When I look back at last year, I see the many battles that were fought, but I'm so very thankful for all the precious lessons that I learned and the way the Lord has led and guided and done miracles day by day and step by step. One thing He's shown me is that if I do take that time to love Him, praise Him, absorb His Word, and pray for others, He really does take care of things.
I'm amazed at the wonderful miracles He's done for us in this work and in people's lives—miracles of protection, miracles of supply, miracles of changed lives. He certainly didn't fail and saw us through every difficult situation, and it gives Him all the glory and all the credit. If I'd tried to do it in my own strength and had not taken that time with the Lord that He was requiring of me, but rather tried to "please Him by doing more of His work," I'm convinced that I would not have seen the Lord move as mightily. On the contrary, I probably would have made a bigger mess of things.
I certainly need to grow a lot in this area, and it is a daily fight to keep it up, to keep trusting Him for all there is to do, to give Him the time that He desires with me while not failing Him and others in the work that He does want me to do. More and more I see that it takes listening to Him day by day to ask Him—and others—to check me on the balance between tuning into Him to get His instruction and then following up on His instruction. It's a fine and delicate balance that only He can help me with.
Since I came back from the Summit meeting, my little boy moved to sleep with our sweet helper Dove, and that's allowing me to have better sleep at night. I can now get up around 6:00 A.M. and so get a good head start on the day, with solid Word time before everyone gets up. With this new schedule I'm able to gain about two hours every day, which is a super blessing.
An interesting fact about time is that last year I had much less time since I had baby at night and I had to nurse him through the day, so I often felt overwhelmed by the work. But even now when I get up at 6 A.M., I still am not able to do all there is to do, and I am still often overwhelmed. All this to say that I'll never get enough time to do all there is to do, but if I take that time with the Lord, what I do will have a greater chance of being empowered by His Spirit and bearing the right fruit.
From Stephen Kind, Croatia:
Before I start, I want to say that the events in the following article are due to no special merit on our part whatsoever; it could happen to any Home. It's only the Lord and His answer to our desperate prayers to do more for Him and to reach this country while we can. Let me emphasize, however, that it did take quite a commitment on our part, and a measure of sacrifice. But if you ask anyone in our Home, each can testify that it was, and is, well worth it! TYJ!
The background
We had been in this country for about a year, with a team consisting of our family of eight, plus four more young people. Our population consisted of mainly young people—three fourths of our Home are between the age of 16 and 25. We were very happy and content doing various CTP shows for children in institutions, schools, and refugee camps, in Croatia and Bosnia, but we all felt there was more we could do to reach the youth of this country. We decided to put together a band so we could do shows and reach the youth!
Then that summer, we got an invitation from some precious live-outs to come down and help them with a youth camp they were holding in Mostar. We would also be able to do shows both for kids and with the band. (See testimony from Grapevine #29!)
When we met the live-outs in Mostar, they were so on fire, praising the Lord constantly all day! There was also tons of personal witnessing to be done, not only to the Bosnian teens, but also to the many Italian volunteers, who also were going around praising the Lord, even though some of them were not even saved! (See GV29.—These were non-Family volunteers who set up camp with our team.) It was a super inspiring time of witnessing—one which really changed our lives!
They start to come—and we count the cost!
It was obvious that the Lord was working in the lives of the three live-outs, and it seemed like their ministry there in Mostar was coming to a close, and the live-outs were all seriously considering joining the Family! After we returned to our home Marco* came and joined (he followed us practically immediately!), then after a few months, Paolo, and then finally, Stefano, who also brought Enrico, a newly-saved sheep he had been witnessing with after Paolo and Marco joined. Then the same month that Stefano and Enrico joined, Slovenian Sara's 16-year-old sister Julia got permission from her mom to join!—Wow!—Three new disciples in one month, in addition to those from the few months before! (*Please keep Marco in your prayers, as he had to return to Italy to do his compulsory civil/military service.)
Needless to say, when Marco first arrived, it made a change in our lives, and we just couldn't go on business as usual. More and more as the others came, we saw that there were some areas we all needed to tighten up in. Before we accepted all of them, we had to ask ourselves if we were all personally willing to change in these areas and even forsake some of the things that we were used to doing that perhaps wouldn't be such a good sample for our new babes or wouldn't help them in their growth for the Lord.
Well, we were all whole-hearted in accepting the challenge, because we kept getting prophecy after prophecy about how the Lord wanted to bring them in. For many of us, it was our heart's desire to have a babes ranch. For all of us, it had been a long time since we had been around babes!
The second step—changes in our schedule!
The first thing that we realized that we needed to change was our devotions and various Word times to suit the need of these disciples who needed to go through the babes course in a certain amount of time. They needed to go through the basic Letters and parts of the Charter before actually forsaking all.
Another problem was that our new disciples' mother tongue was not English. Particularly the Italians were having a hard time, as they not only needed to learn about the Family but another language as well! That coupled with the fact that we have virtually no Italian translations in the Home other than GP Mountain Streams, etc., was another challenge to hurdle!
So we decided to have two Word classes a day. Morning devotions for all—either reading a basic Letter or Endtime class together, with a running translation in Italian plus someone sitting with Julia (Slovenian) helping translate for her. We also saw the need to sometimes have separate readings at devotions time, as we all wanted to read the New Wine together, plus we needed someone to take our YC for devotions. Then in the afternoons, we would have another three separate readings—one for Paolo, who was a few months ahead of the others, one for Stefano and Enrico, and another for Julia (as she spoke a different language than Stefano and Enrico)!
Praise time and inspiration level!
As we mentioned before, these guys really praise the Lord all the time! At first it was kind of bottle-breaking for us, as we weren't used to it other than our three times a day, and particularly we had to share with them about using wisdom when in public places. But I think we can all testify that it just rubbed off on all of us, and we began praising the Lord more throughout the day. Also our conversation had to get cleaned up a bit, as we had to be better samples to our new disciples, but praise just became a part of our lives! (We also want to give a special thank you to Christia, who constantly reminds us to have our praise times, God bless her!)
We also started having more old-fashioned type inspirations in the evenings, and realized that we needed to follow through with specially-planned evening activities!
We really have to pray about which videos to choose from the list, making sure that they are geared to them and that the video we see is something that will help them really grow. One night we all watched "The Stand," and turned it into an Endtime class! Naturally, the type of music we play around the house also needs to be of a high inspiration level.
On one of our Loving Jesus evenings, after reading the FSM about spirit trips, we decided to take the plunge! We all ended up—babes and OC included—going to Space City together! Each one saw something different, especially geared to them. The neatest thing was that different ones entered through different doors, but those who went through the same place experienced the same things together! When it was all over, we were all flying! The Lord also gave some personal messages for different ones of us. It was so inspiring and so much fun!
More changes—our home council meetings!
Of course, all of these changes took some time to take effect in our lives, and they didn't come without battles. We all had agreed to count the cost that would be required to change in the beginning, and knew it would take some sacrifice, so when some rather sensitive issues came up we looked at it more like "Will it be good for our new disciples?" Or, "Should we continue doing this for our new disciples' sake?"
One thing I must say is that our meetings have become a lot more positive and inspiring, and it is definitely much easier for us all to change our ways, adapt our lives, and get personal victories in whatever way is necessary.
The results—a more inspired home and more fruitful outreach!
The Lord has also given us our heart's desire in opening up an outreach to the youth of the city! After Easter, we had visitors over to our Home daily. We've performed with our band, done skits, shown the Endtime Video and had Bible classes—plus there is another national we met personal witnessing, who seriously wants to join the Family. So we are starting a babes course over again especially for him. He's a very precious Bosnian refugee whose parents were both killed during the war, and he really loves Jesus! He tried joining a Franciscan order at one time, but just couldn't make it!
We also started witnessing in a center for delinquents, where we found some very sweet kids. We did a couple of shows there, and then for Easter some of them asked if they could come to our Home. Their keepers fell in love with us, and now, even if the kids are "on punishment" and are not allowed out of the center, they give them special permission to come to our Home!
There is also a group who are very turned on to our sample and message. They have a club to help drug addicts. They came over one day to check us out for a special four-day series of programs to be held in the walking street in July, and fell in love with us. They said that after they left, they were just floating!
And last but not least, it seems like the Lord is opening a door to have our own Poorboy Club! One of the members of a humanitarian organization we have been helping and doing children's shows with was really burdened to do something for the youth, particularly together with us, and now it seems possible. They want to have a type of workshop where we come and teach guitar, English or Italian classes, and then at a certain time we can play music and do skits. Wow! A real answer to prayer!
More miraculous supply!
Well, naturally with the additional mouths to feed (and believe me, these guys eat a lot!—remember when you were a babe, and got the munchies?), the Lord had to practically double our food supply! We have been trying to get provisioning underway here, as particularly this area of Croatia is still suffering economically from the former war. Up till now we have been relying on supply from Italy, as provisioning was tough here. Just the other day, thanks to Bulgarian Maggie who came to visit from another Home for a while, the Lord opened up more contacts! He supplied 300 kg of potatoes, a box of eggs, plus an additional 20 kg of bread weekly, and a regular fish contact!
The bottom line—you can too!
So that's our story so far. But the point is, as we mentioned above, this is not due to any particular spirituality on our part, or any particularly hot link with the Lord! We're just a bunch of average teens, YAs, FGAs, SGAs, and kids—just like you! We still don't know why these guys all decided to join our Home, but we can say that we are truly thankful for all the Lord is doing here! We love you!
From Daniel, Lisa, and Milah, Russia:
A victory in our Home is that our two new disciples started to receive prophecies. It was a not-so-easy, but very exciting step in their walk with the Lord. When they gave these testimonies, these girls had only been in the Family for four months, and had met us for the first time eight months before.
From Christy (21, Russian):
Recently I received the gift of prophecy and I would like to tell you how it happened. When I joined the Family I knew that most of the people in the Home were receiving prophecies, and I thought that I would never experience that. I didn't count myself worthy to get a present like that from the Lord. I thought that it was probably not for me.
But one day I felt a desire to get a pen and a piece of paper and to write something down. I could not resist it. I had no idea what I was going to write, but the minute I prayed I felt like I was getting something and I wrote it down, word by word. That was the first prophecy I received. I was so happy!
The next time I did it there were some words which I thought were not from the Lord, so I started doubting if I was on the right channel and decided to forsake this idea. After one month I felt that desire to get something from the Lord again and the Lord was faithful to talk to me, but I still thought that it was probably me who was making everything up.
One time He reassured me that everything I was getting was from Him. That was very encouraging! I asked my shepherds to pray for me that I would have faith to receive Words from Him, and since that time I regularly receive prophecies. In the very beginning, I feel that irresistible desire to hear from Him and sometimes receive not only words but also pictures. Now I don't doubt that it is from the Lord. I am so happy to have an opportunity to learn from Him new things that I never knew before.
One time He reassured me that everything I was getting was from Him. That was very encouraging! I asked my shepherds to pray for me that I would have faith to receive Words from Him, and since that time I regularly receive prophecies. In the very beginning, I feel that irresistible desire to hear from Him and sometimes receive not only words but also pictures. Now I don't doubt that it is from the Lord. I am so happy to have an opportunity to learn from Him new things that I never knew before.
Joan (formerly Simona, 23, Russian):
One time my shepherds asked me if I would like to have the gift of prophecy. I felt a little bit scared, I don't know why. After they prayed for me, I still had that feeling of fear and even now I have to fight it every time I want to receive something from the Lord. The encouraging fact is that when I start praying, the fear disappears.
For some time I could not receive anything from the Lord, and Lisa suggested we hear from the Lord together. After we prayed, Jesus started to talk to me through her. He asked me to look into His eyes, and just repeat word by word everything He was saying. It was an unforgettable experience! Since then when I want to receive something from Him I just pray, concentrate, look into His loving eyes and repeat everything He says word by word. Praise the Lord!
From Pavel, Priscila, Ruby, and Francesco, Moldova:
Jesus is doing wonderful things in our lives and helping us again and again to discover the power of prayer fresh every day and about every detail.
It all started in one TW meeting when we were praying for a brother in our Home who had gone on a fundraising trip, but who couldn't really fundraise. He hardly covered his fare back. We were praying for him not to get discouraged, and all of a sudden, the Lord started speaking.
Among many other things, the Lord told us that supply depends upon us; He has a lot to give, but He can't really give it if we are trying to do everything ourselves and not letting Him do it for us. He gave us a vision in which we were working hard to build a roof, but that roof was stopping Him from pouring down the blessings. The blessings couldn't go straight into the house, so they were being wasted.
He also told us that if for one month we would take one hour every day for united prayer with the whole Home, He would supply everything and anything. We felt convicted, so the next day we presented the idea to the whole Home. Everybody was very happy to try it.
At this time, half the Home was gone on different long trips, so those of us left at Home had quite a few responsibilities. From that point of view, taking this prayer time was a little bit of a sacrifice, since we had to cram the rest of the things to do into the remainder of the day. But we were reminded of the story of Martin Luther, who, when he had lots to do, decided instead of having less hours of prayer to have more hours of prayer.
We had our prayer time in the morning, after devotions and breakfast, and we went out right after this prayer, until dinnertime. After the prayer, usually the Lord would speak about things that we have to work on as individuals or as a Home. While the Home was in quite a difficult financial situation, it made us all the more desperate to do everything He told us to do, no matter how crazy it seemed. In the beginning He told us that it was like a course that we were taking with Him, and that every day we had different classes, learning new things.
One of the first days, the Lord told us to get our flee bags ready, not because we will necessarily have persecution and will have to flee, but because we need to be prepared. We also took this as a sign of how close the Endtime really is, so we were desperate to learn to obey Him every step of the way.
To explain a few of the seemingly crazy things He said, one day He told us to phone an airline company to provision airline tickets. We were to tell the guy that the Lord had showed us that He wanted to bless him, and that's why He sent us to him for help. Another time, He showed us to go and pray for the cleansing of bad spirits over a place where He then sent us witnessing the following day. Another day, when we were very eager to go out witnessing, He showed us to stay Home and fight the battles within the Home. It turned out that some people were going through heavy personal battles that we didn't know about, so having personal time with them that day was a real blessing.
One time He showed us that one of our live-outs would come over and that she really needed us, which turned out to be true. She came and she needed some timely counsel regarding her parents, who are the only thing that keeps her from joining.
Besides this prayer time, He also showed us to take one day a week or every ten days, besides W&R, for "study day." This is a day when we all get together in the living room with the Word library and we do a study from the CVC or different Word topics that we have been trying to get to for a long time, things we needed to work on. We do this on an individual basis, but stay in the room together to make sure that we don't get distracted by other things around the Home.
All in all, this has brought lots of fruit. It has been unifying and helped us to see the Lord at work and to exercise our gift of prophecy.
From Maria (of Russian Gabe), Russia:
It's so beautiful how the Lord is leading us more and more by speaking to us in prophecy. I'm still learning that He always keeps His Word and does His part to fulfill the prophecy, if we do our part.
Recently when we were listening to the Lord concerning our day, the Lord told us that He was going to do some special miracles. A team went out, but when they came back we were a little surprised to see that nothing outstanding had happened. I was wondering where we had failed in doing our part, but it seemed to us that we had done all that the Lord had showed us to do.
Then just after we put our kids to sleep, we got a phone call from Gabe's mother. She told us that the Russian authorities had given me Russian citizenship (I am Polish by birth), and that I should come to Irkutsk to get my new passport as soon as possible. We were very surprised! Usually in matters like that you have to wait half a year for the answer!
When we sat down to discuss our financial situation and how we could do it, there was a ring of the doorbell. When we opened, we were surprised to see a Family brother with his daughter standing there. They were passing through on their way to Irkutsk, and stopped by our Home! Our Home is in the middle of Siberia and I tell you, we don't have people passing through very often!
This sweet brother agreed to take me and my baby with them in their car, so I had a fun ride for free, with good fellowship! Then the Lord worked out everything with my papers, and miraculously I came back home also for free, with the nice fellowship of a sweet catacomber girl who is going to join our Home soon! All this to say—the Lord always keeps His word! For Him that day wasn't finished yet—it was only 10 P.M.! There was still enough time to perform some special miracles for us! And for us, here in Siberia, they are very special! We love you!
From David, Ruthie, John, Taiwan:
My mate and I were on our own in an apartment with our five little ones for quite a while before a sweet YA couple joined our Home. We desperately wanted to make it work with this couple. The Lord gave me the idea at our very first meeting to ask everyone in the room to share what really made them happy and what bugged them personally. It was a great way to prevent a lot of misunderstandings from the start.
A month or two later we had a similar meeting to clear up any new misunderstandings. Everyone had a chance to pour out what bothered them, either certain events or individual quirks that other members had. We then agreed that everyone would also say three things that they really admired about the other people in the room. This helped to end the meeting on a positive note, as well as to encourage open and honest communication with others.
From Santiago, Libertad and Daniel, USA:
We had an interesting Prayer Day recently. All of us have wanted to use the gift of prophecy more, but because we are a small team and there is a bit of familiarity among us, in past prayer sessions nobody seemed to get anything, or very little, and that was discouraging. Then the Lord gave us the idea of writing out the questions that we wanted to pray about and giving a copy to each person. We all went off to a quiet place to pray and hear from the Lord individually. We were all amazed at the results, at how beautifully and specifically the Lord had spoken to each one—plus we had it all written down. Wow! So, it was a bit of a baby step on our part that turned into a great leap forward. I guess we need to work on letting it flow and not to worry about what everyone else thinks in order to pray together.
From Christina (19), Russia:
We've been learning more and more the wonders of hearing from the Lord in prophecy. It's been quite amazing to see the Lord come through time after time. Now it's sort of gotten to be a habit, and every little thing that comes up, we get together and hear from the Lord about it. Sometimes we wonder how the Lord can keep coming up with new things to say, but He keeps doing it time after time! Before, our Home Councils were quite full of our own opinions and discussions, but now when we go around and get everyone's points for Home Council they're all things like: "I would like the Home to pray about this," and "We need to pray about that." So it ends up being a list of "pray abouts" instead of discussion points, which saves us the heated debates we used to have.
One thing which was quite a shake-up was that we had 500 DM (@ US$299) stolen on a train trip to Moscow. It was quite a big loss for us, and when we sought the Lord about why it happened, the Lord said that He wanted us to be more sober and vigilant and not take anything lightly. We go to Moscow quite often, and the last few times we'd prayed about everything, including what day to go and even what train to take. But this time we kind of took it lightly, and no one really got into hearing from the Lord about it because it just seemed like such a normal trip.
The Lord explained later that the money wasn't a big thing, and that He could give it all back, but that we needed to learn to never let our guard down or skip hearing from the Lord about anything.
From Islamabad Home, Pakistan:
We are a big and busy Home, and often we find that the pressure is on with the care of our children, the running of the Home, and fund-raising. We are sometimes too busy to enjoy each other, sit together, and simply relax. This results in difficulties in our communications and interactions. The feeling is also that we are missing what is most important—love for one another. Re-reading "A New Day of Love" and "Lessons of Love" (ML #3011, and ML #2975, Vol. 22) convicted us about having our priorities straight and taking more time with Him and each other.
So we included "friendship time" in our weekly schedule, and everybody wrote some suggestions about what they would like to do during this time: talk time using the Talk Time booklets, sharing personal testimonies, dancing, open forum, talking about a new mailing and how it affects us, sharing miracle testimonies (supply, direction, protection, guidance), and having a special dinner with just the teens on up. It has been very nice, and it is bringing us closer to each other. Of course, the first few times it was a bit awkward, but it is getting better and has resulted in more of an outward show of affection as well.
From Andrew (of Joy), India:
One evening we had run out of bottled drinking water, and I needed to make a phone call as well. It was quite late and rather than get a partner (my excuse was that it was just a short trip to the shop!), I started up our jeep and after a short prayer started off down the road. Within 200 meters of our Home, I pulled over to the side of the road to let an oncoming car pass by me. At that moment I ran into a very deep ditch which was about two and a half feet wide.
I was wearing a seat belt and was unhurt. The Lord miraculously got us out of a potentially very expensive repair bill, as our new neighbor turned up with all 12 of his workmen who had just helped him move into his house. Together they and Phillip lifted the jeep out of the ditch with minimum damage.
You'd think that through this I would have learned my lesson about going out two by two, right? Well, not quite. I was involved in getting some shipping out of the port for another Home, and was due to go to the port. Again, rather than going to the trouble to arrange a partner, I set off by bus. At one stop about five guys got in and started crowding around me. I tried to keep at the front of the bus as there were no seats free, but one of them pushed ahead of me until I was surrounded. The bus is usually quite empty and seats are usually available, but this time it wasn't. I felt something was going on as people here aren't usually so aggressive. Although I was holding on to my shoulder bag, it got slit and a pouch containing around 7,000 Rs. (@ US$185) was extracted.
I had let my guard down by not carrying the money in a pouch around my waist. I also should have taken a rickshaw or waited for a bus with seats, and of course, I should have gone with a partner. The Lord gave us some prophecies about not blowing off the checks that He tries to give us, and that the two-by-two rule is for a reason and not just optional or a good idea, especially after all Dad has written about the need to be vigilant on this field. The Lord said, "The days are definitely growing darker, and you can't do things that seem good or the thing to do without checking it out with Me." I really pray I can take these chastenings of the Lord to heart and get these lessons down, to rely more on prayer and the Lord's checks.
In a box:
From the Love Charter:
Pg.130: 9. HOME LIFE RULES
[9.] A. When one leaves the Home's property, he or she should go with another member as a safety precaution, in accordance with the Scriptural admonition in Luke 10:1. There may be times when this is not possible, but such times should be infrequent and generally only for emergencies, or for a good reason agreed to by a Home Officer.
In a box:
From David and Ruthie, Taiwan:
A recent lesson I've learned is about keeping the computer in its proper perspective—somewhere down at the bottom of my list. The Lord provided a very good computer that gave me no problems for a long time until I tried to "improve" it. I tried to never let it get in the way of my Word or parent time, but I would spend hours at night trying this and that, and, of course, lost precious sleep that way.
Eventually my computer almost died of improvements and I had to spend a lot of time re-loading all my programs. I know the Lord doesn't mind me using it for fun sometimes, but I know better now that if it hinders my Word time or work for Him in any way He'll blow on it, and it just won't work properly.
By Tim, Cheerful, and Phoenix, Thailand:
We were down in almost all spheres and seemingly blessed in almost nothing, due to allowing "little foxes" to enter in and spoil our vine. We were disunited, disrespectful toward each other, having public arguments and an untidy Home. When we eventually ended up on probationary notice, it got us so desperate as a Home that we cried out to the Lord, asking Him to help us to change and to once again forsake all to serve Him wholeheartedly. He answered wonderfully and received us, His wayward children, back into His loving arms.
It was at this point that a wonderful thing happened and we were for the first time able to visibly see the direct connection between obedience and blessings. He almost immediately began to shower us with blessings.
The Lord began to open many doors for us to do anti-narcotics programs for all of the schools in a nearby city. He also raised up a friend who got all of the city's businessmen involved in supporting our work. More than ever, the Charter came alive, as we were each doing what we really had the burden and the faith for.
At the same time, the Lord was raising up people to cover the costs, with little or no effort on our part. All of our expenses were being taken care of, so all we had to think about was witnessing and CTPs. It was like a dream come true, in that it all seemed so easy and we didn't have to push in the arm of the flesh.
All of these blessings resulted from our being put on probationary notice, as that shook us all up and made us so desperate and serious for the Lord. It has caused us all to want to give up worldly talk, excessive movie viewing, and unedifying conversation. We all try to redeem the time also. For example when the teens aren't practicing or performing, they spend time in the Word and practice using their new weapons. They memorize, share testimonies, lessons and victories amongst themselves. It's been such a beautiful change, and we are so thankful for the chastening and purging. We still make mistakes, of course, and we are by no means perfect, but every day is getting better. There is such an air of excitement around us, as we see the Lord moving, answering prayer, and leading us very specifically through prayer.
So if you are on probation, don't despair or get discouraged or worry about what people think of you. Cry out to the Lord, and you can be sure that He will turn the defeat into a wonderful victory, just like He did for us, and you will be so happy.
More Personal Experiences with Messages from Heaven
From Pat, Italy:
Our Church of Love had become a special time with some of our closest sheep, and, as one of them put it, the highlight of their week!
Before our last meeting I took some time to pray and hear from the Lord, because another group of people wanted to come. It was mainly some precious mommies we had been ministering to, who are broken-hearted over the recent deaths of their sons. For a while we had not seen them, so I felt a bit awkward and didn't know how to combine the two different groups in one meeting.
While praying about it I felt that Mino, one of the young people who had gone to be with the Lord, wanted to give a message to his mom. It was really touching and sweet, and moved me to tears. I shared this event at the meeting, and they all asked me to read the message. These dear mommies really believe in prophecy and messages from Beyond. One of them, Francesca, has a beautiful gift of hearing from her departed son, and has had some amazing manifestations proving that it's truly from the Lord.
After hearing Mino's message, Francesca commented how timely it was and then she almost challenged me to ask for a confirmation. I didn't think much about it, as Mino's mom had been so thankful for it and told me that she knew it was her son because of some specific words that he had used, and she had received it very well.
Then the next day Francesca called me all excited. One of them had recorded the meeting and on the tape you could distinctly hear a happy voice saying, "It's a beautiful world!" right when she was asking for proof. A few moments later the same voice called her name clearly on the tape. She was so turned on that she was calling all the other mommies to let them hear the tape. They asked me to please send them any message I get from their sons.
From Isaac (16, of Thai Abe and Christina), Thailand:
Recently one of our close supporters, Khun Sue, has been helping us in so many ways, such as bringing dinner, teaching Thai classes, donating funds for our new building, etc. We wanted to do something special for her in return, so planned a special party for her.
I got the job of making her a card with photos of all of us in it. When I finished this, I was supposed to write an encouraging poem or something inspirational in the front. I went and got a Good Thots, but since I write poems, I thought, "How about something original?" I set to work, but all my efforts failed.
Then I thought of my dad, Thai Abe, who used to minister to Sue a lot while on Earth. I thought he might have something to say. I finally just asked, "Dad, what do you have to say?" Instantly he began speaking, like he was just waiting for that opening. It turned out to be a long prophecy and in the end, I thought, "Wow! How did I ever get a prophecy so long?"
Well, on the night of the little thank-you party, after it was all over, while Sue was getting in her car to leave, I casually mentioned to her about the prophecy that I got from my dad for her. Immediately it was like I had turned on bells and sirens! She insisted on seeing what I had received.
When we gave her the prophecy, she was like a little child who'd gotten something they had always wanted! I thought, "Boy! I should take new prophecies this way." It was quite convicting for me.
When she phoned my mom the next day, she told us how the prophecy was just for her. She said, "Abe knows and understands exactly how I'm feeling. It's so amazing!" The prophecies were so accurate, she said, and one very amazing point was that in the prophecy, the last paragraph was worded exactly the same way as my dad's last letter to her before he passed on, which she still has a copy of today!
It was a very thrilling experience for me. It was so real, and my dad was really speaking! So, who said he's dead?