1998 Midyear News and Progress! CM 3198 7/98
By Peter
Dear Family,
1. We love you! Since we've just passed the midpoint of 1998, Mama and I thought it would be a good time to give you a report on the progress the Family has made during the first six months of this year. Besides sharing the many victories won, we'd like to tell you of the many exciting projects in the works. When you hear all that the Lord has done through the Family and what He has in store, it will surely cause you to praise our precious Husband, giving thanks for His wonderful miracles! Praise the Lord! He's using you mightily--each of you! God bless you for a job well done!
Stats for the First Five Months of 1998
2. It's nice to start with the stats, since they are a gauge of how we're doing on our primary job of preaching the Gospel. After all, that's what we're here for, and what the Lord has commissioned us to do. If we're doing that, we can expect His blessings. And as you'll see from the following stats, you are doing the job and are receiving His blessings!
Lit Distribution:
3. From January through May '98, we have distributed 7.1 million pieces of lit, which add up to 64.3 million pages. This includes 2.2 million posters, 140,000 tapes and CDs, 47,000 videos, and 78,000 DFs/Living Waters. That averages out to 47,000 pieces a day!--Meaning that every day of the year you are distributing about 15,000 posters, 930 tapes and CDs, 315 videos, 518 DFs/Living Waters, and 30,000 tracts and other pieces of lit! Praise the Lord!
4. Our poster distribution is down by 31% over this period last year, which may partially be a reflection of the tightening up of religious freedom in Russia, which has previously been one of our top postering countries, and the government restrictions on lit distribution there. Video distribution is down 10% when compared with the same period last year, while audio tapes and CDs are up by 17%. Other literature distributed, such as tracts, etc., is up by 20%. So overall, despite having a cutback on lit distribution in Russia, our pieces distributed is down just 3% and pages distributed by 1%.
Witnessing and Outreach:
5. We've personally witnessed over three million times, or 605,000 a month, so far in '98, which is 21% higher than the 500,000 a month we had previously considered high.
6. We're closing in on half a million souls won so far in '98, with 458,000 during the first part of the year. That's 91,600 a month, or about one out of every seven people witnessed to! That's a lot of souls! This averages out to 20,000 people personally witnessed to and 3,056 souls won every day so far this year!--Over two souls a minute! Praise the Lord! During the same period last year we had won 374,000 souls. So we're winning 22% more than last year. Although in comparison to the first five months of last year our personal witness is down 4%, the 22% increase in souls won and the 31% increase in Holy Ghost baptisms shows we're being much more effective in our personal witnessing. Since our beginning, the Family has won 21.7 million souls and has had 10.2 million Holy Spirit baptisms!
7. Though it's been some months since Christmas, our faithful stats man wants us to mention the incredibly fruitful outreach that was done during the last Christmas season. A phenomenal 350,563 souls were won this last Christmas, which is the highest number of souls ever won in a single month during the entire history of the Family!--Four times our normal monthly average!
8. During December of '97 we distributed 2,628,987 pieces of literature or 29,851,985 pages. That is the second highest amount of lit we've ever distributed in one month, only surpassed by December 1991's 32 million pages! We distributed 762,249 posters, 97,374 tapes and CDs, and 15,171 videos! This is the most tapes and CDs distributed since the Christmas of 1989! In December '97 we personally witnessed 1,207,044 times! And since we won 350,563 souls, that means we won 29% of all those we personally witnessed to--one soul for every three to four times we personally witnessed to someone! Isn't that wonderful? We're praying that our witnessing this coming Christmas will even surpass last Christmas. To help with this, there are some new tools being produced, which we'll be telling you about later on in this Letter.
Population:
9. As of May 1998, the Family had 791 CM Homes and 570 FM Homes, or a total of 1,361 Family Homes. The 791 CM Homes represents a threefold increase since just before the Charter began, and is 106 more CM Homes than last year at this time, a 15% increase in just one year. The number of Homes has continued to increase every month in 1998 and nearly every month since the Charter was implemented.
10. We now have 10,037 Charter Members and 3,166 Fellow Members, for a total live-in Family membership of 13,203. This is the highest Family membership in the history of the Family, and doesn't include live-outs and catacombers, who number 4,421! We also have over 33,000 other outside members such as Active Supporters, Mail Ministry members, etc.! Charter membership has increased by 287 since last year at this time, while Fellow membership has decreased by 107, most of the decrease being from Fellow Members changing to Charter Members. CM Home size at 12.7 is the lowest it's been since 1985. FM Home size is currently 5.6.
11. We now have Family Homes in 86 countries around the world--in 48% of the nations of the world! There are 321 Homes in North America (USA and Canada), 343 Homes in Latin America, 380 Homes in Europe (265 in Western Europe and 115 in Eastern Europe), 36 Homes in the Mideast and Africa, 41 in the India Area, 51 in Southeast Asia, and 189 in the Pacific. In the last 12 months we've opened or reopened nine countries: Botswana, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Panama, Reunion Island, Latvia, Uzbekistan and Bosnia/Herzegovina.
12. We've had 133 babies born so far in '98, averaging out to 27 a month! We've had 20 betrothals this year--four a month, or about one a week. Mama and I would like to congratulate all of you newlyweds and you moms and dads who have had children this year. We're blooming and booming! Praise the Lord!
The Lord Is Blessing Financially
13. We're doing the job! We're going into all the world to preach the Gospel as Jesus commanded us to do, and God is blessing us all for a job well done! One way the Lord is blessing is financially. Based on monthly averages of the Family's overall income, finances are up 4% over last year. This, coupled with other increases since the Charter's implementation, means that the average monthly income for the Family overall has increased by 48% in just over three years! (It's because of this increase in our income that we've been able to provide you with more pubs and tools than ever before. Printing and postage has always been one of WS' main expenses, and it's only because of your faithful giving that we can afford to send you so many books and publications and supply other useful tools and services.)
WS and FAF expenditure:
14. For the first six months of the year, 47% of WS' expenditures have been for worldwide publications, 45% for missions, and 8% for administration.
15. So far this year the FAF has given out:
70 HERs to new Homes
79 Pioneer gifts
117 Home loans
32 HER reimbursements
263 Tool Fund gifts
5 Gifts to needy situations
119 Baby bonuses and Passed-on (graduation) gifts
That's a total of 685 gifts so far this year, or an average of 114 a month.
16. Just as a note, the FAF is not only donated to by the CM Homes' 1%, and WS' 10% tithe, but also from various windfalls, as well as Home loan repayments and HERs returned from closing Homes. Literally hundreds of Home loans that have been given out have in due time been repaid, thus replenishing the FAF Home loan fund and making it possible to continue making needed Home loans. HERs are also being recycled from closing Homes to new Homes opening. So the FAF is working very well, thank the Lord! And thank you for faithfully giving.
The Heavenly Vats Are Overflowing!
17. So as you can see, because we're doing the job, the Lord has been blessing financially. Of course, finances are only one of His avenues of blessings. Another one has been the abundant Word that He has poured forth. Already at the six-month mark you've received 33 GNs, a 32% increase over the first six months of last year. Some of these GNs have been hot and heavy, addressing very important issues and problems within the Family; others have addressed some of the goals for 1998.
Review of Goals for 1998--And New GNs!
18. Speaking of the goals the Lord gave us at the Feast in February, how are you and your Home doing on achieving them? Having had them for five months, now would be a good time to take stock and determine what progress you and your Home have made. If you've been reading the recent GNs and trying to apply them in your life, then you should be making some progress on at least some of these goals. There are also a number of GNs in the works, which will be coming to you soon, that should help us all in taking further steps towards reaching our goals.
19. Let's review the goals for 1998 and the GNs that have come out. I'll also include a preview of some of the GNs that are in the works, which should be coming out in the next 6 to 8 months, so you'll know what's coming on these topics.
Goal #1: Hear more from the Lord in prophecy.
Already published:
* "Tapping in Together!" (GN 795)
* "Shepherding Our Children and Young People!--New Weapons for a New Day!" (GN 796)
Yet to be published:
* Prophecy Questions and Answers series
Goal #2: Feed more deeply of the Word; take more time to read, understand and absorb the New Wine.
Already published:
* "Quiet Time--Your Lifesaver!" (GN 788)
* "The Spiritual Health Revolution!" (GN 789)
* "How to Have a Meaningful Quiet Time" (GN 789)
Goal #3: Have more of an attitude of prayer; turn every thought into a prayer.
Already published:
* "When You Pray, Things Happen!" (GN 778)
Goal #4: Be more praiseful, especially when we don't feel like praising. Praise without ceasing.
Already published:
* To Jesus--With Love!--No.2
Goal #5: Love the Lord more intimately as His Bride; practice the "Loving Jesus" revelation more.
Yet to be published:
* "Intimate Treasures from Our Lover"
Goal #6: Love one another more.
Yet to be published:
* "Living the Lord's Law of Love" series
* "Practical Ways to Love One Another" series
Goal #7: Be constant witnesses.
Already published:
* "The Lord's Plea: 'Be a Missionary for Me!'" (GN 783)
* "Trash Your Trinkets and Head for the Hills!" (GN 791)
Goal #8: Fight for our young people. (And for you young people: Make the decision to stay in the Family and be a sold-out disciple for Jesus.)
Already published:
* "Hold on to Your Crown!--Parts 1 and 2" (GN 773, 774)
* "The Benefits of the Family!" (GN 777)
* "Wham, Bam! Junk the Punk!" (GN 785)
* "How-to's of Home Education!" (GN 794)
Goal #9: Gain greater unity; get rid of the roadblocks to unity.
Already published:
* "Keynote to the 1998 Birthday Feast!" (GN 766)
* "The Day of Renewal!" (GN 770)
* "Stop the Gossip Now!" (GN 792)
* "Killer?--Or Healer?--What Is Your Tongue?" (GN 793)
Yet to be published:
* "Living the Lord's Law of Love" series.
* "Citizens of the Kingdom" (about nationals and American attitudes)
Goal #10: Live the "One Wife" vision and Acts 2:44 and 45 more.
Yet to be published:
* Single Moms GNs
Goal #11: Overcome jealousy in all forms, including comparing negatively.
Already published:
* "Golden Victories!" (GN 768)
* "Your Open Heart Prayer to the Lord!" (GN 769)
* "Going for the 'Golden Victories'--Together!" (GN 772)
* Yvonna's testimony in "Freedom Through United Prayer!" (GN 776)
Yet to be published:
* Jealousy series
* Jealousy Questions and Answers
Goal #12: Live the Law of Love more fully.
Yet to be published:
* "Living the Lord's Law of Love" series
Goal #13: Stay dropped out! (Forsake worldliness and negative System influences and attitudes; get back to our First Love.)
Already published:
* "Hold On to Your Crown--Parts 1 and 2" (GN 773, 774)
* "The Benefits of the Family" (GN 777)
* "Don't Get Caught in the Web!" (GN 779)
* "The Year of the Bottom Line!" (GN 781)
* "The Lord's Plea: 'Be a Missionary for Me!'" (GN 783)
* "Eat Right!" (GN 784)
* "You Are What You Watch!" (GN 787)
* "Dump the Dirty Language!" (GN 790)
* "Trash Your Trinkets and Head for the Hills!" (GN 791)
Yet to be published:
* "Charter Responsibilities"
* "Worldly?--Or Free?"
* GN on resisting the pull of the System
Goal #14: Get rid of bitterness.
Already published:
* "How to Recognize and Get Rid of Bitterness!" (GN 775)
* "Freedom Through United Prayer!" (GN 776)
Goal #15: Be more unselfish.
Yet to be published:
* "Living the Lord's Law of Love" series, and GNs on One Wife and Single Moms
Goal #16: Overcome the generation gap.
Already published:
* "Overcoming the Generation Gap!" (GN 767)
* "The Day of Renewal!" (GN 770)
Goal #17: Have fewer lonely people in the Family.
Yet to be published:
* "The Blessings of Loneliness"
* "Living the Lord's Law of Love" series and Single Moms GNs
Goal #18: Be open to shepherding.
Already published:
* "New Year's Prayers and Goals--From Mama's Staff" (GN 782)
* "Communication in Marriage and Other Relationships" (GN 800)
Yet to be published:
* "Living the Lord's Law of Love" series
20. As you can see by the massive amount of Word the Lord is pouring out, He's serious about our making progress in reaching the goals that He's set for us. Please keep these goals in mind and make an effort to grow in these areas. Talk about them in your Home, pray about them personally, apply what the Lord has been saying in the GNs, do what you can toward achieving these goals so you can benefit from the spiritual growth and the Lord's blessings. He's promised to bless if we obey, so let's do our best. Amen?
21. As seen by the list of unpublished GNs, there's plenty of New Wine flowing forth from the Vat of God--New Wine that will intoxicate you and give you highs that you've never experienced before! Praise the Lord!
New Pubs and Books!
22. Another Word blessing the Lord has poured out to us in the first part of this year has been the publishing of the monthly {\b \i END} magazine. While I was preparing this GN, Mama said, "Please be sure to put a plug for the END in the midyear GN, because it's so important. I really love to hear it as it's so informative and continually renews in me the conviction that we're entering the Endtime. It is so inspiring and faith-building to see the Endtime events that the Lord and Dad have predicted coming to pass every day." So there you have it!--Mama's recommendation for the END! We do hope that you're reading it, as it has valuable information and wonderful comments, prophecies and confirmations from the Lord and Dad that make it all the more powerful. Don't miss out on the important news and Heavenly commentary on the latest Endtime events!
23. By now some of you should have received the latest book shipment of twenty books. If you have not received them yet, you should very soon. Because they are printed in Thailand and must be shipped by boat to each of the CRO areas, those in the East receive them quicker than those in the West. But they're on their way. We know they'll be a great blessing to everyone, both young and old, as they are a Word treasure for all.
24. Speaking of books, there are more new books in the works that, God willing, will get to you towards the latter part of the year, or early next year. These include two new Lifelines, Daily Bread 12, a poetry book with about 300 pages of new poetry written and sent in by you, Word Topics (a compilation of Bible verses on 120 different topics like the Word Basics), and an updated GN-size Charter Book that will include all amendments made since the first edition.
25. Another wonderful Word blessing the Lord has poured out has been an abundance of spirit stories that have been coming to you regularly in the {\b \i Heaven's Library} mags. Haven't they been a blessing for young and old alike? When the Lord said to start the spirit story project, He said He was going to shower down mountains of spirit story jewels from Heaven, so much so that we would have to bulldoze them out, and He wasn't kidding! We've continued to receive numerous stories from many of you, as well as from those in our WS units. God bless you for your faith. If you haven't yet tried to get a story, perhaps you should, as you'll be helping to feed our young people.
26. Not only have we received an abundance of stories, but a number of them have been book-length. Imagine getting stories this long in prophecy! It's just wonderful--such a fulfillment of the Lord's promises! Praise the Lord! In praying about how to get these longer stories to you, the Lord showed us that the answer was to print them in paperback books. So in obedience to the Lord's instructions, the Heaven's Library team has been working very hard to prepare these longer stories for printing in books. The first five books are already completed, and number six is in the works. Our goal is to send one paperback book to you every four to six weeks for as long as we can both afford it and as long as you prophets and prophetesses out there continue to receive these tremendous stories from Heaven and send them to us.
27. The first book coming your way will be a reprint of {\b \i The Perfect Ones}, followed by {\b \i Amaris}, which will be a reprint of the first "Amaris" story and will also include "The Scimitar and The Rose," an exciting sequel. Have you wondered what happened to Amaris and Jordan? Now you'll know--it's exciting!
28. Here's a sneak preview of what's ahead:
#1: The Perfect Ones (reprint)
#2: Amaris
-- "Amaris" (reprint).
-- "The Scimitar and the Rose" (sequel). Amaris, Jordan and Pamela, now settled comfortably back into palace life, are unexpectedly thrown into the midst of a bitter conflict--and are confronted by a mysterious sorcerer who threatens to overthrow their kingdom.
# 3: Return of the Seven Keys
-- A young man, Gabe, is searching for something more than his seemingly empty existence in a drab world where the perception of color does not exist. His world is suddenly changed upon discovering a set of golden keys--but keys to what? That he must discover for himself, as his journey begins.
# 4: Journey to Tricon
-- Let Jamal guide you through the land of Tricon, as you experience a mind-expanding look into the operations and lifestyle of the world beyond. "A fantastic spiritual experience!" says Jesus.
# 5: Called to Love
A variety book, consisting of four stories:
-- "Called to Love." A crippled girl searches for her calling. A rich girl searches for her past. They find each other, and their adventures begin.
-- "Kirsty's Glen." Set in the Highlands of Scotland at the time of the English Civil War. A young girl attempts to learn the secret of a mysterious stranger who enters their home and brings trouble to their region.
-- "The Stranger from Beyond." A gallant stranger interferes in the affairs of a cruel and hateful landowner, winning the heart of a certain young maiden.
-- "The Life and Times of Mr. Stoneheart." A satirical story of a man who lives in a glass house.
#6: Overcomers
-- Three stories of conversion, betrayal, faith, hate, love and escape, set in the days when the powerful Roman Empire ruled the known world. Stories include "The Eagle and the Phoenix," "Jerome," and "The Tribune's Assignment."
(We've posted the covers to these first six Heaven's Library books on the Members Only Web site, so just log on if you want to take a look.)
29. Doesn't this all sound exciting? Please continue to pray for the Heaven's Library team and for all those who are receiving the stories. It takes a lot of time, faith, patience and perseverance to receive these stories for you, so please keep our channels in your prayers!
30. Another exciting new pub that we're all thrilled about is a new mag which will include testimonies from those who have passed on from this life to the next. How would you like to hear the true story of the Titanic as told by a young person who went down with it when it sank? Or about the Crusades as seen through the eyes of a young soldier from the 11th century? Or how about fashions, sex and sports in Heaven? These and many other exciting revelations will be included in this mag, the first issue of which should be coming out within the next few months. We believe you'll find them very feeding, enjoyable and educational.
31. Family Care has been pumping out the Word for our younger folks like never before, as we're sure you're well aware. So far this year they've produced 12 Hope TKs, 10 MLKs, 9 Kidz Biz mags, the first edition of Endtime Power--an Endtime mag for kids--as well as various posters, coloring pages, and more. They're doing a great job on our children's pubs, aren't they? God bless them! Please keep them in your prayers as they work to help feed our children.
Free Book Giveaway!
32. As you know, in the second half of 1997 we held a large book giveaway in order to get the books sitting in WS storage facilities to the Homes, where they were most needed! Most of you received your book orders this year, thanks to the hard work of the NPCs and SCs, God bless them! Altogether, approximately 160,000 books were sent out to the Homes as a result of this book giveaway! Wow! It cost a lot to get the books to you for free, but as a result we were able to shut down nearly all of our book storage facilities worldwide, and consolidate our remaining stocks (for new Homes, etc.). We pray that the books were a blessing to you!
New Audio Tapes!
33. So far this year our music studios have produced five new tapes for the Family: Embrace, In the House, Dancing with Jesus, March on Strong and Country to Country. Country to Country is the first in the New Feature Series, which will be a series of tapes that cater to those who enjoy generally more mellow type music than some of the music on the FTTs. Here's the line-up for Family tapes during the rest of this year:
1) Two tapes of MO Letter and Bible songs for children from the RAD.
2) Eagle Bleeds, old and new witnessing songs from the DC studio--good for both GP and Family.
3) A dance tape with some hot hits recorded in a variety of studios.
4) A second tape in the New Feature Series.
5) A beautiful devotional tape of Scripture prayer songs.
6) Simon Black singing his songs, recorded at the DC studio (could also be a GP tool).
7) And possibly another FTT or two!
34. Besides these tapes, the studios have been focusing on producing other GP audio tools. For the last few months the JAS, with some contributions from the DCS, has been working fast and furiously to produce a new children's Christmas outreach tape. God bless all those who have worked on it, as they had to put in long hours in order to get the tape done in time to be duped and made available in English and possibly some other languages for use this Christmas.
35. Another exciting project in the works is the production of a number of other children's outreach tapes. The studios are consolidating the present four children's DTD tapes down to two tapes of the best hits and those songs that we hold secure copyrights to, so that they can be made available for commercial mass marketing (which we cannot do with our present children's DTD tapes). These tapes will be re-mastered and thus will be of sufficient quality for the SCs to produce them as CDs! New covers are also being drawn for them. Another distribution tape of children's songs from Treasure Attic is in the works as well.
36. The studios are also planning on producing a GP tape of love songs taken from the best of the {\b \i Heaven's Magic }series. These songs have been very popular and contain beautiful messages, and when re-recorded with a more up-to-date style and made available on CD, should be a tremendous blessing to your outreach. Another adult-style GP tape in the works is Famine for Love, consisting of new songs plus some favorites from the FTTs.
37. If our hard-working musicians can accomplish all this, it would mean 12 new Family tapes and six new GP tapes produced by our studios this year! What a monumental job! Please pray for our musicians, as all this takes a tremendous amount of work.
Reaching the World Through Video!
38. Five new {\b \i Treasure Attic} programs, numbers 9 through 13, were completed this year, along with the {\b \i Endtime Music Video}, now titled {\b \i The Final Stand}. The IVM has been working at top capacity on 13 more Treasure Attic programs to make them available for TV broadcasting. They've now finished filming all of the songs for this second series of 13 and have final edited 14 songs so far, making the production time from scripting to filming of these shows just one year! They are now concentrating on editing the remaining songs so they can begin assembling the shows.
39. A large part of the first half of this year was also dedicated to preparing the {\b \i Treasure Attic} and {\b \i Kiddie Viddie} shows for mass marketing and broadcasting. This has included re-mastering all the old Treasure Attics and Kiddie Viddies on to digital format, as well as working on securing all necessary documentation to make these tools broadcast-ready and marketable.
40. After a lot of prayer and counsel, the Lord indicated that the IVM should continue producing shows targeting television. This has resulted in many hours of prayer and counsel to determine the format and content. They are presently in the stage of developing conceptual ideas and would greatly appreciate your prayers! Please pray that the Lord will open great doors for His message to get out via the airwaves.
41. One of the new projects involving the video ministry that the Lord has opened up is the production of an interactive CD of educational games and activities based on the {\b \i Treasure Attic }show! The IVM and BVM are working together on designing the concept and content of the CD, as well as putting together the visuals and audio. The actual programming will be done by a System company. Please keep this project in your prayers, that the end product will be what the Lord wants it to be. We hope that it will be a welcome addition to your Homes' tool arsenal, opening up new markets we haven't touched before.
42. The Lord has led the BVM, in partnership with some System producers, to explore the possibility of producing a video geared toward educating children in Godly and loving principles. The program is still in the planning stages, but they are presently negotiating funding for the project from some companies who would help with the marketing as well. The video will be geared specifically for Brazil, but if it's a hit, it could lead to greater things. This is a big project, so please keep the BVM in your prayers!
43. On the television broadcasting front, as you saw in the FCF article in the Grapevine, OK-TV, on the Primestar pay-per-view satellite network, is now airing three Treasure Attic and three Kiddie Viddie shows. These will initially air for three months, and if the response is positive, hopefully for longer. Also, Whamo, a video distribution company, has started marketing Countdown to Armageddon in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, and they are also very interested in doing the same with The Final Stand.
44. FCF is working hard on several other potentially important TV and marketing contracts, so please keep them in your prayers. They've also been attending a number of international broadcasting and home video fairs, along with Solomon from the IVM, in order to make contacts and to push Treasure Attic for broadcasting and in the home video market.
45. Also, we've heard that the umbrella program which FCF has initiated, as they recently announced via an article printed in Grapevine 46, is going very well and is being a great blessing and help to many Family missionaries who have been able to bolster their support through that program. Praise the Lord!
New Tools for Africa!
46. The GPU has been working to produce new "regionalized" posters--that is, posters that cater specifically to a certain area or culture, as opposed to the "one-size-fits-all" international approach. As a result, they have re-edited and re-illustrated the following five posters this year:
"Peace in the Midst of Storm"
"The Incredible Journey"
"Why Worry?"
"Signs of the Times"
"Color of Love" (a brand-new poster!)
47. Since these new posters have been tailored for Africa, the pictures have been changed to make them more relatable to Africans, as the Lord has revealed that there is a great harvest waiting there. But some of the posters produced for Africa, specifically "Signs of the Times" and "Peace in the Midst of Storm," are also suitable for distribution worldwide, and will hopefully be produced and made available by your local SC!
48. The GPU also produced a new book of {\b \i Mountain Streams} called {\b \i Dare to Be Different}. This book contains seven of Dad's Letters and again has been geared to better meet the needs of our outreach teams in Africa, although we believe it could be a hit in other fields as well. We'll be sending you a copy of it once it's printed. If you think this would make a good outreach or follow-up tool for your field, please contact your SC and let them know if you would be interested in ordering them. If there is sufficient demand in your area, your SC will produce them for your distribution, God willing.
Summit '98 and Structure Workshops
49. Another major event this year was the summit meeting, where we gathered together with your CROs for prayer and discussion about many important topics. It was a fruitful time, which not only served to strengthen the CROs spiritually, but also to deal with some of the most pressing problems and issues facing the Family.
50. After this three-week leadership summit, we conducted a further three weeks of workshop meetings dedicated to the infrastructure and ministries servicing the Family such as the NPCs, ABMs, FEDs, etc. For these meetings, representatives from the various ministries gathered together to pray and counsel about their work. It was a unique experience for many attending, who had never met with others in the same ministry. There was a lot of shoptalk, as well as much prayer and prophecy about matters pertaining to their ministries. These structure meetings went a long way towards streamlining and strengthening the Family structure, and hopefully will result in better service for you! Thank You Jesus!
New FED Production Center
51. One decision that came out of the FED meetings at these structure workshops was to set up a FED Production Center (FPC), which among other things would produce children's materials in color for you and your children. This is something that the FEDs have wanted to do, but which they are unable to since the cost of each FED printing their own color materials would make this unaffordable. The new FPC is hoping to also produce our Family flannelgraphs on felt, so you won't have to color, laminate, or put felt on them. They are also researching the possibility of producing some of the board games that FC has done as actual games with board, dice, etc., and other helpful tools.
52. The FPC's main objective will be to save you precious mothers, fathers and childcare workers a great deal of time by producing FED material in ready-to-use form. However, because color printing and this type of production is expensive, WS will not be able to supply this material to our many Family Homes for free. The FPC, however, is committed to finding the cheapest way to produce this material and will offer it to you as close to cost price as possible. This team hopes to have some material available in the latter part of this year, at which time ordering information and prices will be released. Please pray for them as they set up and pioneer in this new ministry.
The CVC Course on CD
53. The CVC team has been working at top speed to put the entire CVC course, updated with the pubs from the last two years, on CD. This means that all of the reading material for the course, as well as all the record keeping, would be easily accessible on CD, thus making the CVC program much easier to use for our teens and young people. This is a monumental job which they've been working on for the past year and which they hope to complete by the early part of next year.
From the Computer Department
54. The WS Web team has been quite busy this year as they continue to upgrade the GP Web site, and have added a great deal more to the Members Only site.
55. So far this year the GP Web site has chalked up 25,000 visitors from at least 76 countries who downloaded 5,590 megabytes of Family material. 1,041 visited the salvation page and 355 the salvation follow-up page.
56. The Members Only site had 8,000 visits by Family members who downloaded 1,753 megabytes of material. The Zines, ENDs, and Heaven's Library mags are the items most frequently pulled off the site. The FARs are now posted two weeks ahead of the month they are dated, in print-ready PDF format, so you can now download them and get them to your friends and contacts by the first of each month.
57. As mentioned in {\b \i Grapevine} {\b \i 45,} there were some problems with the discussion section of the site, which thankfully have now been worked out. So we hope that visits to this feature will be more edifying and helpful than previously.
58. The Web team is planning on adding a number of new items to both the GP and MO sites over the next months, so check them out when you can.
59. They've also been working hard on finalizing the complete Family songbook on CD, which we know will be a great benefit to all of you Family musicians and inspirationalists. While most of the songs have been put on computer and uploaded to the Members Only site where you can access them over the Net, having it on CD will make it even easier for you to use. The CD will also include a program that can transpose the chords automatically, and one to help you compile and print your own songbook with the songs of your choice from the CD!
60. The TeleTRF computer team has been assembling and working to put together a new comprehensive and user-friendly Windows-based TeleTRF. This is a monumental task, as they have to program all of the material from scratch, so this will still take some time to complete. But we want you to know that they are working on it and making headway. They're also working on new programs for the offices' use in processing the TRFs that will make their job easier as well. God bless them!
Heading for the Mission Field!
61. We recently heard from the North American CROs that in response to the new Letters, especially "Trash Your Trinkets," a large number of North American Family members are working towards going to the field. This is great news, as there are so many Gospel-starved people in other parts of the world who so desperately need the message. The mission fields need you, so we're very happy to hear that you're on the way!
62. As 24% of the Family is in North America, you might naturally expect that a large number going to poorer mission fields could easily result in a significant loss of income to WS, making it more difficult to produce and supply you with the Word, the tools, and other goods and services. But even if this were to be the case, we'd rather see more of you reaching the lost on the far-flung mission fields, preaching the Gospel to those who've never heard it before, and trust God for the rest.
63. As Dad said in "God's Guarantees" when many of you moved to the mission field in the early '80s:
64. If we did not have the Lord and His Word as our guide and guarantee, if we did business in the way of the modern world today, the modern selfish business world, we certainly would not recommend that all of our customers move to poor lands where their income is bound to be by all natural expectations much lower, and therefore our income also very much lower.
65. The modern business world would say, "I told you so: you're fools for having your customers, your clientele, move to the poorer countries where the people are poor and incomes are low and therefore it's unlikely that your people will be able to earn a decent living, and certainly not have enough left over to buy your products."
66. However, God's ways are not man's ways, and His ways are above our ways. As high as the Heavens are above the Earth, so high are His ways above our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts! (Isa.55:8,9). God is more interested in people than in money. He is more interested in souls than in income. He is more interested in your safety and usefulness than in mere prosperity of some kind of worldly business.
67. We were expecting that your income would probably be lower when you moved to those poorer lands of Latin America, the Caribbean, India, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, etc., even South Africa, and that therefore our WS income would very likely take a loss and drop below its previous higher levels which made possible so many new publications and beautiful musical tapes to be sent to you free of charge. However, that is not the way that God looks at things. He does not look at things as man looks at them, He does not see as man sees, particularly as worldly selfish businessmen would see.
68. God's Word and His guarantees have no restrictions, no limitations, no qualifications except your faith and our faith. He is not bound by time nor space nor land nor place! "Forever His Word is settled in Heaven" and His promises are forever! (Psa.119:89). Our future is as bright as the promises of God, regardless of where or when, as long as we obey and trust Him. In Jesus' name (ML #1027:1-5).
69. When we were praying about this matter, the Lord said:
70. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:)} You need not worry about the finances, for as My children go to the field in answer to My call, I will continue to supply. I will not fail those who obey, and you have obeyed and have put out the call--the call to the mission field. I will not let this hamper nor hinder you financially. Of this you can be guaranteed; for he that obeys the will of God finds that God will care for him and supply every need. That is My promise, for I do not wish to penalize My children for their obedience, but rather to bless them. I will do this; for it is My guarantee that he that obeys is blessed. (End of message from Jesus.)
71. {\b \i (Peter:)} Isn't that encouraging? That should help to bolster the faith of you who are heading out to the field. The Lord will supply, and He guarantees that He will bless those that obey.
Mama's and My Health
72. Another area of wonderful progress has been Mama's health. She personally wanted to share a word with you about it:
73. {\b \i (Mama:) }Dear Family, I love you so much and appreciate your continued prayers for my healing. I wanted to testify that our precious Husband has been answering your prayers. The faithful prayers of a righteous man avail much, and your prayers have availed much in my life and have helped, and continue to help strengthen my health. Praise the Lord! During the first half of the year, for five months, I had no bleeding at all--not even normal periods!--A direct answer to your prayers! Only the Lord can do that, and thanks to your prayers, He did it! It was a tremendous blessing and helped to renew my strength, for which I'm very thankful.
74. As you may have read in {\b \i Grapevine 46}, I've been very weak and tired and experiencing heavy bleeding for a little over two months now. I'm now pretty much confined to bed. The Lord did a wonderful miracle in giving me that time of rest from the bleeding for the first five months of this year, and used it to help my body restore its strength. Even though I'm now bleeding again, the Lord has promised that He's continuing the process of completely healing my cysts and will also stop the bleeding.
75. One other very encouraging promise He gave me was that He's not going to wait for my strength to be restored little by little after the bleeding stops, but that He will miraculously speed up the process and give me the strength that I need.
76. It certainly is a miracle that I'm able to continue working as much as I am, even though I'm so weak, and the Lord has said that it's part of His miracle that I'm not suffering so many of the very difficult side effects that I could be from such a prolonged period of heavy bleeding, such as headaches and other aches, dizziness, inability to concentrate, loss of appetite, nausea, insomnia, etc. It's truly a great miracle of the Lord that He has kept me from these things that I would normally be experiencing after such prolonged heavy bleeding.
77. I'd like to ask you, my dear Family, in obedience to the Lord's instruction to me, to continue to uphold me with your prayers. The Lord has promised to translate your prayers into exactly what is needed--into the strength and healing that is needed to rid me of the cysts, for a complete stop to my periods and all other bleeding, and for general strength.
78. Thank you so much for continuing to labor in prayer for my health, and for continuing to manifest faith and love in our wonderful Husband and His promises. He never fails, and is continuing to answer every prayer according to His perfect will. Besides the great benefit this will be to me, the Lord has promised that each of you who desperately pray will be personally blessed in your own lives as well.
79. Following is a short message from Jesus that He gave when our folks here had united prayer for my healing and anointed me with oil. As you'll see, He's promised to do the miracle, and He's doing it in answer to your prayers! Thanks so very much for taking the time and effort that I know it costs in order to pray desperately for the cessation of my bleeding and against headaches, colds, insomnia, dizziness, etc. Your prayers avail much, and I depend upon them! I love you and am so thankful for each of you, my precious loves, friends and co-workers!
80. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:) }Not one thing shall fail of all the promises which I have spoken concerning you, My love. Even now, as the prayers of your children around the world rise before Me as beautiful flowers, as they pour out their hearts before Me with tears, pleading for your strength and your recovery, I will honor and answer every request. No one should think that because there are so many others praying that their small prayer is unneeded or unheard. For I depend on these prayers to do the miracle, My queen, and great and faithful are the prayers of your precious children. Your precious loved ones, both here in your household and those in the fields of harvest, have heard and heeded the call to prayer, and I will answer!
81. Though you feel at this time you are getting weaker and weaker and the blood flow has not stopped, yet it does not mean that I am not healing you, My love. It does not mean that I am not fulfilling My promises, for I am. I'm going to fulfill them in the most beautiful way possible, beyond what you thought or could even expect! Your strength will be restored to you, as you wait in quietness and as your children continue in prayer before Me.
82. Thank you, My sweet one, for letting Me hold you so close in My arms during this time. For through My kisses I give you strength for each moment until My healing process is complete. (End of message from Jesus.)
83. {\b \i (Peter:) }So please do pray for our precious queen. She really needs the Lord's miraculous touch. I would also like to thank you for your prayers for my heart and overall health. I'm doing much better and my heart has not been giving me any trouble for quite some time now. In fact, my heart has been quite strong for many months, thanks to your prayers and the Lord's wonderful answers. Praise the Lord!
The Sacrificial Life of a VS
84. Although this next point isn't about progress, it is one we feel needs to be addressed. Many of you have written in, requesting that your VSs visit you more regularly. It's encouraging that you recognize the need for a good VS program and desire your VSs to come to your Home to counsel with you.
85. God bless our VSs, as their job is an extremely taxing and sacrificial one. Although they do receive some support from the Common Pot, it barely covers their travel expenses and is not nearly enough to support the Homes they base out of. This means that the VSs not only need to be concerned with doing their job of visiting and helping you Homes, but must also bear the burden of knowing that their mates and children and the rest of their Home is having to carry on without them. In many cases the VSs are parents who have to leave their children behind in the care of others in order for them to hit the road and visit you, or in some cases they take their children along with them, God bless them.
86. When your VSs visit, much of their effort goes into talking with members of the Home, which they are happy to do as they want to be a help to you in any way they can. But please keep in mind that during these talks they listen to your questions, heartbreaks, complaints, fears, doubts, Home problems, differences of opinion, etc. You are able to pour out your heart to your VS, and walk away feeling unburdened. But your burdens and problems, added to their own and the problems and burdens of others who have shared their battles and burdens with them, can become a very heavy weight.
87. Along with carrying the weight of others' problems, the VS must also evaluate whether your Home and its members are obeying the Charter, and if not, take disciplinary action. Often people complain that the VSs misjudged them or their situation, or were unfair in their judgment. Whatever judgment the VSs make, someone is displeased with the outcome, and thus the VSs may not always be well liked by everyone. This also is a burden they must bear.
88. Besides this, when VSs visit, those in the Homes look to them for their sample, and thus they must try to follow the Charter and the GNs precisely. Of course they are only human, like all of us, and therefore make mistakes and don't always measure up to the standard in every area. Because of this, they can be criticized by the very people they are trying to help.
89. VSing is an extremely demanding, difficult and often thankless job, and it's not one that many people want to undertake. It's been difficult for the CROs to find those who are willing to leave their families at home, travel great distances, be an inspiration, listen to your heart, pray with you to try to help you solve your problems, act as a "Charter policeman," be on their best behavior at all times, and sacrificially give of themselves a great deal at every turn. Often those who have the job, if it weren't for the Lord's calling them to assume this responsibility, would be happy to be relieved of their duties so that they could just be in a normal Home doing normal outreach activities, or maybe go pioneer some other far-flung field or ministry, without having to bear the burdens of so many other Homes.
90. So although we would very much like to have more VSs who could visit the Homes, there just aren't enough people who are qualified and willing to do the job.
91. Please pray for the VS program. Pray that the Lord will raise up qualified people to do the job and supply more funds so that they won't have to be so concerned about their own Home's financial needs while they are away for weeks or months at a time. Also, please do your part to help make the VSs' job easier by obeying the Charter and GNs and implementing them in your Home, so that when they do visit you their time won't be taken up trying to sort out your Home's problems or Charter infractions. Those are things that you should be taking care of yourselves as much as possible.
92. Please also try to show them love, respect and thankfulness for the job they do, realizing that they are giving up a lot to visit your Home to help you. You need the VSs, but they also need you--your help, your support, your encouragement, thankfulness and prayers. So please uphold them in prayer and do all you can to be a blessing to them when they visit your Home.
Family Becoming Stronger in the Spirit!
93. It would take volumes to list all the victories and progress made throughout the Family. You've made personal progress, your Homes have progressed, you've learned lessons, passed tests, and grown in spirit, resulting in tremendous progress in our Family. We're moving forward! We're gaining ground! We're accomplishing more overall than we ever have! It's wonderful! Mama and I are so proud of you, and we know the Lord is as well.
94. When asking the Lord what He wanted to tell Mama and me one morning, He touched on a very important addition to the Family's progress. As you read this message you'll see that continued progress in this particular area is the foundation for future growth.
95. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:)} The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. And so it is with My Spirit, as the wind blowing through your hearts and your lives, sometimes as a gentle breeze, sometimes as a strong wind, and sometimes in hurricane force. Yet the wind of My Spirit is always with you, guiding and directing, blowing you in the direction that I wish for you to go. I tell you that you are following the wind of My Spirit, you are following in the direction that I am blowing, that I'm leading and guiding you.
96. You've done what I've told you to do, and that is to teach My children to come to Me, to seek Me, to hear My voice and to follow it. Because you've taught them, I am now better able to use them, and so much more can be accomplished.
97. You have no idea of the tremendous change that this has made in the spirit, in My communications with My children, and in the communications of My children with their spirit helpers, angels, and other departed saints. You don't fully grasp or realize the importance of this and the great effect it has. For it is this one point, this one lesson, this one factor, applied in the lives of so many, that has strengthened the Kingdom more than almost anything else.
98. Oh, what joy it brings Me to know that My children seek Me and listen to Me. Through this it is now possible for Me to speak to them directly, to guide them intimately and individually. For those who have fully embraced the use of this gift, it has enhanced their spiritual abilities, their faith. It has made it possible for them to be even better shepherded by Me. Their decision-making is much more effective because they follow in accordance with My plan and My will.
99. Your pillars, the CROs and others who have learned to use this gift, have become much more effective and bear much more of the weight of the leadership of the Family, for they come to Me instead of coming to you, which also takes away much of your burden and allows you to do your job more--the job of feeding My sheep.
100. When you look at major complicated ministries like the video ministry, the audio ministry, marketing, financing and broadcasting, then know and realize how much of the weight I am able to bear, because these have learned to come to Me and to hear My voice rather than turning to you with every question.
101. I commend you, My shepherds, My queen and king, for your obedience in teaching My children the importance of hearing from Me, and for doing so in spite of the objections of those who lacked faith, even some of those who were your pillars. You have been faithful, and I am well pleased in this. Continue to teach them and keep it ever before them, reminding them, so that they can become even more effective. Encourage those who still waver and those who still do not use the gift as much as they should, so that they will use it more and learn and grow more in it, for it is vital for what is ahead. (End of message from Jesus.)
102. {\b \i (Peter:) }We trust you are realizing that you are becoming stronger in spirit because of obeying and following the Lord into the new day and employing the new tools. As you listen to His voice, as you obey and let Him lead you, He'll strengthen you in spirit and use you mightily. As you continue to love Him intimately, as you abide in and apply His Word to your life, as you praise Him and obey His call, doing your best to serve Him with all of your heart, He will pour out His abundant blessings on you.
103. We hope that hearing the Family's progress, seeing the Word and the many other blessings that He is pouring upon us, will inspire and help you realize that the Lord is pleased with our willingness to follow where He leads, no matter where that may be. Some of the revelations and the New Wine the Lord has given have been bottle-breaking, but because we've been willing to believe, receive, follow and obey, He's been able to use us mightily. And if we continue on in that obedience, in that belief and faith, He will continue to pour forth blessings like we've never known before.
104. God bless each of you for your faith, your willingness, and your obedience. Mama and I love you dearly and have you in our prayers. May the second half of 1998 be even more fruitful than the first half! God bless and keep you close to Him.
Love,
Peter
Help for Single Mothers!
105. P.S. One of the topics discussed at the summit was how to help our single mothers. This has been a concern of Mama's and mine and the CROs for years, and many of you have written in about it as well. The Lord has already given much counsel in published GNs on how to help the single moms, emphasizing how it is the responsibility of each of our Homes and members to help care for them and their children. As we prayed about it further at the summit, the Lord gave more counsel along those lines, which will soon be published in a GN, Lord willing.
106. One suggestion that has come up a number of times is whether it would be possible for WS to provide financial support for the Family's single moms. This is something we've regularly discussed and prayed about, and while we would very much like to, WS just doesn't have the finances to be able to provide each single mom with regular financial support. While giving each single mom $50 a month, for example, doesn't sound like very much, when you multiply it by the number of single moms in the Family, it adds up to a large amount, which WS just doesn't have. At present, the FAF also isn't able to provide this regular support, as it would soon be depleted and no longer be able to keep up with the pioneer gifts, HERs for new Homes, Home loans, etc. We are praying that, as the Lord brings in more income to the Family and WS' income rises accordingly, we will have funds available to help our single moms and other needy families more.
107. In praying about how we could help the single moms financially with at least a small gift for any needs they may have for themselves or their children, the Lord inspired us to set aside some of the WS funds to give a one-time gift to our single moms. It's not as much as we would like to give, but it's all that we can afford. Mama and I pledge $40,000 to our single moms this Christmas, as a token of our love and support. Every single mother who has children under the age of 16 will be given a base gift, plus a supplement for each additional child; thus those who have more children will receive a bit more money.
108. We want to ask if you Homes would be willing to help honor our single moms by also giving towards this Christmas gift through participation in a worldwide attack day for our single moms, similar to the attack days that we held last year to raise funds for the book printing. Those attack days were very successful--thanks to the Lord's supply and to all that each of you put into them--and raised enough funds to print and ship over 20 books to you! We know that the Lord can do it again! Last year the Family raised roughly $40,000 per attack day, and with the Lord's help, if you could raise that amount again, coupled with the WS gift, it would provide each of our single moms with a gift of roughly $100, plus an additional $20 per child under 16. (So a single mother with 4 children would receive roughly $180.) While that's not a large amount, it would be a precious token of all of our love and concern for our single moms, and a blessing in helping them get some needs for themselves or their children which they wouldn't otherwise be able to get.
109. So, how about it? Is your Home willing to set aside a day of outreach to make a united push to raise as much as you can for our precious single moms and their children? The Lord will bless you, and the single moms--including the ones in your Home--will be very grateful for your love and concern for them.
110. This attack day will be held in November of this year. The funds received will then be given to the single moms in December or shortly after the New Year. Since the best day to have an attack day differs from area to area, your CRO will notify you of what day in November the attack day will be held in your area. Please send the funds from the attack day with your November TRF, marked "Single Mom Fund."
111. Thank you for your love and willingness to make this effort for our dear single moms. And please pray for the Lord's abundant supply!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family