AN MCV ADVISORY!--By Father David DO 1211 14/7/81
A Good Schedule & Good Advice for All Our Musical Units--& You!
1. DEAR MCV: WELL, PTL! GBY! WE JUST HEARD YOUR LATEST MCV TAPE, & it was a real hit, a real knockout, a real bomb! I think it's the best you've done yet & I'd say it's at least as good as anything MWMI has ever done, & maybe in some ways a little bit better! You're certainly starting off, I think, perhaps even better than they did in their early shows, so you're off to a real good start!
2. AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, "WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE" & I wish that were possible. But it certainly is good to be off to a good start with some real good shows, & I hope the rest of them are at least as good or even better. Your jingles are so cute & musical that right away after listening to this tape I was going around the house humming them without even knowing it, especially your address jingle, very good! It ought to really stick in their heads, TTL! So PTL!
3. AND THE GIRLS WHO SING THEM CERTAINLY SING THEM WITH PUNCH! They are terrific! I think they're at least as good as MWMI's, if not better!--And you sure have some mighty good stars there who can really get it across! TYJ! And your DJ Gabriel is surely on the ball! He's really got the drive & the punch & the gusto, con mucho gusto, for such a lively Spanish program!
4. WE WERE JUST THRILLED TO PIECES WITH YOUR EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE, beautiful synchronisation & terrific format with excellent variety & plenty of plugs mixed all throughout so that it would be very difficult for any station to try to get rid of'm & cheat on us by just trying to play the music only. You've got that salt sprinkled all the way through it so it would be hard to get the taste out without removing the food.
5. SO TTL! YOU'RE REALLY DOING A TERRIFIC JOB & we're just thrilled with these good products, & if the rest of them can be just as good I think you're going to hit Latin America like a bomb! I expect your show to be perhaps better & more rapidly received & to boom faster even than MWMI did in its beginning. Well, you should! You have the advantage of all their pioneering & the advantage of their learning the format & the variety & all my training & instruction & advice as well.--Ha!
6. YOU'RE LIKE THE SECOND GENERATION: YOU OUGHT TO BE AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE STOCK! So you're really off to a very good start, ahead of where they got started. So you ought to reach the finish line or the home stretch of really hitting the vast Latin American public much faster than they hit the rest of the World.
7. I BELIEVE THIS SHOW HAS REALLY GOT IT & has a terrific punch, beautiful music, really swinging format & variety & excellent jingles & plugs. You do a beautiful job of promotion there, Gabriel, & you've certainly got an excellent variety of music & artists & sources & I think you even did the sketches almost better than the originals! So PTL! GBY!
8. JUAN CARLOS, YOUR SPANISH TRANSLATIONS AMAZE US, how you can translate into another language the orginals from as difficult a language as English & still get the meaning, not only the meaning but even rhythm & real spirit of some of the original songs which had to be translated from English into Spanish. So you certainly have been an asset to the work there as well, GBY Son! You're all doing terrific!
9. WE'RE ESPECIALLY THRILLED, REBEKAH, WITH YOUR TREMENDOUS VERVE! I was commenting to Maria that you remind me of some of the real emotional "torch-singers", as they called them, when I was young, the girls who could really put tremendous emotion into their singing--motion & emotion--& if you've got that much in your sex there, you're going to wear out all those men! GBY! From what I hear, you're just about doing that already!
10. WELL, THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES! It takes that same kind of drive that is terrific sex drive, terrific motion & emotion, to really get it across in sound & song on radio or video or television. And you've got it, Kid! GBY! ILY!
11. YOU'RE TERRIFIC & YOUR SINGING REALLY GIVES EVEN THOSE JINGLES A REAL PUNCH, just really full of life & really brings the whole thing to life! GBY! It's terrific the way you girls sing--all of you--but I must say I keep recognising Rebekah's voice in there, I guess it's because I don't know the rest of you, but I feel like I know you, Rebekah.
12. I'LL NEVER FORGET THE FIRST PICTURE YOU EVER SENT ME! A-hem! It looked just like Mocumba, the same position & just as nude! Whew! I even had to doctor it up for the FN, as you noticed! It was almost too raw. But it just shows your terrific drive & verve, life, inspiration, motion & emotion. You just keep puttin' it across like that, Kid, & you're really going to come across & land right in their laps, or at least their hearts PTL!
13. GABRIEL, YOU MAY NOT HAVE THE VOICE OF SIMON PETER, BUT YOU'VE CERTAINLY GOT THE SPIRIT & you've almost improved on some of his style, which has got more of that Latin American flavour & liveliness that the Latins require, so full of fire! So praise God, it certainly is of the Lord the team that you folks have gotten together down there, or that He's gotten together.
14. GOD BLESS YOU, RAIN, FOR HAVING THE ORIGINAL FAITH & INSPIRATION & initiative & courage to start the ball rolling, although I must say we've had the dream of that for many years, & were hoping to do that long ago. We were thinking that Sam & his folks down there years ago were going to get it rolling like this, but I guess we weren't ready & they weren't ready, & now it's God's time for our own regular show throughout Latin America--or throughout the Latin World, for that matter!
15. AS I WAS SAYING TO MARIA, ISN'T IT IN THE WISDOM OF GOD how that you folks have gotten that radio show & your music rolling right now to give our folks who are moving now down there a real push & a real tool to use to open the doors & get rolling!
16. GOD BLESS ALL YOU PIONEERS WHO HAVE BEEN DOWN THERE A LONG TIME & some of you from the beginning & who got the original ball rolling. And although it slowed down for awhile because of leadership problems & the old Chain-saw, thank God we've overcome that setback & we're rolling again, & it looks to me like a real revival of the Revolution in Latin America!
17. SO I BELIEVE YOU'RE REALLY ON THE RIGHT TRACK & really rolling', & we expect to hear more good things of you. We can hardly wait for the next tape & we give our hearty approval of these first tapes & want them to be sent immediately to the Family. I hope you can find a good duper there so that we can mass produce them & send them immediately to the entire Family.
18. I'M GLAD YOU'VE NOW GOT THE SET-UP THERE FOR IT, to send these tapes to the Latin American mailing list & everything in order to dupe & mail them. You've got the office all organised there for this & are already familiar with the procedure to mail out the tapes to the whole Family.
19. I'D LIKE TO SEE THESE FIRST MCV TAPES GO OUT TO THE WHOLE FAMILY, all the Family, all of our Homes, just as soon as possible. So now, just as soon as you get this OK--or Mom gives it, as I call her now, our dear Maria, our Mother Mary. She is not only the Mother of her own two children, but the Mother of you all, the Mother of all living, in a way, like Mama Eve was in the beginning, & so she certainly is a loving & faithful Shepherdess & she's really been on the job to try to inspire this & to get you all started down there & encourage you, & I hope you appreciate it.
20. SO WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU SEND THOSE FIRST TAPES out to the Family just as quickly as you can so that the whole Family will be thrilled & inspired with them, enjoy them themselves & see the proof of the pudding that you're really rolling & MCV is really a reality now & really going, & also as a tool that many of them can use where they are, even in other countries, so that these first tapes will get to work immediately.
21. YOU ARE ALREADY BOOKING STATIONS ON A WEEKLY BASIS, which most of them will want, some of them may want even to program you more often. I'm sure they're going to love you & receive you just tremendously! It they even receive the original English language versions, some of them, with open arms, think how much more all those good Latin American musicians or Worldwide Latin musicians & groups & songs!
22. REALLY, I THINK THESE FIRST TAPES OF YOURS HAVE GOT AS MUCH OR MORE PUNCH than the first ones we made with MWMI. But as I say, of course, you've got the advantage of their parenthood & their training & learning & former growth & mistakes & advice & all the rest, so you're off to a head start, quite a few lengths ahead of where they started. So we're just thrilled with your first products!
23. IN ORDER TO BOOK STATIONS they're glad to know you have enough shows already in the can. I think that's what we also required of MWMI, because the stations want to know for sure, once they book it, that you're not going to run out or run dry & disappoint them. So you can honestly tell them when they start distributing these tapes that you've already got plenty in the can.
24. WITH 26 SHOWS ALREADY IN THE CAN, THAT'S A HALF A YEAR'S WEEKLY TAPES OF HALF-HOUR PROGRAMS! Many of them will ask you, "How many have you got in the can?" so to speak. "How many have you got ready to roll?" so that they won't be disappointed if they do start you & create a real public demand & popularity, that they're not going to soon run out of shows.
25. YOU NOW HAVE ENOUGH SO YOU CAN OFFER THEM TO THE STATIONS ON A MASS BASIS FOR REGULAR PROGRAMMING for six months or more, you can offer them to them on a regular weekly basis of halfhour shows.
26. WE HOPE THAT YOU'LL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE THE OTHERS AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE so that they can continue them on such stations, because I'm sure that stations will immediately accept them, but it would be sad if they booked them & they'd soon be running out of shows after these first few tapes.
27. SO I FOUND OUT IN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD when the Lord in His infinite fore-knowledge & pre-vision wisdom gave me 15 years experience on the road working with radio & television & radio stations etc., that you've just pretty well got to have enough in the can before you can offer them to the stations so they can be assured of a constant flow & not be disappointed by your suddenly having to cancel & tell them that you haven't got any more ready.
28. THIS WILL ALSO GIVE YOU TIME TO BUILD ON THAT so that we hope by the time that they're out of the first you'll have the next ready. (Little clock comes on.) Excuse me, that's my little talking clock telling me it's five o'clock & time to push on here to write you this little letter to encourage you & to give you a little direction & advice.
29. WE'RE NOW ABLE TO OFFER THEM FULLSCALE TO THE STATIONS for either weekly half-hour programming or bi-weekly quarter-hour programming or however they want to program it.
30. WE COULDN'T OFFER THEM BEFORE WE WERE REALLY READY, because once we're on we want to stay on. We don't want to run out & then have them have to cancel because they've run through all of our shows. So let's get on the ball now & keep'm rolling!
31. IF YOU'LL MAKE'M AS GOOD AS THESE FIRST FEW YOU'LL BE DOING WELL because the stations always expect you to put your best foot forward & expect that these first few tapes are probably the best tapes you have, in fact, right now the only ones you have. They expect these pilot tapes to be the very best--& they are--but they'll expect good ones to follow too! So you really do need to get to work now, & obviously you've been working, & keep'm rolling!
32. AS I DID WITH MWMI, I GAVE THEM A FEW MONTHS TO GET STARTED, & now you folks down there have had several months. I know you've had to be fiddling' around with building studios & getting settled & now you've got a tremendous influx of new musicians, personnel, another blob building up which we'll have to have for this type of work, & there has been a property & housing problem, of course, which you always have to lick in order to house'm all, feed'm all. But thank God you're getting a lot more help & support from us than MWMI did in the very beginning.
33. WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE IT AS EASY ON YOU FINANCIALLY AS WE CAN & give you as much as we can to pay your expenses so you can keep rolling & won't have any worries about that. So you musicians & artists & singers, technicians, businessmen & all can work fulltime just on these shows & not to have to spend too much time out on the street or the cafes or the parks or road trying to raise your own. We're trying to give you all the help we can so that it will take care of your room & board & expenses there so you can devote your full time to MCV & get as many of these shows on the road as quickly as possible.
34. SO I'M GOING TO EXPECT FROM YOU FROM NOW ON--now that you're set up or almost set up--let's say I'm going to hope from now on that you're going to be knocking off at least one show a week. I don't think that's expecting too much & that's about what I expect of MWMI. That means we'll have at least two tapes produced a month. When I say shows, I usually mean a half-hour show, I'm not talking about quarter--hour shows. I'm talking about what I consider a full show, full half--hour show.
35. WE DIVIDE IT INTO QUARTERS, OF COURSE, TO MAKE IT EVEN MORE CONVENIENT FOR THE STATION TO USE IT & to fill in little holes or whatever they have available, they don't always have half-hours open I figured rightly as we did with MWMI that if we'd make it divisible in either halves or quarters, they're bound to have some place they could use it & to squeeze it in in whatever they happen to have open, whatever time they have available.
36. SO I'M GLAD YOU'RE TRYING TO AIM AT PRODUCING ONE FINISHED SHOW A WEEK AT LEAST, half-hour, half a tape, one side of the tape, & better yet, one whole tape or two shows a week, because the quicker you do & the faster you get started, the quicker we're going to be able to get you on stations all over Latin America & Iberia etc.
37. SO YOU'RE ON THE BALL NOW & REALLY HUMPING, & it sounds like you are with these first few tapes, because we're going to need'm yesterday! The Family is droolin' at the mouth for'm & they're going to be thrilled to pieces & their appetite marvellously satisfied with these first ones, only temporarily, however.
38. YOU KNOW, YOU CAN GET FULL ON A MEAL & BE SATISFIED FOR QUITE AWHILE, but pretty soon you need another one, & I'm sure that the stations' appetite for these tapes is going to be voracious & they're really going to devour them & want more & more & more!
39. I DON'T WANT YOU WEARING YOURSELVES OUT, overdoing, not getting enough rest or food or exercise. I want you to figure out a good regular schedule as they have at MWMI, & thank God you've got Faith & Juan & others there who are familiar with their pioneering operation down there in Greece & how they did it & how they managed it, how they scheduled it. So you have a lot of advantage, you've got a real headstart on them by having all the leaders down there that already have the knowledge & the know-how of how to do it!
40. I KNOW YOU'RE STILL GETTING A LOT OF RECORDINGS MADE TOO, initial primary recordings, & while you're recording you can't always be producing shows, but you're building them, block by block. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was ever any house or building, but just brick by brick. So don't try to rush it too much & don't overdo, wear yourselves out before you get started. I don't want anybody collapsing from nervous exhaustion from working too hard.
41. THIS KIND OF WORK IS A TREMENDOUS NERVOUS STRAIN AS WELL AS PHYSICAL STRAIN, spiritual strain & drain too on everybody. I know, I've been in it, & the nervous tension & strain of being on the air & realising that millions of people are listening & you've gotta make it come across, is a tremendous responsibility & a tremendous burden on your mind & heart as well as your body & your voice & your string fingers, etc.
42. IF YOU DON'T REALLY LOOK TO THE LORD IN VERY EARNEST PRAYER for the strength & the spirit & inspiration & the power of the Lord to help you through, you're apt to wear yourselves out & head yourselves for a nervous breakdown before you know it!--If you don't really rest in the Lord & trust Him to carry you through, not worry about it, just keep pushing, do the best you can.
43. BUT MOST OF ALL, LIVE ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE WITH REGULAR MEALS. I don't care how important you think that particular recording is or that particular tape is or show that you're trying to finish, don't overdo, don't have too long recording sessions to where everybody's exhausted & worn out & ready for a nervous breakdown, or physical breakdown. I want you to get on a regular schedule, a regular sleep schedule of a good seven or eight hours sleep a night & regularly at regular times, regular meals.
44. REGULAR GET-OUT TIMES AS WELL--AT LEAST AN HOUR OF GOOD STRENUOUS PHYSICAL EXERCISE OUTDOORS in the fresh air & the sunshine or the sea & surf or wherever or whatever is your favourite form of good healthy exercise, whether it's indoor sport in bed or outdoor sport in the sea or wherever! They say you've got to have at least 15 minutes of very vigorous exercise everyday in order to stay in good health, but I say one hour is even better.
45. AND THAT IS NOT OPTIONAL, THAT IS NOT IF YOU JUST FEEL LIKE IT & WANT TO, that is going to be a requirement of the course. That is part of your work time, if you will. I finally had to make it a law & a rule in our personal Homes over which I have direct control & in sist, make'm get out. I found out some of'm were cheating & staying too long in the lab or too long at the typewriter & they said, "Well, it's so urgent we just felt like we had to get it done & so I stayed up all night & did it, blah blah!" I don't want to hear any of that.
46. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR OF ANY ALL-NIGHT SESSIONS, I don't want to hear of any prolonged sessions that make you skip meals & getout time & lose your rest & abuse your body & put too great a nervous strain on your constitution & too much of a drain on your spirit until you're so exhausted you can hardly think or strum a note or sing a note.
47. I WANT TO HEAR THAT YOU'RE LIVING ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE, & I want to see a copy of that schedule with your get-out in there just as regularly as anything else, your sleep time of eight hours scheduled in there regularly at a regular time, just as important as your work time, & your meals scheduled as well with plenty of free time for rest & recreation & procreation & all kinds of body & spirit & mind rebuilding so that you will be on such a good regular schedule with scheduled times for your sleep & rest & recreation & exercise & meals, as well as work, that you'll be living on a very good, regular, healthful, inspiring schedule that is going to be a blessing & a help to your music & your programs to make them the very best that they ought to be.
48. REMEMBER, GOD'S SERVANT IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS WORK, because without you we'll never get work done & I've told you that many times. We're not sparing on expense either. As we've said before, God's man is worth more than his money. So wherever there is a need to spend money, we'll just have to spend it & trust the Lord for it.
49. THE FAMILY ARE BEING VERY FAITHFUL NOW TITHING & VERY GOOD TO US ALL making it possible for all these marvellous publications we're getting out, including your tapes & MWMI's tapes & WW's tapes etc., so that we're now giving them all away free to all TRFing families, faithfully tithing families & Homes,so that on one will be neglected & no one will be limited by finances as to whether they get to enjoy & use our publications, including tapes & videos, as well as anyone else, so that all of our Homes will feel that they are receiving equally with all the rest, regardless of their financial status or their ability to give.
50. I AM SEEING BY THE FINANCIAL REPORTS THAT GOD IS REALLY BLESSING THE FAMILY FINANCIALLY FOR THEIR TITHING as our Worldwide Family income of our families around the World has been blessed & I'm sure it's because of their faithful tithing. Therefore World Service income is blessed as well to make it possible for us to produce all of these tremendous publicatons, as well as a tremendous Magazine & lots of big thick heavy books & all of your tapes!--All of our beautiful music tapes, etc.
51. SO THIS, I THINK, HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS PROJECT DOWN THERE & you've needed all the strength, mind & heart & spirit that you've got for it, so you'll want to take good care of your bodies as well as your minds & hearts & your music. So I insist that you send me a very good regular schedule for my approval to make sure that you're given plenty of rest & get-out time & good meals & plenty of sleep, as well as plenty of work.
52. PARTICULARLY IN OUR TYPE OF WORK WHICH REQUIRES A LOT OF INSPIRATION & IS A TREMENDOUS STRAIN, I'm a firm believer in what I call the six or eight hour day, certainly not more than eight & not less than six. Because as someone used to say, an hour's preaching--in other words, public performance, including your music--is almost the equivalent of an eight-hour day. And that's about what it amounts to, or even more, in producing these shows. One one-hour tape is probably going to take you a whole week's work! So the final product, the final outcome is going to represent not just eight hours work, but at least 40 hours work.
53. I'M A FIRM BELIEVER, AS I SAY, IN THE ONLY FIVE OR SIX-DAY WEEK & THE SIX OR EIGHT-HOUR DAY, because I like to see you get plenty of time for rest & recreation & meals & sleep & get-out time & all the rest of the relief from the strain & nervous tension of public performance, which is what you're doing in recording, recording for the whole World & for millions who are going to hear you. That is a tremendous strain & you need lots of relief & release from it every day, & I mean that!
54. I DON'T MEAN THAT YOUR WORK WEEK OR WORK DAY IS JUST GOING TO AVERAGE OUT TO THAT because some days you spent all day & all night & other days you take a whole day off. I mean I want to see a regular schedule of a daily eight-hours sleep & a daily good two or three meals a day, depending on how much you need to eat.
55. PERSONALLY I USUALLY ONLY EAT ABOUT TWO MEALS A DAY, but mine is mostly mental labour; your singing, playing & recording is quite a bit of physical labour & strain. So you will probably need three good squares a day & I want you to have plenty of time to eat'm & relax a little while afterwards. So I want you organisers & leaders there to make sure that these meal hours are at least an hour long.
56. AND I'M A GREAT BELIEVER IN THE GOOD OLD LATIN AFTERNOON SIESTA! So what do you say we make that lunch hour at least two hours long like it is in most Latin countries? I think this really helps to revive your body as well as your spirit & make you a real living soul with extra rest in the middle of the day, a little extra time with your family & your mate, maybe a little extra lovin' thrown in.
57. THEY SAY THAT PROBABLY WHY THE LATIN'S HAVE SO MANY CHILDREN is because they've got that extra siesta time in which to make love every afternoon after a good full lunch & a nice rest. So hallelujah! The more the merrier, PTL! If it also produces more children for the Lord, that's worth it too! But I don't want to see any of those U.S.A. schedules or Northern European schedules of only one-hour off for lunch, I want to see a good two-hour siesta lunchtime, at least two hours so you'll be wellrested from your meal.
58. THEY SAY IT TAKES AT LEAST ABOUT TWO HOURS USUALLY TO DIGEST A GOOD HEAVY MEAL, so by that time you'll be fit again to sing & play, particularly you singers. I was a singer for many years & I know that you can't sing very well on a full stomach. You have to have a little time to digest it. And also I was a swimmer for many years & we swimmers were forbidden to ever enter the water within two hours after a meal to make sure that our meals were well-digested & that they were not going to cause us to have indigestion or cramps when not going to cause us to have indigestion or cramp when out there in the water, which in water over your head can be fatal!
59. I'VE KNOWN MANY A VERY STRONG SWIMMER, EVEN PROFESSIONALS, WHO HAVE DROWNED WITH A CRAMP or cramps out in deep water because they failed to follow the good health rules of not swimming with in two hours of a meal. I knew one famous surfer, a very dear friend of mine who was a professional surfer, or at least a good amateur for many years & was supposed to know his business. But he died in his own lake following his own speedboat when he was hit with a sudden heart cramp in the water after falling off his surfboard & drowned before they could even circle the boat around & get back to him. So it can hit you pretty hard.
60. YOU'VE GOT A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO SWIM THERE FROM WHAT I CAN SEE, lovely beaches, tropical warm water--& that warm water is safer than cold water--but it is still safer to make sure you don't go swimming within two hours after a meal, and not only as a swimmer but a singer. I found out that it's always safer as well not to try to sing within two hours after a meal, because you're apt to cause indigestion.
61. SINGING IS A TREMENDOUS PHYSICAL STRAIN TO REALLY PUT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT INTO IT, both in motion & power & spirit and emotion like dear Rebekah does there & some of the rest of you too! But I can sure hear her coming through, GBH! GBY, Rebekah, I love you!--You sure turn me on, kid, & fire me up! Hallelujah! Your singing is going to do the same for millions around the World!
62. BUT YOU CAN'T SING LIKE THAT ON A FULL STOMACH! I know, I was a professional singer for many years & you've got to have room for that diaphragm to flex to provide the power for that column of air that goes up from your diaphragm through your vocal chords, & if it's all plugged up with food & hampered by an extra heavy load of a kilo of food in on top of it, it's not going to push very well. Also it crowds your heart & is a terrific strain on your heart when you're singing so that you've got double trouble if you try to sing on top of a full meal.
63. PLEASE DO NOT HAVE ANY RECORDING SESSIONS INVOLVING SINGERS WITHIN TWO HOURS AFTER A FULL MEAL! So that's going to make you have to knock off a good two-hour siesta at mid-day for your lunch period to make sure you come back refreshed, your meal well-digested & the load relieved off your diaphragm so that it'll be able to function properly to really give that UMPH that it needs & that those songs need & those notes to push it up there & to get it out, to belt it out the way it ought to be belted out!--And you just cannot do it on a full stomach!
64. NOW I KNOW! I WAS A PROFESSIONAL SINGER FOR YEARS & I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, so don't try it! Don't give me any of that stuff about, "Well, we've got to do it! We're late & we've got these musicians ready & we can't keep them waiting, blah blah!" Well, let them take a siesta too!--It's a nervous strain on the players as well as the singers & I don't believe anybody can do as well on a full stomach anything as well as you can on an empty stomach, or at least nearly empty.
65. I KNOW THAT YOU CAN'T SING OR SWIM, & IF YOU'RE PLAYING A WIND INSTRUMENT as I did for years such as a coronet, trumpet, saxophone, flute or clarinet or whatever it may be that you're involving there, the rule is same: It requires a lot of air, it requires a lot of wind, it requires a lot of abdominal diaphragm push, & therefore it shouldn't be hampered with the weight of a full meal on top of that diaphragm & a crowded load on your heart making it hard for the heart as well as your diaphragm & thereby hindering & hampering your music, your songs & your playing of wind instruments.
66.--AS WELL AS PERHAPS EVEN THE LOAD OF THE GUITAR ON A FULL MEAL. On stringed instruments such as violin, guitar, etc. I don't think full meals affect them quite as much perhaps, but it affects your nerves, it affects your physical stamina & your thinking, & with all that blood gone to your stomach to digest the meal you can't think as well. It robs your brain of the blood it needs to do some quick thinking & it dulls your spirit, it dulls your umph, it dulls your brain, it dulls your thinking, it dulls your power & force & effort & all of that in order to digest a good-sized meal.
67. SO PLEASE TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELVES & DON'T ABUSE YOUR BODIES & don't let your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting. (Lk.21:34.) Don't over-do your poor stomach or your heart or your diaphragm or your spirit or your body or your voice in any way that's going to damage it or hinder it or hamper it or in any way make it less effective & less powerful for the Lord. Let's not have any work sessions within two hours after meal time, amen?
68. WELL, THAT'S ANOTHER THING--THAT BURP JUST REMINDED ME--that's another reason you singers & blowers had better be sure you don't have any recording sessions within a couple hours after mealtime, because it's not only apt to cause hindrance to your diaphragm & a heavy load on your heart, but also as well, indigestion & gas.
69. A BIG BURP RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A SONG OR A BLOW ON YOUR INSTRUMENT is certainly not going to be any help to your singing or your performance. In fact, it can be rather embarrassing sometimes as you've noticed even me now as a speaker on the videos--maybe you even noticed that burp I just gave you then--that it can hinder your speaking, singing, blowing, playing, whatever!
70. BECAUSE TOO MUCH STRAIN RIGHT AFTER EATING CAUSES INDIGESTION, which causes gas, which causes burps & that's no good for recording! We're not interested in recording your burps! We don't want even to record your burps or blips or boo-boos. We just want to record your beautiful fine music & singing & wonderful spirit & the inspiration!
71. SO LET'S MAKE SURE WE DON'T HAVE ANY RECORDING SESSIONS WITHIN TWO HOURS AFTER MEALTIME. That means you're going to have to get a good eight hours rest at night, according to whatever the sunrise, sunset & general program of your camp or camps there may be. You're going to have to schedule your breakfast in such a way that at least you can have perhaps an hour of devotional time after breakfast as well as time to eat it, a good hour to eat & relax & have devotions--that won't be a strain on anybody except perhaps the one who is reading--& just a little Family singing isn't going to hurt you that much if you have a little devotional time after breakfast.
72. WE FOUND THAT IT WAS ALWAYS GOOD TO PRETTY MUCH LET EVERYBODY FIX THEIR OWN BREAKFAST, because as I have mentioned on a video recently, that's the bane of the existence of any cook, trying to fix such a variety of breakfasts as most people seem to require. As my uncle used to say, he didn't mind cooking lunch or dinner, but breakfast was hell!--Because everybody wanted something different & fixed different.
73. SO WE FOUND LONG AGO IN OUR SCHOOLS & COLONIES that it was pretty much best to let everybody sort of shift for themselves for breakfast, & since I believe most of you are going to be living in your own apartments or trailers, you'll be able to fix your own breakfast.
74. BUT YOU MUST GATHER TOGETHER, I REALLY BELIEVE IT WITH ALL MY HEART, IN FELLOWSHIP DAILY--each morning before you get started--for a time of inspiration, fellowship, listening either to tapes or watching videos or hearing Letters read, Bible reading, a few inspirational Family songs played & sung together in praise to the Lord. "Neglect not the assemblying of yourselves together," & be sure to start the day with the Lord. (He.10:25.)
75. WE USED TO FIGURE OUR SCHEDULE AT OUR FORMER COLONIES & SCHOOLS in such a way that most folks would have at least an hour before breakfast to get up, wash & dress & have a little private personal devotions of their own Bible reading & prayer before breakfast time, & even when we served breakfast all together, make sure that they had this time beforehand for private & personal devotions, & then time after breakfast for joint family devotions together, at which time announcements can be made & plans perhaps for the day discussed, as well as digesting your plans perhaps for the day discussed, as well as digesting your meal in the process before you start your day's work.
76. FOR YOU PERFORMERS, SINGERS, MUSICIANS, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR WORK DAY START AN LESS THAN TWO HOURS AFTER MEAL TIME. Well, we'll say including your mealtime. Breakfast followed with devotions & family inspiration, discussion, planning, etc., & your first working session not less than two hours after breakfast. I found that if you're going to really hump & really put everything you've got into a performance, recording, singing & playing for recordings, & DJing as well which takes a lot of drive & spirit, anybody who's using their voice or their wind or whatever, or even your finger talent on your stringed instruments, takes lots of strength & drive & energy & it should not be performed within less than two hours after eating any meal.
77. WE STARTED THE DAY OFF WITH AN HOUR TO GIVE OUR STUDENTS OR COLONISTS TIME TO WASH, DRESS & PRAY, have a little Bible reading alone, private devotions or with their own little families, children, then breakfast, whether jointly or privately. And then definitely joint devotions together, everybody meeting together for devotions after breakfast. An hour to get ready for breakfast, an hour for breakfast, an hour of devotions after breakfast including prayer & praise & inspiration, Scripture, Letter reading or hearing tapes or videos or whatever, then begin your work day after that.
78. THAT GIVES YOU AN HOUR AHEAD OF BREAKFAST, an hour for breakfast & its digestion, an hour of devotions, joint united devotions, fellowship after breakfast, after the hour for breakfast time. This also gives some of the folks who have to clean up after breakfast, time to get things cleaned up & organised enough to join with you, if possible, for devotions. After which then--that three hours of schedule--I think you'll find is a good time to start your work day.
79. OURS USUALLY BEGAN WITH GET-UP TIME AT 7, breakfast at 8, devotions or class at 9, 8 then work time beginning at 10. That's three hours to give you a good three hours of plenty of time for preparation & eating & resting & devotions, etc., before you begin your day's work. It gives your meal time to digest as well & you time to rest a bit after it & be inspired with your united fellowship & devotions, & then pitch into your work day.
80. AND AS YOU KNOW, THIS TYPE OF A PUBLIC MINISTRY OF INSPIRATION--whether it's preaching or singing or playing or announcing or whatever--is a tremendous strain & requires a lot of physical strength, mental alertness & inspired spirit & breath, etc., lots of umph in every way--physically, mentally & spiritually--you must not be all worn out before you go to work! So please, you musicians, don't have such a good time at fellowship devotions after breakfast that you're worn out with playing & singing before you even get to work! However, in some ways, sometimes it's a sort of a good warm-up time for your work.
81. SO WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST IS AFTER GETTING UP AT 7 & getting washed, dressed & private devotions & having had your breakfast at 8 & rested a bit afterwards, you meet together at 9, & at 9 for your devotion have the reading or the listening first so that you then have your united playing or singing last at the end of your devotions instead of the beginning, so that you'll have added a little time for your breakfast to digest well & be ready to warm up your throats & fingers before your first recording of the day. That can be your sort of warm-up time just before you start work about 10. Then in typical Latin fashion you can work either three or four hours from 10 to one or two & then have your lunch & siesta time.
82. SINCE THIS TYPE OF WORK IS SUCH A TREMENDOUS STRAIN, my advice to you is not to have any recording or work sessions last longer than about three hours--including discussion & stops & starts & all the rest in-between. In other words, from about 10 then till one o'clock you have a work session, your first half-day's work, & then two hours off for lunch & rest, this time a real good rest without any joint session of any kind or devotions or anything, just take a good nap, I suggest, after lunch. Maybe have a little time with your mate & your children, but don't let it be something that's going to be too great a strain on you & wear you out so that you're not rested for the second session of the day, the afternoon session.
83. LET'S SAY IF YOU'VE HAD YOUR WORK SESSION FROM 10 TO ONE & TWO HOURS OFF FOR LUNCH & SIESTA, from one to three, you start work again at three o'clock & work to six, from three to six; another good three hours of your type of work is plenty. Of course, you won't be singing & playing & recording all of that time, but sometimes waiting in-between for planning or working on various things or the technical problems, discussion & retakes, etc.
84. BUT AFTER A GOOD AFTERNOON'S THREE HOURS WORK I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE READY THEN FOR YOUR EVENING MEAL, let's say about six or seven, whatever you find best. You have gone then from one o'clock lunch to six o'clock dinner & for some people--especially Americans--five hours is about all they can stand between meals. However, I think you're going to be even better off if maybe you give it a little more time to rest in-between & maybe give some chance to prepare for those meals. But that's up to you whether you have your evening meal at six or seven or even 8. But I suggest that none of your work periods be longer than three hours at the most including whatever is involved.
85. SEVEN O'CLOCK GET-UP, EIGHT O'CLOCK BREAKFAST, NINE O'CLOCK JOINT FELLOWSHIP DEVOTIONS, Family devotions, ten o'clock work. Ten to on work. One o'clock lunch & siesta. Back to work at three & off work at six for dinner or whatever. You say, "Hey, wait a minute! Where's my one hour get-out come, anyhow?" Well, I started to say that if you'll put your dinner off, if you can wait that long till seven, six o'clock is usually a good time to go out for your exercise, your walk, your swim or whatever, during that hour before dinner.
86. THAT'S WHAT MOST OF US DO IN OUR HOMES WHICH I AM DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN & CONTROL. We usually get our get-out time just before our evening meal for an hour. This is long enough after your lunch to permit strenuous exercise or swimming or whatever, jogging or whatever is your favourite sport, & just before dinner so you work up a good appetite.
87. NOW, YOU MAY WANT TO REARRANGE THAT SCHEDULE & fit in your strenuous physical exercise or your get-our time before breakfast. I don't see how you can work it in too well before lunch, although you might, but you can squeeze it in wherever you want to squeeze it in. If you'd prefer it before breakfast, OK, or if you want it before your afternoon lunch & siesta, OK, but it should be immediately before a meal & not after a meal, please. It is not good for you to exercise strenuously then, which requires a lot of blood going in circulation to your exercise muscles rather than to your stomach. It's just as hard on your stomach to get out & exercise strenuously physically after a meal as it is to sing, blow or play or swim, etc.
88. SO IT'S BEST TO SCHEDULE YOUR GET-OUT EXERCISE TIME, RECREATION TIME JUST BEFORE MEALS RATHER THAN AFTERWARD, particularly anything as dangerous as swimming etc. It's too great a strain on your heart as well as your stomach & digestion when most of your blood is needed at your stomach for digesting the meal. And it's a strain on your heart which is trying to contend with pumping blood to your stomach & being crowded by the meal as well, & then heaping a bunch of strenuous physical exercise on top of that. So I don't recommend your get-out time or your strenuous physical exercise time of at least one hour a day to be immediately after meal time, but rather just before a meal time, at whatever time of day you agree together & prefer.
89. SO IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THAT BEFORE BREAKFAST, WELL, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GET UP PRETTY EARLY! Or if you're going to want to make it just before lunch you're going to have to go a little longer without lunch. And if you're going to make it just before dinner as we do, then you're going to have to go at least till seven o'clock before you get to eat dinner, as we do, some even longer. Usually it's still light at that hour, from six to seven, or beautiful evening twilight. It's almost my favourite time of day. I love to get out that time of day & walk in the sunset.
90. AND IN SUCH A TROPICAL CLIMATE AS YOURS THE MIDDAY IS PRETTY HOT & pretty hot for exercise unless you want to take a swim. That's a good recreation for midday exercise & you're near the ocean there & you should get in some good swimming, teach your children to swim, & it's almost the best exercise in the World! It's almost the only exercise that there is that exercises all of your muscles & is excellent exercise, super excellent.
91. SWIMMING IS JUST ABOUT THE BEST EXERCISE THERE IS FOR YOUR BODY, IF YOU CAN SWIM. And at least you can play around in shallow water if nothing else. And of course it's the best kind of exercise for a hot tropical country for midday exercise because it's in the water & keeps you cool. Don't get too much sun, & if you're fully exercising strenuously, swimming the whole one-hour period, you'll be in the water & changing position a great deal so the sun won't be too much for you. I used to be a great deal of the time under water & in diving under the water, of course, you come up & the water cools your skin momentarily & protects you from the sun momentarily.
92. HOWEVER, WHEN YOU GET OUT AFTER A SWIM, let me warn you, that to lie down with water still on your skin acts just like a lens that magnifies the power of the sun on your skin & you can get a quicker burn with a little water on your skin than with dry skin. Of course, it's even better to have some good suntan oil on even before you go in the water. It helps keep your skin warmer & protected from both water & sunshine. (Talking clock comes on "It's 5:55 PM" & plays a little classical piece.)
93. WELL, I THOUGHT I'D LET YOU HEAR MY LITTLE TALKING CLOCK PLAY ITS LITTLE ALARM TUNE warning me that it's almost time for the six o'clock evening news, but it so happens today I'm too busy for that so I'm going to keep right on talking to you, if you don't mind, 'cause I'm not quite done with what I have to say to you. By the way, if you're interested in these little talking clocks, they're made by Sharp, another Japanese company, as you know, the Sharp corporation who also makes calculators & I think TVs & radios & whatnot.
94. IT'S SOMETHING NEW THAT'S JUST OUT & ESPECIALLY USEFUL IF YOU'RE FORGETFUL OF TIME. It has an alarm that play that little tune for you, I think it's something from Beethoven or somebody, an alarm that will give that every five minutes for the first ten minutes to warn you of the approaching time that you want to be warned of, & also it will give you that other beep you heard awhile ago to warn you of the hour & half-hour all day long to keep you moving! Of course, you don't want it around when you're recording, so watch out. But I guess it didn't hurt this recording any since I'm just kinda talkin' to you.
95. ANYHOW, AS I SAY, IT'S VERY USEFUL TO BUSY PEOPLE TO REMIND THEM OF THE TIME, & a good alarm clock. I presume you can buy'm there as well as anywhere almost in the World, those Japanese send their products all over. But you don't have to have one, so don't insist on it. I've used all other kinds of alarm clocks all my life without having one of those.
96. NOW I'M THANKFUL TO HAVE AN ALARM WRISTWATCH AS WELL which helps to remind me of times & also helps me time my telecasts, broadcasts or videocasts as well. And if you need it, well, PG, we'll get it for you if it's necessary to your work. We'd like to get it for your pleasure but we can't always afford just things for your pleasure, but we do hope you have lots of pleasure, especially this get-out time to really have a good time playing games that require strenuous exercise.
97. BACK ON THE OLD RANCH WE USED TO HAVE BALL GAMES, played touch football or baseball or volleyball & something that requires lots of action & strenuous physical exercise & lots of fun. And of course with the ocean nearby & lovely beaches you should be getting in lots of swimming. Every man to his own meat, whatever it is, but whatever it is, you get it! Get-out! And get out for that hour every day--whether it's before breakfast, before lunch or before dinner--just be sure it's before your meals & not afterward, because that's very hard on our stomach & your heart & certainly hard on your work.
98. THEN AFTER YOUR DINNER FROM SEVEN TO EIGHT, EIGHT O'CLOCK IS A GOOD TIME TO JUST REST & RELAX. It's usually dark by that time, or dark enough, that you can show a video or watch television news or whatever for perhaps an hour or two of recreation, inspiration, amusement, entertainment from about eight to ten in the evening, Family videos or television, whatever you like & enjoy & is edifying & good for you. Particularly our Family videos, of course, or you could even audition your latest tapes or whatever you feel like doing during those inspirational hours--or recreational, I should say--almost entertainment or amusement hours, from about eight to ten.
99. AND OF COURSE ATTENDANCE AT THAT TWO HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT, whether it be television or whatever, is not necessarily required. If you have some better way of spending the time, you need to go write a letter or do some other type of something you want or need to do during that two hours of entertainment or recreation time, unless it's a Family video, then you're not necessarily required to be there to watch it. But I would say that the whole group should be required to be in attendance for Family videos from other parts of the World.
100. ANYHOW, YOUR SHOW TIME, IN OTHER WORDS, IS FROM ABOUT EIGHT TO TEN, whether it's TV or videos or whatever, & ten o'clock's time to get the kids to bed & have a little spare time to relax & fellowship with your mate for awhile before you need to get to bed too by eleven.
101. ELEVEN O'CLOCK BEDTIME! GOOD EIGHT HOURS SLEEP. Seven o'clock, get-up time with an hour for wash-up, dress-up & private devotions. Then eight o'clock breakfast, nine o'clock united family devotions, ten o'clock work time, one o'clock lunch & siesta time, three o'clock afternoon work session, six o'clock get-out time, seven o'clock dinner time, eight o'clock show time, from eight to ten, ten o'clock bedtime for the kids & eleven o'clock bedtime for you!
102. WE FOUND THAT WAS A VERY GOOD SCHEDULE in most of our schools & Colonies & on the Ranch etc., & we highly recommend it to you. We don't insist that you have it just the way we've outlined it, if you must vary it for some reason or other according to your personal preference & needs & the demands of your schedule to families or differences between places or whatever it may be, well, then vary it according to your needs & necessities.
103. BUT WE DO INSIST ON THAT GENERAL IDEA OF SCHEDULE, & that is that you have at least a good one hour for mealtime, & rest after meals, & a total of two hours in the morning including breakfast & devotions before you go to work, & about three hours work time before two hours for lunch & siesta. Another three hours work time in the afternoon before get-out time & dinner time in the evening, with show time afterwards in which you can rest & relax after your meal & a good early bedtime to give you plenty of sleep for you & the kids before early morning get up.
104. NOW THROUGH DISCUSSION AMONGST YOURSELVES & PLANNING AMONGST YOUR LEADERS & those who are responsible there for the work & the meals & the recreation or the show times or whatever, I suggest you heads of government there get together, discuss it & make general plans, a suggested schedule, & then bring it before the whole group together to approve of so that everybody might have a chance to have their say about it & their suggestions, their questions, comments, criticisms, complaints, whatever.
105. A GOOD TIME OF HAVE THESE PLANNING SESSIONS etc. is in the morning at the end of your devotions. It's better to have them after morning Family Fellowship or at the end of it rather than before it, otherwise God may get crowded out! So put God first & have your devotions first & then discuss plans afterward.
106. THESE ARE JUST HELPFUL HINTS WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE YOU ON ORGANISATION OF A GOOD-SIZED BLOB such as we have been familiar with for many years in working with schools & colonies previously & the Ranch at TSC & MWMI down in Greece, etc. I think you'll find that these are helpful suggestions which may help you organise your day.
107. AS I SAY, YOU CAN VARY IT ACCORDING TO YOUR PERSONAL NEEDS THERE & your particular needs there, & the schedule of your children, some of whom will probably be going to local schools--not public schools we hope, not the kind of U.S. public schools that they probably have there--but as we have suggested before on another tape, we hope you can put them in local Christian schools, whether they be Catholic or Seventh-day Adventist or Evangelical, whatever.
108. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU PUT YOUR OLDER CHILDREN INTO GOOD LOCAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, the best you can find, the nearest & most convenient, either within walking distance or bus service, & this helps to relieve some of the load of so many there throughout the day if you can find a good local school for your children.
109. OF COURSE, THE VERY LAST WORST KIND OF RESORT, IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE AT ALL, you may have to put some of the older children in public school. In fact, on U.S. territory you'll probably be required to by the Constitutional Public Compulsory Education Law; if you don't have them in a private school, you'll have to put them in public school from the time of six years of age & over.
110. BUT WE CERTAINLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU TRY TO GET THEM INTO A GOOD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL AT ALL COST, at almost any cost, even the cost of financial cost & maybe transportation cost etc. I highly recommend a good Evangelical school if there's one available, real Christians, Pentecostal or whatnot, Baptist or Episcopalian or whatever; or Seventh-day Adventist school--they're very good schools & they specialise in schools, like the Catholics.
111. A GOOD CATHOLIC SCHOOL USUALLY HAS GOOD DISCIPLINE & GOOD CURRICULUM & at least is Christian, maybe has prayer & Bible reading etc. & it doesn't necessarily mean you have to become a Catholic. They usually give very fair rates to Christians, even non-Catholics, very reasonable rates. And if you have a large family they'll probably give you a special reduction.
112. THEN OF COURSE THE VERY WORST OF ALL AS A LAST RESORT if you have to under the Compulsory Education Law & there's no other school available within miles, even if you have to drive your own bus & take all your kids to some distant school, if there's no such thing available within too great a distance, then you may have to send them to your local public school.
113. IT'S NOT GOING TO KILL'M OR HURT'M TOO MUCH, we sent our skids--ha! Skids! If we'd have kept them in public school they would have been on the skids!--But we sent our kids to public schools off & on when Christian schools & private schools were of available, & it in a way was good for them to get a sample of the shit-pit & all its horrors & make them appreciate their own family & their own schools & their own Christian schools even more.
114. JUST AS SOME OF YOU HAVE FOUND IN GOING BACK HOME TO YOUR HOME COUNTRIES, OR THE U.S.A., if nothing else convinced you that there's nothing like the Family & there's nothing like God's Work, just a trip to the shit-pit of the System is enough to convince almost anybody, & you can hardly wait to get out of it! So our kids had to frequently be in local public schools when nothing else was available.
115. OF COURSE, WHEN WE WERE ON THE ROAD TRAVELLING A GREAT DEAL, as long as we were not in any State more than 90 days, the law in most States was if you were a visitor or tourist, you only had to send them to public school under the Compulsory Education Law after a 90-days period of visit. We either made sure we moved around before the 90 days were up where they couldn't find us & didn't know we were still in the State, or moved out of the State, one or the other. It's a little hard to move out of your field, however, when you're going to be there trying to help minister.
116. SO I SUGGEST THAT YOU KEEP YOUR OLDER CHILDREN IN A GOOD CHRISTIAN SCHOOL OF SOME KIND, whether it even be Seventh-day Adventist or Catholic, & pay the fee & furnish the transportation if you have to. One good safe driver in the group could be appointed to bus service, if necessary, & you should have there some kind of passenger vehicle sufficient to take whatever number of children you have to the school.
117. WE FOUND THAT IN SOME CASES THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS WOULD EVEN SEND THEIR BUS OUR WAY to pick up our students because we had so many children. It was worth their while to send a bus out & pick'm up. And at TSC we had so many children there with a population of about 300, they had to send a special extra bus out to TSC in Texas just to pick up our kids alone from the Ranch to take them to the local public school 25 miles away! So in that case the State & the County had to foot the bill & furnish the transportation & the schooling too!
118. AND WE FOUND OUT THAT THOSE LOCAL RURAL SCHOOLS WERE NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL! They were still dominated by some pretty good country & small-town folks who were good church members & Christian & kept the school curriculum pretty sane & sensible. They even had prayer & Bible reading in the schools then in spite of the national laws & Supreme Court decisions, because there wasn't anybody out there to contend it or to object to it. They even still celebrated Christmas in the public school, as well as Easter vacation, etc.
119. SO YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THOSE LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE PRETTY GOOD IF THEY'RE IN RURAL OR SMALL TOWN AREAS with still good small town or country folks in control, & even some of them still pretty religious & with good curriculum & not too much anti-God, anti-Christ evolutionary propaganda, & not too much drugs & crime & disorderly conduct.
120. USUALLY YOUR COUNTRY & SMALL TOWN FOLKS ARE STILL STRONG CHURCH FOLKS & CHRISTIANS & strong on good tough discipline & morality, so you may find some of those local small country or small-town village schools, even though they be public state schools, are pretty good schools & not too bad for your kids.
121. WE SENT OUR KIDS TO MANY OF THEM IN-BETWEEN THEIR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, & it was good for them, gave them a taste of the World & what it's like & how bad it is, even in the best, so that they had a well-rounded education, both private & public, & could understand the World better & the mess it's in & its needs.
122. SO DON'T BE AFRAID, IF YOU HAVE TO, TO SEND THEM TO THE LOCAL PUBLIC SMALL TOWN OR RURAL SCHOOL. I presume even there in your field they won't be too bad, or we hope they won't be too bad, if you have to send them there. But I'm sure the Catholics in a strong Catholic area like Latin America will have plenty of Catholic schools to which you can send them, if you can.
123. WELL, THAT'S MY RECOMMENDATION FOR YOUR CHILDREN, & of course if you're going to get up early & have to get them off to school in the morning, get up early you will!--And this get up early hour will give you time to get them ready. Most school sessions don't begin before eight or nine o'clock, & that should give you time to get them ready for the school bus or walk to school, whatever.
124. IF YOU FIND OUT YOU HAVE TO GET UP AT SIX O'CLOCK TO GET YOUR KIDS OFF TO SCHOOLS, WELL OK, GBY! "Early to bed & early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy & wise!"--So said Benjamin Franklin, & he ought to know because he was all three of them--healthy, wealthy & wise--& a good Jew at that, one of the good ones, God bless him! You'll find a lot of his good advice in his famous Poor Richard's Notebook.
125. ANYHOW, YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT YOUR SCHEDULE TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR SCHOOL CHILDREN & THEIR PARENTS, which is many of you, & then make sure they get their breakfast before they go, & get off in plenty of time to get whatever transportation they have to have to school, leaving you free for Family devotions. They may not be able to stay long enough for your united devotions together, but at least you can have them in on your private devotions just before your personal family breakfast, & then shove'm off in time for school.
126. THIS COUNSEL & ADVICE I'M GIVING YOU & THESE SUGGESTIONS ARE FROM YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, & as I say, years of having a family of my own & colonies & schools of my own, blobs of my own, school teaching on my own, & participating in Christian schools etc., so that I think you'll find them worthwhile & helpful in your own case there to make a viable schedule for the whole big family of all of you together.
127. I UNDERSTAND YOU MAY BE LIVING ON TWO SEPARATE PROPERTIES so you've got to give time for one or the other family to get to your property. I suggest you make it so that they can get there in time that all MCV members, live-in members, staff & family members can have your united devotions all together--even though you may be living in two separate properties. Have it at such a time as convenient for all of you, including business staff, leadership, musicians, singers, parents, maintenance staff, technicians, everybody together for united devotions, if possible, every single morning.
128. NOW THIS MAY NOT BE ALWAYS POSSIBLE FOR BUSINESS STAFF TOO who may have to live in the city & be far away. So at least all of you connected with MCV & perhaps even the rest of the local Homes etc., not actual members of MCV, should all get together at least once a week for Sunday fellowship, whatever time seems most convenient for you all. And then as I've already recommended in "The Fellowship Revolution", at least once a month in a district or regional meeting, & once a quarter in perhaps an entire Island Fellowship Meeting all together from all parts of the Island, & maybe even nearby islands.
129. SO, PTL? THAT'S MY RECOMMENDATION & I HOPE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND SOMETHING SIMILAR THAT IS USEFUL TO YOU there & applicable to your situation & viable to your particular needs. PTL? Have you got that clear? I want you to have plenty of sleep & plenty of time for meals, plenty of time for devotions, both private & united devotions, & plenty of time for vigorous exercise, get-out time, plenty of work time, & plenty of playtime, recreation, entertainment, amusement time, inspiration time in the evening, a couple hours of video or TV or whatever.
130. I PRESUME YOU'LL PROBABLY BE USING THIS PARTICULAR TAPE FOR ONE OF THOSE TWO-HOUR SESSIONS IN THE EVENING, as obviously it's beginning to get on to be that long! I never dreamed I was going to talk to you this long, but it's sort of like I had to do with MWMI during its early days, we had to give them a lot of extra advice & counsel & warnings & guidance & leadings to get'm started.
131. SO THIS IS YOUR FIRST REAL BIG TAPE!--It's not so big, the one at least I'm recording on here is a very small one, a little micro mini, almost the smallest tapes made!--Almost the smallest at least that I know of, that are useful on the new SONYs, Sanyos, Olympus & a good many other makes.
132. NOT THE PHILLIPS, DON'T FORGET, THEY MAKE A SLIGHTLY LARGER SIZE THAT DOES NOT FIT, & their recorders are not as good by any means as the new micro minis. Theirs were the first so-called mini tapes, & they were pioneers of it, but they fell behind because they didn't make them standard micro minis, the new size, smallest style of all, & they're not fittable or usable on the standard size micro-mini tape recorders. (The latest are!)
133. ANYHOW, AS I SAY, I'M USING ONE OF THESE MICRO-MINI TAPES WITH AN HOUR ON EACH SIDE, so we're getting well over an hour-&-a-half already here on various advice & counsel to you, & I hope that you're not getting too tired. That's another thing I recommend, please don't play these tapes so late at night that everybody is totally exhausted & can't even stay awake!
134. IF YOU'RE TOO TIRED BY YOUR EIGHT O'CLOCK ENTERTAINMENT TIME, recreational TVing or videoing time or listening time, even so you can't stay awake, then please play mine in the morning for your morning devotions! You could at least play it an hour at a time for your nine o'clock devotions from nine to ten, one half each time. These are just a few suggestions & I hope that you'll figure out some way to carry them out to your best benefit & satisfaction.
135. WELL, PTL! WHAT MORE CAN I SAY? Have I said enough about your schedule & work time & play time & rest time & sleep time, recording! We finally had to crack down on MWMI to forget this take & re-take & re-record & going over & over & over the same thing over & over again until they got it so perfectionist meticulously mathematically perfectly correct that they completely killed the spirit & spontaneity & the inspiration of the music!
136. THEY WERE TRYING TO USE THE SYSTEM'S METHOD OF MAKING OUR INSPIRATIONAL TAPES, & IT JUST DIDN'T WORK! So I finally killed the whole thing & said, now listen, from now on no more of this taping & re-taping & dubbing & re-dubbing & then synchronising & syncing & all the rest of that stuff--you're sinking us!
137. FROM NOW ON YOU JUST GET ALL YOUR SINGERS & MUNITIONS THERE--munitions all right, that's for sure--musicians together & pray & ask God to help you & give you the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, & then push the button & hit it all together & sing it & play it for all you're worth!
138. AND WHEN YOU'RE DONE, PUSH THE STOP BUTTON AGAIN & HOPE YOU'VE GOT A GOOD QUARTER-HOUR OR HALF-HOUR RECORDING without having all these takes & re-takes & dubbing & lip-syncing & all that rot! We just don't have time for it, we haven't got the strength for it, we haven't got the strength for it, we haven't got the expense for it, & it just about kills your spirit, your inspiration & your umph, & you just can't do it that way & do it our way!
139. LET THE SYSTEM DO THEIR STUPID IDIOTIC LIP-SYNCING & DUBBING & re-dubbing & synchronising & ridiculous mathematical measurements--let us do ours together in united effort, in united spirit, & all together at one time if possible. Let's try to at least do your numbers that way. You may have to fit the numbers in together some other way & sync in the DJ comments & introductions & jingles etc. & put them together mathematically in timing etc., but for God's sake on your songs & musical numbers, try to do the whole thing together without doing & re-doing & doing again!
140. I DON'T MIND IF YOU DO IT OVER & OVER AGAIN FOR PRACTICE, UNTIL YOU REALLY GET IT DOWN PAT, practise makes perfect! But when you've finally got it, for God's sake, try to do it all together, instrumental music & vocals all together all at once under a common inspiration & at one time & with the help of the Holy Spirit. Record the whole thing unanimously & unitedly together, both the music & vocals & everything so that you don't have to go back over & over & re-take & re-dub & re-sync & re-time & all that stuff! It is such a waste of time & strength & energy & spirit!
141. I SANG FOR YEARS ON RADIO BEFORE WE HAD RECORDINGS, & let me tell you, when that announcer gave the signal & the red light went on, you hit it & you carried on, sink or swim, do or die, & when your half-hour was over, that was it! You had been broadcasting live on radio throughout the country & there was no retakes, no re-do, no re--sync, no dubbing, no re-recording, no nothing! When he pushed that button & the red studio light went on, you just began & you hit it & it had to be, good or bad!
142. SO I SUGGEST YOU TRY IT THAT WAY, WILL YOU PLEASE, & SEE WHAT THE LORD CAN DO FOR YOU! Of course, you've got to do a lot of practising to get those vocals really organised & the instrumental accompaniment & all, to really get the number all together & really in shape to make sure everybody's hitting it right at the right time etc.
143. I USED TO DO A LOT OF PRACTISING BEFORE I SANG PUBLICLY, & a lot of vocalising, & memorised my songs & I sang them over & over & over again so I couldn't possibly forget'm or stumble like I did on some of these recent videos after not having sung them for many years!--I did forget a few & forgot even some of the words & tunes. But at least I stumbled on through & the show must go on! And since we didn't have time for any re-takes or re-recording, we just muddled through like the British!--They're one hell of a muddle & it looks like it's going to be their last one this time!
144. BUT JUST GO ON & MUDDLE THROUGH THE BEST YOU CAN & HOPE IT COMES OUT GOOD IN RECORDING THESE NUMBERS. Now of course in putting them together with the DJ comments, running comments, introductions & comments & interviews & jingles & musical numbers etc., that will take quite a bit of figuring & timing & combining & recording etc. to make it all fit, I confess.
145. BUT ON THE ACTUAL SINGING & PLAYING, especially the singing with musical accompaniment of individual numbers, please try to do it together. Try to unite together in prayer before you do, get plenty of practice ahead of time, make sure you've got it down pat, the songs & lyrics & musical accompaniment, timing etc., & then when you think you're really ready, then pray like everything depended on prayer & then sing & play like everything depended on work, & I'm sure the Lord will help you make some really good numbers, good shows! GBY!
146. AND PLEASE TRY TO FOLLOW & OBEY YOUR LEADERSHIP & remember that Faith & Juan are at the top, they're your chief supervisors, chief shepherds of the flocks there, with Watchman & Katrina & the business leaders working under them.
147. THANK GOD, RAIN & REJOICE, YOU DON'T HAVE THE MCV RESPONSIBILITY ANYMORE! You ought to be thankful that Faith & Juan & our businessmen & singers, musicians, artists, DJ's, technicians, maintenance men & all the rest are there now to help do a tremendous big job that's bigger than any of us, or any one of us. I could never have done it without you, but I don't think you could have done it without me.
148. SO LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER IN FULL COOPERATION & LOVE & kindness & patience & faith & wisdom & all that you're going to need for a tremendous, monumental, stupendous, gigantic job that God has cut out for you to do, to reach the entire Spanish-speaking, as well as Portuguese & Brasilian-speaking World with MCV!
149. SO PTL! PLEASE TRY TO FOLLOW THEIR COUNSEL, please your leaders, particularly I would say that your Executive Council should definitely consist of first of all Faith & Juan, & then of course Watchman & Katrina, plus the businessmen, plus the chief musicians etc.
150. I WOULD SAY THAT YOUR COUNCIL SHOULD INCLUDE THE CHIEF MUSICIANS & director of music since he has had the greatest experience professionally & otherwise, whoever is qualified for the Director of Music over-all. Sounds to me like they should be your three chief musicians, or whoever you feel led to add to the Executive Committee.
151. I'M NOT GOING TO CALL'M EXECUTIVE BOARD--because I hope you never get bored, like some church boards!--But whoever you pray together & decide on making leadership there. I think it's only natural that the MCV Council should consist of Faith & Juan & the business managers, whoever they may be, & others who will be in charge of business along with the Chief Musicians, whoever should be the best ones for the job, an Executive Committee.
152. YOU NEED AN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL WHO DISCUSSES IN CAMERA, SO TO SPEAK, IN PRIVATE COMMITTEE MEETING, discuss your plans & organisation & schedule & problems & work & all the rest, finances as well, perhaps. Get it all together & as well organised as you can in Executive Committee Meeting with your Executive Committee, & then propose your plans which need the approval of the whole Family, the whole Colony, publicly before all & get them to approve of your plans if possible with discussion & suggestions & comments & changes, whatever is necessary.
153. PLEASE DO YOUR BEST ON THIS TO AGREE TO GET IT TOGETHER & DO A TREMENDOUS JOB. And remember that "except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. And except the Lord keep the city, the watchman watcheth but in vain." (Ps.127:1.) So you're going to have to make sure that you're following God--for God's sake, follow God--& do as the Lord leads you & as He shows you & what to do & how to do it & when, including your watchman security regarding your very close security.
155. I KNOW THEN THE LORD WILL BE WITH YOU & HELP YOU & if you really depend on the Lord He'll provide every need, protect you & keep you & use you & bless you & make you a tremendous blessing around the World to millions for His glory & for the help & blessing of many souls reached with the Gospel & saved for eternity! Hallelujah! TYJ! PYL!
156. BLESS THEM NOW, LORD, IN JESUS, NAME WE ASK! We ask Thee to help them with all the very complicated procedures that need to be put into effect, everything from the smallest things to the biggest things, Lord. From the tiniest parts of their schedules & meals & organisation, to the most important actual recording & final combined shows.
157. WE ASK YOU, LORD, IN JESUS' NAME TO GIVE THEM TREMENDOUS POWER & SPIRIT & wisdom & cleverness, skill with their music & vocals & recordings, & DJ commentaries etc., jingles, promotions, the addresses, everything. Give them tremendous skill & as near perfection as possible with Thy power of Thy Holy Spirit in & through & behind it & over it all.
158. GIVE THE PROTECTION OF THY PRECIOUS POWER OF THY SPIRIT, LORD, THROUGHOUT IT ALL, & the marvellous wonderful help of Thy Holy Spirit so that these will have done their very best for Jesus when all is said & done. They'll know they have done their best & that there they stand, they can do no other, they have done their very best for Jesus.
159. SO HELP THEM, LORD, TO DO THEIR BEST & WORK THEIR HARDEST & TRUST YOU COMPLETELY TO LEAD & GUIDE THEM. Give them the strength & the spirit & the protection, the inspiration, the provision & everything they need for this tremendous colossal job that they're undertaking to reach the whole World with this terrific music for Thy glory & salvation of millions, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory.
160. BLESS & STRENGTHEN EVERY ONE & keep each one safely. Give each one the inspiration they need & the faith & hope & strength to stand, Lord, against all the fiery darts of the Enemy. Help them to put on all the whole armour of God so they will be able to stand against any onslaughts of Satan.
161. IN THE NAME OF JESUS WE REBUKE SATAN IN JESUS' NAME & we ask Thee, Lord, to do a tremendous job in putting across this terrific program to reach the World with Thy love & Thy compassion & Thy salvation around the World with this beautiful message of love & meaning & inspiration & salvation for millions throughout the World. In Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory. Have Thy way, Thy will be done, Lord.
162. JESUS, BLESS & HELP & SYNCHRONISE & ORGANISE & INSPIRATIONALISE EVERYTHING THAT'S DONE, Lord, so it will be all according to Thy will & according to Thy plans & in line with Thy perfect will & the power & inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name, Lord.
163. WE ASK THEE TO BIND THE FORCES OF THE ENEMY & SET THY FORCES FREE, Lord, & give them liberty & set the captives free, Lord, so that they can minister to the World & give them Thy love & Music with Life, & Music with Eternal Life, & Music Forever with You, Lord, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory. Amen. God bless you all & keep you & make you a blessing! We love you & we're going to be praying for you & we know that the Lord's going to be with you.--In Jesus' name, amen.--Amen? GBY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family