March 9, 2004
FSM 405
Action FSM 22
October 2003
CM/FM
Copyright © 2003 by The Family
All Family members in China use pen names for their contributions.
—An Awesome Profession
By Leyland Valentine, South Africa
After the Gulf War (1991) I was tooling in London. At that time the Kuwaitis would go to London for shopping. I would meet them in front of a prestigious store, Marks and Spencer, and they would buy sets of videos for their children, both Kiddie Viddies and Treasure Attics.
Many would return to London for shopping and holiday, and I would meet some of the same people that I'd met before. The families that had received videos from me said that the videos were halloo wyat, which means "beautiful" and "sweet" in Arabic. During the war, the children had been traumatized and could not sleep at night because of the bombing and sounds of war, but after watching our videos, many families testified that the videos had brought peace and joy to their children, and the kids would learn all the songs on the videos. The parents would invite us to dinner or lunch with them because they were so thankful for our tools that had brought their children such peace!
After leaving London and coming to South Africa, in my first experience with tooling in the malls, we met a woman who owned a tourism academy, and she bought some Treasure Attics for her children. After witnessing to her, we found out she had cancer of the lymph nodes. She was weeping when she told us this, so we laid hands on her and prayed for her healing and gave her the tape You Can Be Healed. The Lord miraculously healed her, and she has become one of our queens and supporters.
Here in South Africa, Countdown to Armageddon is one of our most popular videos. For the past six years we have been getting out this video, and we have heard many inspiring testimonies as a result. A financial consultant and writer for one of the top magazines in South Africa, who was also an atheist, received Countdown to Armageddon from me through his wife who bought it in one of the malls where we had a tool table. He got saved, and we followed up on him and gave him Bible studies. Now he is an inspired witness for the Lord! Within the first month of his salvation, he was promoted in his job and traveled with a multi-million-dollar holdings firm to cover their story, as they were expanding into Europe and the States. After our Bible study with him, he wrote articles in the magazine according to what he'd learned about them through the Bible, and what we had taught him from the Word. The Lord is using him to get the message out.
Since the Activated program began, we have activated many of our tool contacts. David, who is a hotel manager and Activated subscriber, hosted our first joint FED/JT/CP seminar here in Cape Town. A radio station announcer received one of our tapes and played it on her show, and it elicited many calls from those who wanted to know where to get our beautiful music. When she asked the listening audience if anyone knew where they could get these tapes, a former member listening to the show immediately contacted us.
We have also heard that Bible colleges are using our videos for teaching. Our videos are also used in Christian seminars, motivational seminars, and individual Christians and businessmen are holding meetings and showing our videos as part of their outreach. Even Muslims and Hindus have been sharing them with their families and friends.
Secular mother-and-tot groups have used our Treasure Attics for their market days, which is when parents come to buy toys and educational material for their children. We have been invited to Home Schooling Association affairs to display our videos. We also have attended trade exhibitions, expositions of children's material, and book fairs with our tools. One lady who is a Christian motivational speaker uses a lot of our material in her seminars, and she lets us display our tools at her seminars.
Through our wonderful Family tools, the Lord has opened many doors for us. At a book fair here, we were invited to a gala awards banquet given for Africa's 100 best authors, which former president Nelson Mandela was also attending. At this gala he was receiving an award for the book he had written while he was in prison. We prayed and asked the Lord if He had a message to give to Mandela, and the Lord gave a prophecy for him, which we were able to present to him personally along with some Activated books.
We had a booth at the World Summit held in South Africa in 2003. Through this event, we were able to meet the president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki and his wife, along with the former and present prime minister of Japan and their wives, the Canadian prime minister, the president of Brazil, and the ambassador from Malaysia. Many other world dignitaries visited our booth. We found our tools were one of the best samples of our Family, and they gave us credibility as professionals in our field.
Through our tooling we have been able to activate over 600 people. The people who had been getting the tools and knew us well have become sponsors for poor students who couldn't afford the Activated mag. Some of these contacts are now tithing and have become our kings and supporters.
Our tooling brings in one-third of our income, and two-thirds comes from donations through postering and tracting, and more recently getting out the Activated magazine for a donation, as well as from donations for our work, and from tithers. This all came about through our beautiful tools and Activated follow-up.
Where to tool?
We have experienced that you can tool just about anywhere you can get into: malls, toddler-and-mother's groups, exhibitions, churches, motivational talks, casinos, do-it-yourself stores, gardening centers—any spot people frequent.
How do you get in?
First steps: Pray and call on the keys and claim the land. Next, find out who has the authority to grant your request, such as the boss or marketing manager, managing director, regional director, etc.—whoever has the authority. You want to find out who is in charge to save you time. When I find out whom I need to talk to, I give him a call and witness to him personally. I've found that a personal witness exerts a powerful influence on your request being granted.
Once you have witnessed to him and he knows whom he'd be giving to, normally he will request a fax from you. We've put together a form letter explaining our work and what we are requesting. We adapt this letter according to the need or request and then fax it.
In our letter we request display space to set up a table containing our children's educational materials and Activated material for donations. Usually, it's best to have your own tables and let the company know that. It will save you and the company a lot of time if you bring your own table, rather than going through the mall management in order to use one of theirs.
After sending your fax you have to trust the Lord. You could mention in the letter that you will contact them soon regarding this request, and call them back shortly. The Lord will do the miracle and touch their hearts if they are who He wants to use. The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord.
Souls and sales
We make personal witnessing our goal, not selling tools. We have our tracts along with our tools displayed on the table, as we personally witness to people, give them tracts, and ask for donations for our work. We find that it has borne more fruit than just tooling with no witnessing.
When we get into these places, we pray to win the management, the security, and everyone we can through personal witnessing. We've found it much more fruitful if we are faithful to witness to these people from the start.
Now the Mag of the Month has given our witness a big boost. We have found that our income has increased, and we have more of the Lord's blessings since we have been getting out the wonder working Words in the Activated mags.
Through our using the tools the Lord's given, He has supplied all our needs, such as visas, kings, friends, and supporters, tithers, provisioning, Activated subscribers, and more!
PULL QUOTE:
"We make personal witnessing our goal, not selling tools. We find that it has borne more fruit than just tooling with no witnessing."
[BOX:]
(Dad:) This is our last great blitz before the events of the End set in. This is the "Gospel that is going to be preached in all the world for a witness, and then shall the End come!" This is it, folks—showtime, endgame, the grand finale of witnessing openly to all nations! This is the biggest, greatest, and most fantastic plan to reap the world the Lord has put into play since His coming to Earth and dying for the multitudes.
Generations to come will speak and sing of your exploits in these days! These are the days of which the prophets spoke. I know all this might sound overly grandiose to you who are getting out your little subscription cards every day, but you are the sowers. Where you sow, seeds will grow, and those plants will scatter yet other seeds into other fertile ground where new plants will spring up and carry those seeds on to the next hungry soul.
This is your hour! The Lord has no other movement that will accomplish this great mission. It's the highest privilege, because it's going to have the greatest results, and the Lord wants you, the Family, to be the ones to get the praise and the glory for this. He doesn't want to entrust this job to anyone else. He has entrusted it to you because He knows that you are the ones! You in the Family are the army of armies, the soldiers of soldiers, the diehards, the never-stoppers, the victors in this last age. You carry the standard of the Lord before you to lead the troops into the Endtime. You are the last, and will be the greatest and most powerful group of Christians ever! You are the elite, the hope, the promise of the End!
—"Activate the World, Part 1" (ML #3348:22-24, GN 943)
[END OF BOX]
By Simon Simple, New Delhi, India
I wanna be a professional outreacher. Oh yeah, I do! That means I need to get my act together.—And then keep my act together.
I need to go about my outreach with the intensity of purpose of a student going for his diploma, with the passion of an athlete going for the gold medal, and okay with the fervor of a fellow in love, courting the girl of his dreams.
That also means I need to get my act together spiritually. It means I can't goof off. It means I need to pull out that prophecy book and hear from God about what to do today. Indeed, I need to hear from God about what to do this week and what to do now we're really talking planning this month!
What that means is that I need to get organized. I need to update my visiting card files. I need a pen and a notebook. I need a planner. And I need to be a heaven of a lot more faithful to keep track of all the people I meet. God help me! I think I need to categorize them.
I need to get ahold of the Yellow Pages for a listing of schools in the area. Wait a minute! Isn't there a website about all the schools in the city? Aha!! Here we go!
That also means I need to keep my briefcase stocked with all Activated magazines, from the first issue through to the latest one. (Reminds me: I need to check out the "Issue Guide" section on the Activated Web site (http://www.activated.org). I need to keep that Bible handy too, and a set of those Get Activated books, and also Reflections for new people I meet.
Subscription cards! Goodness me! Subscription cards! Now where are they? Don't tell me we've run out of them. We need to order more! Along with more Activated flyers! (They're free, by the way.) [Editor's note: Each Activated mag is now shipped with a subscription card in it that also advertises our products.]
I need to find that cool Aurora Production Catalogue to put in my briefcase. Now that is one impressive piece of promotional work! School principals always order something after going through it. [Editor's note: If you don't have copies of the color Aurora catalog, you can order them from your area PC!]
My visiting (business) cards are running out. I need to visit my old school friend who is a printer, and get new ones printed.
I need to be out bright and early tomorrow morning. I've been chasing an appointment for a week and it finally came through. Praise God! It's at 10 am, which means I need to be out of the house by 8:30, which means I'd better be ready by 8:00. Which means I'd better be up really bright and really early to get my Word time.
What's that quote again? "If you want the Lord's power, if you want to work miracles, if you want amazing, tremendous, awesome answers to prayer, then live in the Word! Read, study, memorize, meditate on, and obey the Word! Become the living Word. Be like Jesus" (ML #3433:119).
That means I'd better get to bed on time and forsake that movie on TV. How did I get into all this, anyway? Oh yeah, I wanted to be a professional outreacher, and one thing just led to another. Looks like I need a lifestyle overhaul. But it's so exciting! It's so inspiring to be a professional outreacher! It reminds me of that stirring quote from Dad:
"Why should we be less efficient than the world?"
Professional outreachers do not
*Forget appointments
*Oversleep
*Pass up people without giving them a tract
*Forget to pray for their sheep (that "Action through Prayer" series was good, man!)
*Get discouraged when they have a "slow day" (restrained and polite outreacher lingo for "Aaaaaargh! Nothing's happening!!")
Professional outreachers remember "the law of the seed." What's that? Well, it goes something like this
Take a look at an apple tree. There might be 500 apples on the tree, each with 10 seeds. That's a lot of seeds! We might ask, "Why would it need so many seeds to grow just a few more trees?"
Well, nature has something to teach us here. She's telling us: "Most seeds may never grow. So if you really want to make something happen, you had better be prepared to try more than once."
This might mean that you'll have days when you'll knock on five doors to get out one "Mottos for Success." You'll call 10 schools before you get out one set of Treasure Attic VCDs. You'll witness to 20 people to sell one Activated subscription. You might meet 100 people before you find that one special sheep who is destined to become your most on-fire Active member.
When we understand the law of the seed we don't get so disappointed. We know that our witness is never wasted and the Word never returns void. We know the keys work and if we just keep pluggin' away and claimin' them, then the big miracles will happen.
Remember: "What was not possible before is now possible through the power of the keys." And when I look at those fellows working 14 hours a day for some AC-controlled multinational company, man, it pricks my conscience! They do it for money. I should be able to do it for God!
God help me! I wanna be a professional outreacher!
By Jesse Youngblood (on behalf of the Austin Home), USA
A few months ago we were asking the Lord if there was a new approach that He could show us in regards to getting out our wonderful tools. Although we have such terrific witnessing tools, we sometimes feel that people don't appreciate them quite enough, simply because they are not yet familiar with them. Often, though, once they view, listen to, or watch one of our products, they are clamoring to get more—and often have a hard time finding how or where to do so.
We came across an opportunity to set up a permanent retail shop displaying all of our tools in a new marketplace that was being developed. The overhead was reasonable, but the idea was foreign. "What, just sit in one place and expect people to come to us?" "What if we don't sell any tools?" "What if it doesn't pay for itself?" "What if the whole idea collapses and we wasted all that time, energy, and money?" Yes, that money issue is a hard one to overcome. "We will have to pay money to try to sell our products?" "We've never done it that way."
We asked the Lord what He thought of the idea, and His answer was not quite what we were expecting, and was quite challenging. The Lord said that we should go for it, if witnessing and getting the Word out were our main motives. He told us that we shouldn't expect it to be an immediate success financially, and that we would need to be patient and trust Him for that part. He told us, though, that the shop would become a great place to witness and meet sheep, and also provide a place for people to come to get the next video in the series, or more teaching materials for their classrooms, etc.
We have been involved in this ministry for a little over four months as of this report, and everything the Lord has said has come true. We have not made money hand over fist or anything like that.—In fact, our enterprise is just now starting to hold its own, and we have not yet recouped all of our initial investment. But the income is steadily on the increase. When undertaking a ministry such as this, we learned that we could not expect overnight results, but that we needed to be patient until the ministry was able to blossom to its full potential. In the meantime, it was important to continue employing other fundraising ministries for support.
We have named our shop "Family Treasures," and several of us take turns manning the booth, including our new disciple, Jim, who joined our Home via the Family Web site (see testimony in ML #3438, GN 1021). The tables have turned for us in tool distribution and we like it.
The witnessing has been great, and people are starting to get to know who we are and what we stand for and what types of tools we have to offer. Many have commented on what a refreshingly different approach we have to Christianity, and how good our stuff is for their family. We have been able to witness deeply, and some of our "customers" come to us for prayer. Souls are getting saved and we are meeting people that we invite over for Bible studies, etc. We have the Activated mags available, and with every purchase we also give out a mag. We have just about every product the Family has produced on our shelves, and are constantly adding more as they come out. Some of our best sellers are the Discovering Truth study books, the Get Activated booklets and other devotional books, "Mottos for Success," and the Cherub Wings videos.
All of our products are available in both Spanish and English, and a lot of our witnessing is done in Spanish as well. We have many people dropping by a second and third time for more of this or that. We are so thankful that they have a place to come back to, else we might have missed that chance of getting these additional products to them and their families.
Something that makes our shop more powerful than just a regular religious bookstore is that we have the sample of being full-time missionaries to back our products. I often tell people about our life in the Family as missionaries and that these products were developed around our lifestyle and started out as we were teaching our own kids. They see us sold on the products ourselves and not just as clerks in a store.
We have put a lot of work, time, and money into the shop, setting it up with displays, shelves, etc. We are constantly checking with the Lord on whether we are to continue this ministry or not. So far He has encouraged us to continue and reminds us that it takes time to build something lasting and that it is in line with how He has been leading in building a more permanent following of believers and getting out more Word.
We are so used to quick results, that sometimes when our patience is tested we have the tendency to want to run out the door and get out tools and raise funds in the way we have always done it, but the Lord is teaching us to trust Him for a new way.
We made a flyer that we plan to take to all the private schools, daycare centers, kindergartens, churches, and libraries, as well as leave on bulletin boards and car windshields to bring more people to come visit our shop.
We open the shop three days a week, which gives us plenty of time during the rest of the week for other methods of witnessing. We also employ other means of fundraising to keep finances up while we build this ministry. Like Mama said, it might be necessary to work "two jobs" for a while to turn things around. It may take a year or so before the business builds up enough to pay the rent, but if done right we feel it has the potential to be a permanent fixture here, providing a place where all of our friends throughout the city can always come for prayer, fellowship and, yes, to buy a product or two also!
One day at the shop I had offered an Activated mag to one of the other shopkeepers next door. She read it and remarked how wonderful it was. A few days later a friend of hers was visiting her shop, and she immediately brought her over to purchase some of our books and other tools. Then she asked for another copy of the same mag for her friend. Some time later I happened by their shop and overheard them reading the mag together aloud. I peeked in and noticed her friend was crying as she was reading the article. I went over to her and asked what was wrong, and she exclaimed that the article she was reading was so meaningful to her because it was just like her life and what the Lord had done for her. We spent quite a bit of time talking with them about the Lord. They plan to make regular visits to our shop for more material.
Another man who has visited our shop a number of times to purchase our products shared with us that he and his wife have a prison ministry, and they buy our material to take on their visits to minister to the prisoners. They also buy the Cherub Wings and CD cards to send to orphanages in Central America that they sponsor.
Another man and his wife are trying to start a park-witnessing ministry, and after reading our tracts and the Activated mags, they both subscribed to Activated and ordered tracts.
A Bible researcher came in one day and was looking through the Discovering Truth books. She exclaimed, "This is so good!" and immediately bought a set to continue her research. She has been doing research for about 30 years. Ha! We talked about the Word for a good hour.
Several people have come to buy material for their Sunday school or children's church. The Cherub Wings and the Start Early series are both very popular for this. These people usually buy the whole set of Cherub Wings at a time.
We have had several of the other shopkeepers come to us regularly for prayer or just to talk and pour out their hearts. We have sort of become their "priests" and have witnessed quite deeply with many of them. Many of them also buy tools from us and always take the Activated mags.
By Victoria, USA
When we visited a dear friend in her office, she happened to have her three-year-old son with her. She told me, "Come, come, I want you to see this!" She proceeded to remind her son of several different pictures from the Start Early quotes, and asked him what they said, and then he would quote them to her perfectly. She told me he's memorized all of them, as well as the songs from Treasure Attic and Cherub Wings.
When her sister had seen him doing this, she asked, "Where do you get these things?" Now her sister wants to buy all the children's materials, Treasure Attic, Cherub Wings, and CDs. An added touch was that that very day she had received her fourth Activated mag in the mail and proceeded to open it in her office. This sweet lady says that she feels of "all the messages out there," ours is the purest.
By Philip, Japan
It has been encouraging to see families get turned on by the Treasure Attic series. In the last few months, several families have bought a Treasure Attic video and now we have five families who have asked us to return with more. The wonderful thing is that the videos themselves are turning on the kiddos' hearts, and these little guys are the ones asking their moms to get more videos. As a result of our follow-up visits, the moms and dads are also getting Activated mags.
Danilo and Fridda, a Bolivian couple who are both activated, told us their daughters watch our videos all the time and love all the tools they have received. The parents are now getting tools for themselves as well as the kids and have told us we can stay at their apartment whenever we need to make a faith trip to their area. Fridda says she loves to read the short prophecy by Jesus on the back of every Activated mag. It's her favorite part of the mag!
It's wonderful to see our friends growing and getting turned on by the Word!
By Tim, Taiwan
With our tool bags filled with A Christmas Secret book and CD, the new Family Christmas Song collection in Mandarin and the Rhythm of Christmas CD, my partner and I were ready to rock!
There was a guy we'd met a while ago who we felt had the potential to help out the work. After several meetings and dinners out, we felt led to ask him for a sponsorship of some kind.
We mentioned to him at our last dinner together that we had a question about sponsorship for Christmas, so when we met him for this important meeting and follow-up he said, "Okay, what's up, guys? What can I do?" Wow, I like those kinds of appointments!
After showing him the different CDs and telling him about the schools where we were going to do shows and presentations, he was quite turned on and asked us how many we wanted him to sponsor. The Lord had showed us beforehand to ask him to sponsor 500 CDs. We told him that number, and within five minutes a secretary showed up after his prompt phone call and handed us the payment for the 500 CDs!
It was a neat way to start the season of tooling and a good lesson on waiting for the Lord's perfect timing to ask folks for their support. In the past few appointments with this particular guy, the Lord had told us to wait as He had a special sponsorship for him to help with—and now we know what it was! Watch for the worthy and wait for the witness!
[BOX:]
Walk on the water of the power of the keys. Walk on the faith that they will give you as you reach up and claim them—faith to knock on doors, faith to speak before the people, faith to humble yourself to love, faith to minister to the rich and needy. Go out with the power of the keys of love and faith, and watch the miracles I will do for you.
[END OF BOX]
By David Newcreature, India
I recently sold a couple of Thoughts to Live and Love By CDs to a gentleman who owns an office building. This gentleman loves the Activated magazine. When I called him recently he told me, "I like the CDs you gave me so much that I have hooked up the CD player to my company's phone lines. So whenever someone on the other end of the line is on hold, instead of hearing music, they hear these beautiful thoughts from the CDs instead, and they absolutely love it!"
By Ryan (23), Dominican Republic
The "Activate the World" Letters have given me a new outlook on outreach. We had been going to the States every few months working to support our Home, and it was sucking me dry. Back home I thought that going shop to shop and tool distributing was too humbling, but through a series of events I was basically forced into it. I've found that I love it! It's changed the way I see outreach, and has increased my faith that the Lord can supply without using an outside job. Since this is an island, and it's limited as far as areas to go to, we have to concentrate on follow-up and cultivating friendships with the people we've met. It's great, because they love the materials for their kids, so they keep getting more, and that's an open door for them to get activated.
By Erastus and Esperanza, Chile
We went on a short faith trip to Iquique, where for the most part over the last two years nothing spectacular had happened for the Family as far as tool distribution. However, we went to visit a contact whom we hadn't seen in over a year. She was impressed and told us that she had lost almost all of her children's Treasure Attics, but had saved up funds to buy them again when we would come on our next trip. She bought eight videos on the spot.
We then went to see some outside members whom we hadn't seen in over half a year. They told us to offer the videos to a small private school that had just opened about two blocks away. We went and talked to the inspector of the school, who had lived in Canada for 20 years. He was quite impressed with the material and talked with the director. They decided to buy a whole set of 21 videos!
By Christina Trusting, Russia
A couple of months ago a sister was passing through our Home and she met a friendly official at the embassy of an African country. She asked me to visit him with her, as she wanted to offer him some of our tools. At the appointment, the man was very friendly and a real believer; he quoted the Bible a lot and really liked the "Mottos." Then we showed him some of our other tools.
When he saw the Fear Not tape, he all of a sudden got excited. He started literally hugging and kissing that tape, saying that a long time ago somebody had sold it to him in another country, and it used to be his favorite tape. He'd given it to one of his best friends as a present and ever since then he'd missed it greatly. He got even more excited when trying to remember his favorite song on the tape, which was "Whom Have I in Heaven but Thee?" That is also my favorite. We both started humming it to each other, but then he started singing very loudly.
I joined him, and the song, sounding like some kind of anthem, filled the embassy. (It was a day when they usually didn't receive visitors, so there weren't many people there.) After that we sang a couple of other songs together, and then he bought the tape. He then kept talking to us about God and His love and finally asked for our phone number so he could contact us again.
I didn't really think he'd contact us again, but a month later he phoned us and said that he wanted more tools. When we were making an appointment with him, he told us that we could come by any time, and he'd stop all his business in order to meet us. On that visit we took all kinds of tools, tapes, videos, and "Mottos," and went to the embassy again. It was obvious that the man didn't have very much money. The embassy itself looked pretty rundown, and the workers didn't look particularly wealthy, but he wanted to buy as many tools as possible. It was hard for him to pick, he actually wanted them all, so in the end we ended up just giving him a few tapes on top of the ones he'd bought.
Two weeks later he phoned us again and told us that his Christian friends liked the tools so much that he had given them all that he'd bought from us. "Could you please come again and bring more tapes?" he asked humbly. He than gave me a long list of the tapes he wanted. Knowing that we are planning to go on a trip soon, he added, "Please make sure you bring those tapes before you leave for the trip. I won't survive without them for long. I need them now! They are such an inspiration to me and my friends!"
By Sonnet (of Caleb), Canada
We used to live in a very isolated city where folks were eager to see something new, but when we moved to Vancouver we found the people a little more jaded and inundated with marketing and definitely a tougher sell. The Lord showed us to get busy and get out with our Active members and do it in teams.
We met at a local McDonalds, and then headed out, just following the Lord step by step. Our team felt led to try to reach the Latinos as we have a surplus of Spanish tools, so we prayed and drove off to a little Latin shop we knew of. It was a test, as the owner was quiet, conservative, and not interested. We slowed our pace and just spent time chatting for a few minutes. Then she warmed up and gave us a paper for locating Spanish churches and stores in our city.
We found an ad for a Spanish library and decided to try it out. The owners were very sweet and ended up taking a set of Cherub Wings, all the Spanish tapes we had, an iCD (Interactive CD), and gave us an order for five more sets of all the Spanish tapes we carry and three more iCDs. They said they had been praying for a new line to carry and decided that this is the answer to their prayers! They've also asked for posters to promote Aurora products, and we're thrilled with our new contact!
By Steven Andrew, India
In times past in the West we did a lot of clowning for fundraising. But on our most recent visit, the Lord didn't seem to be blessing it a whole lot, whereas the times we went out with the tools, we were just flipped by the effectiveness. We were accomplishing as much financially in a couple of hours getting out the tools as we would in a whole day of clowning. So, yeah! The tools rock! God bless all those who have had a hand in producing them.
By Jimmy, Taiwan
Over Christmas the Lord showed us some new ways to give out more tools, including taking bigger steps of faith, claiming the keys, and putting Him on the spot! Last year for sponsorship we just gave out tools for our CTPs according to how much funds came in. However, this year we ordered and set aside, by faith, 1,000 CD cards and Christmas storybooks for the sponsorship program and decided to trust the Lord to supply the exact amount of funds needed! We put the Lord on the spot and prayed every day that as we did our part, He would do His! It's been so exciting to see the miracles that have happened. The Lord answered our prayers, and more funds came in than we had even expected. We also found new places to give out our fabulous tools.
After hearing from the Lord together as a Home, He showed us that our main goal and push should be Activated subscriptions as well as the CD cards, and to promote them both hand in hand during the Christmas season. The Lord deserves all the glory because He did it all and really helped us to make big progress with our Activated subscriptions, getting 50+ subscribed during the Christmas season. Besides sponsorship, many of our friends bought CD cards and books for themselves personally. We also had some fruitful presentations to the workers at our friends' companies. All in all, we were able to get out over 2,250 CD cards and Christmas storybooks!
[BOX:]
I have unleashed all the power you need. Through the keys of the Kingdom, you can be as a pure crystal to reflect My light.
[END OF BOX]
By Simon (SGA), Kenya
We had a show coming up that was solely for Americans. We have a dance troupe, but most of our songs are Arabic and Indian numbers, as that's usually what our audience is comprised of. Here in Kenya the white people (mazongos) are a little harder to reach. When we found out the entire makeup of our audience were white people, and that two of the members of our dance troupe were not available to be in the shows, we got quite desperate, as we knew the success of our show was going to be a big miracle.
We prayed that the Lord would supply and somehow touch the hearts of this audience. We prayed all the way there and again before we got on stage! The response was very surprising, and people were deeply touched by our message. When we went around with the CDs, just about every single person got a CD card. We were able to witness to quite a few people individually afterwards who were quite sheepy.
We were also able to get two young girls saved and we have their addresses for Activated subscriptions. It was inspiring to see how prayer did the miracle of touching the hearts of these people. Our show was not that professional, and we know that it was just the Lord Who went in with His activated angels to touch the hearts of these people and turn them on.
By Maria, Colombia
When our PPC informed us that they had the CD card for Mother's Day available, our first reaction was that because of our situation we definitely wouldn't be able to give out so many. We already had our hands full with follow-up meetings, Word classes, daily witnessing, kids' schooling, etc. However, when we stopped to pray and ask the Lord about how many we should order, He set us a goal of getting out 250 Mother's Day CD cards.
For us, being so few and with a diverse range of ministries, that was quite a goal! Well, if the Lord said it, it was because He knew it could be done. So with that settled, and constantly claiming the power of the keys, we launched out to distribute 250 CD cards. The Lord gave us the idea to include some of our Active members and friends, not only as potential buyers, but to help us sell the CDs to their friends and relatives.
One of our Active members sold a CD card to a coworker in his office who had just separated from his wife. It so happened that this man gave the CD to his estranged wife, as he still loved her and wanted to show her appreciation. One day our friend came over super inspired and happy and told us that his office partner had just received a call from his ex-wife the day after he had given her the CD card. She told him, "Where did you get such a beautiful thing? I listened to it the whole day yesterday and I couldn't stop crying. It was so beautiful and it encouraged me so much! Thank you!" Listening to the Mother's Day CD helped her reconcile with her ex-husband. We don't know to what extent, but for now they are good friends and can talk, whereas before that was almost impossible.
Many of our friends held gatherings for their moms, aunts, or wives, during their Mother's Day celebrations. (Colombia is a predominantly Catholic country, so this holiday is very important for families.) They each decided that during part of their celebrations they'd stop and let their relatives listen to the whole CD. From what our friends told us, the highlight of the day was when the moms would listen to the CD, as they all felt so loved and honored through the words and songs shared there. It was a real treat for them and a more meaningful celebration for everyone too. And as far as the stats went, we sold all the ordered 250 CDs, and even more!
By Philip, Japan
We had an appointment with some people who were going to buy seven of the Memory Book CDs. I had my hopes set on this jump-start to our day of outreach. However, the people were not home. I was bummed out, but we prayed and instead went out offering our tools and promoting Activated.
At a supermarket I ended up talking to two ladies, and right there they each took a CD! We then were going door to door when we met another fellow who asked us to come to his apartment in another block. There he took a CD and gave us a referral of a friend. We went to see the friend but he wasn't home, although in the same building there was someone we had visited once who was interested in getting one of our CDs. We went to see him, but someone else opened the door. We explained the reason for our visit and he invited us in and bought the CD, and then said to return on his payday as he wants the three children's books—Trudge and Zippy, Farmyard Heroes, and The Tug of War—as well as a Treasure Attic video and any children's CDs.
So even though the morning appointment fell through, the Lord raised up others through this new friend we'd made! The good news is that the people from the morning appointment did come through a week later and ended up taking all seven CDs! They also want me to give them a Bible class on how to witness and are offering to give a donation for it.
By Eric, USA
We met the owner of a daycare center at the mall where we do ballooning, and he invited me to his daycare to show him our videos. He liked them and bought some on the spot. He asked me to order more in Spanish. It's a good idea to keep the CDs/videos with you so you can stop in any daycares you see while out witnessing.
By Micah 6:8, Thailand
Our local foreign friend is astounded by the Treasure Attic videos, and he's been able to use them effectively in his English teaching. He has purchased the entire set of Treasure Attics, and is incorporating them into his English curriculum. He said that he'll order two or three copies of every Treasure Attic to have on hand to give to his students.
Since many people use our children CDs, he recently told me that he would need to stock up on more kids CDs as well! We couldn't have a better advertisement than a truly satisfied customer.
By Timothy Fixit, Indonesia
I find when dealing with high-caliber companies that it's helpful to put together a booklet that you can leave with them that explains what they're giving to. For example, we have a master photo album that has photos, letters of appreciation, and thank-yous from different institutions that we have worked with over the years, as well as a letter of introduction and explanation about our work.
We had a few pages photocopied that represent a cross section of the various projects we have done and had it put into a binder with a plastic front cover and stiff cardboard backing. This proved to be very useful to our company contact in presenting and recommending our work to his company, as it reinforced what he said about where the company's donations would go to. He received comments that the recommended donation for one box of six CD cards was a bit expensive, yet once these people saw the photos and read what they wanted to read, and because it was presented to them by one of their own colleagues, it helped them accept it more readily.
Our friend recommended that we update our booklet with more recent letters and photos. This was another confirmation for us that we not put off such details. Over the past months we had done various CTPs and means of outreach, but we had failed to document them with photos or letters.
By Jenny Greenshirt, Ghana
On a trip to the western region of Ghana, we visited a shop attached to a gas station where the owner had taken about 250 Get Activated books on a previous trip. He had displayed them attractively on a shelf right next to the door so that people leaving the shop couldn't help but notice them. He had already sold about half the books, and very happily paid for the entire order.
At another gas station the manager had squeezed the books into a little box. You could hardly see the titles, and some of the books were so tightly wrapped in plastic that you couldn't find out what the books were about. He had only sold about four out of twenty books, and returned about half of what he had left. It was a lesson to me that it makes a big difference if the person selling the books has the faith for them or not.
[Editor's note: When offering shops our tools to display, you could pray about suggesting ways in which the shop owner can display the books or videos in an attractive and appealing way. Presentation makes a big difference, so it's worth the additional effort on your part.]
By Gideon Fighter, Ireland
The Lord has led us to local craft fairs, where we have been able to display Activated tools. This have been quite fruitful, and we have been able to access those fairs for free by supplying a little magic show or face painting or ballooning.
By Lydia Cook, USA
One of our main forms of outreach is tooling at Mexican restaurants. Many of the managers and workers love our tools and have put our beautiful quote posters on their wall for all to see. While visiting a restaurant the manager told us that a couple had come in, had seen the poster, and had given their phone number, asking that we call them the next time we come to the restaurant.
The people turned out to be a precious Mexican couple who'd known us for several years in Mexico City. Their eldest daughter, who's in her early 20s, used to live with the Family there for up to three weeks at a time during school vacation, even going singing with their kids' singing group there. They love our tools and bought almost everything we had with us. They have five children, and they want all the Spanish videos, tapes, and posters we have!
By Ben, Botswana
Ninety percent of our video contacts are Muslim and they love the videos. The nice thing is that though they have all the videos, they keep taking more to give out as presents and gifts to friends and relatives. People take the same videos over and over and over again. What a miracle!
By Mark Free, India
We got permission to have a stall in the atrium of a large, well-known business complex. We set up our stall in the morning with the CD cards, "Mottos," and a few other tools, as we wanted to make the most of our day there. Although we did get out some tools, things were not as we had expected. One person who came to our stall really liked the "Mottos" and bought one, and later in the day came down again and bought two more "Mottos." In the evening as we were closing up, he came down to talk and spend some time with us and then invited us for dinner the following weekend.
While we were having dinner we found out that this person was actually a top person in this corporate house. In the course of our conversation he told us that he was very leery of NGOs in general, as they are usually frauds. He told us that right after he bought the "Mottos," he went up to his office and checked out our Web site and was quite happy to know that we were genuine, and that was when he came down and bought two more for his family.
When he went up again he said that he watched us from his window for a while (we didn't know about this at that time) and was drawn by the fact that our team was smiling the whole time we were there, even though many times people didn't come over to our stall, others didn't act in a friendly manner, or take our material. He said he knew that we were different and wanted to find out what it was that made us tick and be the way we are.
We were really convicted when we heard that, as that day at the stall had been quite trying, and we had to keep encouraging each other to stay positive and smiling and sweet to the people we'd met. We had a chance to witness quite deeply to this man. In the two weeks we've known him, we've seen him five times, and he wants to keep meeting and fellowshipping with us. It was a good lesson for us on the importance of our sample when out, even when we think people aren't watching us.
[BOX:]
When you feel inadequate, take hold of the keys of My power. They are a part of Me, and will give you all you will ever need to be My vessel.
[END OF BOX]
By Christine (of Patrick), USA
I was able to set up a table at a school craft fair, and while it wasn't stupendous, we learned how to set up a display and got some exposure. The CD cards went the best, and we did make a little profit. The major point was that we got our foot in the door of being able to get into some of these fairs, and hopefully it will go better as time goes by. It was a pioneering effort and a learning experience.
By Noah and Precious, Japan
We've had many positive comments from our friends about the Cherub Wings videos and the Wild Wind and Wings of Prayer CDs. When we told our Activated subscribers about the Cherub Wings videos and how they are of a pure Christian content, they wanted them right away! One young Hawaiian lady listens to Wild Wind every morning for her inspiration time!
One Filipino man said listening to "I Think About Heaven" touched his heart to want to serve the Lord. He said that schools should teach about being spiritual instead of being religious. Our friends love our products and are always eager for something new!
By Cristy E. (19), Thailand
Imagine you're a Systemite, where you're in the rat race of society, eking out an existence with many strings and commitments. The general outline of your life is already mapped out, and you know that you'll be doing the same thing day in and day out for a good number of years.
Then you come in contact with someone during your holidays, or just while out on your way to work. You share some small talk and decide to stay in touch via e-mail. You go back home, return to your ordinary life, but now you start receiving news from your new friend. They share with you the exciting news of their activities, and the joy they experience by sharing their lives with others. As time goes by you discover that their godly ideals are what give them strength and stamina. Your faith in God grows as you learn more and more about the alternative lifestyle your new friend has chosen to live. Even though your life might not change that much concerning your job or your general lifestyle, you have become a potential witnesser too.
There have been numerous people that I've come in contact with while in Samui [Thailand] or when visiting relatives in Europe. It always starts with small chitchat here and there; it could be anywhere—at the beach, at a restaurant, or a shop. Sometimes there's not much opportunity to get in a real deep witness in at the time, but if you just ask for their e-mail and follow-up on them, you will be surprised at the positive response that can come from it.
Most people are dying for someone to just talk to them, ask them how they are doing, if they are having a nice holiday, if they are enjoying their meal, or if they have been traveling for the first time. People are full of stories and just want to be heard, but they are often too shy to start a conversation. So it takes some initiative on your side.
The other day our family went to visit some friends who have a restaurant on the beach. They treat us like family, and whenever we are there they want us to feel like it's our second home. That night they were unusually busy and didn't have enough staff. They asked Tony and me if we could help with getting the orders, taking the bills and bringing the food. It was fun! I joked with my dad that I'd found a new calling, and he laughed, knowing how absurd it sounded. That night we talked to the many foreigners, asking them about their holidays, and that was really all that was needed to get them to start talking.
They would tell us about all their amazing experiences in Thailand, how much they loved the weather, the hospitality of the people, the food, and then they would start talking about their children and life back home. When our turn came, we were able to share a general outline of the work our family does, and our unique scholastic experiences. We then ask for their e-mail addresses, telling them that we will send them photos and some news concerning our lives here. Then once home we add them to our mail ministry list, and that's when the real witnessing starts!
The real sheepy ones write back, and you develop a friendly relationship, which can lead to countless opportunities. We've had people come through with finances or other materials when we most needed them. One of our friends is planning to come and live here during his older years, and wants to see how he can help with our activities with the children. He might come over to spend Christmas with us and bring some computers from Malaysia for us to use for the children here. This is just one example. Even though it takes a couple of months or even a couple of years of faithfully writing and feeding, in the end it bears amazing fruit.
[BOX:]
The keys of witnessing are especially activated when it comes to feeding the hungry. They anoint and give you exactly what you need at the time you need it. Turn them and claim their power for the faith you need. They will anoint you and bring forth wonderful fruit in the lives of your sheep.
[END OF BOX]
By Tina (SGA), Uganda
We've compiled quotes from the Good Thots and Reflections and put them together in an e-mail called "Thought for the Day" that we've been sending to all our contacts. It has been going very well! We already have a growing mailing list, and our e-mails are also being passed on to others. We meet people who say, "Are you the guys that send the ‘Thought for the Day' thing?" and then comment on how it's just what they need; whenever they feel down, or if they have a problem, we've often been told that the topic is always right on.
By Patrick (of Christine), USA
We have been sending feeding material to about 25 e-mail addresses every Saturday. The e-mails go to our supporters who have been helping us financially for several years. We have been getting very positive responses, and so far every single person told us that they had forwarded it on to someone else—their friend, son, daughter, cousin, or others.
We are now starting to send the "Daily Words of Jesus" from the Activated Web site to some of our closest friends every day. We are also working on starting a snail mail mailing of the same material to the few who don't have e-mail.
By Blake, China
This little half lesson, half tip I have to share about staying on top of my mail has taken me nearly half a century to figure out. The solution for me, I finally realize, is do it now!
Instead of waiting until I've written my next newsletter to write everyone—which often waits for something else, thus causing huge delays—I now answer letters as soon as possible after I get them. One advantage is that the letters are a record of our month's activities, and are then ready to be compiled into a newsletter and prayer list.
We now send two e-mail newsletters a month. This also makes the e-mail letter shorter and our prayer list shorter and more current. Apparently, people don't seem to like to plow through big documents online. The two e-mail newsletters then fit nicely into one two-page monthly newsletter to mail.
By James, India
There were so many people on our Activated subscription list, and I was wondering one day if these folks need more feeding Word between the mags they were getting. One day I was looking on the Activated Web site and found that you could subscribe to Daily Mights, "Daily Praise," and others. So I subscribed myself. When they started coming day after day, I thought that it would be a good tool to send to people who are already getting the Activated magazines.
I went through my subscription list and found that lots of the subscribers had e-mail addresses. So I called all of them to confirm if they have been getting the mags regularly, and if they were enjoying reading them. Everyone that I called was inspired to hear from me, and they all said how good the magazines have been. Then I asked them if they would like to get something through e-mail, and they were all more than happy to receive them. So I have started sending them all a short "Daily Praise" that I receive from the Family GP site and am daily adding more and more names of sheep to the list.
By Rufina Smile, Ukraine
Over the last two years we've been sending faxes to some of our contacts, which are mostly businessmen. It took some time before we got any response from them, and sometimes we wondered if we should proceed with this program, but every time we brought it before the Lord, He told us to keep at it, that He was working in the hearts of those people and that the Word that they were receiving was doing the work for us. At that time we had to take it somewhat by faith, but as the time passed, we now see the beautiful fruits of it and are happy we persevered and didn't give up at the time when there was no visible evidence change, spiritual growth, or even appreciation.
One woman who we had originally met at a food fair receives our faxes. She was a manager of one of the companies we approached at the time, though she's changed jobs and positions a few times since then—but she always made sure we had her new phone number and a new e-mail address, so we could stay in touch. She is now working as a manager at a well-known dairy, and is faithful to share her beliefs with the people she comes in contact with. Here is her (translated) reaction to one of the last faxes we sent her:
Dear sisters,
Thank you so much for your messages. They are always just in time and very supportive. Every time I receive them I am fascinated at how you can know what to talk about. Only people with big hearts can feel this way, with a great compassion for other people.
It is a bit tough time for me right now, and yes, it deals with new changes and the next year plans. But nonetheless I would like to meet you maybe next week. It has been a long time now since the last time we met.
I hope everything is well. God bless you all.
Yulia
One company used to help us with baby food from time to time, but we lost contact with them and so stopped sending them faxes. We were wondering what had happened to them and how to get back in contact with them. Since we didn't really know if the company got shut down or relocated, we had no clue where to look and how to go about getting back in touch. All we could do was to commit it to the Lord and leave it in His hands.
Then one day our landlord came over for a visit and he accidentally left his magazine. I flipped though it, and lo and behold, there was an advertisement for the same baby food company that we'd been in contact with, and their new address and phone numbers were noted in the ad. Taking it as a sign from the Lord, we decided to give them a call and see if they still remembered us and wanted us to continue to send them the Word faxes. They were happy to hear from us and wanted the faxes again, as they'd faithfully read and studied them together with their staff before.
Here is an e-mail they sent us after receiving a Word fax after a long break.
Dear Family members,
Thank you very much for the warm words that you send us. We are always so happy to receive your letters and wait for them with such anticipation. Whenever we get your fax we sit down and read it all together.
We are also happy to be able to help you and your work, your different projects with our products whenever possible, and would like to help you with some baby cereal at this point, and with more of our company's products in the future. We are glad to be of any help to you or to any of the projects that you are involved in.
The Word is making a difference in people's lives and never returns void even if we might not see the fruit right away. We know that as we do our part, the Lord always comes through with His and takes care of the rest.
By Abel, Feliz, and Marie, India
Over 170 people now receive our e-mails of compiled excerpts from the Reflections, Good Thots, Treasures, and newsletters. We have received beautiful and heartfelt responses, heartcries, and requests for prayers for different personal situations.
We recently received two anonymous donations, and we were quite convinced it was a couple who helps us once or twice a year with small donations. We had a check to ask them if they had sent us a donation, which they said they hadn't, but were somehow convicted that they hadn't, and they turned around and sent us a much needed $300 donation.
A lot of our e-mail recipients like the Word that we send them, and are starting to write in more. Feliz organized our mailing list so we can send out all our newsletters at one time. That saves us a lot of time and effort, plus they get them the same day so our response is much quicker and convicts them to also respond.
By Jewel, Josiah, Lily, and Nina, Nepal
For the past five years, our Home has been making monthly newsletters (well, sometimes we don't get them out every month, but we do try!). We started with 50 photocopies of each issue, and we have now grown to 800 plus, which are printed for free every month. About half of these are mailed out, nationally and internationally; the remaining ones we give personally to our friends and contacts here in Kathmandu. The format is simple, usually some milky good-for-all Word on the front, and CTP/outreach news and photos on the back.
The response to getting these newsletters out faithfully each month has been tremendous. It means we always have something on hand to give people that's feeding, and seeing our CTP and outreach work regularly has given us credibility and helped people to trust us and be more giving. If we're too late with an issue, people start asking us, "Where's my new newsletter?"
But the point of this testimony is to share excerpts of a letter that we received from a man we've never met. He lives in Pokhara, a city in Nepal that we visit every couple of months on road trips, and where most of our out-of-Kathmandu mailings are sent. The man begins by sharing about his life, ideals, and how he has tried to make a difference in the world. Then he says:
I eventually found a dusty, without-envelope newsletter when I went to open my mailbox in Pokhara. The content drew my attention and reminded me of many things I did in the past. Therefore, I am writing you. Who are you? What are you doing? Where did you send the newsletter? What are the aspects we can do together for God in Nepal? Is there any activity in Pokhara as well?
As you wrote in your May 2002 newsletter: "Just begin with one. Begin at home by saying something good to your child, to your husband, or to your wife. Begin by helping someone in need in your community, at work or at school. Begin by making whatever you do something beautiful for God." I did it in the past to some extent, but I have to begin again at home! I would be grateful if you reply at your time convenient.
This encouraged us that you never know how far your witness and testimony can go—beyond those you meet personally—and proves once again the promise that, "God's Word never returns void." We still don't know how our newsletter got into his post box, but with God there are not only no wrong numbers, but no wrong addresses either!
(End of file)