LATEST NEWS FLASHES!--No.244
--By WS Staff
DO
1/96
1. Our Family Internet Web Site:
Advertising It or Not Is Up to You!
Dear Family,
GBY! Thank you for the wonderful response we have received from many of you to LNF 237, "`The World Wide Web with a Heart!'--Announcing The Family's Internet Web Site!" As this is a new ministry and medium for getting out the Message, we are learning much as we go along.
The first two months that our Web site has been on line have been very encouraging! Here are some stats covering the short time it's been operational. (The first month was before the Family Web site was publicly announced on the Internet:)
Monthly Totals
Nov. '95
Dec. '95
Total readers
2,115
7,015 (up 331%)
Average readers per day
77
243 (up 316%)
Number of different files looked at
336
728 (up 217%)
Total bytes transferred (looked at)
14 megs
42.7 megs (up 300%)
Average bytes transferred per day
.5 megs
1.4 megs (up 280%)
(Note: 1 megabyte = approximately 200 pgs. of GN text or 10 color posters.)
As a result of increased exposure due to our site's presence being publicly announced, December's stats were about three times November's stats!
Where people have logged in from:
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, CIS (former USSR), Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA
E-mailed reactions included the following:
"Just to let you know, we're getting a good connection out here in Zimbabwe. The message is coming through loud and clear!"--Former Family member in Zimbabwe, Africa.
"I was just out surfing the Web when I came across your page. It looks great!!"--USA.
"Your Web page is great."--Iceland.
"I am very much happy to find the Family at the Internet. I'm a friend of ... and love the Family. I help them whenever I can. I am really excited to see you around here! God bless you all! I love all MO's Letters, and if there is any way to get some more news I'll love it."--Brazil.
"Today we have seen all of the information and we are happy to see the blessings that God is giving the Family. Just this note to say to you that we love you a lot." (translated from Spanish)--location unknown.
Whom Do We Want to Reach with Our Web Site?
As with every pub--much less a collection of pubs such as the contents of this Web site--we have to decide who we want to reach with the Message. Is it for the rough-and-tumble "netizens" (citizens of the net)--those who "surf" or browse the Internet, whom you must shock with controversial and radical material to get their attention? Is it for our academic friends, and therefore should it contain all of our scholarly Statements, academic papers and court rulings? Is it for government officials and their agencies, and therefore should it contain material they are most likely to be interested in and which will best inform them about us? What about our Muslim friends, or people of other faiths?--Do we want to avoid material that may be offensive to sincere believers in faiths other than our own? What about the friendly local pastor and his congregation whom you have befriended?--Will they be blown away when they visit our Web site and read about some of our controversial beliefs which you may not have yet had time to explain or present personally? How about your parents and relatives? Will a truth-seeking sheep be able to find simple devotional classes and be fed?
Well, the answer is we have had to take all the above people into consideration! We want to present an upbeat, fresh, even controversial site that is interesting, thought-provoking, and that has something engaging for everyone. We don't want our presentation to be bland or churchy--nor to be offensive--but to give a balanced picture of the Family which at the same time doesn't shirk from giving the Message. Our goal is to get out our Message and help those who visit to find Jesus and get stirred up to do something for Him, as well as better understand the Family.
On page 3 we list all the pubs currently on our Web site as of January 1996. As we update our site, we hope to add much more material, including more Endtime material, more Statements, etc. All of this will be either GP or DFO, but some may "spice up" the Web site by introducing some of our controversial beliefs not presently covered in the material currently on line. In fact, the contents will change fairly often, as we redesign and/or replace older material and add new items. Therefore, before you promote the Family's Web site to certain individuals, you may wish to take into consideration that it is not possible to restrict people's access to only certain items or pubs on our site, but once they log in, everything on the site is potentially available to them.
When we first announced our Web site in LNF 237, we explained: "On GP lit, you will now be able to add ... our Internet Web site address," or the Universal Resource Locator (URL) for our Family Web site. This follow-up LNF is designed to familiarize you with the contents of our "electronic library" that you are inviting the GP in your area to when you advertise our URL on your GP lit, or by other means. By giving someone the Web site URL, you are handing them a key that unlocks a vast amount of information and an in-depth look into the Family and our beliefs. While this is a wonderful means of giving them access to some great follow-up material, in some cases a measure of discretion may be in order, as we don't want the contents of our Web site to lose you sponsors or the freedom to preach the Gospel in your locality!
So it is your choice as a Home whether or not to pass on the URL to your friends or contacts. Dad covered this subject well in the following quote: "Know your meat or get butchered!" While all the pubs on the Web site will technically be GP, some items may be more appropriate for one individual, culture or country than another. Therefore please understand that it is by no means imperative that you include the Web site URL on each piece of GP lit, or every local newsletter that you produce and hand out. "A wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgement" (Ecc.8:5b).
Of course, the "net-wise" public, including government officials, will know how to easily find us on the Internet even if they don't have the URL, since there are many "search" programs available on the Internet to help users locate Web sites of various organizations. We are listed with many of these services, such as Yahoo!, etc. (Yahoo! is a massive electronic directory of major Web sites arranged by topics.)
WS will continue to include our URL on the FAR and other GP lit, along with the Family's E-mail address, but you may remove these before duplicating them in your area, should you feel it necessary. Of course, if such a decision will affect the GP lit made available to other Homes in the area, then it should be made in consensus with those Homes
So, to help you "know your meat" and what exactly is on the Family Web site, we will list the present contents so that you can make an informed decision whether or not to give the URL to a particular sheep or contact. We will try to keep you informed of any further pubs we add.
Our Web Site Is Like a Very Open Home:
One other point for any Homes that have an E-mail or Internet account who want to retain their privacy: From the stats listed on page 1 (which are just an excerpt of the many stats that are available), you can see that detailed logs are kept by the company that runs our Web site, of whoever visits (logs in to) this site. This is a common practice, as almost all services on the Internet keep logs. Most on-line activities of Internet or bulletin board users and account holders are logged so a "profile" of the user's interests could be provided to interested parties. On top of this, governments monitor Internet sites. Thus, Homes with E-mail and Internet accounts should consider the Family Web site the same way as you would when communicating with or visiting a Home with a very open and public ministry, since some of the powers that be, who are concerned about the Family, could well be interested in whoever browses our site, knowing that some of the logins could be Family Homes. We are passing on this word of caution so that in addition to you having a choice in whether or not to pass on the Family's Web site URL, you can also decide as a Home whether to log in to the Family's GP Web site or write to the Family at the Family's GP E-mail address.
* * *
GBAKY as we all pray and counsel and learn more about how best to use this new tool, the World Wide Web. Thank the Lord for this new way to reach more people with His Words and the message of His Love!
Love,
Your WS Family
Contents of the Family Web Site as of January 1996:
Bible (KJV)
Color Photo of Dad
Color Posters:
Birthday Party!, The
Christmas Love!
City in the Sky!, The
Come!
Crowns of Life!
Final Signs of the End!, The
Great Escape!, The
Happy End of the World!, The
Heavenly Life of Love!, The
Helper From Heaven!, A
Her Healing Touch!
Here's the Future!
Incredible Journey!, The
Invasion of Planet Earth!, The
Judges of Tomorrow!, The
King's Return!, The
Knowing the King!
Life in Paradise!
Life in the 32nd Century!
Lion, Dragon and the Beast
Love Came Down at Christmas!
Loving Other Worlds!
Magic Garden of Love!, The
Magic of Music!, The
Man of Love!, The
New Heaven and Earth!, The
Princess' Wedding!, The
Prophet!, The
Relief for the Third World!
Rescue!, The
Rewards in Heaven!
Rulers of Tomorrow!
Ruling in Kingdom Come!
Signs of the Times!
Sweet Dreams Tonight!
Teachers of Tomorrow!
Touch of Love!
Watch Out for 666!
When Heaven's on Earth!
When the Towers Fall!
World of Tomorrow!, The
International Color Brochure
("Making a Difference")
Living Waters: 1-6
Mountain Streams:
Beauty for Ashes
But If Not...!
Change the World!
Diamonds of Dust
Did God Make a Mistake?
Holy War!, The
Mountain Men
Stop! ... Look! ... Listen!
Story of Tommy, The
Policy Statements:
Education
Faith
Family Vindicated
Heritage
Origins
Socialization
Support
Violence
Six GP tape ads, with sound samples:
Best Friends
Coloring the World
Little Things
Magic of Love
Sweet Dreams Tonight
Time to Be Happy
Tracts:
In Search of Truth
Somebody Loves You!
Who Is Jesus?
2. City Councils Offer Cooperation,
Coordination and Communication!
Dear Family,
God bless you! We love you and greatly appreciate your love and care for His sheep. You have made many sacrifices to achieve the goal of reaching the ends of the Earth with His Gospel of peace, and we earnestly pray that your cooperative efforts will result in the further spreading of His Wonder Working Words to a needy world. Praise the Lord!
As our Homes continue to decentralize and divide into smaller units, something that has been frequently highlighted in the reports we've received is the need for increased cooperation, coordination and communication between Homes. This is particularly true for Homes living in the same city, and thus sharing the same witnessing and fund-raising turf, with many of the same provisioning contacts, etc. The need for loving interaction and cooperation was also stressed in Mama's recent Letter, "State of the Nation '95" (ML #3017, GN 654), which many of you have commented on.
In praying about what further steps could be taken to improve the unity and cooperation between Homes living in the same city, one thing that came to mind was the counsel given in the Charter encouraging the Family to set up City Councils in cities with more than one Home. (See the Basic Responsibilities of the D.O. Home, 10.J., pg.48.) In recent communications from your CROs, they have all confirmed the need for City Councils. They report that in cities where such councils are set up and regular meetings are held, the work in those cities is better established and more fruitful, both for witnessing and financially. It seems that these councils have been a real boost to the Homes and have brought them closer together, enabling them to coordinate their efforts and focus on helping each other more. Conversely, in cities where City Councils have not been set up, and/or where regular City Council meetings are not being held, in general the Homes have been more likely to experience difficulty in coordinating their witnessing activities, establishing provisioning contacts, etc., and as a result suffer from a lack of unity and fellowship.
We, as well as your CRO leadership, feel that the increased communication and fellowship provided through regular City Council meetings could prove to be very beneficial, which is why such councils were originally encouraged in the Charter.--And as we mentioned, from what we've heard it does seem that they have been a help in the cities where they have been implemented and are meeting regularly.
We would therefore like to further emphasize the need for City Councils in cities with more than one Home, and recommend that if you haven't already set up a City Council in your city, that you take steps to do so. As mentioned in the Charter, these City Council meetings could be attended by one or more representatives from each Home (chosen by the Home), and could meet regularly to coordinate their witnessing, provisioning, and other related activities.
Perhaps more importantly, your City Council meetings could also include a time of prayer and praise, with songs and testimony-sharing, hearing from the Lord for the area, and sweet fellowship together, to unite your hearts in love. In addition, you could read some Word together, and perhaps share any tips, lessons or incidents with each other from the previous month, especially relating to the security of the Homes in the area, etc. Perhaps they'd also want to share the general goals of each Home, so that others can be aware of them, and commit these to the Lord in prayer together, along with any other important prayer requests. If possible, you could also take some time to hear from the Lord for any direction or guidance the Lord may have for your united efforts to reach that city or area in the coming month.
Of course you may not be able to fit all these activities into a single meeting! We are simply recommending that, in addition to discussing business and resolving problems in these meetings, you also take some time together for the Word, prayer, praise and testimonies. This should help turn what could otherwise be rather dry meetings into an inspiration and encouragement for all. Try it!--You may like it!
The frequency of City Council meetings could be determined by a majority vote of the Homes involved. We'd suggest that the Home representatives take turns chairing each City Council meeting. The Charter points out in Right of Mobility C.1, pg.27, that a City Council would "have no authority over the Homes other than that which the Homes agree to give them." Therefore any decisions proposed by a City Council would only be implemented by each Home if a majority of that Home's members agree with the City Council's decision. But beyond city-wide decisions, just the fact that members of each Home are meeting together for prayer, fellowship and communication will be a great help. As Dad has taught us, love, prayer and humble communication help solve all problems!
We understand that some of you may have wanted to set up a City Council in your city, but have found it difficult to see through and coordinate, or maybe you've tried and had a bit of a rough start. Or perhaps you've been afraid to initiate the forming of a City Council for fear that others will think that your Home is trying to take the lead in the city. The Enemy will certainly try all he can to defeat any efforts you make to meet and fellowship and counsel together, because he knows that it will increase your witness and strengthen your attack on his territory. So please don't give up if your first attempts don't work out, or if the first few council meetings don't go as smoothly as they should, or if you find it difficult to take the time to meet together. As you put forth the effort to make it work, we know the Lord will bless it, and you'll be happy with the results in your Home and city.
We trust that you'll do all you can to work together in His Love. Jesus expressed the importance of our unity and cooperation when He said, "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Dad also knew how vital our unity was and exhorted us to work together when he said, "God bless you and keep you together--even when you're apart! Never get so far apart you can't stay together in spirit. The only way we're going to win this war is to fight it together, and not against each other, but together with each other against the enemy! Let's win it together so we can shout the victory together and greet God together in the end! ... Let's get it together and keep it together and always together in all ways with all of us--always together!" (From "The Wise and Unwise Leader," ML #263:83,84.)
We love you and pray the Lord will continue to make you a blessing to many as you reach out to others with His Love.
With love and admiration,
Your WS Leadership
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family