July 15, 2003
FSM 358 CM/FM
09/00
Copyright © 2000 by The Family
FOLLOW-UP=ACTIVATED!
From WS: Much of this magazine was compiled from testimonies on follow-up written over the last few years, before the Family embarked on the Activated ministry, which is why they don’t refer to the Activated follow-up program. However, the lessons of follow-up apply whether you’re using the Activated course or not. We hope they’re a blessing to you in your follow-up.
The Activated course is designed to help make it easier for you to follow up on your sheep by providing you with a magazine and other GP books and booklets that you can use to feed your sheep with, rather than having to take the time to put together your own. So the first step that you should take with new sheep, friends, or contacts that you meet is to get them signed up for Activated. Then you can be assured that they’ll get a regular Word feeding from the Activated Desk.
However, it doesn’t end there. You should still follow up on them personally—or at least those most potential—as much as possible, visiting or calling them to give them tailored feeding on a subject that you know they need, or in some cases specific Words from the Lord for them that you’ve received in prophecy. Just keeping in touch with them is important so that they know you love them and are concerned about them and want to help them grow in the Spirit. And the Lord will bless you for it both spiritually and materially.
God bless you with more follow-up!
From Bulgarian Rosa, Hungary
I’d been praying for the Lord to give me my heart’s desire: to be more involved in personal witnessing and follow-up, and to have a little flock to minister to. Some months ago, when our Home was praying about our summer plans, each family took time to ask the Lord what He wanted them to do and where they should go.
When I asked the Lord, He told me to stay in Hungary. At first I was a bit disappointed because I was used to going on the road during the summer months; this would be the first summer I would stay back. But Jesus said He would give me the chance to witness here and to do something about building the national church. He also told me that He would take me to exciting places and that I would have fun as well. That was very encouraging for me, since I was fighting hard not to go through comparing battles, thinking how others would be traveling to far-out places while I was stuck in hot Hungary.
Although I had no idea how these things could come true, He didn’t fail to fulfill His promises, and I sure had lots of fun. Thank the Lord!
Learning a New Trade
The other Bulgarian girl from our Home, Eli, needed to raise funds towards her trip to Bosnia, and I needed to raise funds for a trip to Bulgaria to do some legal work a few months down the line. As we prayed, the Lord immediately answered. Another Home phoned us one day, saying they had an appointment for a clown birthday show which they couldn’t keep, and they asked if we were interested in doing it. So Eli and I decided to go.
We had never done such a thing in our lives, and we felt insecure and inexperienced. We set aside a whole afternoon to hear from the Lord about it, get clear directions and start preparing. The Lord gave us step-by-step instruction of what to do at the birthday party, what kind of activities to do with the children, and how to make it fun as well as meaningful and add in a witness. It was incredible.
We re-read the prophecies we received, followed everything the Lord told us, and the party worked out better than I could have imagined. We even brought our Home’s puppet show along, which the kids loved!—That was another thing we had never done before. We had to learn quickly, but with the Lord’s help and grace it worked out!
The Lord also told us that this birthday party would be the first of a series of special open doors to meet and minister to many needy people, which would lead us to potential supporters. Sure enough, at the party we met a number of influential people.
After the party was over we took time to witness more to the hostess, as well as her husband, Stefano, who seemed especially interested in our work.
Consistent follow-up
Stefano met our studio band when they came to pick us up after one of their shows at a delinquent center, and he really liked them. He not only gave us clowns a very good donation ($200 for two hours) but also packed all the leftover food from the party for us to take home—a lot of food!
The next day he e-mailed us the pictures he had taken of our show, and I began corresponding almost every other day with him, sending him a Treasures article as an attachment with each note.
With each message he got more friendly, and would write things like: I’m so happy you are writing me. Your letters always cheer me up. I work until late at night but I always take the time to read what you send me. It encourages me and helps me do my work. If for some reason I didn’t have a chance to write him for a few days to a week, I’d get a desperate message from him: I haven’t heard from you for a long time!!! He didn’t always answer me back when I wrote him, but if I didn’t write him for a few days I’d hear about it. Ha!
The Word works and brings in funds!
During the first two months this went on, I didn’t ask Stefano for anything. I just kept feeding him the Word, and sharing briefly what had been going on in our Home and what projects we were involved in. One day he wrote me saying, Rosa, send me a list of projects to sponsor!
I was shocked, but happy! So I wrote him about the projects with the Debrecen Refugee Camp, explaining to him that this was just a list of immediate projects, but that later I could send him a list of longer-term projects, ha!
When I wrote, I tried to give a few different possibilities for him to help us, hoping that at least one of them might inspire him to give. But he came through on all of them! He wrote, Okay, tomorrow come and collect HUF160,000 (US$600) from my office.
When I arrived, to the secretary’s shock (and my pleasant surprise) he came out of a meeting and greeted me cordially, so happy to see me. It was our first time to meet again since the birthday party two months before. We went to his office and he gave me the donation, then started telling me about his life, some problems he was having, etc. We talked for 30 or 40 minutes. At the end I told him I needed to go soon, and he said, Oh yes, actually there are a bunch of people waiting for me in the other room. He didn’t seem to mind at all, but really appreciated being able to talk.
He said, Please keep writing me. I really like hearing from you, and always look forward to your letters. They are the first thing I look forward to when I check my e-mail. Please don’t drop me! God bless him! I reassured him I wouldn’t drop him, ha! Then he proceeded to escort me to the entrance, proudly telling everyone we met along the way that I was a missionary—doing my witnessing and PR work for me! He said, When you finish the project at the camp, please give me a nice picture so I can put it up in my office. I’m saving a place for it!
I explained a few times to him that we are not a registered group and have no tax deduction number. He said, If you were a registered group, my donation would cost my company only half as much, but it doesn’t matter.—I’m happy to give it. It’s money well spent!
Going to the Word
It has been so exciting for me to see the proof once again that the Word truly works!—Not only in winning a king, but also in my own personal life. I have never been a fundraiser. The only training I have had is in personal witnessing, follow-up and PR. I have often gotten discouraged that I would never be able to raise funds. But then the Lord put me in this situation where I needed the money desperately and I needed a miracle of supply. Since I felt very inexperienced in fundraising and knew very little about taking care of contacts and kings (for the last five years I have lived in semi-selah, supported situations), I was scared that I would mess up the opportunities the Lord gave me.
So in my desperation I threw myself into studying the Word on the subject. I did a Word study on finances, witnessing and follow-up from Daily Breads 11 and 12, carefully marking the quotes the Lord would quicken to me and keeping a notebook right next to me to write down ideas the Lord gave as I read the Letters, and also any fresh Word He gave me along the way. Then I would take the time to re-read my notes and the underlined quotes, and follow the Lord’s counsel as best I could. (Now I’m reading through the FSMs on fundraising in the General Reference Handbook.)
Another thing that pushed me into this study was that I was feeling burdened about another Home which was struggling financially. I felt bad that I didn’t know how to help them or what counsel to give them, so I started doing this study to hopefully find answers for them as well. I was so excited to see all the answers there are and how they work if we just follow them.—At least they worked for me! Well, the situation in that other Home worked itself out eventually, but in the process the Lord enriched my life with a new, exciting experience and helped stretch my faith in a new direction—finances and fundraising—which I am very thankful for.
Learning patience
In the beginning it was a very slow process. I didn’t see many results and I had no money in my hand, so to speak. But the Lord was faithful to speak and encourage me with the analogy of being in school. I needed time to study and go through the reading course and get personal counseling from my Teacher before I could start producing. He also encouraged me to apply as much Word as I had absorbed and not worry about the amount I hadn’t read yet, to go one step at a time and experiment to see how the counsel would work.
With each Letter read I would have more faith for finances and ideas of how to obtain them, or how to better take care of potential donors, how to be a blessing to them and how to inspire them to give. And slowly I found myself thinking as fundraiser—which I realized was simply thinking as a witnesser! My main times of fundraising were at home, writing letters of encouragement and sending Treasures articles to my contacts. And the Lord did the rest!
Build your secret slowly
Being a person who likes to see things done quickly, I would easily get discouraged. I don’t have a group of supporters. I don’t have a catacomb ministry going (which I really was hoping to start). I don’t have contacts coming over for classes. Where is my national church?!?
One day the Lord did something special to help me. I was sitting on the balcony, praying and crying about how slow things were going and generally feeling like a failure, when the Lord drew my attention to a house that was being built right next to ours. The Lord told me, Look at that house. How long has it taken to build it? More than two years, and they take great care to do each detail well. And do they feel like a failure? No! They don’t! They know that they need this time to build it well, and one day it will be done. Why would you feel like a failure building My work? They are Systemites and they feel perfectly all right doing this. Why would you feel like a failure when you are doing My will and building something I want built?
He encouraged me to go forward and take the time I needed to study and learn the things I didn’t know, in order for the Lord’s house to get built properly. Then I got the words and tune to Donovan’s song from the movie Brother Sun, about St. Francis: If you want to live life free, take your time, go slowly. Do few things but do them well. ... Day by day, stone by stone, build your secret slowly. For the next days and weeks this tune haunted me, and motivated me to keep going.
Quick fundraising vs. building a church
I’ve heard that a lot of EE nationals go through trials and feel inferior because they don’t bring in cash all the time. I have felt this way too, and have often wished I could go to the West to raise money for the Home. But I am realizing that I don’t have to feel inferior, because the Lord can bring funds through me as well, if I seek Him for the way He intends to do this and the specific role He has for me as a national.
For example, I can’t go to the West to try to bring in immediate funds as some do, but that gives me time to invest in follow-up and cultivating long-term kings, pioneering CTPs as appeal projects, and witnessing to establish the national church. This will eventually bear fruit—not only souls, but also funds. It just takes a bit longer. Like in the instance with Stefano—for two months I didn’t see any results or fruit, so to speak, but then he came through right when we needed it, and he gave big.—And because he has been fed the Word, he has the vision to keep giving.
That’s the beauty of our lifestyle and us all having different talents and gifts, and even nationalities: While we nationals work on cultivating the local church, which doesn’t bring funds right away, others have been given the chance and the open doors to go to the West and bring in the funds which the Home needs to survive meanwhile. But then if we have done our job of follow-up well, in the long run our contacts will start bearing fruit, which will lighten the load so the other fundraisers don’t have to go abroad as often to bring in funds. The Lord thought of everything when He put us together, and His plan is meant to work. All of us are needed and no one should feel inferior, and no one should look down on others. We each need to do our best to hear from the Lord and find out His plan for us, and then work together in unity. Praise the Lord!
At the same time as this was happening, the Lord opened doors for Eli and I to do other local fundraising, which helped us raise some quick funds as well. It was right here within easy reach, and gave us a chance to minister to local people and make new contacts, which helped us support our work from the field.—And besides it was lots of fun! We went for four days of clowning by a lake, provisioning all our dinners and lunches, witnessing, winning souls, etc. In a way, it encourages my faith that the Lord is able to provide funds on the field we are called to live and serve Him in. If He didn’t have the means to supply for us, why would He call us there? We just have to ask Him and keep our eyes open.
E-mailing Jesus!
My salvation through all this has been hearing from the Lord daily. At first I was tempted to get resentful about not having a partner to work with. All the others at home have mates to plan their SWIFTs with, but my roommate went to Bosnia and I felt alone and scared about not having anyone to counsel with. But the Lord used this to show me how close He can be. Because I was scared of making a wrong move and often didn’t know what I was supposed to do, when I would get up every morning I wouldn’t do anything before I took my hour of Word and heard from the Lord in prophecy for direction for the day.
Having daily talk times with Jesus made all the difference for me. I usually used my laptop, since I type faster than I write. I’d start by typing out my prayer, sharing my heart with Him. It was almost like writing Him a letter. I’d describe everything that was going on in my heart and mind and unload it on Him, telling Him what bothered me, what frightened me, and what I didn’t understand, and then committing it to Him. Then typing the amen is like pressing the send button on my e-mail program.—The message gets off, it’s gone and it’s there in the courts of Heaven for my Husband to read. Thank You Jesus!
But the great part of it is that I never had to wait days or weeks to hear back the answer. As soon as I would seal and send off my letter, the reply would come immediately—with all the answers, comfort, instruction, peace and happiness I needed to see me through the day, and the week too. Sometimes I would do this a couple of times a day, since things would come up concerning the projects or my supporters which I needed to counsel with someone about; there was no one else, so I’d go to my laptop and type up a new letter to my Lover and ask Him for His opinion. And He would speak clearly and simply with workable suggestions.
Eventually He raised up a team for me to work with, but I am hooked on my morning e-mail time with Jesus, and I don’t feel secure about getting into my day without dropping Him a line and hearing back from Him. It’s also my way of telling Him how much I love and need and depend on Him. In my letters I also tell Him the things I appreciate in Him and what I love about Him, just like you would to a loved one you write to—no, not just a loved one, but someone you are in love with, and your heart just pushes you to drop him a note to tell him about your love for him and inspire him for his day as well. Ha!
Here is a little secret of mine: I used to be very much in love with someone I worked with. We had a computer network linking the computers at home, so every day I’d send him a little something to cheer him up for the day, and he would send me something from the Word too as an encouragement for my day. I used to thrive on this—both his attention, because I loved him so much, and also the Lord’s Word which he shared with me. It was the first thing I’d do every morning. I’ve missed very much having this special link with someone, this type of feeding, loving communication. I am so turned on now to discover that I can have the same connection—in fact even better—with my greatest Lover in Heaven. It feels the same and is just as real. I sit at my computer and type Him a letter and then He e-mails me back His response immediately and I can keep going with my day. Thank You, sweet Jesus!
I am excited and thankful for the new experiences the Lord has allowed me to have! It amazes me how loving and considerate He is to give us the desires of our hearts.
Positive peer pressure — or the yogurt principle
(From David, Brazil:) One of the most advantageous aspects of witnessing can be peer pressure, or what I call the yogurt effect. When you have a dedicated sheep who really has the vision, this person can serve as the yogurt, or culture, who will turn the rest of the milk into yogurt through his witnessing or tithing, giving to the work, participating in events and projects, etc.
Once I asked the Lord about it and He told me that a certain sheep would be the yogurt that would make all the rest of the sheep yogurt also, just like her: tithing, loving Jesus, and becoming live-out disciples. And He did it! Through this I learned a marvelous method of how to start out a discipleship group: Invest in one sheep that has a lot of potential and train him or her so that the others can follow the example of being on-fire, inspired, dedicated and loving. Try it! It really works.
(From Anna Singaporean, Thailand:) A close friend told us how he recently experienced a financially turbulent time. A former millionaire, he had had to sell everything but his basic necessities to keep afloat. When his toddler was sick with whooping cough, he couldn’t find any money in the house to take him to the doctor! In all his life he had never experienced such a state. I was in tears as I listened to his tale.
Later, we desperately prayed for him. Three years earlier, his youngest son had died of a rare blood disease. After praying, Peter got a short, sweet prophecy in simple childlike language from this boy. The Lord timed it all so perfectly, as we happened to give this message to our friend on the eve of the third-year commemoration ceremony for his son’s death. The Thai sister who translated the prophecy for his wife kept getting goose bumps all over, and I cried when reading it.
Our friend’s son told him in this prophecy not to worry about him or about the business or all the money they’d lost, because all the things on this earth are mere shadows of what is to come, and that the Lord would give them back much more than all the things that they lost. He described how in Heaven whole buildings are made out of incredible jewels and gold. We gave our friend all the Heaven posters he hadn’t yet seen. He was flipped! He kept looking at them, and all he could say was, I believe it! I believe it!
But the story doesn’t end there. Our friend invited us to the ceremony the next day. When we arrived he introduced us to the head monk, who was flipped out about the prophecy. Before everyone ate, the head monk prayed for the food in Sanskrit and turned to explain to us about the prayer. I said, Saa-tu, which is equal to amen in Sanskrit. He was so touched that we cared to learn about his religion and language.
After lunch he invited us to give a mini-seminar to the 76 novice monks he was teaching at the temple. I was desperately praying, because I wasn’t prepared for that at all, but the Lord took over. After a lively open forum of stories and question-and-answer time, they all repeated the blessing from Jesus to go to Heaven, with the approval of the head monk whom we were checking with every step of the way! PTL!—All because we took the plunge to receive a simple prophecy from a child.
(From Stephan and Fay, Bosnia:) It all started when we took the step of faith to ask the Lord to speak to us, together with one of the catacombers, concerning some shows we were planning. Among other things, the Lord told us that He would change things, that He would blow away the dark spiritual clouds with His love, and that things would start moving in the spirit.
We had been in Sarajevo for one year, and we had tried to feed and bring people closer, but it was a slow process. But now people have started coming to our place often, and are becoming more hungry for the Word, fellowship and prayer.
When we started receiving prophecies for them individually, it was like they became addicted! Some of our friends come every day now, and they ask us to get something from the spirit world when they have questions. The Lord is so faithful to give the answers, and even reveal things that were just between them and the Lord. This experience is an encouragement to us and is drawing us close to the Lord.
(Editor’s note: Make sure to sign your friends up to Activated, so that they get regular monthly feedings, combined with the personal touch.)
(From Jonathan and Ashley, Holland:) The Lord showed my outreach partner and me to get a prophecy for a young man we met not long ago. He seemed like he was going through a rough time, but would not tell anyone what it was exactly. We handed him the prophecy and he read it right there, but it didn’t seem to impress him much. We were a bit disappointed at his lack of reaction. Little did we know what a surprise was ahead!
Two days later we bumped into the same guy on the street and he looked so different! His face was beaming, and as he rushed to greet us, he asked, Can you guys tell me more about that prophecy? I read it and I couldn’t say anything at that time, because it applied so much! How did you know all those details?!
We explained a bit about how the Lord sees all and knows his heart and the answers he’s looking for. Then we heard his story.
A few days before we met him, he had came to the West planning to join some drug smugglers and be the link between drug dealers here and those in his homeland. The day we met him he was about to go and agree to their deal, but after reading the prophecy the Lord gave for him, he got convicted that it was the wrong thing to do. He read almost all the lit we had given his friend, who he was living with. Then instead of joining the Mafia, he got a good job in our city.
He told us he had seen some pretty awful stuff in his life and was quite disappointed with the thought of even living another day; he had actually been contemplating suicide when we met. After reading the Lord’s Words and other things we gave him to read, he realized that life is very precious and that as long as you know that there is Someone Who loves you no matter what you have done, it is worth living and trying.
(From Joanne W., Holland:) At a party at our neighbor’s place, Eman and I met a single mother with two little kids, who believes in the Lord. We felt we should get a prophecy for her. The thought was a bit strange to us since we barely knew her and weren’t sure what her reaction would be, but we went ahead and let the Lord give the message.
He gave many comforting Words of love to her and said, There are many people around you who already live the Heavenly way. Look up to them! We realized that this was about the Family, but weren’t sure if she would think we were trying to blow the trumpet in our own honor. But it seemed that the Lord wanted to bring this girl closer to the Family, so we felt we just had to give what we got.
When we gave her the little page with the Lord’s Words for her, we were amazed at her reaction. She took the paper in her hands as if it were a holy scroll, and read it right then and there. Although a few people around were trying to talk to her, she was so absorbed in her reading that she didn’t notice anything else.
When she’d read everything, her eyes filled with tears. It applies so much! she said. But why would God speak about me? Why would He give me this message?
We explained that we are used to hearing from the Lord every day for ourselves, and sometimes we get messages for other people as well, so this time we had asked the Lord to give us something for her.
She was delighted! Because she speaks Spanish, English and Dutch, she will be a great help to us in witnessing to other people in this area, since many do not speak English, and she said she would translate for us.
(From Peter and Crystal, Far East:) Recently, we had the opportunity to visit a friend whom we had not seen in four years because of our move to another field. This dear friend had told us that the last few years had been very tough due to the economic crisis in Asia. He and his brother were trying their best to stay afloat by expanding their sales in other countries. We had told him about prayer and prophecy, and how the Lord leads us when we take the time to hear from Him.
We saw him again the next day and he seemed quite troubled; he had planned a trip to a nearby country but his agent had discouraged him from making the trip. However, some of his customers from abroad had still told him to come. He was confused and didn’t know what to do. He asked us what he should do and we told him we didn’t know but what about asking the Lord? Right then and there we prayed and asked the Lord for His counsel. The Lord told our friend not to look at the waves (as in listening to his agent), but to step out by faith and believe and the miracle would happen.
Our friend called us a few days ago to let us know that everything went according to the prophecies we had received for him! For the first couple of days the Lord tested his faith, as nothing phenomenal happened. Then he pulled out the prophecies, reread them and started to follow them step by step, and that’s when the miracle happened. It was the most incredible business trip he had ever had—he sold more than on any other trip! He was thrilled, and thanked us over and over again on the phone. We had to keep telling him that it was only Jesus!
We were inspired how the Lord answered so beautifully for this friend! At the time we gave him the prophecy we were a little nervous, as we weren’t sure how things would pan out. Lord help us for our little faith, but we gave him the prophecy anyway, as we’ve learned it doesn’t pay to withhold the Lord’s Words.
(From Mamta, India:) During one of our regular witnessing visits to a mental hospital here in Bangalore, we met a special man, P., who we felt compelled to witness to, even though we do not usually visit the closed men’s ward. He was bright, intelligent, and spoke like a gentleman. He was obviously sad and depressed, however, even though we tried to comfort him with how Jesus could help carry the burdens. He prayed respectfully to receive Jesus and we left him some lit to read, after encouraging him all we could.
The next week we looked for him to talk to him some more, and were told that he had been unexpectedly discharged, but that after getting home he had found it difficult to cope and had committed suicide. We were quite shook up and were thankful that we had prayed with him that day, but felt sad that we had not been able to talk to him more. The guard and others told us that he was a special man and had been very loving and encouraging to them all, and they were all heartbroken.
We felt the need to compose ourselves a bit after this sad news, and sat on a bench to pray. I then got a flash of P.’s face, smiling at us while we were praying, as if to tell us not to feel sad. One evening not long after, we prayed again for P. He had made a deep impression on us, and we wondered about his family, who also sounded sweet and caring. We then got a message from P. himself, acknowledging that his suicide was the wrong thing to have done, but that the Lord had shown great compassion and understanding of his situation. He also asked us to pass on a message to his family.
We looked up the address of his house the best we could, but upon arriving in the neighborhood found that the address was incomplete. We prayed for a miracle. We approached a young boy to ask directions, and to our surprise the boy was the nephew of P.’s wife! He offered to show us to the house, which was quite difficult to find; had we been alone we would likely not have found it at all.
It turned out that P.’s daughter remembered a program we had done at her college, which had impressed her. The visit was very touching and we spent a few hours comforting them and talking about the Lord. The son also explained that he was going through condemnation as his dad had tried to explain what he was going through but he had just laughed it off. This explained why P. had in his message to us given some special words of encouragement for his son. Praise the Lord!
(From Byron, Marie and Sharon, Indonesia:) A friend we have known for a number of years has recently been discouraged over financial problems and difficulties in her business. We have been praying for her on our prayer days, and twice we heard from the Lord for her and gave her the prophecies.
She has a Buddhist background and knows very little of the Bible, but has been just like a babe, receiving whatever we teach her as the truth. In the past she has read lots of the New Testament and the Treasures, but she had relapsed into a bit of a problem with alcoholism lately, and had been showing less of a vacuum and hunger for the Word.
However, upon reading the prophecies—which she received in full faith as the Words of the Lord to her personally—she suddenly came alive again! When we asked her about them later, she repeated the parts of the prophecies that had spoken to her heart the most. These were the ones telling her not to forget the Lord, that He had not forgotten her, to take time with Him, to help His children, and that all the good things she has are from Him.
Since receiving these prophecies, our friend has seen us every weekend and we’ve been able to have good classes with her, where she gives us her full attention. In prophecy the Lord gave us instructions on how to care for her. He told us, among other things, to teach her how to hear from the Lord also, and to do it with her.
Wow! This would be a step of faith for me, too! I thought, What if I don’t get anything? That would be a terrible sample and disappointment to her. But I knew that for her sake we had to try. So the next time we went to see her, we read Stop Look Listen! Then, after a simple how-to explanation, we stopped to hear from the Lord about the situation in her business. She got a few words about what her attitude should be when approaching the banker that they owe money to, and we got a few verses. The Lord did it! She was so encouraged by this, and thankful for the direction.
The next week, after our class, we took some time to hear from the Lord again. This time we explained how it’s good to come into His courts with praise. So we all gave our prayers of thanks before making our requests. It was so refreshing to hear her pour out her heart in an honest, humble prayer to the Lord, speaking from her heart personally to Him, thanking Him for everything He’s done for her and given her.
Afterwards, we got quiet to hear from the Lord, and this time she got a lot more in prophecy from the Lord than the time before. She is turned on about how the Lord can speak to her and guide her in her affairs. And it’s so inspiring for us to see such a babe in the Lord accepting all of this by faith, not thinking that it’s a bit strange at all, but really wanting it!
(From Praise, South Africa:) L. is one of our long-time friends and supporters. Some time back I received an encouraging prophecy for him, which I sent him.
He didn’t react to it immediately, but a few months ago when he came to visit, he showed me that he keeps the prophecy in his Bible, and said that it had helped him through some tough times. He was extremely thankful for the Word from the Lord. It touched my heart and made me cry to see the living Word at work. I was humbled to see what power and strength lie in these messages from the Lord. It also made me quite desperate to realize that I could have failed the Lord if I had been too busy to listen to Him for our friend!
(From Faith, Daniel and Flor, Brazil:) One of our live-outs was having doubts about giving us his tithe, although he had had classes and explanations. After reading parts of the Ask Me Everything GN, he was driving downtown and asked the Lord to show him clearly if he should tithe.
To his surprise, he saw a billboard right in front of him that said in very big letters: TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR FAMILY! He knew it was the Lord’s answer, but still not satisfied, he asked for another confirmation. Immediately there was another billboard: DO THE RIGHT THING! Still not completely happy, he asked again, and the third answer was a little heavier: He saw a funeral parlor, with three huge signs reading: PROMOTION! YOUR FUNERAL FOR R$390.00!! That was it! The Lord was saying: Look at what your money is worth! In other words, tomorrow you may die, and that’s where your money will go.
Our friend shared this testimony with everyone to show how the Lord speaks to us. The funny thing is that he then decided to deposit some money in my bank account, but didn’t say anything to me. I happened to be passing by the bank and needed the exact amount he had deposited, but didn’t know where we were going to get it. When I checked my bank account, there it was: exactly what I needed! Only later that evening his wife told me he had deposited his tithe.
(From Suzie Branch, Pakistan:) A while ago, when we were first starting to hear from the Lord more, my sister wrote and asked me a question about her personal life. Encouraged by Mama’s sample of hearing from the Lord in everything, I decided to pray and receive something for her, as I didn’t know how to answer her question. The Lord gave me a little prophecy for her.
I was hesitant to send her the prophecy, fearing that she might think that I had gone berserk, but after receiving the message, she phoned me twice from Holland, which she has never done before. She also suddenly decided to send us some support, which she had not done for about 22 years.
Encouraged by this, I sent her a GP-type page from the From Jesus—With Love booklet. She wrote me back saying it absolutely made her day. She had also asked me about another situation and I had prayed about it for her. She said the counsel I had given her was excellent, and she was so thankful for it.
(From a Home in Brazil:) Our live-out friend was about to make a very important decision about breaking up with his associates, who were close friends of his. The Lord hadn’t been blessing their partnership and although he had tried to witness to them, they hadn’t received it and had even mocked him at times. So he was invited by some others to leave the company with them. Our friend wanted to do this but didn’t know how to go about it, and wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do. He asked us if we could pray and hear from the Lord for him.
We did, and the Lord gave a beautiful prophecy saying that if he made the right decisions and put the Lord first, He’d open some doors and close others, and would show him the way step by step as he obeyed. He himself had a vision of an angel with a fiery sword going around the whole office and cleaning every corner.
The next day we prayed and got more specific prophecies definitely guiding him to get away from his old associates. The prophecies were so clear and straight to the point that I had a battle sending them to him, but I went ahead and did it.
After he received them he made the decision to break up with his friends, and even decided for the first time to give us his full tithe, which he hadn’t done in the past. Only two days later they called him for a meeting and told him they wanted to break up, and that he could keep the company. Most of his new associates are Christians and he even showed them the prophecies the Lord gave, as they saw the miracle happen right before their eyes.
To top it all off, a good deal that he had been working on for a long time finally came through and he gave us his tithe which was a very generous gift, God bless him! It pays to be faithful and use our gift of prophecy.
(Editor’s note: As your friends get turned on to prophecy, encourage them to order the Hearing from Heaven booklet for more information. Get them on Activated!)
(From Angel, India:) I’m so thankful for the new weapon of prophecy! Hearing and checking with the Lord for His direction and counsel makes witnessing easier and most of all very fruitful. So many times it has helped me not to miss the mark!
On one road trip, my partner and I wanted to follow up on one of our friends. We called to make an appointment but he didn’t seem to want to meet with us, so we weren’t going to go see him. But when we prayed, the Lord showed us to meet this man anyway. We traveled quite a long distance by faith to meet him, and when we did we had the most beautiful time of witnessing. He was completely different from when we spoke to him on the phone. We read some encouraging quotes and Reflections to him and it changed his whole outlook. He was so thankful for our visit and even helped us with a big contribution.
I was so thankful, as if we hadn’t prayed and asked the Lord we would have missed this witnessing opportunity and he wouldn’t have gotten to know Jesus. So prophecy really works! Thank the Lord for this beautiful gift.
(From Tim, Taiwan:) Throughout many years of doing follow-up, I have found that many people are attracted to the Spirit of the Lord through and in us. They enjoy our looks, charm, sincerity and humor, etc. When following up on many of our Home’s monthly sponsors (about 50% of our budget comes from this source), I have found that after a while our regular visits to these sweet people to bring follow-up lit and pick up their monthly support can turn into more socializing instead of feeding the sheep. There’s a lot of talk about this and that, politics, their families, economic woes, news of China, elections, etc. Or sometimes they are so busy that it’s a quick pickup and that’s that.
So how can we get deeper with them and start bringing in the Word again after getting into this habit of more socializing with them and not enough Word? After several meetings with the CROs and VSs on this subject here in Taiwan, we brought it back to our Home for more prayer about our situation, and for His solutions and how to enact them. The Lord has been encouraging us with some good results that I’d like to share with you all.
* One key has been lots of extra prayer during our daily Home prayer vigils—especially on the days that we prepare the follow-up Word that we will take to give to our monthly supporters.
* On our way to these appointments, we ask the Lord what particularly to share with them, and while with them take the chance to jump into a deeper feeding of the Family’s doctrines and the meat of the Word. As we hear from Him, the Lord has been faithful to help these things happen almost every time.
* Bringing Bible scriptures into our conversations amazes people at how we know the Word, and the reaction that I have seen to this has been very positive. A few people told me how they had read the Bible before but appreciated hearing it used, and how refreshing it was to hear what God had to say.
* Take people where they’re at. Not all will be hungry for the Word; some are just ones who God has raised up to be supporters of the work. Thank God for those too, and just keep praying to see who is who.
* We have also opened up our dinnertimes throughout the week to guests, and have begun weekly holding Bible classes for 1½ hours, which has been very inspiring for our friends and for us as well.
Praying desperately about what each of our friends needs individually takes time, but it really pays off in the long run, and I finally feel that I am doing what I can with His directions to really feed the sheep He has given me. Thank You Lord!
(From Mary Dear, India:) In Mama’s Memos—No.9, Mama said that witnessers should specifically pray not just for souls but for disciples. I feel intensely convicted about this because I don’t pray for or expect people to have that potential as much as I should. I feel sometimes receptive sheep that the Lord brings across my path get stuck with just that label receptive sheep, instead of potential catacomber or disciple who needs as much Word and nurturing in the Lord as he can take. Lord help me!
I live in what I like to think of as one of the world’s most needy, receptive and potentially fruitful fields. I think I’m just beginning to see how much more Jesus wants to do here as far as people won to Him. Recently we had a young couple come over. They have a deep hunger and vacuum for the Word and are seriously thinking of embracing Christianity wholeheartedly. We had initially met the husband through office-to-office videoing. He took tools twice a year or so, for a couple of years. Then a Christian relative of his witnessed to him (they’re from a conservative Hindu family) and slowly but surely he’s been blossoming as a believer.
The lesson for me is that if I had had more vision and concern for him, like this relative of his did, perhaps we could’ve started helping him along in his newfound faith sooner. I’m learning to look at all our sheep—both old and new—with new glasses of faith and vision, remembering the enormous quantities of love, Word and faithful pouring in that I received before I joined as a disciple!
(From Asaph, of Charity, Pakistan:) Some time ago, we—along with the bulk of our large Home—moved to a pioneer situation in Islamabad, and a smaller group of people stayed in the mother Home in Karachi. It so happened that in Karachi there was a very important king who had been a friend of the Family for many years. The person who was ministering to the king was on the pioneer team in Islamabad. As this king regularly gave quite a substantial gift, the mother Home graciously agreed to give half of this gift to our pioneer Home.
This precious king and friend has continued growing closer than ever. He comes over regularly for classes and is now also very close to the new person who took up the torch to feed him. The person who originally was involved is still in touch with him via mail. From our side, it seems that the Home in Karachi is prospering and the Lord is supplying for them, which is a real example of You never lose by giving and sharing!
In our pioneer situation, establishing kings does take time; to tell the truth, we couldn’t have made it without that particular gift. This is His commandment, that we love one another and that we prefer one another!
(From Simon, Italy:) The Lord impressed on me the importance of grounding our sheep and potential disciples in the Bible. In the future, some of them may be tempted to lose faith in our doctrines and teachings when they hear lies about us, but the Bible will give them the antidote against the lies of the Enemy. The young sheep are such new bottles; they catch on to the New Wine just by reading the Bible, and it’s exciting how the Lord is helping us to lay this strong foundation in their lives.
For example, one day I was giving our sheep an Endtime class. One of the girls asked me: Who is this woman of Revelation 12, who was given wings of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness? The Lord led me to explain how since the beginning of time He’s been looking for a group of believers who would be totally dedicated and loyal to Him, and that His love for His children was like that of a bridegroom for his bride, so that He actually sees us believers as a beautiful woman. I then went on to show different verses on it, both in the Old and New Testament.
I was reading them Ezekiel 16, when we came across verse 8, where it says: Now, when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine.
All of a sudden this girl exclaimed, Wait a second! Does it mean that the Lord made love to her?
I answered, Well, it sounds like it.
Again she asked, Do you mean that God can make love to people?
To this I hesitantly replied, Well, I guess it’s up to each individual to choose what kind of relationship he or she want to have with the Lord, that of a Friend or that of a Lover.
She replied, I want Him as my Lover! I love You, Jesus! And she started blowing kisses in the air to Him!
(From Hepsi, of Jonatas, Brazil:) We are learning to take each one of our friends where he or she is at. Being dropped out ourselves, we can tend to think that everybody should have a forsake-all attitude like us, even though they are still in the System. But that doesn’t always happen.
The friends we have grow slowly and gradually, but they do grow. We can’t expect them to be too radical and to swallow everything we do, to just sit and listen without questioning and be all rah-rah about everything, because not all of them are like that. We are learning patience and to look to the Lord for each sheep and how to proceed with each one. And we can see progress, although not as fast as we might have wanted.
We are having to learn to relate to people who have spent more than 40 years of their lives in the world, who are used to managing their own lives, being their own bosses. Now that they are saved, it still takes a while for them to have a turnaround—and a while can mean several years.
(Editor’s note: Put friends like these on the Activated course! It will provide them with a solid feeding in language they can understand, and will bring them along step by step, grounding them in the basics before moving on to more meaty topics.)
(From Peter, John and Crystal, Far East:) We believe that the key to having sold-out, solid friends is time, persistence and faithful feeding. Peter stops at nothing to minister to the friends and contacts that we have. He often calls even late at night if he gets a check from the Lord to call these folks. Many times we have had friends say, Wow, where are you? We’ve been trying to get ahold of you for the last few days! A number of friends treat us like family and will go to any lengths to help us if we are in need of help, even receiving us into their homes.
Recently we saw a couple we hadn’t seen in four years. The first thing they said to Peter was, We really missed you. We really missed your visits to our place and how you just pop by now and then to see us. They were so happy to see us again! We gave them a lot of Word, even some of the latest GNs, specially edited so they could understand and absorb them, as they’ve gone beyond milky lit.
Often Crystal spends hours editing the New Wine for our friends and contacts, or looking for appropriate Word for the trials they are going through, so they can also partake of the new moves of the Spirit. (Editor’s note: Edited versions of some of the latest Letters are included in the WinePress magazines, which you can download from the MO site. We’re also posting these edited GNs as separate items on the MO site, called New Wine, for you to download and use in feeding your sheep. We pray they’re a blessing to you!) We’ve found it really pays to take that time to feed our friends. It’s borne tremendous fruit in their lives, and these friends have continued to support us financially, despite going through hard times. Most of all, we’ve found that if we show them sincere love and friendship whether they can help or not, this really wins them to the Lord and gets them sold out to helping. Then they know we are not there for money—we are there because we sincerely care about them, which in turn brings them closer to the Lord.
(From Patrick, Christina, and Joab, USA:) We have quite a congregation of sheep and potential disciples that have been coming regularly to our Home, some of them two or three times a week or more. They all witness and distribute tracts, and get a lot of Word time. Some of them are reading through the babes’ course.
A lot of these kids want to join us, but we have learned to ask them why they want to join. This helps us discern their motivations. The amazing thing is that with these kids coming over, they are still willing to take our shepherding even though they don’t live here. They hold us in high esteem. This awes us, as we don’t feel special; we know it’s just the training that the Lord gave us through Dad. We have really felt similar to how we imagine Dad felt when working with the hippies in the beginning of the Family. The early Letters have taken on a new meaning for us.
At our weekly street meetings, we have been so touched by the love our two new disciples have for the sheep. Last week we had about three or four new guys come along with our regulars. The girls are so affectionate with everyone that it is almost overpowering. They aren’t fleshy, just sweet; since the guys see that they are like that without partiality, it keeps them from getting the wrong idea. At our last meeting one guy just sat on the couch and stared into space (he was on drugs). He didn’t join in with the singing or Gypsy dancing but just stared without moving.
At the end of the program, Star (Kadee) went over and put her arms around him and hugged him. He still didn’t react, but she just kept her arms around him for about 10 minutes and gently talked to him. Before we knew it he was smiling and engrossed in conversation with her. He came from LA and had been involved in gangs. He had a spirit of fear. It took some time, but she was able to comfort and witness to him and he began to join in and fellowship with the others. God bless the girls for being willing to go the extra mile to let these guys know that the Lord loves them.
(From Dawn, Thailand:) Leah has been one of the main follow-up people in the Home for some years now and several of the sheep have grown close to her. So when she was planning to move out of the area and had to turn her follow-up over to me, we were both a little concerned that the sheep would not feel hurt or neglected in any way.
Leah was a good sample of taking ample time to introduce me to everyone. We went to visit them together quite a few times before she left, so that by the time she finally moved on, both the sheep and I did not feel like awkward strangers. She made sure everything was written down—not only phone numbers and addresses, but also maps of how to get to their shops and comments about each person, etc.
After she left and I had to carry on, I was encouraged by how sweet and warm everyone was, and not offended in any way. One of our supporters had been offended in the past when the person who had originally met him had moved on, and by mistake no one went to see him for a long time. We later came across him again more by accident, not knowing he had been a supporter and friend! He was quite hurt by this and so was rather leery when he heard Leah was leaving.
However on my first visit after Leah left, he was very happy to see us and commented: So, here you are—you actually came! Wonderful! These visits reinforced for me that we have so much that people are dying to receive. Even though at times they seem so busy and uninterested, we are like their lifeline and they don’t want to lose the contact!
(Editor’s note: Make sure to put all your contacts, kings, supporters and friends on the Activated course! Then, even if you aren’t able to visit them as often as you would like, they’re still getting regular doses of Word—which will never return void.)
(From Daniel, Shayna and Gene, India:) A few times recently, some of our sheep needed us to be there for them. We weren’t sure what our priorities should be as we desperately needed funds at that time but would thus not be able to do outreach. We took it to the Lord, and He reminded us that our main job was to feed the sheep; that’s why He had led us to open our new Home in the first place. He told us not to worry and that He would take care of us.
So we spent extra time with our sheep. Well, what do you know? The Lord supplied from unexpected places—and also from the sheep themselves. Thank You Jesus!
(From Mick and Filly, China:) We had lost touch with our dear supporter for almost two-and-a-half years, ever since the Asian economic depression. We had no clue where he was. In spite of the disappointment, we continued praying for him and his well-being. The Lord is faithful, and He kept him well. At the beginning of this month we heard news of our friend finding us through the Family Web site, and we received his e-mail address. We were very thankful to get back in contact, and were glad we had heeded the Lord’s leading in not ceasing to pray for him even though we hadn’t heard from him for such long time.
Sent in by Andreas and Chrys, Japan
(Jesus :) Follow-up is nothing more than tenderly caring for My sheep. Each sheep has his or her own personality, needs, desires, wants and dreams. I know each one of them by name, and My love is tailored to their needs. I am a personal God, a Friend Who knows and understands every heartache, pain and longing.
Remember the Crystal Stream vision? Your Father David, like a magician, was dipping his long ladle into the purple waters and pouring the precious liquid into many beautiful molds. Each one in its own unique and particular shape, each one beautiful and designed to bring pleasure and to satisfy the various tastes of My children. So you must bottle My Word in different vessels and shapes to feed and quench the thirst of those who are hungry and thirsty for My Spirit. This process takes time and dedication. You must be intimately close to the Source, aware of the different shades in taste, fragrance and qualities of My wine. You must be a connoisseur of the many wines that are stored in My vats.
Each person likes a certain kind, and there are as many shades as people I have created, because I love each person in a unique and special way. If you take the time, I will reveal unto you what each one of My sheep needs. They will recognize the divine inspirations, because it will speak straight to their hearts and touch their innermost being. My Words will woo them and make them alive. They will feel the warmth of My touch, and My kisses will arouse in them a passion for My love. Once they have a taste of My Spirit, no other thing will satisfy them.
I have many who are longing for a ray of hope and peace. The time has come to break down the dams and the let the water flow. My Word will do the miracle, for life is not in the sower but in the seed. Once you have planted it in receptive soil and watered it with prayers and tears, a whole new life will spring out. The heavens are rejoicing at the beautiful sight of vast fields covered with flowers and fruit!
From David, Brazil
(Based on our experiences with our own follow-up ministry here in Brazil:)
Start with one little sheep. That one sheep will witness his own transformation of what the Lord can do to one that loves Him ... and other sheep will come along the same path. Soon you’ll have a little flock of half a dozen, led by the sample of that one, all becoming stronger in their commitment—as more sheep, seeing their testimony, come to see and also find Salvation, new life, their calling and a reason to live!
Don’t get discouraged by the vast majority that come and go, souls that are saved and then drift back to their previous lives, with guaranteed salvation in their hearts but who remain cold and shallow in their love for the Lord. That’s why the churches are so successful: they provide those ones with a place of service!
But we want disciples! We want committed fellows that follow!—Not the ones we can keep, but the ones we can’t get rid of! Wanna make a good selection? Just be faithful, and you’ll be fruitful, as the Lord is the One Who gives the growth! And your flock will grow—in strength, and in numbers! Pretty soon they’ll be so many you won’t be able to keep up with them. So then it’s time to turn them around, and send them out to follow up on their sheep, which they have been bringing to you, for the shepherd (as they’ll be calling you by then) to feed.
Once they learn to feed their sheep, make sure to feed them well, and regularly wash them with a great bathing of a beautiful outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and your work is pretty much running itself—because it’s His work, and you—like them—are just a sheep in His great flock. Let the Lord do the leading!—Lead ‘em to the Lord. Lead them on this path and they’ll trust you as their shepherd, ‘cause you constantly bring them to green pastures, to be fed personally by the great Shepherd.
Let the Lord Himself be the leader by constantly stopping with them to hear from Him, and they will know that a prophet has been among them. By this time your needs are provided—money, clothes, food, housing—your kids are protected and provided for, and most and best of all, the sheep are envisioned with what all our lives are all about and what we’re here for.
It’s lots of work, lots of breakings, lots of sacrificing, lots of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, faith, meekness, hope. And it’s worth it all!
To get with the Activated program, all you have to do is:
1. Always carry plenty of Activated address/subscription cards with you wherever you go! That way, while you’re out and about your business of being an instant witness, you can be an instant faithful follow-upper too! (You can get subscription cards for free by simply ordering them from your Activated desk.)
2. Order free copies of Activated issue #1 from your Activated desk, and take those out with you when witnessing! (These free copies of issue #1 are to be given to those whose addresses you collect, or who you sell subscriptions to. You can also order Activated magazines to sell, which you would pay seedcorn for.)
3. Whenever you witness to someone or sell them a tool, offer them the chance to get your terrific monthly magazine—Activated! By signing up for a year’s subscription, they’ll get three free magazines—or 15 for the price of 12.
a. If the person doesn’t want to subscribe right then, but has gotten saved with you, you can offer them three free magazines with no cost or obligation, letting them know they can subscribe later if they wish.
4. Whether they’re subscribing or just applying for the three free mags (if they got saved), have them fill out the address/subscription card you’re carrying with you.
5. If they decide to subscribe, they can choose whether to pay the fee on the spot or get billed by the Activated desk later. (The bill me later option is not offered by some Activated desks.)
6. Give the person whose address or subscription you collected a copy of Activated issue #1 on the spot for their first feeding, if you wish! (Be sure to tick the box on the address/subscription card indicating that you have given them issue #1, so that the desk doesn’t send them that same issue again.)
7. Send the address/subscription card to your Activated desk along with the fee you’ve collected, and you can rest in peace, knowing that you’ve done your part, and your little sheep is going to be well fed!
Remember that you get a commission for every subscription you sell—plus other shiner prizes! And most of all, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re doing your part to feed the sheep! God bless you!
IMPORTANT: Be sure to order more Activated address/subscription cards and copies of Activated issue #1 from your Activated desk when you start running low, so that you don’t run out!
If you have any questions about the Activated program, how to send in your subscriptions, etc., please contact your Activated desk at one of the addresses below:
Activated USA
PO Box 4307
Orange, CA 92863-4307
USA
e-mail: activatedUSA@activated.org
phone: 1-800-TO-BE-ACT
Activated Europe
Bramingham Park Business Center
Enterprise Way
Bramingham Park
Luton, Beds. LU3 4BU
England
e-mail: activatedEurope@activated.org
phone: (+44) 07801 442-317
Activated India
P.O. Box 5215
G.P.O.
Bangalore - 1
India
e-mail: activatedIndia@activated.org
Contato
Caixa Postal: 66345
São Paulo (SP)
05311-970 - Brasil
e-mail: revista@contato.org
phone: 0800-55-7772
Conéctate Mexico
Apartado 11
Monterrey, N.L.
México, 64000
Mexico phone: 01-800-714-4790, 52-8-311-0550
Conéctate Argentina
Casilla de correo 815
Correo Central 1000
Capital Federal
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Conéctate Chile
Casilla de correo 14.982
Correo 21
Santiago
Chile
Conéctate Colombia
Apartado Aéreo 85178
Santafé de Bogotá
Colombia
Correo Electronico: conectate@conectate.org
En Internet: www.conectate.org
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