Worldwide Family Activity Report - July 1995
FAR017 - GP
July 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.

"Addicted" to helping the lowest of the low
By Joan, Switzerland
         When most people think of Zurich, they picture a tidy, bustling, highly efficient financial capital, tucked away in the Swiss Alps. Well, they are right, Zurich is all of those things. What few realize, however, is that a failed experimental program which legalized hard drugs in one district of Zurich led to one of the biggest open drug markets in Europe. The area attracted hundreds of young addicts and drug dealers from all over Europe and beyond. For years "Needle Park" was a living hell which some more aptly called "death row." Officials shut down the area in February, but the addicts, the dealers and the drugs are still here--just not so openly. Teenagers continue to die from overdoses of heroin and other hard drugs.
         We have been visiting "the forsaken ones"--as the addicts call themselves--regularly for the past few months. The first time we took them flasks of hot coffee and snacks, most of them were skeptical. We were shocked to find their situation even worse than we had imagined. Many were living on the street in sub-zero winter temperatures. Bloodstains in the snow marked places where addicts had shot up. A few managed to stay warm, but their hands still trembled from the drugs and lack of a proper diet. Many of the young junkies were so dazed that they would nod out in the middle of our conversation. We could only wait for them to come around again, and then start all over.
         Even the smallest deeds of kindness have gone a long way in winning their trust. The first time addicts come to our little table which we set up on the street, they are amazed to find that the food is free. Just learning their names means a lot to them because it shows that we--and God--care about them personally. That's something most of them haven't experienced in years. As we part company with each one and we fill their pockets to overflowing with food, we can almost see their hearts leap!
         Now each time we visit, a small crowd gathers around us to drink coffee and hear passages from the Bible or read our Gospel posters. Many have received Jesus as their Savior. One girl who came over for food had open sores on her face--a telltale sign of a full-blown case of AIDS, which she confirmed later as we talked. After a few minutes I realized why she kept staring at my hands. It was my gloves! The weather was freezing, and this girl was chilled to the bone. I pulled off my gloves and put them on her hands, and then we both had a good cry--she, because someone finally cared, and I, because I wished I could do so much more for her.
         Not only are we reaching many of the drug addicts, but we are also beginning to get through to some of the dealers. Society holds the street-level dealers in utmost contempt for their part in supplying these young people with drugs which will eventually kill them. However, ostracizing the dealers won't cause them to change their ways; we have found that we must stoop to their level and befriend them in order to win them. When we first arrived on the scene, they made it clear that they didn't want us on their "turf." But as we allowed them to partake of the free coffee and food, they were dumbfounded. Tenderness and patience paid off. We have won some of them to the Lord. It's a long, slow process, but hearing them pray proves once again that no one is beyond the reach of God's love!
         Leaving the drug scene at the end of a long night of individual counseling, we are often surrounded by folks waving, blowing kisses and telling us to come back.
         As we return home after each visit, we review in our mind's eye the faces of those we talked with that night, and we pray for each one. Then the same haunting question invariably comes to mind: Will that teenager who seemed so desperate for help and clung to our every word still be alive when we return? I've become "addicted" to trying to help these poor, lost addicts. My heart goes out to them, and my mind wanders back to them whenever I must be about my other work. We are now praying and looking for a storefront or basement where we can invite the addicts, a place off the street and be more available to feed, care for and counsel them.

A little love goes a long way!
By David (14), Thailand
         While going to a city about 3-1/2 hours out of Bangkok, we passed an old lady begging by the road. We gave her a cheerful greeting, a coin and a poster--even though we weren't sure that she could read the poster in Thai. Later that day we passed her way again, and her face lit up to see us. "I'm going to Heaven now," she told us excitedly. She said she had read the poster and was going to tell her children and friends about it. She was so thankful for what we had done to help her. "Thank you so much for talking to me!" she said, "No one else even says hello or seems to care that I am alive." We were really glad we had taken a few minutes to stop and share a little of God's love with this woman, because it meant so much to her.

Food aid in the CIS
By Daniel, CIS
         A Moscow civic association helped us arrange to have two tons of humanitarian aid air-freighted free of charge to Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
         The day after the food arrived at the Tbilisi airport, we distributed about three-fourths of it to 600 Abkhazian refugees who have been living in a hospital for over a year. Each family received stocks of lentils, rice, milk powder, oil and baby food. They greatly appreciated the food, but even more so the Gospels of John, the Family literature and the warm words of love, hope and encouragement which we shared. Many told heart-breaking stories of losing loved ones in the civil war in the Abkhazia region of Georgia and of fleeing with their children to Tbilisi.
         Later, we were put in touch with Dr. Maya, who assists a local orphanage. She had made an emergency appeal on behalf of Sophie, a newborn with Down's syndrome who was dying because the orphanage had no milk to give her. Dr. Maya had already contacted several large international relief agencies without success. We offered enough milk, baby formula and baby food for Sophie and all the other children, and Dr. Maya drove us to the orphanage so we could meet the children. We were touched by the dedication of Dr. Maya and the other doctors, nurses and staff members who work under very difficult conditions, and they were greatly encouraged by our concern and prayers for them, baby Sophie and the other children.

Prayer changes things!
By Simon, Canada
         Someone once said, "God never fails to answer prayer. The difficult, He does immediately, but the impossible may take Him a little longer." How true! When I joined the Family years ago, I asked Jesus to take care of my mother and father, "difficult" and "impossible" cases respectively. The Lord completely healed my mother from diabetes, and she soon found faith which has grown deeper and more fulfilling over the years. My father's change took longer, but was even more remarkable.
         He had deserted my mother, my sisters and me when I was a child, married two more times and had eight children with his third wife. Until he phoned me recently from Peru, we hadn't been in contact for years. Here is the story of his recent years:
         He had been a political activist, and managed to anger both the Peruvian government and leftist extremists. He was jailed twice as a dissident. Then four years ago, his wife was assassinated by terrorists from the Shining Path organization, leaving him to raise their younger children alone.
         This tragedy caused him to turn to the Lord. He began attending prayer meetings, and eventually he became an organizer and leader of Christian programs. He now holds prayer meetings and offers Christian counseling in prisons, where he has led a number of convicted terrorists to know the Lord.
         He asked me to forgive him for deserting us. "Now I'm following in your footsteps as a missionary. I hope that you will be as proud of me as I am of you," he said.
         "I am," I assured him, "I am!"

By Esther Sunshine, India
         I have been counseling inmates in the Bangalore Jail for the past two years, and during that time I have befriended many women who are serving long sentences, including some "life-timers." They often ask us to pray for them, and say that our visits provide the only glimmer of hope in their drab and difficult existence.
         One woman serving a 21-year sentence had maintained her innocence throughout her trial and four years of prison, and was determined to appeal her case to the Supreme Court. Each time we visited, she asked me to pray with her that she would receive justice. Other Family members in my Home also prayed for her regularly.
         Last October, when pneumonic plague hospitalized over 150 people in Maharashtra State and threatened to spread throughout India, we were forced to suspend our prison visitation. When we returned three weeks later, we were told that this woman's sentence had been overturned; she had been freed! No one knew where she had gone or how I could contact her.
         In this country of over 800 million people, I never expected our paths to cross again. You can imagine my surprise one day when I heard my name called over the commotion of thousands of people in a busy train station, and I turned to see this dear woman. She hugged me warmly and said, "Thank you for teaching me about God and Jesus and the power of prayer. These are lessons I will never forget. Prayer worked a miracle for me!"

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