July 17, 2003
FSM 332 CM/FM
11/98
Copyright © 1998 by The Family
From Johnny, Taiwan
In "Teenage Challenge," Mama said: "Where you can be above-ground and in a place where the kids are, a club might work great. From all the reports we've received, the kids in Japan love clubs. Everybody wants to belong to one. That's why their Catacomb Kidz outreach in the early days worked so well there. That Catacomber ministry that Josh started there in Japan years ago really had good fruit! I don't really agree that people our age, 30s and 40s, can't win the youth! I remember when we were kids, there were always older people we looked up to—not very many, but a teacher or youth leader or somebody's mom or dad that all the neighborhood kids loved. They were usually twice our age, but they really knew how to get down to our level and capture our attention and respect and admiration. Look what Dad did with those teens in Huntington Beach!
"The kids in a lot of countries today are ripe and ready! Right now is the time for reaping the kids in many places, and they could win them! A strong point for emphasizing young catacombers over older university students is that they're much more tender, less decided on their role in life, not tied down to years of expensive university training, and still searching for what they want in life" (DB 10, 1398:11-13,17,21).
I was 18 during the Catacomb ministry that was mentioned in these quotes, and was able to live with Josh and work in that ministry reaching the youth. I saw firsthand how the Lord raised up droves of catacombers, and the different ideas and techniques used in reaching the kids.
Since that time, and since coming to Taiwan in the last 10 years, I have had a burden to get something like this going once again. Being about 20 years older, however, I felt that the Lord could now best use our kids to reach the youth, and so my vision was to gather them together and give them this opportunity. It was only after the Charter came about, which clearly mentions the need for "Home goals," that I was able to make much headway.
Our youth ministry was born when our Home decided to make youth outreach one of our Home goals. Our two goals in putting aside a whole day (Sunday) for this purpose were to provide a time for our own young people to receive training on how to be missionaries, and to win new disciples.
At the time, even putting aside a day like that was a step of faith, as our Home needed all the days of outreach and fund-raising we could get. The Lord blessed it, however, as we made this sacrifice to put His Kingdom—the training of our own youth—first.
History of the Youth Ministry in Our City
At the time that we set this as one of our Home goals, we were renting an apartment situated in a university town, which we would use for our personal witnessing. We would basically go door-to-door in the area around this apartment, and then invite the students for a Sunday afternoon meeting at the apartment. We would then have some conversation with the students, lead them to the Lord, and give them a Bible class.
Our efforts resulted in two faithful sheep who would come over each Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening. We had five teens and three JETTs in the Home whom we worked together with in this ministry. We had to drive an hour and a half each time, to and from the apartment to our Home, to meet these sheep, but the Lord blessed our perseverance, and the sheep sensed that we really cared about them. One of them is a live-out member today, and the other a regular supporter.
Personally, I was in a bit of a rut about going to this same apartment to minister to the sheep, but some in our Home were getting checks about it being so far away, and that maybe the Lord had another area in mind. We had been in this place now for eight months, and generally we just had one or two students coming regularly, though sometimes up to 10 or 12 showed up.
Thank the Lord, this ministry was a Home goal and not just a personal one. (This was something which I needed to learn at this point.) The Home got together for prayer about the situation and place, and the Lord spoke about moving downtown where we could meet a greater cross-section of students, and not just those from a single school.
We went personal witnessing one evening to an area of town that our two sheep had told us about, where there were many students, to look for a place to start a new club. It was like we were being led along by an angel. Right away we found an empty second-floor room, and sure enough, this was eventually where the Lord opened the door for us to have meetings. It was a beautiful team effort with our Home's available adults and all our young people, OCs on up, all helping to paint the new place and get it in shape.
After our large Home split into several Homes, and new Homes opened in the city, each Home would join in and make the youth ministry a Home goal. This helped tremendously in having more spiritual strength, counsel, etc. Matthew of Mercy, Tim of Hannah, John HK and Mary of John have been available and have come to help back up and support our young ones in this work.
For about a year the club did not seem to be growing a lot; it was simply a lot of slow plodding. Sometimes just a few students came, and sometimes there would be twenty or more. Sometimes people who hadn't come for months would show up again and start coming regularly. After the club was open for nearly a year, we invited all the students who had come to the club throughout the year to our Christmas dance party, and over 100 students came!
Throughout this ministry, the Lord has led us to do different activities for our sheep, for their training and getting to know about Family life. One year, we held a four-day camp/seminar in the mountains during a week of their vacation. The next year we went camping in a nearby campground and had a gypsy-dance campfire, sang songs, and had some good Word input.
During one summer vacation we instituted a Home visitation program where they could take turns visiting different Family Homes for four days each week on a rotational basis. We also took a group of eight of them on a road trip to a neighboring city, and the Lord raised up a free hotel and some free meals, etc. The catacombers were flipped! All these overnight activities were with written parental permission. That summer vacation our outside witnessers won over 350 souls! PTL!
Another activity we have tried has been encouraging the catacombers themselves to organize dance nights. They then spread the word and get a lot of friends to come over for dancing and games. It is a prelude to them then coming over for the Sunday activities, Bible classes, etc. We also attend these dances with our young people and make new friends, witness, etc.
Teaching Our Young People to Teach Other Young People
While still at our first apartment near the university, we started our meetings every Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening with a short inspiration, and then a Bible class given by the JETTs and teens. We went through the basic Word Basics classes with our JETTs, teaching them how to teach these classes to the sheep (Salvation, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, etc.) Since the GP Daily Might is translated into Chinese, we indexed certain pages which correspond to each subheading of each Word Basics class, and this worked well. It helped to make sure the sheep got the point, since our young people's Chinese is a bit limited, and sometimes Bible verses aren't so clear. We also pre-marked the most basic verses in the WB, which are usually in the New Testament. We have a contact for free Gideon's New Testaments in English (NKJV) and Chinese.
We have felt that having our youth teach the Word has been a strong point in our ministry, as it has been giving our young people experience in how to feed a sheep from salvation on through to discipleship. Our young people have also needed to learn how to answer a myriad of questions from non-Christian sheep.
Our Young People Become the Backbone of the Work
When we first got our new place downtown, our teens began to take up the torch with the music for the club. Starting with a bass guitar, keyboard and acoustic guitars, they would meet one evening a week and plan the songs and practice for the following Sunday's program. As we progressed, the Lord provided more equipment, better speakers, an electric guitar and an FGA lead guitarist (when another Home joined our city), and so on. It was good training for our teens, who worked hard and really carried the program.
These teens still put in about two or more hours a week of practice besides their half-hour show. Teens Martin and Michael (of Johnny and Sunny) helped to start the band (Mike on guitar and Martin as lead singer). Many other young people, such as teens Danny and Ike (of Abel and Joy), have been real shtickers, staying around for over three years, helping with the band and skits, as well as faithfully teaching the Word to the sheep. The same could be said for former JETTs who are now junior teens, like Joseph (of Johnny and Sunny), who has learned drumming as well as lead singing. Aaron (JT of Tim and Praise ) has also become an accomplished drummer in the last year. (FGA Tim has been the main band coordinator and instrument teacher for the last two years, and he has been a real pillar as well in helping the teens to shine.)
Another area they shone in was in planning and performing skits, which has been a real practical course in drama. While they were JETTs, Aaron and David (of Abel and Joy) were responsible to give out JJT jobs for clean-up before the meetings. The teens and JETTs who are not into acting or singing, etc., form the personal witnessing team, and distribute club invitation flyers nearby before the program.
It was so precious when during a Praise Time one of our bellwether local sheep stood up and thanked one of our faithful JETT personal witnessers, who had been the one responsible for giving him the flyer and helping him to know Jesus.
Learning to Work with Our Young People
Generally we have found that our younger ones are so excited to see their peers on club day that they would goof off and fellowship during the times when we needed them to tune in to the visitors. But over time they have learned to plug in and get more serious. This is still an ongoing battle, and one which our upcoming JETTs and juniors still need reminding about, GBT!
One thing that has happened is that we adults have grown to respect and appreciate our young people more for their contributions, and treating them in this way has really helped. Also, in realizing that they do have a legitimate need to have fun together, besides their time at the club tuning into the sheep, the Lord has worked it out for us to provision a movie theater contact which we can all go to once in a while, as well as a place where you can watch a video of your choice in a plush room with complimentary drinks, etc.
It's also worked out for the boys and girls to get together for get-outs a few times a week. Other times we've been able to provision pizza for all the JETTs and teens in the city, and then have a meeting and a movie at the club. All these things help us be more of a team with the young people.
Losing Faith for Our Young People and Then Regaining It
A personal lesson which took me about a year to learn was having faith for our young people. Seeing the Lord raise up some on-fire local new bottles, and seeing at the same time some of our own young people's weak areas such as fooling around, seeming lack of dedication, seemingly not being so concerned for the sheep, dabbling with worldliness, etc., I almost felt like I was wasting my time with our own young people. I started to doubt what Dad had said about taking care of your own before trying to save the neighbor's kids. (See "What Is That in Thy Hand?" ML #315.)
We had a training push for the local sheep, asking our young people to "roll over" and be willing to let the nationals take some of their responsibilities. At first, the local national kids were enthusiastic about trying to take on some of these things, but because of commitments to school, parents, etc., they never were really able to carry the ball. They'd stay on-fire for awhile, but then after a few months, would in some cases cool off. Our own young people did have their weaknesses, but at least they were there and you could count on them to do the job!
I started taking a second look at our young people. They've taken a lot from us adults. They've had to take up their cross every day to do their part in the Home. They're still around. They would come every week to work and do their part at the club. They have our basic beliefs, as well as deeper doctrines, down pat. They have Family training from start to finish. And to be honest, the more we have looked at them as what they should be, and expected them to be what they should be, they have been coming up to the standard!
So, all this to say, now I am a convinced believer in what Dad has always taught us about our own young people being our greatest assets.
Feeding the Sheep
After a certain sheep had attended the meeting for three weeks in a row, we started entering their name into a chart, to keep track of what classes they'd been taught. After the sheep finished a set of eight WB classes, we presented them with a basic course graduation certificate in front of everyone attending the meeting. We also made some memory verse booklets corresponding to the basic 16 WB classes, each class having five memory verses. (For the most part it's been a battle getting the sheep to memorize, except for a few diligent ones.) We also have made charts with all of our follow-up material—Reflections, Mountain Streams, Living Waters, Daily Foods, etc.—for each sheep to continue reading through and checking off.
Using the Youth Ministry as an Appeal Project
We have found that when presented properly, this ministry can be quite a good appeal project. In our country the youth are getting into drugs more and more, as well as wasting their time in computer game centers, racing motor scooters, etc. The parents and older generation here are quite concerned, so we can tell them that we have a center where the kids can learn some good things such as English conversation, how to get along with and be considerate of others, leadership skills, how to get along with young people from different cultures, etc. Some of our outside witnessers, catacombers, and friends, have even joined us in our visits to a delinquent center, and have helped with follow-up mail, etc.
The Club's Progress
For the last year and in general, our meetings average from 20 to 30 visitors a week. We also have about 15-20 of our young people who work together on club day each week, along with about 3-4 FGAs. We are now entering our fourth year of this ministry.
We also had a short spring vacation camping outing for 12 of the closer members. We translated page 161 of the Charter, which defines the different spheres of discipleship, and explained them to the sheep. We encouraged them not to feel pressured, but just to choose what level of discipleship they feel comfortable with. The results: Four of them want to be live-outs, four want to be catacombers, two want to be DF/FU Members, etc. There are more that we are sharing this class with as well, as we feel it is good for them and us to know where they stand, and we will know who to spend time with as far as deeper training is concerned. Of those catacombers, three seem quite intent on joining full-time. These three have already confronted their parents with their desire to join, and the response hasn't been an outright "no," but just to wait until finishing school. This has seemed quite positive to us.
The Lord has also impressed on us the importance of doing PR with the parents of these closer catacombers. We've been able to visit their homes, and some have come to the club and discussed with us problems they've been having at home or whatever, and this contact and communication with them has been bearing good fruit.
Organizational Tips and the Importance of Following the Lord Step by Step
Recently the landlord of our new club was planning to take back the hall after only one year of our using it, and our having invested a lot into the interior decorations, etc. When our city council got together to hear from the Lord about why He was allowing this, He told us among other things that we were operating too much on our own rather than following His leading each week, etc.
As a result, we started having monthly planning meetings where we pray together and hear from Him on the month's plan. We establish the spiritual theme for each week's program, decide when to have an outside witnessing concert or personal witnessing attack or whatever. Since we have been acknowledging the Lord more like this, things have been much more inspiring and spirit-led. We have also divided the different areas of responsibilities such as the program, sheep feeding, coordinating of our own young people's witnessing, etc., into different sub-committees.
One of our goals for this year is to train and turn over as much as possible of the responsibility of running the club over to our YA/SGAs. Please pray for us in this.
COMMENTS FROM OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HELP OUT AT THE CLUB
Question: Do you feel our club has become successful? And if so, why?
David: Yes, I think it's been very successful so far, and I think it's because the sheep have had the Word implanted in them. Now they can pretty much run the club by themselves at times. They have their own conviction. We have taught them how to teach others, too, and witness to others, so they can be indigenous. It doesn't fully depend on us; if we can't be there or if we're not around, then they can still continue.
Ike: I think it's because we've been faithful with it. Other outreaches we've had have just passed by. Possibly also because all the Homes in this area have pooled their resources together.
Jo: It has been a blessing for the young sheep that we've been able to minister to. Also, it's been good for the unity of the Homes. Our club has helped the sheep to progress in their lives for the Lord. They first came to the club ignorant, introverted and shy, but they've become more outgoing, are able to perform in public, etc.
I think some of the keys of our helping these people have been the classes we give them, and the fellowship. Also, when we give them a chance to be teachers, I think it really helps too, because they can experience the joy of witnessing. It helps them gain more faith in what they believe in.
Joanne: I've worked with different clubs in other places, and they've all eventually died out. We seem to be able to keep it up, and it's growing. Maybe it's because the adults and teens and everyone pull together in a united effort to make it work. I know the adults put a lot into it and say, "C'mon, you guys, let's go!" They pull us along and keep us going.
From Ado and Kanah, USA
How Our Ministry Began
"Jesus, we're happy to continue in this ministry that we've been in for three years, but," we told Him sincerely, "if You have something else for us to do, we are completely open to change. We'll do whatever You want us to do." It was the spring of '96, when our Home was planning a move.
It was a crucial time for us. The ministries that we had been involved in for three years and really enjoyed, such as the North American toll-free 800 number, the reconciliation ministry, the mail ministry to former members and contact with Fellow Members—all this needed to continue, and at the time we didn't see anyone else that could take over these ministries. We were planning to continue in them, but we poured our hearts out to Jesus that we wanted His will most of all, and not to be stuck on our own program. If He had some other plan or ministry for us, we were willing to do it. We wanted a change, but at the same time didn't want to leave the other ministries floundering.
Within a short time we received the following in a letter from the N.A. CROs to our Home, where they explained the need for helping the teens and JETTs. "...So, Ado and Kanah, you're probably already guessing what we're considering asking you about. And you're right! We'd like to ask if you would want to consider helping once again to pour into our upcoming teens?"
It was so easy to say yes to Jesus. We were thrilled, and knew that this was our new commission from Him. From their letter and the Lord's leading, we felt that we would somehow be a mobile team traveling to visit teens and JETTs.
Shortly after this, we moved from our Home and became a mobile team! We began learning how to live on the road, camping in our small motor home that had been our "bedroom" for the past three years. This might be a good place to add that we had never ever lived a "mobile lifestyle" in the Family before this. As a matter of fact, I (Ado) don't even like to drive big vehicles, and camping was never really a thrill for me. But nonetheless, because the Lord said to do it, we looked forward to this ministry with a great deal of excitement—although we didn't know exactly how it would work out and exactly what we'd do.
A couple of months later we participated in three CM/FM fellowships in the Western U.S. where we worked with the teens, JETTs and children, and had an opportunity to meet with many parents. After these fellowships we participated in another two-week JETT camp.
Through these meetings, a number of ideas from parents were given that developed into the plan to have frequent get-togethers and activities for JETTs and junior teens in our area of the U.S. We dubbed them "mini-kamps."
Although we began to organize them, we didn't know how we were going to be able to follow through with them, due to our living situation. It was all by faith. Our motor home was small and didn't seem adequate for our family of six plus all of our personal belongings. But we had told the Lord that we would go ahead with the ministry by faith, trusting that He would supply all our needs.
We had been trying to provision a larger motor home, or get one for a big discount, but nothing was really coming through. At one point in prophecy the Lord told us to stop striving in our own strength to get the things we wanted, and that if we would just wait, He'd give them to us.
He said: "Give, just give, and I will give to you, pressed down and shaken together and running over—more, much more than you can imagine. It will not come through your own strivings but through My hand, through My power, as a token of My grace and love. Be patient and wait on Me. For man seeth not as I see. You will not see things as I see them, but trust and obey, and I will supply all you need."
That was pretty exciting for us—to have "much more than we could imagine"—WOW!! We were imagining something pretty big: a large motor home.—What could be more than that? Only days later, Kanah's mother unexpectedly went into the hospital, and less than two weeks later she went to be with Jesus. She left us an inheritance that was sufficient to cover the cost of a larger motor home. So the Lord did supply "much more than we could imagine."
(We had received the prophecy while praying with Kanah's mother just a few days before she went into the hospital. She had been praying along with us for the motor home, and had sweetly joked when hearing the prophecy: "So if an angel comes to my driveway with a big motor home, I should accept it for you, right?" Little did any of us know how quickly things would happen.)
This was during the Christmas season and we were trying to organize things so that we could get started with our ministry right after the first of the year. The Lord was so very good to us, and continued to encourage us that the ministry of working with the JETTs and teens was very important.
I remember one morning when I had to get up early in order to drive a long distance to arrange things for our first junior teen activity, I didn't really feel like getting out of bed so early. While still in bed, under the covers, I was asking Jesus, "Is it really necessary to get up so early to do this? Can't I sleep a little bit longer?"
He so gently spoke and said, "Whatever sacrifices you make for these young ones, I will repay." Well, Jesus had been so good to us to supply our needs so wonderfully, I knew that I couldn't let Him or the teens down. That promise from Him helped me get up easily and drive that day about seven hours, in the course of working on organizing our first teen activity.
So that was how we received the commission to work once again with teens and JETTs. Since that time, we have attended at least four large fellowships, attended by dozens of teens and JETTs, participated in several JETT camps and activities, taken three teen and JETT road trips and gone on a couple of teen and JETT camping excursions. The need is so great and we count it a privilege to be able to work full-time in this ministry of shepherding our precious younger folks.
Details of the Mini-Kamps
After we received the commission to work with the teens and JETTs, we were bursting with the urge to get out there and visit with them, but didn't know how to go about it. "Where do we start?" was the big question. As we mentioned above, through our communications with parents of these age groups came the idea for mini-kamps.
Mini-kamps were to be short, four- to five-day activities, based in someone's Home, for about six to ten young people. There would be an interesting activity that would attract them, such as a computer seminar or learning about horse care.
Some other ideas that came up were:
1. A "Family History" camp held in the L.A. area where the teens could go to Huntington Beach and Grandmother's cottage, tour the 5th and Towne Building, do a Holy Ghost sample in Griffith Park, etc.
2. A "How to Be a Guitarist or Inspirationalist" camp, to teach some basic guitar tips.
3. A CTP week at a Home that has an active CTP in which the teens could participate.
4. A camp to teach sign language.
The ideas are endless.
At these camps, the hosting Home would organize the activities as much as possible, and we'd be on hand to help shepherd and actively participate in the camp. This meant giving Word classes, organizing the schedule (making sure the dishes got done, things stayed clean, etc.), going on get-outs, planning the memory work, etc.
We didn't want to charge for the kids attending, but we found it sometimes was necessary, to cover certain costs. For a couple of these, rather than charge a fee, we asked that each attendee bring a protein (like chicken, meat, fish, cheese, peanut butter, etc.) that could be used for one meal for the whole group. This has worked well, because a lot of the fruit and veggies could be supplied through local provisioning.
What was interesting was that in a prophecy sent to us by Mama, Dad told us: "I'm just so thankful that you have the burden for these kids, that you can take them out on the road, take them out by faith, to live the faith life, witnessing and telling people about Jesus." The prophecy was quite an encouragement, but this particular part about taking the teens and JETTs out on the road wasn't really in our plans. However, somehow over the next few months, as plans were developing for these activities, the very first thing that got planned was a teen road trip. Ha! As it turned out, we had to plan three of them because so many teens and JETTs wanted to participate.
Our road trips and activities are scheduled pretty simply. We have three basic activities: Word time (usually in the morning), get-out (usually about three hours long) in the afternoon, and an evening activity. We propose a memory project for each camp, and we learned that it has to be reachable—not too long. The first time we started with something too long and it discouraged most from memorizing. The next time the goal was more reachable, and 75% of the young people memorized it. (There's always a prize at the end of the camp for those who reach the memory goals.)
We get requests from adults who want to come and participate as volunteers in these camps, as well as YAs wanting to help in some way. (Of course, with some of these exciting excursions, they had lots of fun too, TTL!)
One of the main goals of these mini-kamps is to give us an opportunity to make personal contact with the junior teens and JETTs. Through this contact, we hope that we can continue to be a help to them in some way, and most importantly encourage them in their walk with Jesus. We have found that the fellowship that they get from these activities is something that they really desire, since many live in small Homes and don't get to visit with many others their age. Plus it's a positive environment. We usually explain our rules and guidelines in the letter of invitation, which is basically the Charter rules, as well as other practical and necessary do's and don'ts.
On our first road trip we had several junior teens seriously misbehave in the first four days of the trip. We were 600 miles down into Mexico, but because of their misconduct we immediately brought them back up to the border and sent those teens back to their parents. We haven't had any other serious problems since. As a matter of fact, most of the young people that have participated in the road trips and other activities have been good kids.
It's so much fun working and living with these energetic, enthusiastic young people. It sure encourages my faith in the Family to see we have such up-and-coming powerhouses who love Jesus.
Komputin' Kamp Testimony
Byron and Meekness hosted the computer seminar for JETTs at their Home. Byron, a computer programmer and designer, took some time off his work to give the JETTs a basic understanding of word processing, spreadsheets and databases. There was even an opportunity to take a quick surf on the Internet to look for information for another teen activity (camping at Yosemite National Park). All seven JETTs got some hands-on computer experience.
Each of them had the opportunity to try their skills at character and paragraph formatting in MS Word 7, using their memory work as an example. They also got to lay out a simple spreadsheet in MS Excel and made graphs to visually show the various ways the information they input could be seen. In MS Access, they all had fun making a basic database and inputting some information which they later called up by requesting selected data.
Our basic schedule for the five-day camp was: After an hour-and-a-half of devotions in the morning, there were two hours of computer instruction. Personal quiet time came after lunch, and then a three-hour outside activity of either hiking, soccer or other group games. After dinner there was another two hours of computer classes. Each day was so full!
This particular camp was for JETTs (12- to 13-year-olds). Some traveled for hours to be able to attend. It not only provided these JETTs with nearly 10 hours of professional computer instruction, as well as several hours of individual computer practice outside of the classroom, but it was a wonderful opportunity for them to have fellowship with others their age, not to mention getting some much-needed physical exercise.
The Lord had supplied all the food we needed through provisioning from the L.A. area Homes, plus some of the JETTs brought either fish or chicken to contribute to the meals. Josh (18) and Mari (16) were our camp helpers, cooking the meals and organizing activities. The JETTs each took turns doing dishes after each meal. It was a cooperative effort, which seemed to work well. We ended the camp with a special homemade strawberry shortcake treat, topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Mmmm!
"Horse 'N Around" Kamp Testimony
The last weekend of April, a friend of the Family sponsored a four-day mini-kamp for JETTs dubbed "Horse 'N Around." There were five JETTs, a teen, a YA and an SGA in attendance. We brought a couple of motor homes for us all to sleep in, which kept the house from feeling crowded. Besides the provisioned supplies that we brought, Jane, our dear hostess, had stocked up on quite a lot of wholesome food and drinks. Even with all the exercise from riding horses, several of us thought that we had gained weight during the camp, with all the good food! Jane had spent weeks preparing for this camp and even raised donations to cover some of the expenses.
We started off the first day with a trail ride, with all 11 of us riding horses into the surrounding hills in the morning. That afternoon we had three more hours of riding in an arena, as each of us took turns on three horses learning how to lead a horse, ride in the saddle, trot, canter and, for some, just stay in the saddle, ha! The following days were filled with two more trail rides (a total of over four hours of open riding), plus more arena work with horses, a close-up view of someone shoeing a horse, a visit to a Western Heritage Museum that had a lot of interesting things about how horses played a major role in Western U.S. history, as well as attending a horse show where horses and riders performed before judges.
Then everyone got to paint their own T-shirt with a "Horse 'N Around" emblem of their choice. Besides all of this we had a special evening where one of Jane's relatives invited our whole group over to their house for an evening meal and a swim in their pool.
Our basic schedule for the four days was Word class in the morning before we left for riding or another activity, then a lunch break with another activity (often riding) in the afternoon. In the evening we usually had an indoor activity, like crafts, games or a video about horses. The meals were prepared by our "staff" of a teen, YA and SGA, and though they handled the organization of all the food prep and dishes, they also participated in all the activities. TTL!
On our road trips or camps, our memory project is often something that relates to the theme. For example, the memory work for the horse camp was the GP DM 222, which talks about gentling a horse through love. It was very appropriate. There was a prize for those who completed the DM before the end of the camp.
After just a few days we all grew closer and got to know each other better, and our time together was also a witness to our hosts and their family and friends.
One special thing happened the morning we went to the museum. As we approached the museum, we unexpectedly drove along the route of a very large charity marathon, with hundreds of people participating. The theme of the marathon was "Walk for Someone You Love." Before going into the museum, we wanted to pass out tracts to all the participants and fortunately we had grabbed a sack of tracts before leaving.—We distributed nearly 600 "Somebody Loves You" tracts, which went right along with the theme of the marathon. One security guard we had given a tract to later asked for a couple more tracts to give to other fellow-workers.
By the end of the four days most of us were a little sore from all the riding, but happy to have had such an enjoyable time.
Baja Blast Road Trips
1997 started with a blast!!—Three two-week road trips into Baja California, Mexico! They were full of teen power, with 14 teens on each trip. Very rejuvenating.—You should try it!!
We traveled in two vehicles (a motor home and a pickup truck with a pop-up tent trailer). We had just enough sleeping space for everyone. We often camped at beautiful beaches. Some of the teens were thrilled to sleep out under the stars on cots or right on the beach. The beaches were not crowded and the water was a gorgeous blue-green color.
On two trips our whole team got to use kayaks for a day going out into the bay. We also played in high sand dunes, diving and jumping till we were covered with sand. We had so much fun hunting for shells, playing in hot springs near one beach, climbing the surrounding hills and eating locally grown dates.
The Mexican people are so precious! Many helped us with things we needed—donating camping sites, food, showers and even gas for our trip. It was a wonderful experience meeting so many receptive people. We distributed tracts all along the way, as well as posters and some audio tapes. One lady who got a "Somebody Loves You" tract on the beach stopped and read the whole thing to her husband as they sat there. It was so much fun witnessing to people everywhere we went.
In one small town where we stopped for a couple of hours, the teens ran all over the main streets passing out tracts and Daily Foods. It felt so good to look down the street and see so many people sitting in their cars, or on benches and curbs, reading our literature. As I was walking back to our vehicles, one older man stopped me, shaking the DF in front of me. As I turned to look at him, I was thrilled to see him smiling as he thanked me for passing out the lit. He said, "This is God's Word. It's beautiful! Thank you so much for passing these out to us. God's Word is so important..." He went on for several minutes about the wonderful work we were doing, how thankful he was and how good it was to read about God.
We were thankful to provision two hotel rooms that night where we could rest and shower after a long day!
Our story wouldn't be complete without telling of our whale-watching excursions. Gray whales come to Baja every year to give birth to their one-ton babies. It was late by the time we reached the primitive campground, nearly 20 miles from the main two-lane highway via a rough dirt road, located on the beach of huge Scammon's Lagoon. We could hardly see where we were camped that night, much less see the lagoon. Early in the morning, when I awoke to search for the outhouse, my blurry eyes tried to focus on the black "ships" I saw on the water, that seemed to come and go. Then I began to notice water spouts from these "ships." I excitedly woke the others to look at the hundreds of whales out in the lagoon. Soon we were on small boats heading out to see some of the more than 1,700 whales. A 50-ton mama whale and her calf immediately began to circle our boat — slowly and ever so gracefully she came close enough that we could have almost touched her barnacle-covered skin as she lightly brushed aside what now seemed like a straw of a boat compared to her massive hulk. Whew!!
Time would fail us to tell of all the many "little people" that we met, those who wanted to talk about Jesus, those who helped us in some way, and of course the testimonies of those who got saved. Mexico was sure a wonderful place to go for a road trip. Why not try it—and take some teens or JETTs with you?!
(Editor's note: God bless Ado and Kanah for pioneering this exciting ministry! As you've read in Grapevines issues 38 & 43, the Lord has since led Ado and Kanah to launch out into another inspiring and fruitful ministry with young teens in N. America: taking them on one-month "missionary-in-training" trips to far-flung mission fields such as India, Russia, China, etc. So this year they haven't been holding any more mini-kamps, but we wanted to pub these testimonies anyway in case they would inspire any of you to do something similar for the JETTs and young teens in your area. GBY!)
It all started in 1996 in Bulgaria, while our Home was living by the Black Sea. One night I was awakened at 3 AM by a departed spirit, who asked me to get up and write down his story. He had died of a drug overdose, and his testimony can be read in GN 741, "Why Witness?" on pg. 19. After finishing his testimony, he pleaded with us to reach the youth, who are "fainting for thirst" in their search for the truth. (See Amos 8:9-11)
During that time I also had two dreams, in which the Lord showed me some tough youngsters who were considered the scum of society, and who asked me if I was willing to be a father to them. At the time I couldn't understand the meaning of the dreams, but I told the Lord that if He wanted me to work with such people, I was willing to follow Him. I said He would have to lead the way, though, as I had no clue where and how to start such a ministry.
From Simon (of Vicky), Italy
Makings Through Breakings
At the end of that summer, we learnt that our teen daughter Sara (16) had developed a severe case of scoliosis, and was in need of hospitalization and special physiotherapy which wasn't available in Bulgaria. As it was time for us to take a trip out of the country, we decided to travel back to our home field, Italy, and consult with some specialists. There we were told that Sara would have to first wear a cast for about eight months, and then a brace for two more years, during which time she would also need physiotherapy and regular checkups.
As you can imagine, this was a shock for us, as it meant that we couldn't go back to our mission field, and we would be stuck in Italy for the next two or three years! We asked the Lord and He clearly told us not to worry, that it was all under His control and He would turn it into a Rom.8:28 victory.
That same night we received a phone call saying that our Bulgarian Home was fleeing the country because of persecution! A few days later we met with our Bulgarian team in another country, and the Lord told us that it was time to leave Bulgaria and move to other fields.—For us, this was another confirmation, as it meant we were free to go back to Italy and take care of Sara's medical needs. The Lord was slowly working out His plan in our lives. Although at the time we couldn't understand it because we wanted to be on the "mission" field, we kept getting prophecies in which He reassured us of His love and asked us to trust that He was in control.
While Sara was in the hospital, we received a phone call that our oldest daughter Claire (20) had decided to leave the Family and was moving to London. At that point it seemed like our whole world was collapsing on us. If it hadn't been for the Lord's love and reassurance that He kept showing us through it all, we wouldn't have survived those breakings. But as we got desperate with Him and listened to His voice, He strengthened our faith and helped us keep going.
Whispers of Comfort and Guidance
When Claire left the Family the Lord asked us to trust Him that He would be with her and eventually lead her back into the fold of David, a promise that we're still claiming today and waiting to see fulfilled. Then He added:
"Have confidence and trust that I will be with her, for this test of trust and confidence will be your Jordan. For now you're tested in your faith, now you're tested in your trust and in your confidence in Me. You've been tested in the past, but My school of training is not over yet and you're now tested with your own child. But it's all working together for your good; it's working together to strengthen you and to make you into the vessels of My choosing.
"You cannot pour out the balm of My love and the oil of compassion upon those whose hearts are broken, unless your own hearts are broken. Out of these breakings will come forth the waters of life that will comfort others; out of broken hearts My love can flow freely. So do not harden yourselves, but let your hearts be broken and let My love flow freely so that you may be a sample of trust and confidence unto others, so that you may pour My love upon others, for that's your calling and your anointing. The mantle upon you is a mantle of love, and that's the standard that you must uphold.
"If you keep upholding that standard and keep burning your lives in service to others, if you continue to be a father and a mother unto those that I give into your care, as you care for My own, I will care for your own. As you care for those that I entrust you with, I will care for the child that you entrust Me with. As I trust you with the lives of the sheep who have been given into your care, you must also trust Me with the life which you have committed into My care." (end of prophecy.)
In another prophecy, the Lord also said: "My dear ones, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials that you are going through, for there are others of your Family who are going through similar things, but know that this it is all part of My plan to prepare you for the battles ahead. Through it all I'm making you the man and the woman that I want you to be, for how can you comfort others with the comfort that you yourselves are comforted with, unless you yourselves had to trust Me by crossing the Jordan?
"But as you go through the deep waters and as you pass through the fire, if you keep looking to Me, the Author and Finisher of your faith, and you keep depending on My grace to bring you through, you will come forth without even the smell of smoke, but with a deeper knowledge of My ways and a deeper understanding of what others go through, so that you will be able to do a greater job for Me. For it's the fire that makes you desperate and are the deep waters that make you cry out to Me and, as you call upon Me in the hour of desperation, you will experience the power of My redemption and you will come to know Me in a deeper way that you have ever known Me before.
"So trust Me and know that I'm in control of all these things and don't question My doings, for I do all things well and all things are perfect from My perspective. I see what is ahead and I know what you need and, through all of this, I'm arming you with the weapons that you will need to fight the battles which are ahead and win victories for Me, by learning to avail yourself of My strength and of My grace which is sufficient unto you." (end of prophecy.)
"Called to the Rescue" Even Before GN 729
Armed with these promises from the Lord, we endeavored to follow His whispers step by step until our team (which, besides our little family, at the time included YA Andrew and teen Christina) was invited to spend the Birthday Feast '97 with a Home in a town south of Rome, where there were four Family Homes and lots of teens.
During the Ordination ceremony, the Lord again promised that He would greatly use our team and gave some encouraging Words to us all. But none of us could still see where and how He wanted to use us, except that our hearts now began to break for some of the teens there who weren't doing so well, and the Lord encouraged us to try to "rescue them"! This was before the "Call to the Rescue" GNs, so you can imagine how encouraged we were when the GNs came out and confirmed that we were on the right track, TYJ!
As we asked the Lord for guidance, He instructed us to move to the north side of Rome and establish a Home where we could invite some of the teens to spend time with us. Delight (of Abner) who also has the gift of prophecy, prayed for us and received the following.
"Go Where the Need Is Greatest!"
(Jesus speaking:) "Do you know where I'll have you go? I will have you go where the need is greatest, where the sacrifice and the giving is greatest, for you should not go where things seem easy. Turn away from what seems easy and choose the hard path, for the hard path shall be easy, and the easy path shall be hard. Remember this, for what looks hard is not always so, and what looks easy is deceiving.
"Come and love Me, bare yourselves to Me and I will fill you with a love that will spill over unto others. I'll give you strength for the task, for I've brought you here to hear the pitiful bleats of the lambs that are dispersed upon the hills. Surely your hearts are touched with the feelings of their infirmities and I long to gather them unto Myself, but I have no eyes but your eyes, no lips but yours, no way to help them but through My obedient and yielded children!" (end of prophecy.)
While going to sleep that night, we asked the Lord to show us the "hard path," where the sacrifice looked greatest but which He promised to turn into a easy path. I then had a dream of a certain FM couple with eight kids. The wife is handicapped with polio and was then expecting her ninth child. They lived on the north side of Rome, and in the dream they were very hungry for fellowship. The next day we visited them and the dream was immediately fulfilled as they had been praying for someone to fellowship with. In a few days the Lord raised up a nice house for rent in the very same residential area where they live and when we checked our account, there was enough money for the three-month deposit. PTL!
Soon YA Maria (Norwegian) joined our Home. We then invited a couple of teens from the other town on a road trip to Croatia with us, to see if we could inspire them with some personal witnessing on the field. But the trip didn't seem to turn their key, so we came back to Rome a bit disappointed. Meanwhile the Home in Zagreb invited us to spend the summer with them and witness on the Croatian beaches. When we prayed about this offer, the Lord gave us an outstanding prophecy which left all of us puzzled and wondering what He was talking about.
"Follow the Bleats of the Sheep"
The prophecy said: "Open your gates and let My sheep in! There are many desperate voices raising up to Me, crying and asking: 'Why, God? Why, Lord?' My heart is broken and is longing to give them the answers, but I have no other lips but yours to answer their questions, no hands but yours to show them My love! Enlarge your tents and make room for my lambs, for I will lead many of them to you. Just follow the bleating of the sheep and they will lead you to My highest will. Follow the bleating of the sheep ... "
As we all looked at each other, wondering what it meant, Vicky was reminded of a sweet 23-year-old boy who had gotten saved a few years before, and who had been writing to us since then. He was living in our general area, and that afternoon she phoned him. Here is what happened, as Vicky told it at the time:
(Vicky:) In his last letter, this boy had mentioned that he was fed up with the world and wanted to invest his life in something better, so we called him and he was eager to see us right away. This meeting with him was just the beginning of a big chain reaction which led us to meet many other hungry young sheep and potential disciples.
Paolo comes from a broken family, and he immediately invited us home to minister to his sister (Monica, an alcoholic for 11 years), who was in desperate need of help, and to his mother, in deep depression after separating from her husband. We had lunch with all of them, and that same day a friend of Paolo's, Irene, who had been searching for the truth in many eastern religions, also came to meet us. These people were so receptive that each of our words and songs was gladly treasured in their hearts, and they all received the Lord.
Hours went by and no one got tired of listening to the Word. Later, two more sheep joined us: Irene's husband, Maurizio, and Dalila, a friend of Monica's who was a real tough nut, as she had had a difficult life and was very bitter against the Lord. After pouring out all her frustrations, Dalila also wasn't able to resist and grab the lifesaver that was handed to her: Jesus.
The next night these five young people drove all the way up to our place (80 km), together with Elisabetta, Paolo's girlfriend, and they all wanted to know more about Jesus. Arriving around 8 PM, they ended up staying until 4:30 AM, as they were so hungry for the Word that it was all they wanted to hear.
Two days later these six sheep came over with two other friends, Eduardo and Antonietta. Eduardo was covered in tattoos and Antionetta had a pierced nose and eyebrows - both turned out to be super sheepy! While we were trying to find a solution for dinner, as we had not expected them to come, Antonietta told us: "Please don't worry about dinner, we came because we want to hear God's Word!"—And they also got saved that night, as they were hungry and ripe.
Since then, they have all started to faithfully meet together to pray and read the Bible, and once a week they get organized to come over to our place for a Bible study, even if they have to travel a long distance. Their change has made such an impression on their families that even their parents wanted to meet us, and they each turned out to be very thankful. A few days before some of their kids were depressed and wanting to commit suicide, but now they sparkle with light and happiness from every side, as they tell others about their new life in Jesus!
(Simon:) Since the above testimony was written, the number of young people coming over for Bible class has been growing as each one is witnessing to their friends and bringing them over. We now have more than 20 young people coming, and when they all come they can't fit in our living room! We are looking for a meeting hall down in Rome, which we plan to make into a Youth Club where we can invite all the new sheep that are getting witnessed to, TYJ!
Some of the most on-fire and active ones also join our teens and YAs for personal witnessing downtown during the week, and many souls are getting saved each time. Beside the eight sheep mentioned above, there's Rudy, a former neo-Nazi skinhead who now loves the Word and who recently took a trip to Bosnia with YA Maria to help the Family in one of their CTP projects there, GBH! Then there's Massimo, who dropped out of a Drug Rehabilitation Center and is now also witnessing up a storm, PTL!
Actually, all of them are now regularly getting out witnessing and passing out tracts to others; they win souls on their own and they're growing into leaders of others. A real victory is the positive impact that they're having in the lives of our YAs and teens, because they see a lot of young people getting saved and turned on to Jesus and witnessing!
One YA told me that he had never seen such things actually happen; he had only read about them or heard them from the adults, so for him it was just "history"! But now they see it happening before their eyes and it's exciting for them! Our Home has since grown in population, with four YAs and three teens who live with us.—And we don't have enough space to accommodate others who would like to join us as well. But some of the teens and YAs from the nearby Homes have expressed a burden to help with our Youth Ministry and, through it, the Lord is fulfilling the "Call to the Rescue" vision that He gave us earlier. PTL!
One thing that we want to add is that through this experience, the Lord is helping us two generations (adults and YAs) to learn to work together side-by-side as one united team. We can honestly say that we each need the other! We adults need the energy and drive of the youth, and they need our help and experience. But we especially need the Lord, who's helping us to "build a bridge" between us and to reach out to others, TYJ! And thank you, Mama and Peter, for your guidance in the New Wine, which has encouraged us to follow the Lord and not be afraid to obey His leadings through prophecy! PTL!