July 15, 2003
FSM #396
CM/FM —November 2002
Special Action FSM #19
Benefits of Feeding Your Sheep
(Editor's note: Family members in Burma and China use pen names for their contributions to the FSM.)
Cover by Anthony
(Dad:) This is a promise: If you feed them, one day they will feed you! If you sign them up for the Activated magazine and keep them going on that; or if you're in a country without an Activated subscription program but you give them whatever follow-up tools and materials you can; if you're inviting them over for Bible studies, Church of Love meetings, or discipleship classes, depending on what level they're at—in the long run, this is going to make things easier for you!
Open your eyes and your minds; expand your vision and your horizons! The sky is nowhere near the limit, and we as a Family are nowhere near the peak of the mountain of great things that the Lord wants us to do. The Lord's vision is big, great, huge, extensive, massive, enormous and downright outrageous if you look at it practically. So don't, ha! Look at it with the eyes of faith. While the Lord's overall plan for the Family, for expanding our membership, for increasing our disciples and outreach force, is practical, sometimes there's no practical explanation for how the "magic" happens.
If you're faithful to feed the sheep—whether there's just one or two or there's a hundred—one day you'll wake up and realize that those sheep are helping to sustain and feed you and others. It's a law of the spirit. As you give, as you obey, the Lord blesses, and it will be given unto you. It's also a law of nature and science that as you invest in those who have the wherewithal to further your cause, you're accomplishing far more than if you try to do it all yourself.
Forget trying to do it all yourself! You need the help of these who are now friends, sheep, contacts, or kings, many of whom the Lord wants to become disciples or members to some degree or another. Feed them! Feed them the Activated mags and books! Feed them with your sample and with your fellowship! Feed them with the wonderful wealth of Word that's at your fingertips, with so much more still to come—and much of it material that is specifically tailored for follow-up and training new disciples.
—ML #3348:41,43-45
(Editor's note: The following testimonies have been gathered over a period of time, so some of them are not recent, but we pray you find them inspiring and helpful.)
By Cristy E. (18), Thailand
I went on a faith trip one time to a province eight hours away from our Home. On the way there I met someone who lived in Malaysia and was here on holiday. We talked and I told him that I was going to host an English Camp. He asked about my religion and I was able to share with him that I was Christian, and give him a little witness about my lifestyle. He was very interested, and wanted to know more. He'd grown up in England and used to attend a Pentecostal church.
We kept in contact ever since. I would regularly keep him up to date about the different things I was doing. One and a half years later, he came to Samui for another short visit, and asked if the Home could meet up with him somewhere.
Before we went, I heard from the Lord concerning us meeting him, and how to go about it. The Lord told me that he was a real sheep, and that he needed someone to listen to him. We were to go ahead and invest our time in him, because he would be a very longstanding and special friend. I really didn't know what to think of it all, and was a bit nervous meeting him, because the first time we met we only talked for 10 minutes or so, and the rest had been through correspondence.
During those two days we were able to include him in our excursion that we held for four Chinese boys that came to be with us during their holidays. We also had a fundraising dinner at a school the same day, and he was able to see us perform and sing. We showed him the kindergarten that we taught at. My dad was the one that talked to him the most, and later I heard from my dad that he had a lot of questions and that he was really searching, reading through all kinds of spiritual books to find the truth.
Since he returned to Malaysia he has been writing almost every day. He's very supportive in his letters, and encourages us to ask him if there's anything he can do to help. He understands that the life we choose to live is not always an easy one. It's so amazing that even though we've only spent two days with him, he's practically like family. He was able to meet all of us and I think our sample of living together communally and working together is something he's been looking for. Now he sees things differently and is turned on to it all.
One time I wrote to him and asked him to pray that our moving houses would go smoothly because there were some unexpected expenses. It turned out that there was no telephone yet in our new location, and it would have to be put in. The landlord wanted us to fork out the money for the kitchen and some other stuff. I didn't tell him any details about the expenses.
Later we found out that it would cost over US$400 to put in the telephone line. We didn't know where we would get that money. We prayed desperately for it, and asked the Lord how we should go about raising the funds. We tried to provision a discount and they reduced the cost to about US$50.
My dad thought that we could maybe ask our Malaysian friend, because he kept telling us to ask him if there's anything we needed. I was a bit reluctant, because we hadn't known him for very long and were still building a friendship. I felt that if we weren't prayerful we might blow him away. So we wrote him and I gave a little hint, but didn't go into details or anything.
One week later we got a registered envelope in with a bank draft with the exact amount of money we'd needed for the installing of the telephone line. Accompanying it was a little note that said, "A little token for the expenses you'll probably have with the move." I couldn't believe what I saw.—He'd sent the bank draft even before I'd asked him! He wanted to keep it a surprise and that's why he never mentioned it in his e-mails.
By Philip (of Hannah), India
Hannah and I came to India at the end of 1973 and we were married in New Delhi in March of 1975. In the last 28 years we have spent 23 years in the subcontinent. The remaining years we were in Iran, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and two and a half years in Greece during the time of MWM. During the 28 years of service on the field the Lord has blessed us with 11 children currently ranging in age from six to 26, all of who were born on the field.
In 1981, before we were to return to Sri Lanka and then India from Greece, we were still a relatively small family, with just four children. The Lord made a way through a good friend and supporter of ours to go to the States and Canada for a month to visit our parents and families. Since then, because we grew to be such a large family and the situation never presented itself, we never had to return to the States.
Over the last five years, five of our older children relocated to the States and we were feeling the need to visit them to see how things were going and help them get situated in any way we could. Our eldest daughter had also written us from the States telling us she was pregnant with her second child and wanted to know if Hannah would be able to be there for her delivery at the end of January.
The idea sounded pretty good, and we committed it to the Lord and said that if it were His will then He would have to provide. At this time we didn't even have our own house to live in. We were living on the road, staying with other Family members around the city, plus visiting other states in India. Then in November we opened up a new Home with a new team here in Madras, and after getting set up we went right into Christmas outreach.
Around the second week of December, we stopped before going into our full Christmas schedule to ask the Lord about the visit to the States. He indicated it was His will and that we should put out feelers. We knew that if it was His will that He would have to provide, because there was really no way that we could raise the amount of funds needed for such a trip.
Well, we launched into Christmas outreach and had a very amazing season—one of our best yet with a few thousand souls saved, over 200,000 pages of material distributed, 400 "Mottos for Success" out, lots of CDs and tapes, and we were able to do numerous CTPs.
The previous year we had done a clowning program for a large company's Christmas celebration, and they asked if we could help them to celebrate Christmas with carol singing and children's activities at a prestigious hotel on the 15th of December, and we agreed.
During the course of the evening we were speaking with the director of the company, Mr. K, a quiet and serious man, whom we had met last year. Suddenly he looked at Hannah and out of the clear blue and said, "I told you last year that I was going to help you and I've done nothing. It's obvious you all are doing the job. I want to help you in a big way. I'm going to give you one lakh rupees" (US$2,500). We were both shocked, to say the least, and were pretty much dumbfounded by his offer. During the course of the evening we thanked him profoundly and kept pinching ourselves to see if this was really happening.
For about three weeks we didn't hear anything, then one day his secretary called and said that he wanted us to know that he had been making preparations to transfer the funds into our account.
Prior to this, while waiting for word from him, we had prayed and asked the Lord about this donation. The Lord said that rather than asking for the funds we could ask if he would sponsor two round-trip tickets to the States and Canada for Hannah and our daughter Elaine. When we called him back and presented this idea to him he answer, "Count it done. I'll put my travel agent on it right away."
Hannah and Elaine took off after that and arrived safely in Los Angeles, where our two sons and another family met them. From L.A. she flew to North Carolina, arriving the same day as our seventh grandchild was born, and then continued on with her planned trip.
We wanted to testify that the Lord did it all. He made it so very, very easy for us to be good. As the Bible says, "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." We didn't feel like we did anything to deserve such a blessing. Nor do we feel so "upright." We make a lot of mistakes and aren't any sort of shiners or great samples. But we felt it was a blessing dropped out of the sky right into our laps by our very dear and loving Husband to show us how much He cares.
By Angela (of Stephen), Croatia
For over three years our Home has been living by faith without a regular outreach, ballooning, or singing method. We are 15 people—a single mom with a toddler, a couple of FGAs with the remnant of their kids (17, 15, and 8), three younger FGAs, one SGA, and four new disciples (ages 16, 17, 18, and 21). This is our basic team, and doesn't include the numerous visitors who camp out in the living room or the balcony (in the summer). Generally we are a lot of people!
For over three years, our main emphasis has been on welcoming and training new disciples. Wait a minute! ... That's also when the Lord started supplying for us in unexpected ways. Is there a connection?
It all started out one day when, due to lack of a trained singing team and ballooning personnel, Paolo and I left for our usual fundraising trip to Italy with quite an unusual team. For the first time we knew we had to depend solely on the Lord and His arm of provision, as our team was not specialized in anything, and we had two new babes with us as well.
The Lord wanted to give us a boost of encouragement right away. As we were crossing the border we got the news that someone had a big donation for us (US$1,000), as a result of Paolo sharing his personal testimony at a youth meeting a few months earlier. Wow, we could hardly believe it!
Throughout our trip, wherever we went, people were so impressed by the fact that I had young people with me, whose lives had obviously been changed very recently, that donations started pouring in! It seemed our new disciples hardly had to open their mouths to cause an immediate reaction in whoever was listening (some were old provisioning contacts, some newly met friends).
We came back from that famous one-week trip with over US$2,000 and loaded with provisioning—not to mention a definite impression that Jesus was leading us down a new path. A new day!
These days most people are so concerned about young people in general, that to see someone giving their lives to a worthy cause is the greatest hope and encouragement, like Mama explained in an FSM about YAs fundraising (FSM 265). But I was just discovering this.
From that point on, going on the road with new disciples became the norm, which resulted in more new disciples! Of course, the fact that we had new disciples with us 24 hours a day meant that while on the road we still had to read with them (actually, translate the babes course into Italian), keep witnessing and making the Word as a priority in whatever we did, and trust Him for the rest. I think this did us a world of good, and forced us to find inspiring ways to fundraise. Follow-up was definitely the best, staying in friends' houses and ministering to them till late, then keeping in touch through a faithful mail ministry, visiting them a month or two later, etc.
Our friends would give us a place to stay and quite regularly a donation, and we in turn provided inspiration, fellowship, encouragement, prayer, and Word—not just for them, but for their whole family. Besides this, we also started getting invited to participate in various youth meetings, where we usually sang some songs, did a skit, showed slides or a video of our work, and most of all, our new disciples would share their personal testimony! That was almost always the clincher—like Dad often said, there's hardly anything as powerful as your personal testimony!
Upon coming back from each trip, we make it a priority to thank everyone we met or visited, and we involve the whole team. The importance of the mail ministry was one of the first lessons everyone learned. We also came up with a power-packed 12-page newsletter every two or three months. Again, it's a united effort, and many in the Home contribute testimonies.
One time Paolo went to dinner with a group of friends with Andrea and Moselle (she had just joined two months earlier). They stayed up witnessing till late, with impromptu skits, personal testimonies, etc. The next morning one of these friends came by and gave Moselle an envelope with a US$500 donation for the good work we are doing!
We were once again on the road, quite short on funds. The opportunity arose to go ballooning one afternoon, but instead the Lord showed us to visit a family who had sent us a donation and who lived in the area we were visiting. Again, we went and ministered to them till late. Result: another envelope with US$500.
Recently, I had a chance to talk to quite a few young people from various Homes who are a bit burned out with the traditional fundraising means. I can truly sympathize with them. I have been there and that's why we wanted to write this testimony.
Basically in our Home we don't mind fundraising, as we have a cause, some valid projects. We don't fundraise just to live, or to survive, and we can truly thank people for what they give, because we try our best to use their funds to help others. We actually feel responsible to do our best, I guess because when someone hands your whole team an envelope with a donation, sometimes they are not even that wealthy but they've been saving it for the "missionaries." It's quite convicting and it makes you realize, "Wow! This guy is trusting us with this big amount of money for the work we do. We'd better really do it!" Whereas, by comparison, when you get a bunch of little donations through singing or ballooning, you don't feel people really make that big of a sacrifice to give you a dollar for a song or a balloon, consequently you can tend to feel less obligated to put it to good use. You don't really have anyone to thank or give account to, except, of course, the Lord, but I'm talking from a human point of view.
Most of our time is spent on witnessing (personal, follow-up, CTPs), and we have a monthly budget, a faithful finance deacon who doesn't let us waste money, a broad base of support, monthly prayer days, and daily prayer vigils!
Everything the Word says on the subject has proven true. In fact, we didn't really discover or pioneer anything new; it's been there all the time! Putting witnessing first always pays!
By Joan Newheart, Philippines
I returned to Cebu, Philippines, after being on the road in Denmark and Switzerland for four months. Since it was our first year in the Philippines, we had planned on fundraising in Europe as well as following up on our mail ministry sheep. The Lord supplied wonderfully.
We had previously lived in Switzerland for almost five years, and during those years I was involved in restaurant singing as a means of fundraising for our big combo there. I met many wonderful people through the years, and have been following up on them by phoning them and also writing little letters and cards. Hardly any of them helped the work other than taking an occasional CD, tape, or video on special occasions. Last year when visiting many of them before going to the field, some asked for a "green slip" so they could send a donation, and only one person pledged to help monthly, which he faithfully did. While in Cebu, I wrote everyone on my mailing list three times over a period of seven months, sharing testimonies of our work.
I called some of my contacts ahead of time from Denmark and arranged to meet them before I went there, so I already had the first nine days booked. When I got there I started calling the rest of the people on my list, and there was a big change in attitude from the previous year. Everyone was so happy to hear from me, and made an effort to see me. Last year many said they were too busy, and couldn't find time in their agenda. But this time I was overwhelmed at the positive response and the very close contact I had with many of them. It became a beautiful witnessing time, and many shared their hearts about the troubles and difficulties they were having. I would tell them all that I would be praying for them, and they were very thankful for my concern.
As presentation material, I had made a ten-page A4 booklet with photos and very little text, laid out on colorful cardstock. Each sheet of paper was laminated and one page had a bit more explanation of one of our projects. The Lord has led us to set up a dental project as part of our work here. Dentists from Europe come here and give free dental care to poor children. When explaining about this and our other work, there was a considerable sense of admiration and good will. When asking for monthly support this time around, 16 pledged monthly and another seven or eight said they would give when they could. The rest of them gave me a donation on the spot.
After returning home and checking my bank account, we found that after only eight people had given, it covered our monthly budget, as some had given very generously. Time will show how many will keep their pledge, and if it will continue to cover our monthly budget. Our prayer and desire has been to be able to be on the mission field with full support, so that it won't be the money that would rule our schedule and our outreach, but that we would be free to witness and feed the sheep as needed.
Since I hadn't met some of my contacts for many years, I had to tell one of the men that I couldn't remember what he looked like, and he said the same about me. So we had a good laugh, and I said I would be dressed all in white. When we met, we did recognize each other anyway. This man had just gone through a big heartbreak, and was going to go in for examination, due to health problems. We spent hours together, and he gave me a Nokia mobile phone—his old one, but still a fairly new model. I text messaged "thank you," and "looking forward to staying in touch." He in turn phoned me both in Switzerland telling about his examination, and a couple of days ago, he called here to tell me he was going in for major surgery. He was so happy to hear that our family would be praying for him. Suddenly those years of not having much contact vanished away, and God's plan was manifested in that He, through me, was there at a time when this sweet man needed Someone to hold on to.
Five of the people are in positions where they have contact with many people through either owning restaurants or being managers of large businesses. They like the idea of us working personally to help the poor, so they wanted my presentation material so that they could raise funds for us. One man said that he felt that he could get 50 of his acquaintances to pledge 50 CHF (approximately US$30) per month for a period of three years. He said that he believed it would be important to get our Web page updated so that people can check in and see new photos and read new stories on a regular basis. He said that people like to get to know you, your family and kids so that they can feel the personal touch. Arranging a meeting where I can explain about our work once a year would be the ideal, and then they would be able to get to know me personally and hear firsthand about our life and work. This caused us to have Richard (16) work on our Web page, and get our new projects posted.
Tony is another one of those I hadn't met since our initial meeting. He's a professional translator and he offered to help me translate my PR material and do the layout for the five people that want to present our work and raise funds for us.
It makes me so happy and gives me a feeling of great accomplishment to have all this happen in one month. It shows that when we step out and leave our homelands once more, and go to the mission field, that the Lord will bless and supply. He has never failed and certainly keeps all of His promises.
By John W., Africa, on the road in Germany
Since we don't have the Activated mags in German, we use the beautiful Reflections. I try to send them to as many people on e-mail as possible and it bears good fruit. People write back, which they don't do with snail mail, and this way our mail gets passed around easily. We have quite a few people on our list who support us and have never seen us. One lady is a friend of one of our friends and never met us personally. She prints out our newsletter and faxes it to a friend of hers who is also a supporter now. She also got her whole church group turned on to supporting our witnessing work.
Another church started to support us through the witness of the oldest member on our list. He is 87 and has supported us for almost 20 years. Finally he got his church turned on to helping us too, as he doesn't have much himself.
Another lady, on her own initiative, passed on our newsletter recently to 100 other potential supporters. The Lord raised up a sweet lady in Switzerland and another one in Austria, who each print out our newsletters and mail them for us to our contacts there who don't have e-mail. Saves so much time!
There are so many samples of miracles the Lord is doing, and all because of following up on that original contact we made some time ago, on the street, in a shop, or wherever. Sometimes we met only for five minutes, as people in Europe are very busy. But via the mail we can follow up on them and feed them.
A new way I found to feed the sheep is using the phone. When I go to Europe once a year to visit whomever I can see, I phone the ones I can't see and it does miracles. And then I contact them again by mail, or better yet, by e-mail. Although I only get time to send out three newsletters with photos each year, it's easy to send out in one keystroke a news flash with a new Reflections by e-mail every month or so to hundreds of people almost for free. Short and simple for busy people, but very powerful! E-mail is so much cheaper, faster, less work, and safer. It's in color, and people like it and respond.
I believe the Lord blesses this chain reaction mostly because of obedience to the follow-up and feeding the sheep vision as well as the power of prayer, and now the keys.
By Ammi, John, Markus, and Sharon, (written while in Thailand)
One of our regular monthly donors, the manager of a large Japanese company, was recently promoted and thus returned to Japan to head the company there. His replacement was a younger Japanese man, who, because of a recent economic slump in the company's branch in Thailand, had been sent here to help pull them out of it.
Naturally, the company's monthly gift to our work was one of the first expenditures that came under scrutiny in his quest for "how to cut corners and save money." So John P., who has been faithfully following up on this company for many years, made an appointment to meet with and explain our work to the new manager. In the meantime, everyone at home prayed like a house afire that the Lord would touch the heart of this man to continue donating to our work.
When the day rolled around for us to meet him, we found upon arrival at his company that he was in a meeting and wouldn't be available to meet us for some time. He asked his assistant manager to talk with us instead, and added that once his meeting was adjourned he would come see us himself as well.
Much to our relief, the Thai manager who was sent in his place was wonderfully receptive! He listened attentively as we relayed our work and projects to him and was thoroughly convinced that giving to us was a worthy investment. He was a very intelligent man who speaks fluent English and Japanese, so he acts as a translator for his boss, who only speaks Japanese.
We ended up talking with him for over an hour, and in the course of our meeting and the exchange of calling cards, we noticed that this Thai man's signature had been on every one of the checks we had received from this company over the previous years! So although we had not met him in person, he sure knew us and was fully aware of who we were and what we do.
Shortly before we were going to leave, his boss walked in. From having had experience prior to this with some Japanese businessmen, we expected that our time with him would be brief and businesslike.
By this time, our Thai friend was more than well versed in recounting the work we do and fluidly explained it all in Japanese to the boss. Much to our joy, the boss listened and was very impressed by what we do and not minding at all that the time was rapidly ticking by. When we finally left the conference room we had spent over two hours there—one with the assistant manager and then another with the boss and assistant manager together!
The new boss decided that he would not only continue to give a monthly gift to us, but that he would triple it if we visited for an hour or two each week to teach English to some of his executives! He mentioned casually that he had every intention of increasing the amount next year.
By Cephas and Sapphire Obey, Turkey
The Lord has laid it on our hearts to claim a greater anointing to obey immediately when He lays something on our hearts or brings tasks to mind. Instead of habitually thinking we have plenty of time because things go slow in Turkey, we've asked the Lord to help us obey right away and concentrate on the "now." One of the victories that resulted from this has been the start of a regular Bible study in our Home on Monday and Thursday from 6 pm to 8 pm.
We've been ministering to a 26-year-old man for the last six months. He became a Christian two years ago. He's been going through a particularly difficult time in his life, which has brought about a greater vacuum for the Lord and His Word. So far we've done studies with him that have covered Matthew 24 and various chapters in Daniel. And through him, the Word is getting passed on to others.
We couldn't help but notice the hand of the Lord in us meeting him, as before we came to Turkey, my brother, on one of his business trips, met this young man on the plane and they had talked about the Lord together. My brother had asked me to follow up on him, but we'd been reluctant to do so, figuring that he'd probably fellowship with some local small Christian church or something, and we were somehow reluctant to stick our necks out and get known. Though he was fellowshipping with a local group for sometime, he didn't seem to find what he was looking for.
Last summer, when two of our good friends from Holland came to visit us, we drove them to their hotel on the seacoast, and checked them in late at night. We spent a long time talking with our friends in the room and left after midnight. While passing through the lobby, we happened to exchange a few words with the gentleman on duty at the reception. And miraculously, it turns out that this man on duty was the very man my brother had asked me to follow up on who I had been trying to avoid! So because of this miraculous meeting it was hard to deny that the Lord had put this man on our path, as the couple visiting us had booked this hotel via the Internet, not knowing anything about this man. Neither had we ever met him or knew where he lived or worked. He has asked to have classes every day, but so far we're starting with twice a week. We might increase it to three times a week if all goes well. After one of the Bible studies he asked to be anointed with oil and to be prayed over. This is the time we asked the Lord to fill him with the Holy Spirit.
Z. is a young Turkish lady we have been ministering to for over six months. At Christmastime she was able to come over with her fiancé to our Home. Over the months different Reflections have helped her to look at the positive and to grow spiritually. She has started helping us to teach the children Turkish songs for which we are very thankful, because it is our hearts' desire to learn more Turkish songs. She speaks fluent German and English, so we have no problem feeding her, or her helping us with the songs. She has finished reading all the Reflections that we have in Turkish and we have started her this week on Motivated. She is uncomplicated, and has spiritual aptitude and depth.
Z. always takes the Word we give her to her workplace so she can redeem the time by reading. She told us yesterday that many of her colleagues were curious as to what she is reading, and when they read the inspiring quotes and stories in the Turkish Reflections, they want to get their own copy! She has also started sharing parts of Motivated with a co-worker. The Word is working in the hearts of the sheep!
By Sam and Crystal, India
Several years ago, we lost touch with Rejoice and her family after they were stumbled by the fact that we could love Jesus intimately.
Last Christmas they were walking the streets of Bangalore looking for the Family distributing tracts and posters. They'd looked on the Web but couldn't find us, and were desperate to get back in touch with us. At last they found one of our cassettes in a shop and wrote to the e-mail address and now we're back in touch! Many years of lessons and hardships had passed—which, they said, broke their pride and made them realize the truth about the things we believe in.
Rejoice has been faithful over the years to give her children the Word. She still had the Bible, Treasures and other lit we'd given to her many years ago. Though she's from a Hindu background, she has brought her children up to love Jesus and they all are very much on fire, hungry for the New Wine and fellowship. Her boy asked us to pray whether he needs to continue on his medicine course, or if he should serve the Lord at this time!
Due to the fact that she was stumbled before, we were hesitant to give her too much meat of the Word, but rather go slow. However, she was desperate for the Word and the truth and was saying how repentant she was for having been so immature. She recently came to our Home, and we gave her a full Law of Love class. She's totally flipped and is very receptive.
With the new "Conviction vs. Compromise" series, we can see how the Lord is preparing His sheep to receive the message. It convicted our hearts to realize how much we've watered down our message due to fear of losing some and/or persecution. Actually, we were surprised at how much she had already found of her own accord on the Web site about the Law of Love and our beliefs, so we see the importance of preparing our friends fully (at the right time, of course) and not to compromise.
By Nate, China
Over an extended period of time, we'd made numerous and varied attempts to have regular Bible study groups in our Home. However, our Bible classes never seemed to get off the ground. Even though we hadn't been able to establish Bible study groups, there had been a consistent number of very receptive individuals to whom we have ministered.
In the past few months, a very encouraging phenomenon has come together with some of the key people we'd given classes to starting up Bible studies in their homes, using the materials we have given them from the Activated program and other Family courses. Seeing these little groups of believers receiving the Word from our powerful pubs has been thrilling. There's so much potential once they get the vision of teaching others to teach others, and continue to expand these house churches.
By Tommy, Joanie, and Dave, Brazil
We are training our live-outs to have more of a "go and tell" than a "come and see" strategy in their witnessing. After six years of slow, steady growth, we are seeing the need to open up more and be more aggressive in our witnessing to new people. For example, we often invite people to come to our Bible study, on our turf and when it's convenient for us. That often comes across as: "We'd like you to come to our church [Home] to study the Bible at 7:30 on Tuesday night." That type of approach can be doomed to failure right from the start. It asks too much of people who don't even have one foot in the barn yet. It expects brand new people to enter unfamiliar surroundings (the number one fear of many people today), to study a book that was written thousands of years ago and is used by religious hucksters to manipulate people in crisis, at a time of day that might well be inconvenient or inappropriate. (How many people want to be out in the streets of a big city after dark in these days of uncontrolled violence?)
We have learned that we need to be flexible and title things in exciting ways like Dad did with the MO Letters. (Remember how "Sex Works!" got your attention?) We are learning to open "Activated Groups" in the homes of the sheep or even in the workplace or in restaurants near the hot spots. Following lunch and informal "talk time," we are seeing that we can have deep Word studies. Rather than call the initial bait meetings "Bible studies," we are using titles like "Rising Above the Pressures of the Rat Race," "How to Stay Afloat in a World That's Circling the Drain," etc.
By Jonatas, Hepsi, and Andres, Brazil
When we received the first "Action Through Prayer" GN, we started a prayer meeting with some of our sheep. The group is called Prayer Warriors, and the idea we presented to them was that they'd be going to the frontlines in prayer interceding for others. Every week we publish a prayer list with personal requests from the sheep we have here and general requests for the work—similar to our CM prayer list. In our two open meetings people can write down their requests and place them in a box. We collect them and add to the list weekly.
This meeting has brought many changes and victories in the sheep's lives, both the ones that take part in the meetings and the other ones. Every week we add to the answered prayer section of the list and now we have practically more new answered prayers than actual requests. Everybody is very happy to see the Lord's power in action through prayer. We've read edited versions of the "Action Through Prayer" GNs and a couple of the sheep were even claiming the new Word the Lord gave us in that GN.
As shepherds it's very inspiring to see them growing to the point where they have faith in God's new Word for the Family, and even claim it in prayer just like we do. Little by little our "church" is making progress and becoming more and more like "real brethren," not just "church goers."
By Elia, Uzbekistan
Recently I've been working with a few churches, and through this experience I've again seen the effectiveness of the Family's ways of operating. A few other missionaries I knew here, during their vacation, entrusted some of their sheep to our care, whom they had fed for over a year. When we started feeding them, we were surprised that some of them were not even saved. So we took care of them for three months, gave them the basic classes, taught them how to witness and give classes to others—regular Family witnessing and feeding methods.
When those missionaries returned they were shocked by how advanced their sheep were. The couple told me that some people on their team weren't even as qualified as their sheep had become through our instruction. Thank the Lord for our methods, and the gifts we have—the keys, new weapons and 12 Foundation Stones. Now members of their team come to us to ask our advice on how to feed their friends, as well as ask for our materials to feed their sheep.
By Sharon, Gabriel, and Manantial, Mexico
We started making long distance calls to some of our friends and sheep in other cities. It may be expensive, but it works! We take three to five minutes to talk with them personally. Through it the Lord has touched their hearts and their pocketbooks, and they have helped with donations. It really touched them that we would put forth the effort to call them, since they aren't used to answering the letters we've been sending them.
By Tab, Taiwan
Just a tip about not giving up too quickly on some of your old contacts who may have said no to helping with a project in the past. Someone whose card I had kept but put out of my active file has turned out to be a big help to us this year with one of our projects. I "re-activated" some of our old cards that I had put aside to see if they were worth keeping and was inspired about some of the responses I received.
By Matteo, Katya, and Ivan, Italy
Organizing the addresses on the computer by postal zip and towns made it easier to go to see people systematically, from town to town. We print out all the addresses from a certain town, and this has helped in the organization of our daily follow-up visits.
By Julian Montel, Japan
When I leave the Home for whatever reason, besides just going witnessing or on follow-up, I make it a point to take my witnessing bag in which I have my Activated mags and subscription forms, various kinds of lit, a couple of CDs, my Japanese-English Bible, photos and PR album, name cards, name stamp, Activated booklets, both English and Japanese, along with any tools I need for that day.
Another tool I try to carry with me is the Word Basics, so I can give a short class on the spot if I need to. I also carry a Basic MOP in English and Japanese so I can look up any topic I want to talk about when needed. I usually try to have the Good Thots with me, as everyone loves a good story and you can always pull one out of there and share it with someone.
By Abner, Mary, Pat, Zambia
We started encouraging every outreach team to take along a notebook in order to record the information concerning sheep and contacts that they meet, whether new sheep or on follow-up. Then one of our teens, who is taking the CVC secretarial course, regularly updates the follow-up info on the computer so that we can keep record of what is going on and how to proceed in ministering to each one. Since we started this, we've been encouraged to see how much progress our sheep have been making.
We mark the page with the date, person's name, and details of our meeting, including lit given, as well as the person's phone number and address. Through this we've been able to stay faithful with our sheep.
By Philip and Meekness, Namibia
When on the road, or going to another country for a visa or witnessing trip we take the time to send postcards to our friends and supporters. Our remembering them touches their hearts.
By John, Esther, and Lydia, Indonesia
We've been baking cakes for our friends' birthdays. It means a lot to them and brings them closer.
By Abel, India
Try to always have your latest photos with you. I carry our latest, best, and most current photos of our activities to show to contacts and friends. They love to see that you are active and busy and up to date! Also no matter what I am doing, whether out for business or other things, I always have these photos on me, and inevitably I meet someone new that day. It is like my mini album when I don't have my larger album and it has borne a lot of good fruit having it always with me and handy.
By Hosea and Grace, USA
Bible Basics is a wonderful tool to share with sheep and friends. We encourage them to use it not only as a study book, but also as a handbook to help them give others Bible classes and to use as a quick reference while witnessing.
By Abe (of Jodie), China
We're trying to incorporate more meaningful and fun times with the members in our Bible study group. One activity we had recently was a barbecue and a beautiful time of fellowship. Everybody contributed towards the "barbecue-ship," and between eating and cooking the food, we each took turns at answering different questions such as: "What is one miraculous thing the Lord has done for you recently in answer to prayer?" Another was: "On your first meeting with Jesus in Heaven, what would you say or ask Him?"
One question that was asked was; "What is your impression of Jesus?" One member answered, "Abe is a lot like what Jesus would be like to me." That was really sweet and convicting for me, but obviously this member doesn't really know me all that well yet, ha! We all had a good laugh anyway!
There's no end to the questions you could ask, and we asked some lighter, funnier-type questions as well, such as: "What's the most humbling or embarrassing thing that's happened to you?" But it's important to not let things digress to the point where you lose control and get absolutely foolish over what should be a meaningful and fun fellowship.
By Abigail (of Jonathan), India
We had a birthday celebration for a certain sun sign and invited our close friends to our Home for it. Since we were going to be a fairly big team for the party we asked our friends to bring something. They all liked the idea, and some of the benefits were that they got to witness our way of celebrating birthdays, and it was feeding and fun.
By Chris, Tabitha, and Noah, Taiwan
We find that inviting people to dinner is a great way to draw them in! Our supporters especially seem to appreciate this as it gives an extra personal touch to our witness. They not only hear about our work, but also meet our workers, and especially our young people, who all participate in the preparations for the dinner and the conversations that follow.
By David, Peace, and Maria, Guinea
This month we started to send our prayer letter to our supporters by e-mail as much as possible. After sending out a test e-mail it was amazing how many people responded right away, some sharing their hearts in detail. We want to also use this means to feed them more with little Activated excerpts, which dear John (of Sara) is translating into German.
By Jonathan, Amy, Joseph, and Comfort, Brazil
A few months ago we put together a PR flyer to use when witnessing, since most of our Home members aren't that fluent in Portuguese, and it has really helped in explaining what we do. The flyer is a simple three-fold with the front page containing the first paragraph from the introduction of the Family color brochure. The second page is a simple list of our Home's CTP activities. Then it opens up to a photo page with photos of the activities. The back page is the stock paragraph from the FAR explaining that the Family is a nonprofit organization, followed by our address and bank account.
We give this to people that are interested. . We have only been photocopying it so far, but we're considering printing it.
By Patrick and Renee, China
We can't always keep up with our friends, phoning as often as we should between times we see them, so our daughters, ages four to twelve, help us. People love to get calls from the girls, and when it's someone in the neighborhood, the girls will sometimes visit these friends. It helps fill our friends' need for fellowship. The visit of a child here is greatly valued.
Of course, we don't let them go just anywhere, but there are a few close friends, some of who are their teachers, that we know well, and they understand what we allow, and what we don't. It's quite amazing to hear some conversations on the phone where the child shows real interest in how the person's doing. Our friends have commented positively on it!
By Joanne W. (of Richard), Holland
I never thought that writing testimonies could bring in support. No, I am not talking about the usual newsletter writing, but actually writing stories about the miracles the Lord has done, things that happened to you when you witnessed to someone, and even your personal testimony. There are literally thousands of people out there who will pay to hear that! Besides the fact that freelance writing is a great way to witness, I found out that after you invest some time and effort into your contacts it could also support your other ministries so that you can actually "get paid to preach."
By Julian Montel, Japan
Because most of my sheep are spread out all over Tohoku and Hokkaido, I hardly ever get to meet them, so I've started keeping in touch with them via e-mail using my phone. The most recent model I got has a digital camera, so I can take pictures and send them to my friends. Through the long-mail function you can write up to 6,000 characters—a fairly lengthy note. I also send them quotes in English and Japanese on a regular basis and they are happy to be in regular communication.
Keeping in good communication through e-mail, which is inexpensive, helps them to feel closer, and helps them to know I haven't forgotten them. I also keep the pictures of my friends that I have on file in my phone memory; it can hold up to 50 pictures, and that gives me a pretty good collage of photos for my prayer vigils! It also helps me keep in good communication with local sheep for appointments, messages, etc.
By an FGA, North America
Some people have a sort of "scorched earth" mode of operating. They are preoccupied with raising funds for, say, getting a car or a computer or getting to the field, and are trying to make a "fast buck." We've set up teams on several occasions where we previously did very well and had good relations with the management—only to find a few weeks later that the contact was lost. The folks we placed there grumbled that it was "too dead" (though we had done well). However, they had no PR materials, no lit, a poor physical presentation, and didn't minister to the contact or formally thank or acknowledge them. If a contact is lost, the missionary passing through that city may not suffer, but those who live and minister there or those coming behind will.
To end on a positive note, we recently had a nice "recovery" to a seemingly lost situation. We moved to another area around Christmastime and were faced with having to try to open up some contacts in an area that has been "hit" for a long time. We called up a fast food outlet at a mall that is part of a chain of stores that often host us. The franchise owner gave me a real earful about past "missionaries" who had done fundraising at his establishment. He complained that they "stuffed their pockets with dollar bills and never once sent a thank-you letter." He also claimed that they didn't interact with the staff and didn't bother calling to see if it was okay to come in.—They would just show up each week until he had to ask them to leave.
We had, in fact, been referred by this man's son, who operates a store in a different city. I did my best to be understanding and mentioned that I would be happy to provide him with references, his son among them. To my surprise, he responded by saying, "Yes, I've heard of you. In fact, the last time I was at my son's store a young man from your organization gave my son a thank-you, while I was there. That says something to me about you, so I'm willing to give you a try."
It has turned out to be a real blessing for us. Thank the Lord for this young person who was in tune, and took a moment to show his thanks. A simple act of gratitude has had a wide impact!
By Sher (SGA, of Derek), China
During a trip to Taiwan I was able to spend some time with a friend there who had previously helped me with a ticket to Europe and later paid for my two semesters in university. God bless the different ones at the Home where I stayed who counseled and prayed with me, and for me; I really felt their prayers. Witnessing to this friend was unlike anything I'd done before. I was praying constantly over every comment—for understanding of each question, and His Words in my mouth for every answer.
This man was quite a major player in the business world, and I felt out of my league, but He never failed to come to my rescue again and again. Every time I opened my mouth I got His Words just in time in my head.
When I first met this man I hadn't started out on the right foot, so over the last few years I'd been trying to correct this and feed him through the mail. I was able to witness to him in depth during my visit—at the end of which he received the Lord. I also got to witness a little to a friend of his and quite a bit to his bodyguard who is also a precious man. He also donated a much-prayed-for computer.
I learned a lot in regards to my "witnessing skills" in ministering to this man. For example, it's not how much I can talk and how well I can assimilate and spew out information. I learned to really listen, all the while praying desperately for His answers, and then to have faith to say exactly what the Lord gives me, no more, no less. Applying on-the-spot prophecy made my answers come out more as "apples of gold in pictures of silver," and "a word fitly spoken"—something that people have been trying endlessly to explain to me, as often my witnessing bordered on arguing.
This is a lesson our veteran witnesses learned long ago. For me though, it's new and I still have far to go, but it's something I'm thankful to learn.
By Virginia and Gigi, Brazil
I was quite impressed with our Home's peculiar growth. Our first sheep were a homosexual, three Freemasons, five Rosicrucians (another secret society), and a few others on the same level. I desperately prayed. It seemed like too much for our small Home. We had three options: 1) flee town, 2) change our phone number and address or, 3) the most absurd of these, face them. We decided to face them. When we meet troubled sheep, we forget our own problems, and kneel desperately in prayer for guidance for our every step.
As we followed the Lord in ministering to these different ones, within a few months we already had tithers and people that apparently were "very complicated" individuals, but who have now embraced the cause only because we stuck!
By Abigail (of Jonathan), India
I go out one day a week and was asked if I could get out 50 Activated mags a month. I enjoy going out witnessing but on this one day, I also give classes, do visits, do business, go veggie shopping for the week, etc. I was getting a bit burdened and then like always, the Lord inspired me to ask one of my friends in another city to sponsor these books and bingo!—They have sponsored 50 mags a month for the coming year.
By Heaven Love, Chile
An answer to prayer came through an airport supervisor who had promised to donate some unclaimed suitcases to us. When we talked to him, he promised to give us the whole storage of lost things at the airport that hadn't been claimed in the last five months. They donated 14 cell phones, 11 cameras, clothes, hats, glasses, CD walkmans, walkmans, toys, toiletries, perfumes, bags, duffle bags and any thing else that had been unclaimed. The whole area was able to partake of the good-quality items that we got.
A week later we received a call from our contact at the airport telling us we could come back! At the time we had a pending debt of about US$1,700 in the Home. I had been praying specifically that the Lord would supply that money. Because of my situation with the children and teaching them, I wasn't available to go out witnessing to help raise the needed funds, but I was praying for a miracle.
I met with our airport contact and some other administrative officials, who turned out to be the two highest administrators there! I always use the name of The Family when I explain our work. I was talking to them about the Endtime when their secretary walked in with an envelope. It turns out it was money from different countries—almost US$1,700, which had gotten lost and which no one had claimed! They were donating it to the Family! I told them that it was a gift from Heaven and an answer to prayer. I feel very privileged to be in this era of greater miracles!
By Christina Kinder, Taiwan
I met a girl on the metro when I first came to Taiwan who was wonderfully saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Since then she's come over for Bible studies, fellowships, and has become a monthly supporter. She attended our Christmas party and gave her personal testimony to all attending.
She had to move away from our city, but we continue to visit her and feed her. On our last meeting, we explained to her how she is an Active member of our Family Church, and we went on to list the requirements that she so faithfully fulfills. She is inspired and encouraged, as she feels a part.
She took a recent trip to the States and on her return, testified how she witnessed to her brother, and turned him on to Jesus. She has ordered tools and Activated materials for herself and for her relatives in the past, and has recently requested an English Daily Might for her brother. She is so inspired about having Jesus as her best friend, and an intimate part of her life. She prays and reads the Bible every day. She is meeting with Mercy and Abe as well, and is excited about being an Active member of our greater church!
Jade, Brian, and I also met a receptive Chinese businessman while going office to office in Taipei. He took four CDs and encouraged us to visit again. We tried to make contact with him, but since he travels a lot, he explained he was too busy "to become part of our group." We didn't give up, however, as the Lord showed us to keep calling him. His secretary got back to us after we once left a message for him, and told us that he was super thankful for our CDs, as his kids love them. He set an appointment for us to visit him again, and to bring all our children's CDs.
On our next visit, he not only ended up getting all four of the children's CDs (two for the second time), but also an Interactive CD, and the two videos we had with us, and offered us a generous donation. On top of that we showed him the Activated magazine, and though he said that he was still not so sure about having a vacuum in his life for what we have to offer him, he was willing to try it and signed up for Activated, and wants to see us every month.
By Joseph and Sarah, Japan
While on a provisioning pick-up, we drove by one of our friends' companies. He is the president of a freezer house company and has helped us with free storage space for years. We asked him on the phone a while ago if he wanted to subscribe to Activated, and he agreed to do so right away. Though we didn't receive his payment immediately, we went ahead and fronted the money for him so that he could start receiving the mags. The Lord gave us a check to stop by to see him since we were in the area. By faith we went ahead, and he was very happy to see us! We were able to talk about our recent projects, world current events, and many other topics. It was very fruitful. We asked him if he had been reading the Activated mags. He replied, "Of course!"
He explained that he is the chairman of the PTA for a private school that his sons go to, and often has to make speeches. Since the school is a Christian school, he has been using the materials from the Activated mags for his speeches. He then gave us a donation that not only covered his Activated subscription, but more than that!
By Lily Skylark, Japan
Our dear friend Mr. M. has been participating in the incredible miracles the Lord performs for us with our financial situation. At the beginning of this year, when we were desperately in need of funds and seeking God's supply in our daily prayers, Mr. M. suddenly sent us a box of apples. And when we opened the box without further thought, we found an envelope in the box with 100,000 yen (approximately US$850) in it! We burst out with praises to the Lord!
We also needed funds for buying kids' educational materials, as this need was way beyond our budget. So we prayed again, with all of our hearts, asking Jesus to help us in our work, knowing that He would supply the need for our kids' educational material. On Mr. M.'s birthday our children made a number of cards with sweet messages that we sent to him.
A few days later, a box of oranges arrived with the delivery truck. It was from Mr. M. again! And, as we opened it, we found an envelope in it again! 100,000 yen again! The Lord is so faithful to keep His promises to us: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
By Marissa, French Polynesia
We visit Marc, one of our contacts, every Friday to give him Word classes, and we also feed him via e-mail, sending him Daily Mights. He is very thankful and it's a great source of inspiration to him. When our monitor fried, for two weeks we weren't able to send him any messages and he noticed it. He asked us why and we explained that we needed a new monitor for our computer. He right away offered to buy us a new one, and that's how the Lord supplied our new monitor. We've at the same time seen the importance of being faithful to feed our sheep that we feed by e-mail.
One of our sheep tithed last month and helped us with US$2,000. Her kids often come over to our Home too, and we've seen the importance of feeding her and her kids, 'cause in the long run it really bears fruit, and the only reason she helps us is because of her thankfulness for the Word. Like the verse says, "They that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel!" (1Cor. 9:14).
By Michelle (of Michael), India
A precious Christian couple in Finland, Mr. and Mrs. Siniranta, have been faithfully supporting us every month for over 20 years. They adopted our little missionary family to be theirs when we were only a young couple with three little kids. And their donations kept coming faithfully as our family grew to nine children and wherever the Lord taken us, to India, Japan, Mexico, Finland, Estonia, and India again. Surely their reward is great in Heaven!
We have grown very close and have gone through many experiences during these two decades. It was good to know that we could all uphold one another in prayer, come what may.
Mrs. Siniranta was thrilled to learn from us how to witness to others. Her sister also became a supporter and together they even made heart skit props and witnessed to many children, winning them to the Lord. And there was the miracle of their son, who much to his parents' sorrow was using drugs. But through all of our united, persevering, fervent prayers he finally got saved and delivered from substance abuse. He is now married and has a sweet daughter.
There were tears as both of us joined in desperate prayer fighting for the life and healing of our daughter, Melissa, when she became very ill with a leukemia-related sickness. And there was great rejoicing when she was miraculously healed!
There were trials of faith as Mr. Siniranta became very ill and was bedridden. Had they done something wrong and thus been punished for their sins? We comforted them with the knowledge of God's unconditional love and that even our trials equal good as in Romans 8:28. We just need to stay positive and praise our precious Savior, even in the face of difficulty. This was a help and relief for both of them and they accepted this "gift" of sickness graciously.
Mr. and Mrs. Siniranta tithed to us the price of a property they had sold. This donation was beyond their monthly gifts, and it came just at a time when we needed to make a move and extra funding was on our daily prayer list. It truly was an amazing answer to prayer!
Finally Mr. Siniranta had to be hospitalized. Mrs. Siniranta visited him daily and shared our newsletters from far away India with him. As was their custom for so many years, they would pray together for us and our work of reaching the lost here. Then last summer we went to visit. As usual, Mrs. Siniranta took extremely good care of us. We shared our hearts and lessons learned, and prayed together. She was touched that we would come all the way to see her and her husband. Together we went to the hospital and sat by the bedside and shared testimonies. Mr. Siniranta was coherent and followed keenly. But we could see that after half an hour he got very tired. We bid him fond farewell, hugging him tightly.
In April this year the Lord laid on our hearts to send Mr. Siniranta a copy of a beautiful portrait of Jesus looking at the sunset. In May we were able to visit Finland again, only to learn that Mr. Siniranta had just passed away peacefully. We spent time with Mrs. Siniranta, comforting her. She also had great peace in the knowledge that Mr. Siniranta had now gone to a better place, where there is no sickness, pain or tears.
Thus have our lives blended together and our friendship has borne good fruit with many souls reached and saved. And one day there will be great rejoicing as we all meet in Heaven, not only us, but all the precious souls we have won to the Lord as a team.
After I heard the news of Mr. Siniranta's passing I saw a vision of Dad welcoming Mr. Siniranta in Heaven. Dad put his arms around his shoulders and walked off with him. The impression I had was that he was going to show him around Heaven, explain the Family to him in greater detail, and show him how he had been a help.
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