LATEST NEWS FLASHES!--No. 238    11/95    DO/TS
--By WS Staff

MAILING TO FORMER FAMILY/COG MEMBERS

Dear Family,
         GBY! WLY and hope this finds you all well! We always rejoice to read of the many victories that you are gaining around the world!
         "Oh Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy Name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth" (Isaiah 25:1).
         As you know, for the last two years or so the Family has been involved in what is commonly known as the Ministry of Reconciliation. Through this ministry we have endeavored to re-establish contact with former members, offering those who wish to the opportunity to have as much fellowship or contact with us as they desire. We have also sought to reconcile any grievances that some of them have. Generally speaking, this ministry has borne very good fruit and encourages us to continue reaching out to former members.
         So far, most contact with former members has been done on an individual, personal level. However, many of you have sent in addresses of former members who you are not presently in contact with, but whom you believe may want to hear from the Family. With this in mind, we put together a number of articles into a "package" which could be sent to them. Together they give a well-rounded, up-to-date presentation of the Family. Most of these items are included in this mailing. Following is a brief explanation:
         * An Open Letter from "The Family" (First published March 1994 in NLC newsletter).-- This was our first formal communication with former members. It accurately describes our sentiments and intentions as concerns our interactions with former members.
         * An Open Letter to Former Members of the Children of God/The Family (November, 1995). This is the most important item in this package. It gives an overview of events of the past few years, the persecution we have undergone, and major ministries of the Family today. It is written to complement the first "Open Letter" described above.
         * Bithia's Testimony. A condensed version of this was published earlier in the FUN. It is very inspiring--a sincere plea for reconciliation.
         * Flyer advertising the book Sex, Slander and Salvation. We hope your Home has received copies of this very good book. If this flyer is not enclosed in this mailing to you, it is because this book is not available to the public in your area.
         *[Though not included in this mailing to you, the "package" being sent to former members also includes a copy of the two-page Summary of the Charter as well as three recent FARs, all of which you already have.]

         By sending you this material, we are not encouraging you to spend a lot of time working personally on large mailing lists of former members of whom you have little or no personal knowledge. The Continental Offices have kindly agreed to handle such mailings. We do, however, want this material to be available to you so that you are aware of the contents in case you come in personal contact with former members.
         If you receive addresses of former members who you do not know personally and have little or no personal contact with, we suggest that you send these to your Continental Office, who will in turn send them this introductory mailing. If you come into personal contact with former members, or know former members personally who you think would appreciate the mailing, you can either ask the Continental Office to send them the mailing, or send it yourself (being sure to include all the publications mentioned above), along with a personal note.

         We love you very much! May God bless and keep and prosper each one of you in your love for Jesus and your efforts to bring many to Him!

Your WS Co-workers


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family