GETTING BACK ON TRACK FOR JESUS!--Part 1         Maria #205       DO 2890  9/93
Mama's Letter to the Family in Europe

         (After hearing that quite a few of the teens and YAs in Europe had left the Family recently, and after receiving many reports about the sad, confused and degenerate state of some of the Homes, Mama wrote a Letter to the Family in Europe. In this Letter she explains the history of what went wrong in Europe, and she addresses some of the main problems and gives lots of counsel, answers and solutions.
         (What happened in Europe could have happened anywhere. Therefore, as you read this please try to apply it to your own situation where appropriate. We love you!)

Dear European Family,
         1. God bless you! I love you very much and thank the Lord for each of you!
         2. As you know, it's very unusual for me to write Letters that are directed to a specific area of the world. But because of the serious problems that have been plaguing the European work for months now, I feel constrained to write you personally to try to help you see the seriousness of the situation you've gotten yourselves into, to answer some questions and clarify some points of confusion, and to hopefully encourage you and motivate you to get back on track for the Lord.
         3. Before I go further I want to make it clear that the problems and weaknesses of the European work are not the fault of any one age group or any one leader or group of leaders. The problems are quite complex, and they're the result of mistakes, misunderstandings, shortcomings, sins and failures on many people's parts.
         4. At first, as you begin to read through this Letter, you young people might feel like you're getting all the blame. You might feel a little resentful or discouraged, thinking that I, Mama Maria, don't see the situation clearly, because you wonder why the adults aren't also getting a spanking for their mistakes and the things they have done wrong. But please understand that as the Letter progresses, and especially in the third part of the Letter, I will get around to talking more specifically to the adults and giving them the correction they need too. So it's best to reserve your judgment and reactions until you've read the whole Letter.

What's Going on in Europe?
         5. Dad and I have been watching the progress in Europe and have been burdened by some serious ongoing problems. We've been especially concerned, in fact burdened to tears, to hear report after report about how quite a few teens and YAs have decided to leave the Family over the past months, the majority simply wanting to "try out" the System. Of course, we couldn't help but wonder what in the world is going on and what is causing our young people in Europe to be so unhappy, dissatisfied, discouraged, and so lacking in vision that they actually leave the Family. It has become increasingly alarming to see the contrast between what's happening with our young people in Europe and what's happening in other parts of the world, where for the most part our young people are growing, maturing and very happy serving the Lord.
         6. Obviously there's something very wrong in many or most of our Homes in Europe, or at least in Western Europe. Perhaps you have felt it too and wondered about it. I believe many of you adults and teens have questions and are confused and feel quite weak and desperate for change. It seems the Family standard in many of our European Homes has become unclear or almost disappeared altogether. Bickering, strife, bitterness, resentment and lack of respect are destroying your unity and choking out your love for one another. Contentions, differences of opinion, and a lack of communication are causing many teamworks to be ineffective. Many adults and teens are spiritually dead, due to a lack of the Spirit and the Word, and a lack of vision and challenge has made many teens feel there's nothing to live for in the Family, nothing to fight for any more.

Summary of Problems
         7. Here's a little summary of what's going on, at least as I see it. We'll come back to some of these points later, but for now, this is a little overview: There is an underground movement or rebellion amongst some of our young people in some European areas in which the attitudes, thoughts, desires, motives and goals of those involved are contrary to the very foundation of our Family and the principles upon which we build our lives for the Lord. Apparently you young people feel that your communications with the adults have been so bad and they're so out of touch with you that there's no hope of ever fixing things, so instead of even trying to work it out, you have chosen to just forget it, go your own way, and do your own thing.
         8. These attitudes have not been unique to only the teens and YAs, but they have filtered down through the ranks to the point that they've also infected and negatively affected the JETTs, OCs, and even the younger children. Such divisive attitudes have eaten away at your unity and love, and the end result has been a lot of heartache, confusion and misunderstandings.
         9. You have also been experimenting with different freedoms and liberties, many of which have been taken to the extreme. Some of you have adopted the attitude that such freedoms are your "right" and the adults or your shepherds have no right to even question you concerning them. As a result, the adults have been at wits' end and unable to rein you in, which has caused chaos and confusion in your Homes. You've experienced different periods of extreme looseness, which have been followed by extreme restrictions, so that the pendulum has swung very far from one side to the other, when, as you see it, the adults have overreacted, clamped down on you real hard, and tried to legislate righteousness. Plus, by this time the adults are pretty fed up and disgusted with you teens, and in many cases have pretty much given up hope of being able to work well with you. They are resentful and feel, "Is this what we get after all the years of love and care and training we've tried to give you?"
         10. The seemingly insatiable desire for System music that some of you teens and YAs have is also a serious problem. While the availability of System music and your attitude toward it varies from country to country and Home to Home, overall, what was supposed to be a well-shepherded experiment of allowing a little more variety and some selected System music has turned into a free-for-all where you've become polluted through listening extensively to the music of some of the most evil hard rock musicians.
         11. We've also received reports that many of you teens and YAs are swearing, drinking, fighting, stealing, unwilling to share the workload in the Homes, refusing to read the Word, walking off your jobs and out of Home meetings, and exhibiting many other unloving actions and attitudes. You haven't respected the teen relationship and sharing guidelines, which has resulted in many people being hurt. You've had a lack of vision, a lack of feeling needed and useful, and you have become discouraged with unfruitful and uninspiring witnessing.
         12. As you can see, I've heard many disturbing and heartbreaking things about teen life in our Homes in Europe, which have made me desperate in prayer and concern for you.--Desperate to help you raise the standard back up to where it can be seen waving high above you and to where the rallying cry will be so strong amongst you that the Enemy's voice will be inaudible, or at least insignificant. And this is why I'm writing. The situation is desperate, and something has got to be done to turn things around immediately! God help us!
         13. The Family at present is like that little lump of coal that's made into a diamond under pressure.--The pressure is really on with persecution mounting worldwide, enemies attacking on every side, and the media smearing us with the lies they've heard from backsliders, anti-cult groups or the ACs. The Lord is using these attacks to force us, under pressure, to shine like never before. Once again, our adversary has become our helper. PTL!

Most of Our Teens Worldwide Are Happy
         14. Did you ever wonder whether teen life is the same in other parts of the world as it is in your Home or your country or most of Western Europe? We've heard that some of you have asked this very question, and the answer is no! There are many teens and YAs who are challenged, inspired, happy and very much a part of this Revolution for Jesus. If you've somehow gotten the mistaken idea that all the teens in the Family are miserable, dissatisfied, confused, frustrated and bored, you're wrong! That's just a trick of the Enemy to try to get you to believe that there is something wrong with the Family and the Word and our lifestyle.
         15. Of course, we're not saying that any of our Homes worldwide are perfect. There are problems in most other areas with such things as lack of respect, swearing, desire for System music, negative peer pressure, etc., but thank the Lord, the young people elsewhere have not succumbed to the Enemy's temptations to such a serious degree, and therefore their problems have not gotten so out of control.
         16. When you're evaluating your happiness and the quality of your Home life, it's good to remember that even if you're living in the best of circumstances or in a nearly perfect setup, you will still face spiritual battles, which sometimes make life difficult. Fighting the Devil, and resisting his negative thoughts and temptations, and overcoming the battles he bombards you with when you're sincerely trying to serve the Lord and invade the Devil's territory isn't an easy life, and it's natural that sometimes you feel battle-weary, discouraged or just plain tired. Serving the Lord can be a battle, and fighting the Enemy a real difficult and trying experience. But such spiritual battles do not necessarily indicate that something is wrong with you or your Home or the quality of shepherding you're receiving. We all have battles and tests and trials, because we're in a spiritual battle, we're in a war, and we all have to fight, and keep fighting for the Lord and our Family and all those Christians who have gone on before, who are cheering us on and counting on us to finish the war.
         17. The majority of our young people are sticking it out and are determined to serve the Lord, in spite of the rough spots or "growing pains" in their working relationship with the adults, and in spite of the spiritual battles they have to fight.
         18. You teens and YAs are a very important part of our Family. We need you and love you! You're called and chosen, and I know that the years of training you've received have not been in vain, and the Word you've read is still in your hearts and will not return void. But there are some things that are covering and smothering it, quenching the spirit that the Lord's given you, choking out your fruitfulness, and causing you to be miserable and unhappy.
         19. So where did things go wrong? Why aren't you more inspired and challenged? Why don't you have more unselfish love amongst yourselves? Why has such a different standard and almost a completely different set of values been adopted by some of you, so that you have lost sight of the goal and let go of some of the very basics of what we believe in? What are the solutions?

The Lord Can Give Us the Solutions
         20. Before I proceed, let me explain that I know that not all of your situations and histories in the Family are the same. You're all individuals and you've each come in contact with many different situations and people and shepherds, which, when combined with the personal choices you have made, have contributed to making you the person you are today. But in spite of all this, I believe there are some causes of the problems in Europe that are common to you all, and therefore I feel it would be fair and safe for me to address you as a group concerning these points.
         21. I believe the Lord can give us the solutions!--And that if both you adults and you young people will take ahold of these answers and explanations, and will make the changes that are needed in your lives, then things can be radically different for you from one day to the next. You can again shine and be inspired in your lives for Jesus. You can become sweet and loving with each other, affectionate, challenged, envisioned, on fire and greatly used of the Lord.
         22. If you just look to Jesus and cast your burdens on Him, He'll carry you through these difficult times; and by His grace, you'll be like the bird whose pinion was broken but who eventually flew higher than ever before. Or you'll be like the little lamb whose leg had to be broken and who was then carried in the arms of the Shepherd until their love and bond was so great that the little lamb never strayed again. PTL!
         23. If you are sorry for past mistakes and sins and have repented, you are once again "walking after the Spirit" and the Lord will not condemn you for those things, and neither will we. Just as He said to the woman long ago, so He says to you, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more!" So if the Lord doesn't condemn you and we don't condemn you, neither are you to condemn yourself. If the Lord and we don't think it good to condemn you or right to condemn you, why condemn yourself? That takes up a lot of your energy, it saps your strength and lessens your motivation to do things for Jesus, and in general it just does not bear good fruit.
         24. To God, such unfruitful activities as condemnation are a "no-no." They're bad for you, they're bad for others and they prevent you from being a fruitful, strong, on-fire, always-ready-to-fight soldier in His army. In fact, Jesus not only tells us not to condemn ourselves, but He tells us what to do instead: He says, "Go and sin no more" (Jn.8:11).
         25. So, dear young people, please heed this counsel and don't condemn yourself in any of these things, but keep your eyes on Jesus and keep looking forward. There are so many battles each day that we need our energy for, that to waste our time in dwelling upon our past is not good, and is why the Lord commanded us to "forget the past."
         26. Jesus loves you, Grandpa and I love you, and your Family loves you! So hang on! Don't get discouraged and don't give up!


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family