Worldwide Family Activity Report - June 1995
FAR016 - GP
June 1995, by The Family, Zurich, Switzerland
The Family
Making a Difference!
Every day, in over 50 countries scattered across six continents, full-time Family volunteers work to bring hope, happiness and God's love to others. Following are some highlights of their recent activities and experiences, as reported by Family missionaries themselves.
"Everyday" faith meets highway emergency
By Jodi, Japan
Four other Family members and I had finished a long, busy day in Tokyo and were finally leaving the city. It was about 11 p.m., and a slow, steady rain had been falling all evening. Flowing with the traffic at about 80 kph (50 mph), we were in the left lane of the three-lane Higashi-Kanto Expressway. Two or three car-lengths ahead of us, a taxi cruised in the center lane. A small truck was to his right.
Suddenly the truck swerved, hit the right guardrail and careened airborne in front of the taxi and into our lane. The truck driver was thrown through the windshield of his truck, and landed directly in front of us. I hit the brake and instinctively prayed, "Lord, You've got to help me stop!" And He did--instantly! The next thing I remember, I was standing over the man, who was sprawled in front of our van, less than a meter from our front wheels. We hadn't touched him!
How had I been able to stop so quickly? Only by Divine intervention, I told myself. With that realization came an overwhelming sense of well-being that seemed far beyond my normal "everyday" faith. Surely God had not spared this man's life by the narrowest of margins, only to let him die of other injuries. I was sure of it!
"Everything is going to be all right," I told him in Japanese as I tried to assess his injuries. He was breathing and surprisingly coherent, but was bleeding from the head and seemed to have broken his collarbone or dislocated a shoulder. Paul, Scot, Kristy and I all pulled off our coats and covered him to keep him from going into shock. The accident had blocked all three lanes of the extremely busy freeway, so James enlisted the help of men from some of the cars stuck behind ours and together they cleared the debris from the one lane that wasn't blocked by our two vehicles. Within a few minutes traffic was moving again. James stayed to direct traffic.
A moment later, a soft-spoken man approached us and introduced himself. He was a doctor, and had been driving the car behind ours. He checked the man's injuries, and then stepped back into the small crowd that had gathered. He watched and listened silently as Paul and I knelt over the injured man, reassuring him and talking with him until the ambulance came.
When we spoke to him about God's love, the man said he was undeserving. He had led a very bad life. He didn't go into details, but he didn't have to. His tightly curled hair was characteristic of members of yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. "God sees beyond your past and loves you still," we told him. "He spared your life, didn't He? What greater proof of His love could He give?" Then Japanese Paul prayed for him.
"Arigato! Arigato!" (thank you, thank you), the man told us over and over.
The police and ambulance arrived, and as the rescue team took over, we noticed that the doctor was still there. We thanked him for his help, and to our surprise he replied, "I am also a Christian, but tonight, for the first time, I have seen living Christianity. It was in the way you cared for and comforted that man, and prayed with him. You also worked to help the traffic. You were concerned about everyone."
Two teenage boys who had been in the watching crowd came forward to meet us. They were also Christians--surprising indeed considering that Christians make up less than one percent of the Japanese population--and they made remarks very similar to the doctor's.
It wasn't until we returned to our van that I realized how close the flying truck had come to us--so close that I could only open the driver's seat door wide enough to squeeze through--yet our van had not so much as a tiny scratch!
Continuing on our way, we discussed the incident. How had we managed to stay so calm and positive through it all? In this sudden emergency we had all experienced the same remarkable sensation: We each felt that we were exactly where the Lord wanted us. God was in control of every detail--no doubt about that! All we had to do was look to Him and pray that He would use us as He knew best, just as we do in our daily lives. Our "everyday" faith had come through when we and others needed it!
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Teaching others to teach others
By John, Lovely and Julie, Albania
(Editor's note: Jesus instructed His disciples to "teach all nations" [Matthew 28:19]. To this end, Saint Paul told one of his young followers, Timothy, to teach the Gospel to "faithful men who will be able to teach others also" [2 Timothy 2:2]. The following story illustrates this simple principle upon which the Family's international work is built.)
Marco received Jesus with us about one-and-a-half years ago, and has been a part-time member of our team ever since. A few months ago, he was called to do his 15-month military service. He didn't believe that military might can solve his country's or the world's problems, but he took this unwelcome circumstance as a challenging opportunity to tell his fellow soldiers about the Lord.
He openly shares his faith with everyone at his camp--outstanding in this country where all religion was officially banned for a generation. Since he is better educated than most of his fellow-soldiers, and because he has proven himself diligent and trustworthy, Marco is often left in charge of his platoon of about two dozen soldiers. He seizes every chance to tell them about the Lord. One such opportunity arose while they were awaiting their commanding officer's instructions. Another soldier asked Marco to read them something about God, so Marco passed out Family posters in Albanian, and used the posters to teach them about God's Love and forgiveness.
During their off-duty hours, Marco teaches Bible classes to a small but growing group. Most of his "students" come from the small villages where missionaries have not been for 50 years. These young men had grown up with little or no concept of God, so the first classes Marco gave them from Word Basics (a book of simple, topical Bible classes) and other Family publications were basic indeed! Now he's thrilled to see how their faith is growing!
Marco plans to work with us full time after he finishes his military service.
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Comfort in life's darkest hour
By Mary, Belgium
My brother-in-law, Bert, was 44 years old and couldn't have been happier. He had just been promoted to director of the bank for which he worked. Two years earlier, after nearly 20 years of marriage, he and my sister finally had a son. A second child was on the way. Then their world crumbled in an instant.
Bert was diagnosed as having cancer in his intestines and lymphatic system. By the time it was detected, it had already spread too far to be operable or treatable. He was given weeks--maybe months--to live. My mom phoned us with the news, and added, "They really need your help!"
My husband and I traveled to their town the next day. Bert was already noticeably thinner and weaker. Before long, our conversation turned to matters of faith. "I never gave it much thought," he confessed. "I didn't think I needed faith. Now I'm learning to believe." We had a heart-to-heart talk, and as we held hands, tears came to Bert's eyes. We taught him a simple prayer to receive Jesus, which he prayed with us. My sister, also in tears, prayed along with him.
Over the next several months, we visited Bert as often as we could. Each time, we prayed with him and my sister, and taught them from the Bible and Family publications about Heaven. When they told us their hearts' desire was for Bert to live long enough to see the birth of their new baby, we prayed for that too, as did the other members of our Home. When the baby was delivered, Bert was there.
On one of our lasts visits Bert said, "Why do I receive so much love? I don't deserve visitors like you!" He also said, "You explain things so well! It takes away the fear and uncertainty of dying. If the Lord wants to heal me and keep me here a little longer, that would be wonderful. But if He wants to take me to Heaven, I'm ready. Whatever He wants from me is fine." Later, he asked if I would speak at his funeral. "Don't just say what a nice guy I was. Tell them about Heaven."
When their baby was about a month old, Bert passed away. I was one of three speakers at the funeral. As I had promised Bert, I talked about Heaven, comparing death with emigrating to another country. "Before people emigrate, if they are sensible, they try to learn everything they can about the country to which they are going so they can prepare accordingly. Sometimes they even go ahead of their family," I explained. "That's what Bert did," I continued. "He was able to learn all about Heaven before he went, and that helped him not to be bitter about his sickness. Instead, his sickness caused him to seek God, and he found that God loved him very much."
We all miss Bert, of course, but we are thankful that before he passed on he found Jesus, whom to know is life eternal (see John 17:3). His new-found faith brought him peace and contentment, even in the face of death. In that way, Bert brought Heaven a little closer to us all.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family