FAR072 -- GP     Worldwide Activity Report -- June 1998

Copyright 1998 by The Family

         Every day, in over 85 countries spanning the globe, 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 the Family members involved.

Food for body and spirit
From Paul, Guatemala
         On Guatemala's national Day of Friendship and Love, we fed hundreds of Guatemala City's poor and homeless at the city's main plaza. Here's how it happened
         The first step was to secure a permit from the governor to use the plaza. Surely that would be no problem; after all, what better cause than feeding the poor on this special day? But to our surprise, the governor told us that was impossible.
         "We don't allow people to pass out food in the main plaza," she told us. "It is a cultural site. We only allow concerts and dramatic performances there."
         "We also have a singing group," we ventured. "What if some of us sang while others gave out food to the needy?"
         She liked that idea and granted the permit.
         Next we enlisted the help of the business community. One company lent us the sound equipment we would need for the show, and donated enough soft drinks for the hundreds who would attend. Another company donated the noodles and sauce for the chow mein dinner we had planned. Wholesalers at the central market donated fresh vegetables, and a meat packer donated the meat. One of Guatemala City's finest restaurants gave us the use of their kitchen for two hours on the morning of the event. All of this came together in less than a week, which was all the time we had.
         None of us had ever cooked for more than about 30 people, so the thought of cooking for several hundred was daunting. The key, we realized, was to start the day before. Some of our friends came to our home, and we all pitched in preparing the vegetables and doing as much as we could in advance. It was a huge job!
         Next morning at the restaurant the cooking went well, but we hadn't counted on what happened next. With all the food loaded and ready to go, our car wouldn't start! Fortunately there were several mechanics at the restaurant, repairing one of the industrial refrigerators, and they got us going before long.
         We had expected about 300 people, but when we reached the plaza, to our surprise there were 700! "We need a miracle," we prayed. "These people are all counting on us, but we have only enough food to feed less than half of them. It's impossible for us, but You, Jesus, once fed thousands with only two loaves of bread and five small fish. Please help this food not to run out until everyone has had plenty."
         And He did it!
         A number of our friends came to help serve the food and manage the crowd. We couldn't have done it without them, as there are only a few of us Family members here, and some of us were also needed for the performance.
         A lot of the people hadn't eaten a real meal in days, so they were very thankful for the food. But they seemed to need and appreciate even more our personal words of love and concern that we shared with them as we handed out the food. "God loves you," we told each one. "That's why we're here, just to show you how much He cares about you--just you!"

[Photo caption 1: Winning friends. Family children share friendship, love, and fun in song on Guatemala's National Day of Friendship and Love.]

[Photo caption 2: One step toward a better world. Family members serve a free meal to some of their 700 guests.]

Medical aid to urban poor
From Andrew, Lily, Franz and Mary, Kenya
         After weeks of preparation, we held a medical project for the slum-dwellers of Nairobi. A group comprised of doctors, nurses, and a pharmacist offered their services; pharmaceutical companies donated medicine and supplies; and the Sisters of Charity--the Catholic order founded by Mother Teresa--provided the location. Nearly 300 people received free treatment.
         The doctors, nurses and pharmacist were all so pleased with the results that they eagerly offered their help on more of these very needed projects. We learned a lot from this first project, and are excited about the prospect of doing more.

Opportunities for deaf youth
From Simon and Sunny, India
         For the past few years, we have worked with deaf youth in several cities in India. Most of these teenagers and young adults come from very poor families, so they know what it's like to not have any food in the house, or to have to walk long distances in the blistering sun because they don't have one or two rupees (a few cents) to ride the bus.
         Job opportunities for the deaf are few and hard to come by, so like most of India's extremely poor, these young people would seem locked into lifetimes of poverty and suffering. To help them rise above their circumstances, we offer motivational and leadership classes, and try to find employment opportunities for them.
         A couple whom we have known for years is prominent in the local business community. They now employ five of the boys who have completed our course. Prakash, who has been working for them the longest, is now earning about three times the normal salary for a deaf person in this country, and is self-supporting. "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it" (Proverbs 10:22).

God sees--and fills--the need
From Peter, Indonesia
         Our Saturdays are usually spent at a local orphanage, where we help care for the babies. There is also a group of about a dozen two- to five-year olds who we were especially concerned about. They were often left to play by themselves all day with no one teaching or training them, so we offered to start teaching them to read and write, as our own children begin to do at that age. The orphanage staff was very thankful, but we soon found that they lacked even the most basic school supplies and their budget was already stretched to the limit.
         About that time we received a letter from a girl we had met and told about our volunteer work a few weeks earlier. In her letter she asked if she could join us in our work, so we invited her to come with us to the orphanage one Saturday. It was no surprise when she immediately fell in love with the children, and they with her. What we didn't expect was to learn that her family owns a stationery business. When her parents heard about our work, they offered to supply the materials we needed to get our fledgling early-learning school up and running!

Refugees find hope in God's tomorrow
From Simon, Renee and Claire, Greece
         We performed for Kurdish refugees at a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the chemical warfare strike on the town of Halabja, Iraq, in which 5,000 people died. Many of those in our audience lost relatives in that attack.
         Our contribution--three songs by Simon and three by our children--conveyed God's promise of a better tomorrow and brought a ray of hope to an otherwise somber program. Some people were moved to tears.
         Afterwards many asked Simon for the words to a song he had written for the occasion. Another song he preformed, "When Will the War Be Ended?"--also written by a Family member--was translated into Kurdish. That song ends with these words:
         Hang on, my friends.
         Someday the guns will be silenced,
         There'll be an end to the violence.
         And everyone in the world will understand
         That God is love. He can bring us together;
         The peace that He gives is forever.
         When the world knows His love and lives hand in hand.
         Only then, then will the guns stop firing,
         There will be no more fighting;
         Then we will learn to love instead of hate.
         Only then will the wars be ended
         And our broken hearts be mended;
         Then we will live in peace,
         Then there'll be no more war forever more.

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:

Web: http://www.thefamily.org/thefamily
E-mail: family@thefamily.org



Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family