FSM 378CM/FMOctober 2001

Copyright © 2001 by The Family

Special Action Series FSM #12

COVER PIC: Chrys (right, of Andreas) using the English Activated magazine as a text for her English with Meaning Class with Miki, Japan

Activate Your English Teaching!

From Andreas and Chrys, in Japan

Ever since we have been in Japan, the Lord has used English teaching as a wonderful tool to reach His precious sheep. Reaching His oriental children requires a more delicate approach. With our intermediate and more advanced students, we have been using Reflections to make the teaching time more meaningful. Recently, though, we began using selected portions of the English Activated magazines. Here are some of our dear friends’ comments after reading the “Change the World” story in Activated #5:

Yumi (17, high school student): This story is so beautiful! I feel that it is easy for us Japanese to understand its morals and message. Maybe the reason we Japanese do not “like” religion is because we do not really have a religion per se, and the “religious” people seem kind of strange [referring to strange cults of both oriental and western origin]. But anyone can understand a story!

Kaoru (30, married and mother of a small child): It is so true! There is so much more one can do! A little every day, like the old shepherd.

Miki (24, government employee): Is this a true story? … It is a wonderful story; it makes me think about my life and what I can do!

Instant Sheepfolds In Yugoslavia

By English Julie and Larissa SGA

“Activated English Club!” That’s the name we feel describes both our method of reaching the youth of Yugoslavia (activating their knowledge of the English language) and the end goal of getting them activated in their new life of faith.

After desperately seeking the Lord for what we could do to make the Activated program a reality here in this incredibly receptive field, He led us to embark on a youth ministry through English clubs, which has now resulted in sheepfolds of about 80 young members, aged 14-21, in three different locations! It’s a disciple-winning, Activated ministry!

This initiative began last summer in Ulchin, Montenegro, which is a coastal town, populated by ethnic minority Albanians.

A Way to Reach the Albanian Youth

(Julie:) For many years the Lord had given us the burden to reach Montenegro, which together with Serbia forms the present-day Yugoslavia-definitely virgin territory in that the Family has never had a work there. In February 2000, through working with the established NGOs, the Lord worked it out for a team of us to visit for two weeks and do shows for the refugees there. I fell in love with the people and determined to return in the summer with Jonathan and Esther (a young national couple), who had a longtime burden for this area.

We wanted to reach the local people but could not go in as Christian missionaries because only state-approved religion is tolerated in Montenegro. We sought the Lord and He gave us a perfect plan!-A four-week FREE English conversation course during the month of July, when the students would be on holiday.

In order to help us find the most receptive candidates, we felt that the students should also agree to participate in 15 hours of community projects, as we felt led to try to attract teenagers with a desire to help others. We opted to use the term “English club” rather than English class or course, so the young people could have something to belong to rather than just attend.

Our Team

Our first team consisted of four adults and two children, including two local-language speakers and two native English speakers.

A good part of the success of this club was due to the wholehearted participation of the English-speaking YAs, Lisa (20) and Terry (18). Since English was the main language used, they were able to take on a lot of responsibility in the planning, delivery, and witnessing to the club members. They formed close friendships with the sheep, which later gave them a unique opportunity to share their way of life and beliefs in a very deep and personal way, resulting in many of the members wanting to become volunteers.

Last but certainly not least, Daniel, Emanuel, and Marco, nationals from a nearby country, did an outstanding job with setting up the community projects, and of course relating to the members, since they had come from a similar ethnic, religious, and political background. What a team!

Getting Started

We met up and traveled to the area together in mid-June, which gave us two weeks to set up the project. We approached the local town government, explained our project, and asked for their help in providing a free place for the interviews and meetings for the duration of the English club. A top city official was thankful for our contribution and worked it out for us to use the centrally located library every morning.

The next job was to advertise, and the local radio proved to be an effective way of getting the message out, not only about the free club membership but also about our desire to do something beneficial for the community. People were genuinely touched that we had come as volunteers to help their community, which was suffering economically at the time. We also put up posters and handed out fliers.

In all of our advertising, we specifically limited this first Club to young people aged 16-21 who had studied English for at least four years. We made it clear we were not teaching English grammar but giving English students the opportunity to practice and gain confidence in their English comprehension and conversational skills.

Each candidate had to fill in an application form and then come in for a 10-minute interview. They were each graded on their standard of English and their concern to do something for their community. The 24 students we chose all received an A, A- or B+ in both areas, so we were thrilled with the potential.

Next we called an impromptu meeting with the successful candidates and gave them more details about the course times and what to bring. We pumped people power as to which community projects they would like to work on. Being in a beach town, we decided on erecting a volleyball court on the beach and training them in lifeguarding and first aid.

On the first day, we read the contract, which we had put together to ensure that we could maintain a high level of attendance and good behavior. We got everyone to sign it and referred to it if we had any problems. We also promised a diploma to those who attended 80% of the lessons. Because of this contract, we were able to maintain a high standard throughout the course. (In fact, members of the community or other NGOs who visited to observe all commented on this fact.)

Pictures: Activated English Clubs in Ulchin, summer 2000

(counterclockwise from top right)

We had too many people for one group, so Terry and Lisa took a Junior English Club once a week.

Doing team games, with Julie (foreground) and Marco (background) assisting

Club meeting in a local restaurant

Julie (lower left) teaching at the Ulchin club in July 2000

The Plan

The lessons were held from 10-12 in the morning on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. They were begun with an icebreaker game followed by an English activity, more games and conversational exercises, and later in the program we included the reading of a Reflections or portions of an Activated article.

But the main feature was the discussion groups. We divided the attendees into four groups, and with questions prepared mainly from the Talk Time booklet, we would ask them questions and discuss real-life issues. The purpose of this was to get to know them better and give them a chance to voice their opinions. It gave us a unique view into their lives and how they feel about the world around them. Most importantly we would try to use the questions to get them to think deeply about things and direct the conversation in such a way as to give us a chance to witness on a level that we couldn’t normally reach in other witnessing environments.

In our witnessing, the Lord showed us to first concentrate on building a close friendship with each of them. The discussion questions opened the door, and the community service provided more opportunities. In the afternoon, we would meet individuals at the beach, or talk to them personally during the weekly fun activity. During those times we were able to talk honestly about our faith in God and how they too could establish a personal connection with Him.

As more of the members got saved, in the course of the second week, we were able to be freer with talking about the Lord in the club. During the second and third week, the majority had received Jesus through personal witnessing outside the course. One thing that was very different in this method of witnessing was that we got close to them as friends first, and then winning them to the Lord became a real burden on our hearts as we prayed for the Lord to set up a suitable situation.

During the third week, our community project of creating a volleyball court on the beach came to pass. It proved to be not only a lot of fun for all of us, but also a good opportunity to have walkie-talkies on the beach!

When we again prayed for the Lord’s wisdom on how to feed them, He showed us to turn the discussion questions into stories with good morals on faith and unselfish love. We were thankful for the Reflections and Good Thots, which provided us with lots of good material.

As the course progressed, we read them material from the Activated magazines. When we shared “Change the World” with them, we explained that this had been our purpose in coming here-to plant the seeds and water them. We shared how they, like us, can do their part to help their part of the world. We asked everyone to think about whether they would like to become a volunteer like us. Many responded enthusiastically!

The next morning, after reading “Our Declaration of Love,” we asked each individual what they felt they could contribute to the community and club. Each one wanted to do something and agreed to participate in some capacity.

It was a full and memorable six weeks, and when the time came to return to our other ministries and commitments, we each felt like we were leaving a part of our heart behind. But we left them in the Lord’s hands, and over the next months continued to feed them through the mail.

Pictures:

TOP TWO: Members in Kosovo enjoying club activities

ABOVE: The club members in the Serb enclave near Pristina, Kosovo

LEFT: Five of the club members performing in an Oasis Home’s children’s show

ABOVE: Our team in late summer 2000 in Ulchin: (back l-r) Marco, Albanian; Terry, YA; Daniel, Albanian; and Lisa, YA (front l-r) Eman, Albanian, and Julie, FGA

RIGHT: Ulchin club excursion: We were invited on a boat trip with all of the club members. This pic includes team early summer 2000, of Jonathan (Albanian), Esther (SGA) and their two children, Sonja and Toni (pictured at the left of the group) and Julie (second from right, bottom row) with our club members from Ulchin.

A local club member helping to erect the volleyball net

LEFT: Here’s our community project of erecting a volleyball court on the main beach of Ulchin. After that we organized a tournament in which 80 two-man teams entered, and the event took place for four evenings, with Family music playing and Daniel and local club members doing the MCing. The volleyball court stayed open until the end of September, with activities organized by the local club members.

Next Club—In a Serbian Minority Enclave

(Larissa:) In November last year the Lord led the Oasis team to take a house in a Serb minority enclave in Kosovo, which also opened the door to a ministry there.

Life for the people in this area is not much more than living in an open-air prison. They are confined to their small network of villages with no public transportation. Children who live in other enclaves but go to school in this town have to be transported to school and back with a military escort, and in the town itself the only facility for young people is the school building. We moved right away to start a project in the local community and demonstrate our desire to help them in any way we could. It became obvious that the biggest need was for something for the youth.

Julie was visiting for a while, so we decided to do an English club similar to the one in Ulchin. Prior to launching this program, we had received a somewhat icy reception by the locals, and understandably so, but with the club came understanding and friendship between the community and us. Right away different members of the club invited us to their homes for dinner or coffee and to meet their families, and we soon became accepted and felt welcomed by them.

School was still in session, so we could only hold the club once a week. We drafted a six-week plan, with one three-hour session every week. On the team were Larissa and Sarah, who were living in the Home at the time, Julie SGA visiting from Hungary, and Kristen YA from Italy. We were later joined by Mark, Simon and Jonathan. It was a unifying and inspiring experience working on this project, and it added a new dimension to our lives and ministries.

This time we went to the high school itself, as that was where the teenagers from the whole area would study. We had to have lots of patience to cut through all the bureaucracy that exists in the institutions here. After some starts and half starts we conducted the interviews, at times only being allowed 10 minutes to interview 15 students. We ended up with 35 attendees, including a few from the Roma (Gypsy) community. Almost all of them were from a Christian background, and so we were freer to witness in the discussion groups.

The discussion sessions turned out to be the best possible setting to draw these teenagers out. They had a lot on their hearts, and many had been through so much for their young years. One thing that became very important was to be ready to counsel anyone when something came up in the group or when we saw that there was a special need in a certain person’s life. We had to make ourselves available to talk, pray with them, and try to offer not only a sympathetic ear but be the supportive shoulder that they could lean on as well. As we discussed various topics and heard their opinions on different matters, we had to pray to also be sensitive to their needs and understand the things that may go unsaid. We’d often follow up with more reading material and take personal time with them.

Some got saved through the personal time we took with them, but since Christmas was fast approaching we chose to use that opportunity to get the rest saved in the discussion groups. We asked them what they could give Jesus for His birthday, and we were very happy to see the fruit of our labors as they said they wanted to give Him their lives and hearts. Then we led them in praying a Christmas prayer for receiving Jesus.

As an extra bonus the Lord worked it out for us to get the program sponsored. Through the cultural exchange made available in the club and in helping the young people come to terms and deal with the various situations they were faced with in this time of upheaval in their lives, they were taking their first steps towards reintegration and reconciliation. The NGOs in the area were thrilled with our effort and enthusiastic about helping it continue. They recognized the important role this club played in the community.

One international organization which is responsible for that area made up a list of questions, asking the students for input on what changes they saw needed to be made in the community, and telling them that they were going to put money behind making those changes come to pass. They were impressed with the comprehensive list the club came up with and said that it would have taken them months of assessment and analysis to have compiled it themselves. (It struck us that many of the things these young people mentioned were essentials of education, medical care, and usually a primary part of any country’s infrastructure, yet these young people had learned to go without these basics.)

The result of the club was a group of teenagers who have started coming to the Home for Bible classes and fellowship and who are all activated. By the end of the first six-week stage of the club in Kosovo, we were getting more and more of a vision of how the Lord could use this program. We felt that He was calling us to expand this youth ministry and devote our full time to it.

The Three Stages and 12 Stones

Though the real purpose of the clubs is to get a flock and establish a national work, in order to make the program relatable to the NGOs and people we contact we devised a three-stage plan:

Stage One involves English conversation, discussion groups, and community service.

Stage Two is “Management in a Democratic Society,” as moving toward democracy is the big drive here. (We are also researching other courses to make available, such as journalism, computer science, etc.)

Stage Three is “Community Projects,” which includes courses in First Aid, Welfare Studies, and some practical CTP projects.

One advantage of these more accepted secular courses is that we can get sponsorship for them, which supports the whole follow-up program and keeps the less receptive ones progressing. However, our main thrust is building up the most potential and spiritually hungry in the Word and in their personal relationship with the Lord, through the 12 Foundation Stones Classes.

Back to Ulchin

When we returned to Ulchin, it had been five months since we’d seen the Montenegro club members, and during that time we had stayed in touch and shared the Word with them somewhat through the mail. We made the follow-up trip hoping for the best, but it was all by faith, as we didn’t know whether they were still as turned on or if they had cooled off in our absence.

We were overjoyed to see how enthusiastically they welcomed our return. In no time at all, the club members were back together and eager to move on to the next stage of the club. Anton [alias], a 21-year-old club member, arranged for us to stay with his family for the entire month. God bless them! They took very good care of us and it was such a blessing to not have to worry about finding an apartment or paying rent, etc.

One girl invited us to her school to talk to the rest of her English class. We sang songs, talked about our work and what we are doing here in Montenegro and of our love for their people, and held a little question and answer session. By the end of it, many more people signed up as new members of the club.

We had gone there thinking that their winter break was over, so we’d intended to just do follow-up on the weekends. But we were amazed at the Lord’s timing when they told us that the very next day they were beginning three weeks of holiday and that there was nothing they wanted to do more with their free weeks than spend them with the club.

We offered them the chance to sign up for the Management in a Democratic Society course, which was based on research taken from the CVC Course. But what we wanted at this stage was to get them firmly connected to God, so we told them about the course which we called A Living Faith (classes taken from the 12 Foundation Stones but adapted for those from non-Christian backgrounds). We told them that through this we would help them come to a deeper understanding of God and His ways and show them how they could have a personal relationship with God for themselves. We were happy to see that everyone we had hoped would sign up did, and all in all 15 people chose to attend the Living Faith stage of the club.

We arranged a meeting with all the club members to finalize and set the schedule for the duration of our three-week stay. There were about 30 people attending, including 10 new students who were interested in joining the club. Contrary to what we had originally planned, the Lord showed us to go ahead at that meeting and give a talk on “Introduction to a Living Faith,” even though there were some there who had not wanted to sign up for that course. We told them that this was optional and that if they didn’t want to stay around they were free to go, but they all chose to stay.

This was the first time we had actually come out in the open in the group about our faith and our mission of bringing God and His love to people, explaining why Jesus had to come and die for us and about His gift of eternal life. They received it very well, and at the end everyone joined hands and prayed with us to receive Jesus.

We chose to use simple stories to illustrate the principles we wanted to teach. A few who hadn’t wanted to attend Living Faith changed their mind and asked to be part of the course. At the end, Albanian Rebecca sang “The Prayer of St. Francis” in English and Albanian.

The Lord inspired us with the idea of reserving 4:00-6:00 p.m. every day at the library building for an informal club gathering. Initially we thought that we would just let them know that we would be there at that time daily, but try to use the time to catch up on our planning and preparation, and make ourselves available if anyone showed up. But as it turned out, not a day went by when there weren’t at least six or eight kids there, usually the ones we could pour more into and who had the greatest vacuum.

We were a very small team (English Julie, Larissa, and Rebecca), and there was so much to pour out in a short time. We had two sessions of A Living Faith and one session of Management each week. Then we opened another club in a nearby city, where we would meet two mornings a week, and on top of all this, we had a daily informal club gathering for the ones who wanted to read more or do other activities with us.

We soon realized that we had to depend on the club members for help; we couldn’t do it ourselves. We had wanted to include skits to make the Word come alive, so we made a skit crew from the club members themselves. It proved to be a key to growth, as we chose the ones who were the closest and whom we felt could pass on the message well.

This little group of six became the bellwethers and the ones we poured into the most. They did well, and it was the beginning of teaching them to witness, as each skit went along with the classes and Bible studies we were giving them. One girl even started writing and preparing skits for our meetings on her own initiative.

One thing we learned in the Living Faith classes was to be aware of their background and how new this all was to them and not to expect too much all at once. We were reminded of how Jesus gave His messages in parables. It was a learning process, as we tried to find their key and how to bring the material to their level and make it relatable to them. Besides the skits, we packed in lots of action and activities, related games, and stories to bring the points home. The educational system here is such that they only learn if they are being tested, so we would interject spot quizzes throughout the class. None of us are musicians, so we had to find other ways to get them united and inspired, and thank the Lord, He gave us plenty of ideas.

We completed a total of seven classes covering Salvation, the Holy Spirit, Prayer, Love and Forgiveness, Heaven and Life after Death, Why Sin and Suffering, and God’s Ways and His Will.

There were some who never missed a meeting, a few of whom even had to hitchhike in from a nearby town, but were present on time and faithful as always. During the informal gathering we would read Word relating to the last class, or do an Endtime study. We also had games, activity and skit committees-anything to draw them in closer and make them feel a part.

Our Third English Club-in Bar

When we heard that it was school vacation, we lost no time in getting to Bar (also in Montenegro) to set up the English club there-we only had one day!

In prophecy the Lord showed us to go to the mayor’s office and that there we would find the person who would help us get set up. The Lord led us to the deputy mayor, who spoke fluent English; he got turned on to our plan and was more than eager to help. He helped us get into the high school and through all the bureaucracy that usually takes days to do, and literally just as the school was closing for the holidays.

We managed to gather a group of students, explain what we had to offer, and get them to sign up for it right then and there. It was a miracle, as usually this process takes days of work and protocol, but this time it was completed in just one morning!

Since most of the students had already made their plans for the winter vacation, we had the smallest group to date (16). But though there weren’t many of them, what we had to work with was a group of real labor leaders.-They were bright, open-spirited and receptive.

In all the clubs so far, when we ask them in a questionnaire to grade the activities we conduct according to their preference, discussion groups invariably come in first, as that level of open communication is something that you can hardly find anywhere here. With this group the response was like nothing we had ever seen before. The discussion groups would carry on through the break and even into the next half session, and they never wanted them to end. Not only would they freely comment on all the different topics, but they would ask us searching questions and were so eager to learn more about what we believe and how we live. Most of them commented at the end how they were so thankful for the discussions, as it made them consider things about life that they’d never thought of before. They said it was like a journey of discovery in their lives.

Our vision in all this is to win and train disciples, and one way we felt we could start to train them in what we do is to make them a part of our work. We took a couple of the Ulchin club members along to each club meeting in Bar, and they would help run it and even lead the discussion groups or perform skits for them.

One particular discussion question that always gives us a good opening to witness is, “If you could ask God any question face to face, what would it be and why?” Before we knew it, the young people would be involved in a lively discussion about the existence of God and His presence and His involvement in our lives. It was so encouraging to see that the club members from Ulchin were boldly giving their own testimonies of faith and telling the others how God was a very real part of their lives. This was especially interesting since the Ulchin members were from Albanian Muslim backgrounds, and the Bar members from Serb, Croatian, or Bosnian Christian backgrounds. By the end of the six-session course almost all of the Bar club members got saved, again as part of the discussion group sessions.

Their reactions to the club were enthusiastic and positive. Many of them asked how they could join us and help us in our work, and were fascinated by every aspect of our life and mission. Seeing the Ulchin members assisting us, they realized they too could become a part of our work and showed a lot of interest in working with us in the summer.

The Lord has shown us that stressing community service would be a key, as it is something that has become a primary goal for the NGOs. There’s only so much any humanitarian organization can do, but what is needed is for the people themselves to take an interest in making their country and community a better place. Just about all the young people want to leave and go overseas, and see their country as a dead-end road. They try to emigrate to the States or anywhere outside of the Balkans, and a staggering number of young people do just that. Every family has some young relative of theirs living abroad.

But what the country needs is industrious people who have the vision to make things better right where they are and who will do something about it. This has become the appeal and something that the other organizations recognize as a substantial accomplishment. Not only that, but it gives us an opportunity to train the members to do something worthwhile with their lives and involves them in our work.

Fulfillment of the Era of Action

Though we generally have to do a considerable amount of groundwork to get someone where they are ready to become activated, we now have a flock of nearly 80 members in these three locations.

We feel that we are just beginning to scratch the surface in reaching the tremendous harvest field of the youth here. They so much want to be a part of something and do more with their lives and they so sincerely seek after what we have to give them. The Lord showed us that this method is like deep-sea fishing, to work with a whole group and bring them along closer and closer to discipleship as each stage goes by. Of course, in the beginning of each club, there are those who are just there for the attraction of being around foreigners and the fun and entertainment, but invariably as we go on it becomes evident who is seeking more and whose lives the Lord is working in and calling. Even a few who didn’t manifest much depth or interest at first have blossomed and grown, even to the point of being some of the ones we can count on to keep it going.

Anton, an Ulchin club member mentioned earlier, is one of the first fruits in that he himself recognizes that the Lord is calling him and acknowledges that the Lord has completely changed his life. He loves the Word and meditates on it, prays, and is getting closer to the Lord all the time. Though he was having to take exams at the university in the capital throughout our stay, he was with us as much as he could be, and since we needed a translator at times, he would come along and help us in our follow-up and even provisioning, as well as helping in the Bar club.

Recently he was facing a personal crisis in his life. He had a lot of questions and sought our counsel on the decisions he was facing. Everything we shared with him, he was faithful to pass on to others, to build up their faith in the Lord. Someone close to him called about a problem they were having, and he tried his best to encourage them to look to the Lord and turn to Him for help, but he felt he wasn’t getting through. At that point the phone cut off, so he took the time while he waited for them to call back to pray with all his heart that the Lord would give him the words to say. By the time they did call back, he felt that something had taken control of him and the words just poured out. He told us he didn’t even know what it was he was saying, but that the person on the other end remarked how it was exactly what they needed to hear and made all the difference in the world for them.

Once when we were praying together for someone’s healing, we joined hands and prayed like we usually do, but when we looked up he had tears in his eyes. He told us how while we were praying he felt this surge of energy go through him and tears came to his eyes. He had never experienced anything so powerful before, he said. We let him know that he had just gotten zapped by the Holy Spirit, and we were thrilled to realize how the Lord was manifesting Himself to him in that way.

Liana [alias] is one of the ones who didn’t participate in the summer club but joined the second time around in the wintertime. She went straight into the Living Faith course and attended every meeting. She was drawn to the Spirit and spent as much time as she could with us, and when she wasn’t around us she’d send us e-mails and was so appreciative of everything we shared with her. When we had the class on Heaven and broke up into small groups to talk about it, she commented, “I never even thought about Heaven before, but when I heard about it now from you, I believe that it’s real. I know it has to be and it feels so right.”

The Lord used that class to prepare her heart. A few days after we left we got an e-mail from her telling us that her best friend (who’d had heart problems all her life) had died of a heart attack during her PE session the day before. She was broken up, as she didn’t even get to say goodbye to her. We wrote back and were able to tell her more about Heaven and the afterlife and comfort her with the promise of eternity.

We could go on and on, as the Lord is alive and moving in these people’s lives, and we’re convinced that this is a fulfillment of the era of action and all that the Lord has promised. We feel this is a limitless vision and it’s just the beginning.

Where are we going with this vision? Everywhere! He’s leading us to set up youth groups in many locations throughout the former Yugoslavia with a team of like-minded individuals. Please keep this ministry in your prayers, that we can reap this vast harvest field through the Activated program.

If you would like to become part of our Activated Mobile Ministry or help support it, please contact us through EURCRO. God bless you!!

Update August 2001

By Julie, Larissa, Alex, Emy, and Sarah

In June of this year we opened a road-team Home with the goal of working full time with the Activated Clubs and disciple-winning, continuing with the flock that we started with last summer as well as opening new clubs.

The work that was started in Ulchin last summer is continuing well. In prophecy before our trip to the area this summer, the Lord told us that things would not be as before and that we would need to seek Him for a new way of feeding the original sheep. This summer has seen an overwhelming influx of tourists in Ulchin, which is a boon to the locals. However, the club members from last year were suddenly all busy, having a number of commitments at this tourist high season, and therefore were unable to spend as much time with us as we would have liked.

So we went to the Lord for a solution and He instructed us to remain faithful, to do our part and to let Him lead us. He’s used all this to get us in the right places and brought people along our path that we would not have otherwise been able to meet. All things considered, these have been fruitful, miracle-filled weeks.

In the beginning of July, we started with a new group of 25 young people and took them through the first stage of the English club, which involved six mornings of songs, skits, activities, discussion groups, and games-all in English, without a translator. Again we found many more potential and receptive teenagers.

From this new group, 17 got saved and 12 signed up for the Living Faith course. We have now finished the first classes and have started the most potential ones on the Activated magazines!

Although we were discouraged about the young people who had attended the first two stages of the clubs having so many other commitments at this time, the Lord showed us to follow up on them individually at their workplaces and to start them on the Activated mags! (The postal system is almost nonexistent here, so we ordered several copies of each magazine and passed them out ourselves.) Until that time we had been using the Activated material and classes in club meetings, but since they were not able to attend, we set up a lending library for the Activated material. They would borrow magazines, read them, and write down any questions they had. Then on follow-up visits we’d spend time talking with them and answering their deep questions, using all the material they read about as a springboard to find out what was on their hearts. We saw how giving them a chance to discover the Word for themselves was a key to them getting closer to the Lord, and they have grown a lot through it.

One girl, on reading about the Lord’s love for her, said that she burst into tears and started praying and thanking the Lord. She felt His presence so strongly; it was very special to her. The next day she asked Larissa if she thought the Lord had a special plan for her, as she felt He was calling her to do something more.

Another boy had a miraculous healing experience when he had a very bad headache due to sinusitis. He was in such pain he started praying desperately for the Lord to help him. Suddenly, in a split second, the pain was completely gone! He was so amazed that he phoned Julie to tell her that he knew it was a miracle and he kept on saying “Thank You, Jesus!” over and over on the phone!

This same boy has been witnessing to his girlfriend (who doesn’t speak English), and when we were able to get a salvation tract in her language, she read it and prayed with him to receive the Lord. Then she asked if she could order the Activated magazines in her language (they have just been translated!).

The Lord has continued to supply miraculously; in spite of the high tourist prices, we have been able to find free or cheaper housing. On two occasions the Lord has led us to people who have offered us free accommodation as soon as the tourist season is over. We have also been asked to open two more clubs and DV will get some financial help while doing them.

At the end of August, a group of eight Club members from Kosovo who had been regularly attending Bible studies with the Oasis Home came to Montenegro for a summer camp hosted by Magda, Rosa, Serbian Sarah and team. The local members, who had been attending Bible studies here in Ulchin, were able to attend some of the activities. It was inspiring to see how well the young people mixed, bearing in mind they were from three different ethnic backgrounds.

After a year, we can now see the lasting fruit of the three different English clubs, in that we start with 24-30 students and usually end up with 10-12 Activated members from each group. Out of these, about four have the potential of being Active members or disciples of our national church here. We continue to have a fun activity each weekend to which all the club members are invited.

We are very inspired by the fruit borne from using the English clubs as bait to draw them in, and we thank the Lord for the good counsel of the Activated vision, which has been our foundation and guiding light.

Pictures: Montenegro Summer Camp 2001 (top to bottom)

Rosa giving a Bible Class to club members from Kosovo and Montenegro

Balkan peace: On the left, three of the Serbian sheep from Kosovo having fun with four of the local Albanian sheep

Members of the two clubs with Alex (with guitar) Rosa, Brian and Julie. The young people come from Albanian, Serbian and Roma (Gypsy) backgrounds.

A Bushfire of the Word!

From Philip, Meekness, and Magda, “in Namibia

At the end of ‘96, we were sitting on the floor of our first, unfurnished pioneering flat in Namibia. Little did we know that the things the Lord was telling us then would come to pass in more amazing ways than we could ever dream.

Knowing that our tiny pioneering team would not be able to reach many folks just one-on-one, we came up with the idea of doing a correspondence Bible study course that could reach the people of Namibia for us! The only desire we had was to give out as much Word as possible-to burn free! We were taken with the passion of pioneering! A new land, new people, new horizons, new life, new ministries, thrill and adventure!

Philip put together a tract inviting people to write and enroll in a Bible course, which was to become the Correspondent Bible Study Course. It was such a small, but inspiring beginning. The Lord told us that evening: “This Bible study course will be a mighty wave sweeping the shore of these lands, from ocean to ocean, reaching many and touching hearts, pulling on their soul strings. … Give the Word and it will not come back empty unto you!” Honestly, it was a shocking and surprising message. It was hard for us to imagine how it would all come to pass.

So the Lord took our feeble attempts, our little steps mixed with the vision to give His Words and reach this land, and He anointed and blessed it. In five years’ time it has grown to a humongous size! It’s literally spreading like a bushfire now! TYJ! (See the former FSM article by Philip and Meekness, “Our Three-Year African Faith Trip,” FSM 346.)

Correspondent Bible “Study Course (CBSC)

To present this Bible course in an attractive, catchy way, the Lord gave us an idea of a three-page folded pamphlet/tract. We simply called it an “Invitation,” as we all usually like to be invited somewhere! (Guess it had a warm, cozy feeling to it.) Inside the tract is a simple application form for becoming a student of the correspondent course.

The basic info we request is name, address, age, sex, and occupation. This helps us to get to know our students. It’s fun to see from how many interesting walks of life, age groups, and places the Lord is gathering His sheep.

College and university students are the ones who write the most. Next are prisoners, then come folks from all kinds of walks of life: businessmen, nurses, policemen, security workers, office workers, pastors, church groups, farmers, soldiers, and a few others.

We now have 300 Bible Study Course students on line, regularly writing. To date, ten have completed their entire course and received their diplomas, plus a Treasures and Word Basics. They continue receiving our Word-filled letters. 166 people so far have received the Lord as their personal Savior, via the salvation volume! TYJ! Souls saved forever! Since we started this Bible course, we have sent 16 Bibles and New Testaments to people who requested them.

To date we have full-fledged Bible Study Course students in four southern African countries: Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and Botswana. Those precious folks have themselves given out approximately 7,500 posters and tracts! They’re real witnessers and do it with passion, plus always ask for more! Last year, we also sent our CBSC sample and full packs to Brazil, Tahiti, and Guam.

Pictures:

TOP: Marcus (l), one of our on-fire sheep from the Bible course, with Philip (r) and over 400 letters going to four African countries

TOP LEFT: Meekness behind the “computer working on our mail ministry

LEFT: Magda and Marcus working on a mailing

Philip with Marcus’s family

Our Namibia Home! Meekness, Philip, Magda, and kids!

Simple and Basic

The Bible Course is free, so anyone can afford it! That is why prisoners, Bible school students, and lots of young folks are able to write in. In our country, the majority most likely wouldn’t be able to pay for it.

We found that there is a great interest and hunger for Bible classes on a variety of subjects. So the course is compiled into 10 concise, A5-size volumes, between 12 to 20 pages long. Each volume is sent with a short questionnaire corresponding to it, to encourage people to study, review, answer simple questions and write back. The questionnaire is the “ticket” to the next volume.

So, all 300 correspondents are actually regularly sending in their answered questionnaires. Can you imagine? There is incoming mail constantly-from former correspondents and those sending new requests and enrollment forms. Our biggest thrill is when-yes!-so many people write back! The day we pick up the mail, we sit together at our living room table and open all the envelopes. To say the words “inspiring” and “exciting” is just a tiny bit of what we feel deep inside! It’s bliss! A total thrill! Chill down the spine! Amazement that we can’t contain!

The CBSC covers 10 topics: Salvation; The Word of God; Jesus Christ, the Son of God; The Endtime; Witnessing; Prayer; Fear Not; Giving; How to Find the Will of God; and the last one, Discipleship. These are the actual titles of our volumes. Classes are composed of articles from Treasures, Good Thots and Key Bible Verses. With the fifth volume, “Witnessing,” we send a packet of posters and tracts (including our “Invitation” tracts) for distribution and a form for them to fill out stats and reactions. The response is astounding! Our correspondents love to witness and often ask for more tracts to distribute.

What, Why, and Where to?

The goal of the Correspondent Bible Study Course is to bring Jesus and His Words closer to people’s lives and hearts, to teach them to feed themselves from the Word and to witness, to give them the vision for the Endtime, and to gather into our Family those whom the Lord is calling to be His disciples with us.

With the birth of the Activated program, we got the idea that many of our Bible Course subscribers (because of the sponsored subscriptions) will be able to benefit from the further studies of the Word. Several of them asked if they could enroll in any further studies; Activated brought the answer! We have sent a number of names for the “sponsored for Africa” subscriptions. We are sure that, for example, our sheep from the prisons will appreciate that!

Real People and Real lives

Besides sending in their questionnaires, many people write us personal letters, and we always try to reply, even if it’s only with a few words. They share their heartcries, battles, prayer requests, worries, questions, struggles, but also joys, victories, and their thankfulness. Here are a few excerpts to give you a peek into their hearts.

Elana, 25: “I hereby wish to thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Correspondent Bible Study Course. I really enjoyed it and am very pleased with my diploma and the books you sent me. I cannot thank you enough for changing my life with your books and the Bible Course. You’ve reached out to me when I needed it the most and I appreciate that. You made me realize that there is no other way but to follow Him!”

Sarel, 16 (Namibia): “It was my pleasure to distribute the tracts. I was able to give out all of them. I never expected it to be so successful! Hope to hear from you soon and maybe distribute some more of those tracts.”

Sandando, 18 (Zambia): “The lesson on salvation has touched my heart. I believe and trust that after finishing the whole course, I will never be the same. I want to tell you that I have distributed the information about this Bible course, so you can expect some more letters from Zambia. Can you send three volumes at the same time? After completing the whole course, I would like to open a sort of Bible school just to share the knowledge I will acquire from you. May the Lord bless you three missionaries from Namibia.”

Gersham (pastor): “We got a copy of the ‘Watch out for 666’ and got interested in these beautiful brochures [posters]. Please, kindly send us 5,000 copies. These will be given out to our brothers and sisters and the public as a testimony to the masses about the true meaning of Christianity. Our mission is to carry the Gospel to the world. We will do it by receiving these beautiful brochures.”

Handpicked

We have incredible testimonies of how these Bible classes have helped many people who write us.

Marcos is a 20-year-old student living in the north of Namibia, on the Angolan border. He just finished college and is now praying about what to do next in his life. He also completed his CBSC, received his “Diploma of Achievement” and additional books.

His story is fascinating: One day, on the street, he found our Bible study “Invitation” tract crumpled up on the sidewalk. He picked it up, but from the dirty piece of paper, he couldn’t read anything but our address and something about a Correspondent Bible Course … so he wrote! He got turned on by the Bible classes. He also started to give out hundreds of the tracts that we sent him to reach as many of his friends as he could. Now there are 95 young people writing us from his town! Can you believe it?! From one man’s fire!

Another man writing us from prison has almost finished his course and has given out many tracts to inmates, family and friends. One day we received this letter from his daughter. She wrote: “I am 17 years old, a student, and I would like to enroll in your Correspondent Bible Study Course. I received the ‘Invitation’ tract from my father, who is in prison. Please, reply! Below is the list of my friends, who also would like to participate in this course. Thank you!”

Her father, a prisoner, witnessing from inside of the “closed world,” brought the Word and Jesus to his family! From his letters we know that the Lord is changing and transforming his life.

Heartfelt Request

After our short CBSC testimony was published in an FSM, many of our dear Family wrote and sent help in different ways. Thank you so much for every gift that came our way!

This project is going ahead full speed now and unless the Lord indicates otherwise, we wouldn’t want to stop it! We do all we can to try to meet the need, but our lacks are a bit of a dilemma. How will it all continue? Can you help us?

Please feel free to write us at . We will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Bible study course. We can send you a disk with the full CBSC with the questionnaires and the Invitation Tract, together with the program for your convenience.

(Editor’s note: This correspondence course is now posted on the Members Only Web site, for you to use as the Lord leads.)

With love from Namibia, enchanting and hungry for the Word,

Philip, Meekness, Magda, and six little fellows

Living the Activated Vision!

From Pedro and Lily, in Madagascar

We are happy and fulfilled to be able to continue working in this special land of Madagascar. The greatest victory is to see the Lord answering so many prayers concerning the spiritual progress of the sheep here. We have about 15 follow-up members, and ten of them are faithfully having the 12 Foundation Stones classes with us on a weekly basis (downloaded from the MO site). In the beginning we try to share classes with new students in a more personal setting, to see the level of receptivity and knowledge received, according to their participation. Afterwards, we pray about which group of students they fit in with best.

It’s so wonderful and encouraging to see our Husband work in each one of their lives. We pray weekly for them, against any hindrance or major problems or worldly distractions, and for more hunger and time spent in the Word. It’s a battle sometimes, but He is faithful to bring all His sheep back to His fold every time.

We now have the needed material at hand for an effective and lasting witnessing/follow-up program. We’ve built a stock of “Basic and Optional Supplementary Material,” like Get Activated booklets, etc., which we lend to our students after every subject or portion of the 12 Foundation Stones is finished.

Praying for each of our students after each class has also borne much fruit. For instance, Annick and her husband had a broken car that needed some expensive repairs. We prayed together with them for the Lord to do a miracle and supply the funds they needed. Ten days later, He answered our prayer in a better way than we could ever think! A long-lost friend phoned them to say he had heard they were in need of a car. He said he was willing to exchange his good car for their broken one-totally for free! After praying together, the Lord showed us it was His opportunity and that was it! We rejoiced for this great miracle of supply and the testimony of the power of prayer!

Tiana is one of our dear follow-up members who has weekly Activated classes with us at her office, during lunch hours. She wrote us:

“I’m very happy lately, because thanks to you, I’ve gotten much closer to the Lord. I realize that I really feel His presence in my life now, since He is helping me to fight my battles daily, and because of that I can smile again and it makes me to be happy, healthy and peaceful at the same time. In spite of all the unsolved problems in my life, I haven’t felt so much peace inside of me for such a long time. It’s really magic and difficult to explain. You’ve made me understand that it’s no use to quit because of the problems, but to always continue to pray, no matter what comes. … I want to thank you and the Lord for being very close to my life. I love you so much, and may the Lord bless and protect you.” She is learning how to apply the Word on a daily basis and started to memorize several Psalms last month.

Here is an excerpt of a letter from another precious follow-up member, Dady (18 years old), who is having Activated classes with us at our Home and is also subscribed to the Activated magazine thanks to another sponsored sub:

“When I met you, my life completely changed. Through you I got to know the salvation, love and mercy of Jesus Christ. I want to thank you for the Activated magazines and classes that are so interesting and inspiring. Those beautiful and life-changing teachings and words are a real source of encouragement for me and make me happy. I’m very thankful to learn so many things through the Word. … Thank you once again for all the [Activated] material and teaching you are giving to me. Just one more thing to say-that I will always love you in return, as the Lord has ordained us: ‘Love one another.’ God bless you always!”

A couple of months ago, in a Christian worship gathering where we had the opportunity to sing a few songs and perform a skit, we met Neny, a kind and on-fire-for-the-Lord woman. She is quite a famous singer in Madagascar and was the manager and one of the main singers of a famous musical group for about 15 years. She sang a couple of songs with her partner in a lively and beautiful way. Some time later we followed up on her and found out that she had accepted Jesus in her life three years before, right after a serious car accident.

Neny had been quite miserable before the accident because, although she had lots of money and everything she wanted at her fingertips, she always felt so empty. On top of that, she was experiencing intense battles of jealousy because of her husband’s relationship with other women. Several bones in her face were broken during that accident, and at the hospital, she got desperate because of her bad state. She was practically forced to re-evaluate her entire life. She then felt the Lord comforting her and calling her to turn around and live and sing for Him, and leave the entire materialistic and glamorous world behind.

From that moment her life completely changed in a miraculous way, and she felt totally liberated from the weights of the past and from all the fears she had. She then forsook all for Him, even her husband, and is now still singing on her own, performing concerts everywhere she goes for young and old, but all for the Lord’s glory. God bless her! She was also sharing that she feels so liberated now that she doesn’t even feel jealous, bitter, or bad anymore when she meets her ex-husband occasionally with his lovers and the children they had together. She loves them and prays for them every time instead. What a victory!

She recently subscribed to the Activated magazine and she came to our first Activated Bible class. She followed everything with much hunger, enthusiasm and attention.

We’ve produced and printed two brochures, one in French about our Activated Bible classes and another in English about the Activated magazines and sponsored subscriptions. This enables us to publicize and advertise them everywhere, to everyone and by any means possible! We’ve sent off these brochures by e-mail to our Web-serving agency to advertise them on their Web site. Many people have responded positively to our ad. We are getting subscriptions through the English one, which is very inspiring! (See these color advertisements on the MO site!)

Thank You, Jesus, for Activated, and for the ones who have spent (and still are spending) all their time and efforts to put all the material together, organize it so well, and produce it in so much quantity and even with such excellent quality! May God bless Mama and Peter for being so loving and faithful to give us the Lord’s vision for today! It works!!

Picture: Lily with Annick and Mahery, two of our on-fire Activated members, right after one of our Activated Word classes

A Retreat For Feeding and Fun

From Josh, Lilly, Angel, Nat, and Lina, in Goa, India

The result of Heavenly instruction combined with the insistence of our friends and Active members was a two-day retreat. It was a time to get away from the stress and distractions of daily living to feed deeply of the Word and get closer to our wonderful Husband-a time of getting activated through classes modified in prophecy to cater to the mixed audience, some of whom were young in the Christian faith.

There were four people attending during the day and at night two stayed on, while the other two went home for the night to care for house and family. The attendees came from completely different backgrounds and were on entirely different levels in their knowledge of the Word. The Lord engineered every aspect of the retreat, and worked specially and differently in the lives of each one who came. Now a couple of these people have made it a regular feature to visit for a day, once a week-their own special WnR day of spending time with Jesus. Here are the testimonies about each one.

1) A middle-aged woman with a business, whom we have known for about a year, initially got to know the Lord through one of our Active members who works for her. We have been having Bible studies with her family for several months, so she has a basic knowledge of the Bible and spiritual principles. If we don’t call or visit her and her family every day, they get anxious because of their need of prayer and fellowship.

They have been trying to pay off a large loan for their business, and until the day of the retreat had not made even half of what was needed to clear it. Our friend’s husband was worried that if she took off for a couple of days, business might get worse. At their daily devotions after they had prayed, our Active member told this family that if the Lord did not come through for them in the way they had requested, he would not touch a Bible again. He told us it was a test of his faith too, to make such a statement, but … the Lord likes to be put on the spot, and of course He did the needed miracle!

On the first day they made the exact amount they had claimed in prayer, down to the last rupee! And when on the second day more money was needed, the teenage sons of this lady specifically prayed for it. By evening they were still 100 rupees short, but just before the shop was closed someone walked in and bought an item for that much. It was a testimony to all and a boost of their faith.

2) A middle-aged Parsee man who had little knowledge of Christianity said he learned more about this religion in these two days than he had in his whole life. He was still undecided about giving up his other trips and theories and preferred to just check things out, considering himself an open-minded person. Even now he is still coming along slowly, yet is definitely growing in faith.

3) A housewife in her twenties, with a background of mixed nationalities, came with her baby while her husband continued to go to work each day. Teen Angie took care of her little baby so she was able to attend most of the time. A while back, Jehovah’s Witnesses had witnessed to this lady, so she had some background in Bible study. She left the Jehovah’s Witnesses because she felt they were too strict when it came to things like listening to music and enjoying life, not allowing her to have fun. Well, with the children of David and the freedom of the Spirit, this is not the case, so as she began coming over we were one family from the beginning.

When she went home one evening, she took the Countdown to Armageddon video to show to her husband. He was born Muslim, but didn’t really know what to believe in and would often mock her when she would talk about the Lord with him. Still, for three years she faithfully prayed for him.

That night the long-awaited miracle happened. In the morning when she called us, she was so thrilled and excited that her words came out at an unintelligible speed! After watching the powerful video on the Endtime, her husband had been totally zapped. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this before? Everything is so clearly explained in the Bible,” he said.

At 2 a.m., for the first time in their married life they prayed together. Then before going to work, the husband had written the salvation prayer on a piece of paper and proudly told her that he’d been saying it all morning. Ha!-Still much to learn. It’s a new start in their lives.

4) A widowed lady with AIDS was going through major battles with her personal situation and was unable to fully concentrate, due to her physical affliction and the trial she was facing. When she took time to hear from the Lord, tears streamed down her face as she received His Words of love, encouragement and comfort.

During the retreat we covered more on the Endtime, with an exclusive showing of The Final Stand. James and Nina (from a nearby Home) both gave personal testimonies, which touched the hearts of all.

Overall it was an inspiration to not only the sheep but to us too, as pouring out the wealth we have is surely one of the most fulfilling experiences we’ve had. Such concentrated feeding helps bring in more people to help us reach the goal at hand. Thank the Lord!

Switching Directions From Fundraising to Follow-Up

From Delight (of Abner), in Italy

We have been struggling for finances and I have been praying to be able to witness more deeply and do some follow-up instead of just fund-raise. I asked the Lord to help me to get into the Activated vision, even though we don’t have the mags in Italian yet. He told me that I simply needed to put more emphasis on personal witnessing and not hesitate to stop and give a deeper witness when He led me to a sheep. I tried to keep this vision when going out, and it seems that things began to happen almost overnight!

For example, my daughter and I were tapenessing in an office building and it wasn’t going very well. In one of the last offices, we met a lady who said she didn’t believe in God, but somehow it seemed that she wanted to talk with us. We ended up staying a half hour with her, showing her our PR album, talking about our work and eventually getting into a deep conversation about how the Lord has helped me through the tough times in my life. She continued drinking it in, even though she kept saying that she didn’t believe.

At one point, she said that she just had to get a tape and went to borrow the funds from a friend. When she left the office I turned to my daughter and said, “I feel really turned on in the Spirit, like I could almost cry!”

My daughter said, “Me too! And the lady looks like she’s going to cry too! There’s something so special about her!”

When she came back, she had brought her friend with her, who also wanted to take a tape. She then proceeded to lead us around to other offices and help us get out another whole bunch of tapes! At the end, when I thanked her for helping us, she said, “No, no! Thank you! I needed to spend some time with someone like you!”

Another time we were singing in a restaurant and met a 22-yearold man who does volunteer work with handicapped people. He called us a week later and came over to see us, asking what he could do. It was the day before Eacster and we had a stand in a supermarket, so he came along with the ballooning team and spent the whole day with us helping out, learning to do balloons, praying with people, etc. He was attracted to the Spirit and begged us to come and help with the volunteer group he’s in, saying that they need someone like us to liven up the group.

Then there was the time we went on a “routine” provisioning pickup. The owner’s wife was there when we walked into the office and when I cheerily said hello, she asked, “Are you always so happy?”

I answered, “Why, aren’t you happy?” She replied that she always felt sad, and this led to me sitting down with her for about 40 minutes. She was desperate to find peace and begged me to help her to find the happiness I had. I prayed with her to receive the Lord and spent some time explaining how the Scriptures admonish us to think on positive things, and how time in the Word and prayer could help her. I promised to come back to give her some classes and bring her some reading material, and by the time I left, she was actually smiling!

These are just a few examples of how the Lord led us to change from our usual course to meet the needs of a sheep.

His Blessings

From David and Ruthie, in Taiwan

We’re on our own with six little ones. I have faith in follow-up, but it takes some courage when you’re not doing great financially to invest the needed time in winning friends and supporters. Of course, hearing from the Lord is the best solution. If He tells me to go out and follow up on someone, I have peace that it’s His will whether the finances come that day or not. So far, He’s never failed to take care of us. I see His blessings just because He knows my heart wants to spread His Word.

“Such a Beautiful Vision!”

From Ruthie (SGA, of Santi), in Brazil

Some of us have experience in witnessing, others no, but follow-up is something new and we’re all learning day by day through the Letters, testimonies, prophecy, and also in obedience to the Activated GNs. TYJ!

First we asked the Lord to speak to us and show us specifically how to implement the Activated vision in our situation. We also drew up a list of potential friends and prayed that they would sign up for the magazine. Each Home member set a specific personal goal of subscriptions to reach. Every day that we’d go out we would offer the mag and we’d have one devotions each week on a study of the GNs on the subject, so we’d be familiar with the product. We’d take it a day at a time and with every subscription we’d have a great celebration!

We discovered that you don’t have to wait for months to follow up on a subscriber. When they sign up, that in itself shows what sheep they are, because they’re making a commitment to the Word. The follow-up can start right away! We visit the subscribers to see if they’re reading the mag and also to read parts of it with them.

Since our Home is relatively new, we don’t have a whole lot of friends and supporters. The Lord gave us a beautiful property we’ve been using for retreats and seminars for Active members and Family young people. From the beginning the Lord showed us that this property was going to be a great witness, so every Sunday we just put ourselves at the service of our sheep and friends. They like to come play football and get to know us better, and this opens the door to further witnessing!

Of course, our faith has been tested since we’ve been concentrating more on follow-up and getting subscriptions than on getting out tools for our own support. Several times we went out and didn’t get a single subscription, but we would always find more sheep! After getting started, we began to see the miracles: People who helped a little started helping more; we didn’t have a computer or a printer, and someone who signed up called us one night to tell us he had a computer that he wasn’t using anymore that he wanted to give us; one month we received $765 in donations (something completely unexpected!); doors opened for us to get out the tools in large quantities, and lots of people who signed up for the mag also bought tools from us.

It’s very important to hear from the Lord about each person to see what his or her particular key is, so we can reach their hearts. In this way we’re seeing some incredible progress. Fellowship groups are forming, and as the Lord told us, these groups are a blessing for these precious sheep and also for us.

This is such a special and beautiful vision. We’re learning a lot and are sold on it! We’re very thankful for the fruits of following the New Wine.

Our Friends and Us Making PROGRESS!

From Seek, in Mexico

Each week we are seeing the Activated vision progress as we put the boat in motion, and then just watch to see where the Lord is taking us. We find ourselves regularly taking questions to the Lord in prayer and prophecy, asking about Bible classes, meetings, and personal time with new sheep that have been getting closer to the Family.

We felt a little in the dark about how to proceed with those who wanted to be what we have been calling “live-out disciples” [now called “Active members”] so we were so happy that it worked out for nine of us from Mexico to attend the national retreat in São Paulo, Brazil (see FSM #374, “Rise Above Retreat”). It was a life-changing event for us, and helped to answer many of our questions about Activated follow-up and how to develop a good program for our new disciples. We started right away to apply the things that we learned, as our next monthly Activated meeting was just two days after we returned. Here are a few things we are learning and also news on the progress with the Activated program in Morelia.

Our “New” Church of Love

Our monthly Activated meetings and our weekly Bible study are blending together and evolving. Each week we have a Church of Love, which the sheep suggested that we do Sunday afternoon. And our monthly Activated meeting is getting to be a time to feed our friends attending with a more meaty message.

We really weren’t so sure about how to go about things. We have done our best to follow the Lord and the Word, and step by step it led to a program much like what we saw in Brazil, the idea being that different Homes in a city work together, starting with Bible studies in their Homes, and then unite their sheep to have a weekly Church of Love.

One drawing card is that the people who attend the Church of love-both old and young- enjoy playing volleyball, games, having Sunday school for their children, having lots to eat and drink, as well as the Bible study! So what we were providing in this way on a monthly basis, we are now starting on a smaller scale weekly in our Church of Love.

We find that it means a lot to those attending the meeting to have fun together; the time of fellowship seems to mean a lot to them. They often stay around for more than an hour after the meetings are over, just talking with each other or us.

Study Group for “Active Discipleship”

For those who are more committed, we are starting an additional study group who are working toward “active discipleship.” This means they are not living with us in our Home; they continue having their jobs, and other responsibilities, but we presented to them what would be the requirements for discipleship and they agree that they want to be part of a special discipleship class, in addition to the weekly Sunday Church of Love.

When we showed the list of requirements to those we were considering for this group, we found they were already doing a number of them. Basically they need to start to work on a course to understand more of our fundamental beliefs, and for it we are using the New Disciple Course from the Charter.

Work on Personal Problems

In our Bible study group, we were already experiencing a need for more in-depth attention to personal problems people mentioned in the course of the evening. We often had a planned outline of study, but in the class different ones would start to open up their hearts and share about problems they knew to be standing in the way of their progress. As the Family in Brazil had explained to us, we saw that they wouldn’t make too much progress taking all this baggage with them, so we plan to include in the discipleship course a time to learn how the Lord can deliver us from the ways the Enemy can have a grip on our lives and have united prayer of deliverance for these areas.

Visits to Help People “Feel Comfortable

Sometimes it takes a personal visit for someone to move forward. This might be something that is a characteristic of our city, as people here are more conservative. To explain: They have been very helpful with provisioned goods and donating what is needed for our work and projects, but when it comes to coming over to our Home for an Activated meeting, they are hesitant to do so if they don’t really know us personally. So that means we have to take a personal interest in various ones, invite them over for dinner or for some activity, and go somewhere with them. We do this generally one family at a time, and that way we find that they will accept our invitations to attend the Church of Love much more readily.

Pictures:

An important part of our team! Our little shiners passing out tracts are Allen, Phillip, Danny, Mikey, and Precious of Jason and Cedar, plus Timmy of Servant and Seek.

Our Mexico team to the Brazil Activated national retreat, in front of our hotel in the mountains near São Paulo

After our “Sword Drill.” The man who won (top picture, left side, on the couch) was a visitor, and it was his first visit! He is a “Catholic who has rarely used his Bible. He thought it was great fun to find the verses before everyone else. Everyone was looking up salvation verses, and then our regular Bible study members had a test on the verses they had memorized.

Skits are a vital part of our meetings. This is an Active member in a revised version of “The Chained Eagle.”

Jason and Stevie leading inspiration at our weekly Church of Love

Our monthly Activated meeting: This meeting is still used as a drawing card to reach many people whom we have known for years through provisioning, but who have never come to a meeting before. It is inspiring as new people are coming each month, and some who have been attending bring friends and family. Jason, Stevie, and Nehemiah teach them some new songs each month, and they like following along with their song sheets.

Sunday school is an important part of our monthly Activated meeting. Joy (of Dan) and Joy (of Jim) help with Sunday school, teaching flannelgraphs, while Elaina (14) and Elizabeth (10) help with the children’s activities.

Fun and games: Activated member Mercedes, racing with the ball between her knees

Jessica and a visitor racing with the ball “between their necks

Our Church of Love on the front steps after the weekly meeting

Copyright © 2001 by The Family

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