Worldwide Activity Report -- April 1998
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Copyright 1998 by The Family

         "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone, everywhere," Jesus told His followers. Every day, in nearly 80 countries, Family missionaries share Jesus' message of hope and love with many thousands. Following are some highlights of their recent activities and experiences.

         [Picture caption] Music is a language everyone understands.

         At civic events and schools, at hospitals and homes for the elderly, at youth hangouts, homeless shelters and prisons, in nearly every country where The Family is active, Family music groups share the message of the Lord's love and salvation in song. Often The Family's children and teenagers lead the way. Here Family members perform at an event organized by UNICEF in Bucharest, Romania.

God's love song
From David, Costa Rica
         "Before you even met me, you changed my life," a young woman told me recently. "One day, I was so discouraged that I had decided to commit suicide. I was on my way home to do just that when I happened to pass by one of your musical performances." Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued her story. "The words of one song spoke to my heart like the voice of God. That song showed me His love and gave me a reason to keep living. Later that day I received a 'Somebody Loves You' tract from one of your group. Instead of going home to end my life, I went home and read the tract. That simple message was further proof of God's love for me. I asked Jesus into my heart, and now my life has completely changed!"

Behind-bars breakthroughs
From Joan and Tim, Ukraine
         Over the past two years, our show group has performed in about 30 prisons throughout the Ukraine. We give our mailing address to inmates who want to know more about the Lord, and this often leads to an ongoing exchange of letters.
         In his first letter, an inmate named Anatoly wrote: "Thank you for the love you showed us during the concert. Because of you, I can say, 'I'm not forgotten. I'm not worthless. Somebody loves me.' Thank you so much for that! Much love to all your family. I can even say our family, as you made me feel a part of it."
         Igor and Alexey had been harder to reach.
         Twenty-year-old Alexey was halfway through a seven-year sentence at the time. His first letter was full of disbelief, pessimism and bitterness--not unusual for first-time correspondents. When his next three letters continued in the same vein, however, we wondered if there was any point in continuing to answer him. But whenever we prayed about it, the Lord always encouraged us to not give up on him. Over the months we sent him a New Testament and a lot of Family literature. Then one day we received a letter from him which said, in part:
         "Something is changing within my soul. I cannot explain it. I started saying a prayer every night before bed, and now I wake up every morning happy, full of joy and a desire to live. It's been like that for a whole week. Tonight, after I re-read the 'Somebody Loves You' tract you sent me, I prayed to ask Jesus to come into my heart. After that, I was so happy that I even wrote a poem. Please don't leave me between these four walls without the spiritual support I need so much."
         Igor was 33, and had spent all but four months of the last 13 years behind bars. In his first letter, he made it clear that it was difficult to believe that God could still love him. In each letter, we kept encouraging him to pray the salvation prayer. We were so happy when he wrote: "I'll remember this day as the happiest day of my life. Today I asked Jesus to be my Savior. Thank you so much for your love and concern. Because of you, your words and prayers, I received Jesus. Now there's hope for me to be happy. It was difficult to believe, but now I know that what you said is true: Nobody is too bad for Jesus--not even me, a criminal. My second prayer was for you. I asked Jesus to give you health, happiness and joy, and to help you in your work of bringing God's light into people's hearts. Tell me more about God, your work and the life of a Christian."
         In almost every letter, these three men asked us to visit them again. As much as we wanted to, it wasn't that simple. They were in two prisons in the same area, but hundreds of miles from our home base, and normally only relatives are allowed to pay personal visits to inmates. We would need special passes from high prison officials. We claimed the Lord's promise in Matthew 7:7: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and and it shall be opened unto you." We "asked" and "sought" and "knocked"--and we got our passes!
         The head of the prisons in that city welcomed us warmly, as apparently his superiors in the national prison system had told him quite a bit about our work. He arranged for us to visit both prisons over the next two days.
         At the first prison, Alexey and Anatoly couldn't contain their excitement. (They had only been told about our visit half an hour before we arrived, and neither had had a personal visit from anyone in four years.) Anatoly called us his "birthday present sent from God." He had turned 33 the day before. They had previously seen us perform and we knew a lot about them from their letters, but this was the first time we had been able to talk with them personally. Separated by a thick glass barrier and talking by phone, our eyes and hearts touched as we shared God's love, comfort and hope with these two men. It was a special moment for us all.
         The next day we visited Igor at another prison in the area. He was also shocked but very happy to see us. We spent one wonderful hour witnessing to him. As we had with Anatoly and Alexey, we gave Igor a lot more literature, including a Daily Might book of daily inspirational readings. (Editor's note: The Daily Might book may be viewed or downloaded, in full or part, from The Family's Web site.)
         As we returned home, our hearts overflowed with joy that we had been able to share God's love with these new Christians who, except for the Lord and His Word, are alone in very difficult circumstances.
         A few days later we received a letter from Anatoly. "Our meeting was like a dream come true," he wrote. "It was so sudden, so nice. I was feeling very low. My hope was dying; apathy and emptiness had overtaken me. Now it's different. I want to live, I look at life in a very different way, and I want to share the joy of our meeting with everyone here who wants to listen about the love Jesus gives. I want to change the world with God's love. I thank the Lord that there are people like you."

Love from above
From Rachel, India
         "I'd like to read this again!" "Can I have a copy to keep on my desk?" "I'd like to send this to my daughter. She's going through difficult times." Those are just a few of the responses I've received to "My Heart Belongs to You"* when I've read it with friends, many of whom are non-Christians.
         Some had tears in their eyes. Others praised and thanked the Lord for His love. One boss called his secretary over and invited her to sit with us while we read it again. Then he gave it to her and asked her to read with the others in the office while she ate lunch with them.
         It has been beautiful to see how this personal message of love and encouragement from the Lord--a message from Jesus which was received in prophecy--touches so many hearts. Those who are going through especially trying times of personal crisis, confusion or uncertainty seem to appreciate it most. Thank the Lord for His wonderful, life-giving words that inspire hope!
         *(Editor's note: "My Heart Belongs to You" is from Reflections, a series of brief inspirational readings published by The Family. For a copy of "My Heart Belongs to You" or Reflections on a wide array of themes, write to one of the addresses below.)

No mistake!
From Laura, USA
         Last November my mother was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx and lungs. She was 67, and had smoked cigarettes for 50 years. Her doctors told her she needed two operations--one to remove her larynx, and the other to remove part of one lung. The news was understandably quite traumatic for her. My co-workers and I prayed for her, and in prophecy the Lord gave beautiful promises that she would survive the operations and recover. I sent Mom that prophecy by e-mail the day before she had surgery, and it gave her a big boost.
         The operations were pronounced successful, but they left Mom very weak. For the first while, Mom needed nearly constant care. Family co-workers helped care for my four children so I could spend several weeks caring for her. By Christmas she seemed well on her way to recovery.
         A couple of weeks after I returned home, however, the doctors informed Mom that she had an eroded rib--an indication that the cancer had spread to her bones. No treatment was possible. The doctors gave her from a few months to a year to live. We were all devastated! Had our daily, detailed prayers for her gone unanswered? And what about the prophecy where Jesus promised she would be healed? Would those promises go unfulfilled?
         I prayed again for a miracle, but Mom's physical state deteriorated rapidly and she caught pneumonia. For one week that seemed an eternity, our faith was sorely tested.
         Then the doctors informed my mother that they had made a mistake. She did not have bone cancer! With renewed faith, Mom was out of bed the next day. Soon she was able to care for herself; she had her life back.
         We all learned a lesson we'll never forget: Doctors may make mistakes, but God doesn't! What He promises, He performs! Not one word failed of any good thing which the Lord said He'd do for Mom. All came to pass! Praise the Lord! (See Romans 4:21; Joshua 21:45.)
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         The Family is a nonprofit, volunteer organization. Each of the activities you have just read about was made possible through donations from businesses, associations and concerned individuals. If you would like more information about The Family, or if you would like to help sponsor Family volunteers or projects, including any of those mentioned in this issue, please contact us at one of the addresses below:



Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family