PERSECUTION JEWELS!--No.10       DO 2907  Comp.12/93

Given before the release of our brethren in Argentina

Some Former Members Seeking Love and Fellowship!
         1. Our former members see how bad the world is getting, they don't see any other answers anywhere and they don't like the churches. It's like I used to tell my classes, "Once I've finished with you here, you'll never be able to enjoy church any more." So now they've got no place to go unless they're bitterly antagonistic and join our enemies, and a lot of them don't want to do that. They certainly don't want to join the System, the world, so they've got no place to go. "To whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the Words of eternal life" (John 6:68). They know we've got the right message.
         2. (Maria: Unfortunately, a lot of them were hurt by unwise, immature leadership who failed them. Sometimes they didn't treat them lovingly, and sometimes they applied the pubs too legalistically, and there were a lot of weaker people who just couldn't take it, and in some ways you don't blame them. Some of them left because of their own problems, but others left because of the problems of unwise leadership, which is sad, and which is something we regret. But thank God for those who endured hardness as good soldiers. I'm sure that they had to go through a lot too, as we were maturing and growing and changing as a Family, but God will greatly reward them for the way they stayed faithful through thick and thin, through the tough times and the difficult days.
         3. (We need to show our former members love and concern and not look down on them self-righteously because they couldn't make it--or thought they couldn't. Many of them still remember happy times they had in the Family, and although most of them aren't looking to rejoin the Family, they would like to be friends so they can get a little bit of the Word. Maybe they can be supporters and help put in a good word for us. Most of them don't really want to fight us. A lot of them have seen where their bitterness has gotten them and they don't want to be that way any more.) Yes, a lot of them just want to have fellowship and get the latest news.
         4. (Maria: Yes, they always ask about what you have to say! All the former members we've been in contact with ask about you. They don't seem to have too much against you and they want to find out what you're up to and what you're preaching and what the latest news is, how you are and things like that. They may not agree with FFing or our sexual doctrines, but on everything else in general they realize we've got the right message.) Yes, especially those who are not actively fighting us, but just don't want to be one of us. But they would like to get the latest news and have a little fellowship.
         5. Lots of people prefer to be their own bosses and do as they please. Of course, they're not as happy out in the System, but they can do whatever they feel like doing.--Whereas in the Family they generally did what they felt the Lord wanted them to do. (Maria: It's pretty rough in the Family for people who want to be independent.) It's not a good place for independence. (Maria: It's not a good place for anybody who doesn't like to be in the army. And most of the people in the world don't choose to make the army their career. There are just a very small fraction of people who do that.)
         6. Yes, if you're in the army you've got to be all-out army! The same is true with any branch of the military--land, air or sea. (Maria: Yes, they tell you how to live and where to go and what to do and how long to stay and dictate your whole life.) Your whole life is completely regimented, and if you don't like regimentation, you won't like the army! But if you're sold out on the cause and what the army's all about, you will make good loyal soldiers who will obey and get the job done, which is what our soldiers are doing right now! And they're all volunteer soldiers, God bless'm --in our army because they love the cause and want to save lost souls. There's no draft involved, and people can leave whenever they want to, but we've got thousands of people who have stuck it out for years and years now, thank the Lord!

Constant Change and Improvement!
         7. We're not a revolution if we can't change things that need to be changed! That's what happened to the churches; they got stuck in a rut. If there's anything we need to learn how to do, it is to improve! Whenever we see something that needs to be improved, we need to improve it. If it needs to be changed, we need to change it! That is what we are all about!

Christian Persecutions!
         8. Christians have always been persecuted throughout time. The Church went through major persecutions during the early days. The first ones were under the Jews and then there were ten major Roman persecutions. Then there was the persecution by the Catholic church. So persecution is nothing new. And when you think of how some of those missionaries suffered, Adoniram Judson, etc., we don't know what real suffering is! Thank the Lord! Even our people that have been thrown in jail have not suffered as much as Christians of the past. Judson was tortured and everything. I've always thought I'd rather die or be killed than to have to go to jail and be tortured, but the Lord gives you grace for whatever He lets your persecutors give you.

History of Family Persecution!
         9. I was interested in analyzing all of our different persecutions worldwide, past and present, so I asked Peter to please draw me up a list of all the persecutions we've suffered, and I never dreamed there were so many! Ever since back in 1973 we've had persecutions almost every single year somewhere, and they've gotten worse and worse and more numerous!
         10. And guess what country we've had most of them in?--Argentina!--Almost every year for the last 10 years! I'm sure the Lord will be good to us and let us off somehow, and I hope nobody has to stay in jail much longer. In some places our people have had to stay in jail for months. I counted the number of years and it's been 22 years of persecution in 25 different countries, including about a dozen now that we've had in Argentina alone.
         11. So we have had a lot of persecutions! And frankly, I think quite a few of them were due to a lack of wisdom. Right after serious persecution, this one Family member was peddling lit right in front of Immigrations, so they came out and arrested him and threw him in jail! You have to have a little common sense.

Dad Doing All He Can!
         12. I'm sorry I can't do more for our poor folks who are suffering persecution. I hope that they know that I am concerned about them and pray for them and I'm doing all I can for them; and the Family is also doing all they can.
         13. Jesus help them and make them a testimony and a blessing. Defeat and frustrate our enemies! Deliver Thy children out of the mouths of the lions against all expectations, out of the fiery furnace! You're with them now, Lord. You do the miracle. You have to do the miracles, Lord. The Enemy is powerful and very great, armed with cruel hate, but You can outdo Him--and undo him. Thank You Lord!

Prayers for Our Brethren in Bonds!
         14. You allowed this persecution, Lord, and You have Your purpose and You're going to have to work this whole thing out in Argentina. We don't know why You're allowing so much persecution, but it must be good for us. "All things work together for good to them that love Thee." We love You, Lord, so there must be some good coming out of it. It must be good for us in some way, and has already been in some cases.
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         15. (Another day:) Keep us all safely and make us a blessing, as well as all our other Homes around the world. Especially comfort those that are in bonds and release them when it's Thy time. We know You're letting them stay there for a reason, so we can get the victory over the Enemy. Comfort their hearts, Lord, encourage them and keep them, in Jesus' name.

The Spirit of Prayer!
         16. (Maria's note to a WS shepherdess:) I was so happy to hear from you. Well, I wasn't really happy about your feeling sad, but I was glad that you felt you could tell me about your battles with our daddies and mommies and children being so persecuted, and how it causes you to cry and pray frequently for them, and as a result causes you to wonder if you're a very weak person because these things so easily move you and cause you such anguish of heart. I was especially glad that you said you were taking an hour of prayer vigil every day for the court situations, and that you were going to have your Home do so as well.
         17. After I listened to your message I was praying in the night about what to tell you about it, and I was praying that the Lord would strengthen you.--But I wasn't so sure that your feelings were wrong, or that there was anything out of line with them. I'm not so sure that your tummy being tied in knots when you think of our Family in prison, cold and hungry, is a sign of being weak. I have to say that I wish more of our people would feel the same way. I think that feeling this way is a fulfillment of Biblical counsel to "weep with them that weep" (Rom.12:15). If you didn't feel so sad and burdened, would you even remember to pray for them? Would you be so desperate for the Lord to do something if you couldn't feel their sufferings? Would your prayers be so intense and demanding God to show His power?
         18. I got the verse last night, "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body" (Heb.13:3).--And it seems to me that this is exactly what you're going through. Maybe this is what the Lord calls "the spirit of prayer" and what Dad was asking the Lord to give our Family and what he was telling them they should ask for. It's when you feel so burdened and so pained and troubled and sick with the suffering of others that you make your most fervent prayers to God for His intervention. This is what Dad goes through when our dear Family is suffering and why he can hardly stand it.
         19. I'll bet our sweet brothers and sisters in bonds in Argentina would love to hear how you feel about them.--And far from thinking you're weak, I think they would be so thankful that you're so strong in prayer and in your thoughts of them.

The War Is Escalating!
         20. Help us, Lord, to realize how close we're getting to the End. We're in a battle, a war that's escalating, getting hotter all the time, in which we're going to have to be leaders and stick our necks out! Do you still want to be a part of this outfit all the way? I'm ready to fight! I am fighting! They're out to get us, but the Lord will keep us as long as He can use us and needs us before He takes us Home.


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family