June 15, 2004
FSM 410, 4/04, FD/MM/FM
Special Action FSM #26
A brief history of our follow-up program
By Mary and Matthew, Bombay DF Home, India
(Matthew:) In the pre-Charter days, we were a Home of 45 people; we have now come down to 23. Our present list of follow-up contacts has been built up over the years, and we too had teething problems in switching over from being totally dependent on fundraising through tool distribution, to having a broader base of support through follow-up and pledges.
Our Home was great on getting out tools in the form of our Family's audio/visual products. Large numbers of sets would regularly be sold monthly, and this became the basic foundation of our fundraising. Being a large Home in an expensive city with a large rent to raise (70% of our budget), we were very dependent on getting tools out on a daily basis. No sooner had we finished doing our reports on the 25th of the month than we had to start raising our next month's funds, jumping into it with both feet the next day.
We experienced enormous financial pressure and learned many lessons through those years. We then realized that we had to build a work with a broader financial base—and that was through follow-up. We realized that we had a wealth of people to follow up on in all the folks who took large amounts of tools from us. And, by the way, many of these folks are still with us, helping us today. We already had a ready-made list of people to follow up on, and although we had been doing sporadic follow-up on some of these people, we made a commitment to be more faithful with our follow-up. While cultivating support through pledges, we continued to raise our support through tooling.
At present, about 60-–90% of our income is generated from follow-up. This varies from month to month. For instance, in the months of December and January, our rate of tools out is high, and thus our follow-up income drops to 40-–50% of our overall income. However, on an average, follow-up generally brings in around 70% of our total income.
Points we learned about follow-up
Follow-up is a method of wit-nessing that is built brick by brick over a long period of time—it is not something that is available to a Home on a silver platter. Developing loads of contacts to follow up on can be a painstaking process.
To build your follow-up program, getting out tools is a basic building block, as the sheep met through fresh outreach eventually become your Home's follow-up contacts.
Follow-up requires a lot of faithfulness and diligence, and the sheep can feel if we don't care about them. You have to remember important details of your contacts' lives, such as their birthday and marriage anniversaries, etc. It's important to go out of your way to make special things for them in the form of plaques or gifts, preferably Word-based ones. Our Home has set aside a budget for this particular need, to thank and take care of our contacts with little tokens of appreciation.
Although all these principles are laid out clearly in the Word, we have to give them landing gear and reap the fruit. We have not arrived by any means and have a long ways to go, as we could be much more faithful with our follow-up than we have been in the past. If it weren't for follow-up, it would have been difficult for our Home to survive in a city where costs are very high, without the help of pledges from our sheep who see us through lean months when getting out tools is sometimes difficult.
What to do when you meet someone potential
(Mary:) Say you are on outreach and you meet a receptive soul, whether you sold the person some tools or they subscribed to Activated—if they are open to the message and seem hungry for more truth, then you just have to start feeding them.
Call them up and make an appointment to see them, praying and preparing the Word you feel led to give them. Depending on how hungry they are, whether they are (as in our country) Muslim, Hindu, Christian, or Parsee, you would need to tailor the Word to them. We would say that 97% of our contacts are non-Christian, and all of them know that our work is Christian.
How to get an appointment
(Mary:) How do I get an appointment with a top person, after I have met him and already sold something to him? This can be the most awkward question you will face when you start to see top people. Some of those at the top are very, very busy and they may feel they have already met you and "done their bit," so to speak, to help humanity. They may feel, "What do you want now?"
In my usual conversation with one of these people, I ask if they have received my letter (as I would have sent them an ECCC letter with a thank you). Then I would ask if I could come by their office, saying that I have something to drop off for them, and I'd ask when would be a suitable time for them. This usually works, and you may get the appointment sooner rather than later. Other times you may have to wait quite a while. But even if you have to wait a very long time, don't get discouraged or give up. I have found that efforts to see these top people are well worth the wait. Your patience and persistence will be rewarded.
What to read at that first follow-up appointment
When meeting someone for the first time, let's say a managing director or CEO of a company, I usually choose something light but motivating. Something that I know will challenge him, not something that I know he could read from any old book. We have such a wealth of Word in all forms that is palatable and appealing, and you just have to pray and be Spirit-led. You can give END articles, Reflections, a sheet of quotes—but really pray and get something specific from the Lord on what to use. (On the MO site, under "Activated," "Reference Materials," a list is posted of the Reflections, ENDs, and other favorites that I use for these meetings.)
I have found that if the first follow-up visit is stimulating and exciting for them, and they like what you are giving them to read, they will welcome you back again when you call up.
How to present the Word
I usually say, "Would you mind if we just read something inspiring together? This is very motivating, and I think you will really like it." They usually are so polite that, time permitting, they agree. As a woman, it is fairly easy for me to ask them to read; maybe guys would have a harder time with this and possibly an adapted approach would work better.
When to ask for support
I usually don't wait too long before explaining the need for finances to support our work, although I would normally not ask the person for help on this first follow-up appointment. If they just helped by buying a Mottos or some other publication, I wouldn't ask for help on this first visit, in order to be sure that they are comfortable with me. I want them to know that I have come to give them something and not to take again.
On the next visit I would normally bring up the subject of contributing, asking if the person would like to be a part of the work and help support it. I find if I wait too long to bring this subject up, it becomes a little bit more difficult.
I have found it best to ask for a monthly pledge, as that would mean a commitment for a long time. If you just ask for a donation, that may be all you get, with nothing more in the future. So I always start off by explaining our pledge program. Sometimes, of course, they do not want to go through the hassle of preparing a gift every month, so they may give it every three months, six months, or yearly. However they want to give is just fine with us. Some contacts want to see you every month, of course, so they will give it for that reason.
I prefer to ask for pledges, as that provides consistent income for our Home. Some may not go for that today, but they may just take us up on it at a future time. Sometimes they just need to get to know you and your work better before agreeing to a long-term commitment. There are always varying reactions to our asking them to help in this way.
However, since various approaches appeal to various people, I usually have three or sometimes four different letters prepared for showing new contacts how they can help. If one doesn't go over so well, I have other choices to offer. People in India like paperwork, and it's good to have things spelled out clearly. These are the main letters I use:
1. Request Letter for Financial Help on a Yearly Basis: A substantial amount is requested in this letter. It is a personal one, asking help for our organization, listing the activities that we conduct, specifics that we need the funds for, and breaking down our yearly budget. They then know that this money is not going to an orphanage, nor will it be tax deductible.
2. Mottos Request Letter: This is simply a request for their company to take as many Mottos as possible, with a breakdown of amounts and costs, etc.
3. Provisioning Request Letter: If the company I am visiting has commodities that we would need, I carry a letter for that request also.
Take care of your pledgers
It is very important that as you build up your base of pledgers, you really do take care of them. You need to be praying for them, calling them regularly, and feeding them through the mail or by visits. Because they are giving to you regularly, and often because you are also searching for new sheep, it is easy to neglect the old sheep and fail to feed them properly. If this happens, though, you may soon find that you will be losing more ground than gaining.
Twice a month I send out ECCC letters, which I have done for many years now and which has been very well received. Of course I have to spend time composing new ones all the time. (They are available on the Family MO site under "Activated," "Reference Material.") I try to keep to new and current events, as I have a lot of business friends, movers and shakers, who like to be up on these things. I try to keep a balance in the topics covered, such as Endtime events, self-help stuff, world-changers, Jesus, love, marriage—a wide variety. It's important to balance their spiritual food (material on prayer, faith, and love for God, etc.) with current events and book reviews, etc. It cannot just be interesting reading for them; it has to move them, to make them stop and think and do something.
I try to use different colors of paper so the letters stand out and are different. Sometimes I put pictures or graphics in the letters to make them look interesting and appealing. At the end of one of my letters on prayer, I used a picture of a scantily clothed girl kneeling and praying. I got a lot of good reactions to that letter, ha!
A pitfall to watch out for
(Matthew:) Sometimes Homes are under acute financial pressure, and the temptation to hit up a generous contact can be very tempting. This could be damaging to your relationship with him, could possibly result in burning him out, and even cause him to doubt your work. When Family members go out under such financial pressure, they can sometimes present a "gimme spirit," which is quite obvious to the contacts.
In our Home, we have made it a rule to never approach people when we are under financial pressure, as it often hasn't borne good fruit for us. It is better to have a broad base of follow-up contacts who can be approached from time to time, rather than burning out the one very generous and sheepy contact. The sheep can usually sense when you are under pressure, and at those times it is often obvious. The strain of financial pressure can percolate through our spirits and have an adverse affect on that contact. After all, we who are full of faith are supposed to be feeding them.
But if you are seeking the Lord and carry a spirit of faith in His supply, that is a different matter altogether. The Lord can then lead you and show you if you should or shouldn't approach a contact who has already given regularly, and you can do so in the right spirit that will encourage rather than pressure them into helping you. In other words, when you are in great financial need, you need to be sure to be led of the Lord in approaching a contact, and not being led of your own pressured spirit.
In our Home we have a broad network of sheep to follow up on. There are around 12 who will give to us on a monthly basis, other pledgers who fall in the category of pledging once a year, and there are some others who pledge twice or thrice a year. The lump sum amount that they pledge is quite substantial and we spread the income received from such pledgers over a few months. For instance, if a pledger gives us Rs.60,000 (US$1,200) a year, then we spread this over 12 months of the year at the rate of Rs.5,000 per month. Although he has pledged once to us, it is like a monthly pledge since he does not want the trouble of being bothered on a monthly basis.
However, there are faithful ones who are always available to help out at various times in the year, which is a great blessing. Although we have fewer people who pledge to us on a monthly basis, we have many who will give to us many times throughout the year, with the added blessing that their giving is substantial.
We have by no means arrived! We most certainly are a "work in progress," with a renewed vision to get out Activated and to deeply feed the sheep.
Pull quotes:
It is very important that as you build up your base of pledgers, you really do take care of them.
We realized that we had a wealth of people to follow up on in all the folks who took large amounts of tools from us.
I have found that if the first follow-up visit is stimulating and exciting for them, and they like what you are giving them to read, they will welcome you back again when you call up.
It is better to have a broad base of follow-up contacts who can be approached from time to time, rather than burning out the one very generous and sheepy contact.
Captions:
(L to R) Anna, Matthew, Mary
Here is our Home at the wedding of a friend, in 2002
Here Hannah (L) and I (Mary, R) are witnessing to Lucy (center), an English woman who got wonderfully saved.
One of our close friends, Mr. Raj, having Word time with Mary in his office. Raj attends all our COLs and is a monthly supporter of our work.
By Mary Love, Pillars Home, Taiwan
What first got our Home more activated even before we had the mags in Chinese was, of course, the New Wine. Seeing that the ante is upped, and there are so many more to reach and so little time, it's obvious that the Activated vision is it. Like any other revolution in the Family, it's all by faith—we just need to jump in with both feet and try it!
Change in focus from jobs to sheep
After the "Conviction vs. Compromise" series, our Home (a fairly large one at the time, with 10 adults and 7 kids) basically took the stand that we weren't going to be supported by System jobs, except perhaps occasionally and only if we could somehow include a witness. At that time several of us in the Home were teaching a foreign language to local people who had asked us on a one-on-one basis to teach them. It paid well, but took our valuable time that could otherwise be used for follow-up or mail ministry, etc. We knew we were going out on a limb and sawing it off, because about a third of our income came from System jobs, but we quit those jobs.
What's interesting is that after we made that commitment, and we started getting desperate for more supporters, that meant we had to find some worthy sheep. We needed people who wanted to be fed, to help us, and to become part of our work to some degree.
The next step was our realization that we had a responsibility to pour into them and give them quality time, pray for them, and be there when they needed us. The Lord showed us that if we were going to depend on them for our physical and financial needs, we needed to increase our commitment to care for them.
This automatically (whether our flesh liked it or not) put all of us in the position of being shepherds—to care for them, intercede for them, feed and counsel them, have a heart for them, and provide their spiritual needs. The Lord, Mama, and Peter have continually told us we'll all be shepherds in this Activated vision, but it's something that we had looked at as happening a little further down the road, "when we're ready." What we discovered is that we're already there, and the sheep already need shepherds—true shepherds who really care about them and love them, just because the Lord loves them—not for their money, their position, power, or popularity.
As we grow, the sheep do too
Now, a couple of years later, we've set up a Home especially geared to outreach, follow-up, a youth club, and reaching the rich. As we're pioneering, we're seeing it involves far more than just physically setting up; in order to cover all the many responsibilities of an FD Home today in the Family, the Home automatically has to include the sheep. The miracle is that as the Lord is expecting more from us, and we in turn are challenging our sheep more, several of them are answering the call, and starting to change and grow.
When we moved into our new Home we needed a lot of help, and the Lord told us to call on our friends, supporters, and most active potentials. With only a few prophecies in hand about how to start, the Lord spoke to us step by step—telling us where to go, who to ask, what to ask of whom, and what sheep to zoom in on who He was expecting more of. And He did great miracles!
An example of funding from obeying
Recently we visited a dear friend whom I've known for several years. He's helped generously financially over the years, for various projects and needs. His wife is a Christian, but he hasn't been able to commit himself to Jesus, basically because of the division and hypocrisy he's seen in his visits to churches.
Each time we've visited him, he makes sure he has an hour or two so he can take his time with us, though these times only come about three or four times a year as he has several businesses and travels a lot. Our visits usually include a good chunk of listening to him, hearing how he's doing and what's been on his mind. Although we hear from the Lord for direction and counsel before our visit, this listening time gives us some updated data that we can use in the presentation of what the Lord has already shown us to say to him.
Though our friend likes to hear about our projects, like most kingly types he's full of ideas about how we can do better. He gives us a generous donation, but with it always a suggestion of how he thinks our work should be done, which is usually yet another project we could get involved with. This time the Lord suggested that we go in and boldly explain that our main focus is now Activated. The Lord said to show him the set of mags, and explain to him this is our main focus—because we believe if we don't change people's hearts, things in general are not going to change.
This time (after we had gotten right to the point about Activated), he asked us how we get our finances. Though I'd explained this several times to him (living by faith, no salary, sponsors, selling our materials, etc.), this time it seemed to click. He said we'd never be able to get what we need only by just selling our products—that sponsorship was really the way to go.
He then said he'd like to support our work. This was a first for him, as he'd always declined when I'd ask him about regular support. He explained that he couldn't be with us physically helping, because his own work takes all his time. Then I told him that the first thing he needed to do to be part of us is to believe in Jesus. He looked deep in my eyes and said, "I believe, I do believe. I may still read other books, but I know that's the way to go—Christianity. I just use the other books for comparison." I told him some time he should try the Bible. (Ha!) I noticed from his conversation that he loves to read about the history of different religions, so I told him he could read the history of early Christianity in the book of Acts, and that sparked his interest.
One thing he talked about was a major charity in this country that everyone seems to donate to. You could see that he greatly admired the woman founder, and told me it's because the woman just focused on one thing, and did what she could. He wound up saying we were wise in concentrating on just one thing—the Activated vision. Though he didn't see how "just a mag" was going to change people, he respected our convictions that we're throwing everything into it and are going to make it work. He said he'd like to help support us. So this was a step forward with him—and a direct result of our boldly putting Activated up front!
The next step with our friend
After that, our friend again confirmed by phone that he wanted to support us. He's very sincere and a man of his word; however, we just weren't sure what his plan was going to be. When I called him, he said he'd like to visit our Home, which was also a first, as I've invited him many times but he had never shown much interest. He said he'd like to visit about eight days from then, but a couple of days later, Sunday morning, he called and asked if he could come over right then with his wife—in about 45 minutes! Oh my, what a surprise! We dressed up, touched up the house, and claimed the keys together for the visit.
The visit went beautifully. It was a chance to get to know his wife better, and give her the FAR, Reflections, and first Activated mag. As we chatted, it came out that our dear friend had planned on purpose to visit suddenly so he could see how we really live! Thanks to the Lord, and all the Activated GNs and Mama's counsel, we could pass the test and be ready. TYJ! (Whew! Our many angels and spirit helpers must have been busy at work!) Little two-year-old Annie was the perfect little darling, too, with winning hugs and speaking Chinese, and even eating her cake politely! At this time, our friend didn't say a word about the donation, so again it was "wait and see."
A couple of weeks later, after a very busy stretch for him, and his catching a bad cold, we made an appointment with him to pick up his planned donation by faith. It was again a sweet time together, which he thanked us for. He gave us a generous donation, and said he'd be helping regularly.
Looking back, it's quite amazing how the Lord brought him along. Before, he only wanted to help with an occasional project here and there. Now that we have presented to him point blank that our main goal is to activate Taiwan for Jesus, it's so different—it seems that he trusts us and wants to invest in our goals, with no strings attached. He even said we could use his donations however we want. It was so encouraging to see how the Activated program has a special anointing of its own to move people's hearts.
What it meant to us
Here are a few thoughts about what it meant for us to take the "Activated" leap:
1. We had to abide in, believe, and stand on the New Wine.
2. Since we believe the New Wine, we know when our dear Husband tells us that if we put the sheep's feeding and getting out Activated first, He will provide all our needs and will make it work! Of course, it's a challenge and a little scary at times, but we have the keys that are helping us stretch our faith and live up to our potential—which is far more than we think!
3. As we let the New Wine change our lives, it gives us the faith to turn around and challenge our sheep to change, too. For example, the more we live and believe the Word Revolution, the more our sheep will, too! How can we impress on them the importance of reading the Word (and memorizing, praying for others, hearing from Him, etc.), if we're not holding these up as number one in our own lives, too?
4. Taking our personal time with the Lord, and getting help from Him and others (also known as receiving shepherding) keeps us in check about our own battles and victories. That gives us the heart and humility to feel for others and their battles, so we can in turn help the sheep get victories in their own lives.
5. Keeping the home fires burning is important. The sheep need to see a sample in the Home of what we're teaching them in the Word. We've found that our unity and communication between each other in the Home is a priority. We've even stopped everything for united prayer, if needed (even if it means canceling appointments). When we neglect any part of our Home life, we see His blessings beginning to lift. (Oops!) Along with good communication, the ones at Home keep the outreachers in prayer, and those out keep the kids and the Home in prayer—we depend on each other for that. Even if lots of sheep are coming over and getting fed, if there's some blockage in the Home, we feel it, and they can, too—things just don't flow.
6. We feel we've just started with the Chinese Activated mags, so we're definitely still pioneering new ways to get subscriptions. We've set a weekly goal for our Home and are ready to ask people to subscribe at any opportunity on outreach, but we feel we've just scratched the surface of what we could do, and what the Lord wants us to!
One method we just started was that after they get the tools, or sometimes even if they don't get the tools, we leave the first mag with them explaining that they can learn about Jesus, Christianity, and other tips about showing love to others, etc. from the mag. We ask them to read it and think about it. Then we go back later and ask if they'd like to subscribe.
Another method we've tried is getting sponsors for subs for the prison where we do our CTP. When someone subscribes or re-subscribes, we sometimes ask them if they'd also like to sponsor a subscription for our prison ministry or our hospital ministry. Their hearts are often touched to take the extra step of sponsoring a subscription for this purpose. There are 300 prisoners there who are getting monthly classes from the Family, and they will gain so much from the Activated mag. Some of our sheep are asking their friends to subscribe, too.
We've found it's so important to give our sponsors and donors pubs, encouragement, and personal attention. When I thanked one woman for her continued help, she almost cried. When I asked if she was okay, she said she'd been supporting an orphan overseas through an association for 11 years and had never received a thank-you of any kind, so she was quite overwhelmed to feel our appreciation each time we visited her.
So go ahead, jump in! The water's fine! And don't worry—the Lord will keep you afloat, because He loves to see us take Him at His Word! There's a whole world to explore in taking up the challenge to activate the world.
Pull quotes:
The Lord spoke to us step by step—telling us where to go, who to ask, what to ask of whom, and what sheep to zoom in on who He was expecting more of. And He did great miracles!
He wound up saying we were wise in concentrating on just one thing—the Activated vision.
We've found that our unity and communication between each other in the Home is a priority.
Captions:
Our friend and his wife.
[Box:]
(Peter:) The Activated program is not a financial venture. It's not a means of raising quick money to pay your bills this month. It's obedience to the Lord's commission to feed the sheep. If we're faithful to do that, we know that He'll take care of us and provide for us like He always has when we've obeyed Him. And one of the ways in which He has promised to bless us financially for pushing Activated is by raising up more long-term supporters and friends, fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord who will support your Homes so that you can devote more time to witnessing instead of fundraising. ("The Family's Future and Expansion Program," ML #3308:64, GN 908)
*
(Jesus:) Even if I were to say that it would be past your furthest estimation, you would still not come close to grasping at this time the
potential that will be reached with the Activated program! This will be one of the keys to your financial needs. You will have abundance. You
will have more than you need for the many urgent and expensive projects you dream of. ("Our Activated Future," ML #3298:107-108, GN 895)
*
This is how you should feel—proud of what you do, proud that you're giving the world the most priceless gift obtainable, free of charge! People want to give to those who know what they're doing, have a product that they truly believe in, and are proud of it. ("Show Me the Money!" ML #3462:258, GN1048)
[End of box]
By Joan (of Tim), Ukraine
I always had fun tooling, so eventually I was doing it full time for support in the Home in Kiev where I was in 1995. My main ministry in the Family has always been witnessing—personal witnessing, feeding the sheep and follow-up, fundraising, provisioning, etc. I started out postering for donations (when I was a babe) and then upgraded to selling tapes on the streets, and finally sold videos at fairs and offices.
It was thrilling to meet new people and to see the Lord do the miracles of supply through the tools. However, even though we got very good donations, most of it was a one-time thing, and I wouldn't see the same people again.
My change of heart
The Lord was working and speaking to my heart, and gradually I realized my whole mindset was wrong. Even though I was witnessing when I could, I was looking at the tools mainly as a means of support and relying heavily on them for that. But I knew the Lord wanted me to use the tools to find His sheep and start feeding them regularly.
The full realization and practice of this changed my life and my fundraising. While I was still tooling at fairs and going office to office selling tools, in all this I was looking for people I could cultivate and minister to in the future—the Lord's sheep that are hungry for His Word.
Feeding spiritually, reaping materially
My mate (Tim, Ukrainian) and I ended up being a team, and we concentrated on feeding people spiritually. That meant praying about what materials to offer to the sheep we'd be seeing; keeping a log of what we gave to whom; sending thank-you letters to all who helped; setting goals as to how often to meet each sheep according to their hunger for the Word; and making sure if we didn't see them personally that we'd send the Word through e-mail, fax, or post.
We were so busy and so happy to be involved in people's lives personally, praying for them, sending them appropriate Word, and getting prophecies for them. Very soon the Lord rewarded all that, and we had a follow-up flock of people who were growing in the Lord.
The finances followed: One person started helping monthly, then another, and soon others offered goods or financial help. It was working! We were thrilled to minister to people spiritually and see them grow and also see the finances coming as a result. That spurred us to get all the more involved in follow-up.
Here I want to interject that we were not shepherds, but actually "babes"! Tim had just joined the DO Family from then-TS status and I'd been in the Family for one year. We just wanted to be missionaries, to hear from the Lord, and to minister to people. The Lord led us step by step and often we were scared and shaky, but each time we took up the challenge we found that the "big directors" are just sheep in need of the Lord's help.
Hearing from the Lord was a must. I remember one time at a fair we met a French businessman who had a bakery in Kiev, and we asked him to help us with bread. He said no, because he was already helping elsewhere, but he gave us his card. When we prayed, the Lord showed us to keep that card and call him once in a while just to see him. We saw him a few times, just talking over coffee, hearing him out about his difficulties, and showing some pictures of our work. We became friends and started following up on him, feeding him regularly. All that time we didn't ask for anything. One day he said he'd decided to help us with bread, and he did so for the next four years, every week, even when we left Kiev. This and many other instances taught us that we need to hear from the Lord and not lean to our own understanding about the sheep.
The experience we gained in Kiev was vital as we got married, had a child, and the Lord called us to move to Odessa. (We still keep feeding the sheep from Kiev. They are all activated now and help us when we see them).
Our faith in follow-up had been greatly boosted and the Lord knew we needed it, as we ended up living for a year by ourselves with no means of support but the Lord's promises. (I'm Bulgarian and Tim is Ukrainian, so we don't have home support.) Follow-up was our priority, and as we put our efforts toward that, the Lord always supplied.
We had our crisis points when we didn't know where the next meal would come from, but each time as we went out and ministered, the Lord would do the miracles of supply.
One time we were especially low in income and spirit, and Tim had a good offer of a part-time System job. We prayed about it and the Lord told us to just trust Him, depend on Him, and continue doing follow-up and witnessing. The week after that decision, we got the biggest donation we'd ever received. That and many other miracles have increased our faith to continue with follow-up.
Since then we were joined by Philip and Gentleness, and the Activated vision was given. Our Home has made Activated our main goal, and so far the Lord has blessed us with 104 subscriptions. Never before has our follow-up been so fruitful, since Activated is a ready-made follow-up program. We're seeing our Activated subscribers getting fed and growing like never before, and we're so thrilled to be part of the Activated vision.
The pros
Here's what we've found to be the advantages of using the Activated mag and program:
1. Any sacrifices to switch to Activated and follow-up will be worth it, as miracles will start to happen and they will blow your mind.
2. If you're already doing follow-up, Activated is the best program. The Lord has promised so much about it in the Word, that His promises alone should be enough to make us believe that. But when we meet our subscribers and see how they're flipped about the mags, and they tell us how they are helping them in their lives, we see the fulfillment of these promises and that makes us want to sign everyone up.
3. My personal conviction is that we have the best Word materials to feed the sheep. The Activated mag is the best in presentation, spiritual feeding, variety, everything. The Activated materials are priceless and are changing people's lives. So why should we stick to the old and not use the new?
4. Activated is doing the job for us as it is feeding people regularly, giving them a renewed hunger for the Word and for the Lord. If previously it was sometimes difficult to talk about the Word, now the sheep themselves talk about articles in Activated they've read and how they've helped them. That opens the door for deeper witnessing and ministering. So Activated has made our follow-up more fruitful, deeper, and easier.
5. As a result of Activated, people are not only growing spiritually, which is a thrill in itself, but the Lord is supplying financially too. Since getting activated, some of our friends started to help financially, to tithe, and to want to be more a part of our work and a help to us. Since the sheep are better fed spiritually, they help more financially.
We've only scratched the surface so far. As we pray and work to establish our Activated subscribers, I believe we'll gain new members as part of our work for the Lord, as well as greater financial blessings. "The future is as bright as the promises of God." Just go for it, and once you see the mags work in the hearts of the sheep, there'll be nothing that can stop you.
Pull quotes:
I knew the Lord wanted me to use the tools to find His sheep and start feeding them regularly.
Since getting activated, some of our friends started to help financially, to tithe, and to want to be more a part of our work and a help to us.
We had our crisis points when we didn't know where the next meal would come from, but each time as we went out and ministered, the Lord would do the miracles of supply.
By Jo, Joy, Paul and Jenny of the Phoenix Home, Romania
Whatever good things are accomplished in our Home are only because of Jesus. We give all the glory to our Husband; to the keys; to our spirit helpers, angels, ministering spirits; and to all of those in WS working behind the scenes to make things possible.
What has made us fruitful?
We would say that these are the main keys to our Home having a fruitful ministry:
* Prayer and the keys
* Obeying the counsel of Jesus, Mama, and Peter, and doing our best to put into practice the counsel given in the New Wine and through direct prophecy. (We take time daily to hear from the Lord on the spiritual and physical aspects of Home life.)
* Unity and living the Law of Love
* Good scheduling, with everybody being involved and having a vision for outreach and follow-up
Most of us have been working together for a number of years. We have gotten to know each other, recognize each other's strengths and weaknesses, and have learned to trust each other and to work together as a close-knit team. We set goals and use positive peer pressure and deadlines to help us reach them.
We work on not being afraid to face any problems or disunities, and try to solve them right away. We have open-heart prayers frequently, and hear from the Lord regularly about problems we encounter on the personal front.
We put a large emphasis on being united, open and honest with each other, shepherding each other, and helping each other to be more fruitful. We all consider ourselves responsible for all the kids in the Home as if they were our own, and we try to divide jobs and responsibilities evenly so no one gets overburdened. We find that being united as a Home is one of the most important factors in being fruitful.
It takes a lot of love, work, openness, honesty, tolerance, and of course prayer and the keys' power to make a Home tick, and it's important that we all have the same vision and the faith to make it work.
Our team
Our small Home has seven adults and seven kids (toddler age to nine years old). We usually have two teams out every day, two people are on childcare, and one person takes care of household duties and visitors.
One of the keys in our Home is that everybody is involved in almost anything you can imagine, whether childcare, home care, or outreach. The people at home are the prayer warriors for the outreach teams. The children are also regularly involved in witnessing. During their get-outs, accompanied by their adult overseers, they pass out tracts and often win souls. One of our little ones, Laura (4), prays when she is out on her get-out that the Lord will send her people to witness to.
The childcare teamworker, Jenny, makes stats charts for the kids and organizes witnessing-related shiner prizes that are given to the children at the end of each month. Besides being a teacher, she is involved in outreach/follow-up.
Joy, who is our business teamworker, part-time OC/MC teacher, and part-time outreach/follow-up person, does the mail ministry and works on newsletters, brochures, etc.
Jo is our outreach teamworker, whose main ministry is being on the field. He also helps out with household duties, handyman, or with the kids as the need arises.
Pablo, takes care of the business aspects of of our local foundation. He also does outreach/follow-up, website (www.TheFamily.go.ro), childcare, and handyman.
Sam is our kitchen deacon, who keeps the army running and our tummies happy. He is also involved in outreach/follow-up, childcare, staff, etc.
Our three teamworkers share the responsibility of the personnel shepherd, and we all try to be open to each other's shepherding.
Maybe it sounds like we are all experts at everything and so organized, but actually part of the reason why we're all involved in everything is because we are somewhat disorganized, ha! Sometimes our disorganization is God's organization.
Last year the Lord gave us two new disciples, Shine and Sharon. To win them was our prayer for a long time, and this is a great victory! It has helped us to pull our socks up in many ways. Sharon is a big blessing on many fronts and right now is learning to become a teacher of our younger children. Shine has been a big blessing in outreach and follow-up, and just recently moved on to another Home. We have had personnel changes off and on, but the people listed above have been the core of our team.
Follow-up
Besides visiting our sheep regularly, we hold weekly Bible classes in our Home. We give prophecies regularly to our kings and sheep, which opens the door to witnessing more in depth about the gifts and weapons of the Spirit and helps them to grow spiritually. One of our present goals is to work on giving them more of the meat of the Word.
Our children also make cards and get prophecies for our friends. When praying about our follow-up, the Lord told us repeatedly to include our children in appropriate witnessing because they would be a key to reaching others, and it has proven true. So even during the school year, we arrange their school hours so that they'll still be able to have a witnessing day once a week. Now they love going out witnessing. They enjoy it so much, in fact, that they don't mind really pressing in with their schoolwork on regular days.
Our mail ministry
We put a lot of effort and prayer into our mail ministry, as we don't get to see all of our sheep personally on a regular basis. Since we're from different countries, besides our local mail ministry we also send newsletters about once every two months to contacts in our home fields. Therefore our mail ministry is rather diverse, as our newsletters and brochures are translated and sent out in four languages.
Our local mail ministry includes bimonthly newsletters with photos and captions of our activities, as well as some feeding reading material. We also send feeding monthly e-mails to our friends, and just recently we started sending short SMSs (short message service) on the mobile phone. We also put an emphasis on phoning our most potential friends often. Our having been faithful with this for the past five years prepared our sheep for the Activated mags, which we now have in the local language. It came naturally for our friends and sheep to subscribe to Activated and start the course the mag offers, as they had already received many feeding mailings from us.
Foreign mail ministry: What started as regular road trips to Western Europe to raise funds for our rent has turned into a thriving follow-up ministry. Joy spends approximately four days a month writing feeding letters with personal counsel and prophecies for each of our precious sheep and supporters in Western Europe. The result is very close friendships with them, as they write her about very deep and intimate questions, problems, or victories in their lives, and also ask for prayer and even for prophecies.
When our team goes to Switzerland, which happens twice a year, they usually have the goal of raising the funds for five to six months' rent and some extras, above their expenses for the trip. It can look a bit daunting, especially for Joy, who is the one who speaks the language and makes the contacts. Taking one or two kids along, which we usually do, is also no small task. But amazingly, thanks to the keys and the regular mail follow-up, the funds come in, as the people count it a privilege to help.
Testimonies of some of our mail ministry sheep in Switzerland
C.: We met C. when provisioning car parts for our old Opel. He agreed to help us right away, and we stayed in touch with him through the mail. On another trip to Switzerland we went to see him a second time. He offered to help us with more than just car parts and actually donated a car to us, also paying for the registration, the yearly insurance and taxes for the car, and even for our trip back to Romania, which came to over US$1,500.
Needless to say, we were overjoyed to have found such a sweet and generous man, and kept writing him personal letters, as well as sending him feeding material and regular newsletters with pictures of our work. Whenever we went to Switzerland, we would go see him and his family, and they all got saved on one of those visits. We would invite him, his wife, and two children to come over and have dinner with us, or they would invite us. Sometimes they have even paid for an apartment for us to stay in when we were visiting the country.
Slowly, as our relationship got deeper, he started telling us more personal details of his life. We became part of his life, and he considers us his close friends. Quite a few times he has told us of some heavy-duty miracles at his workplace, as he has a dangerous job in the recycling business. He openly acknowledges the Lord's protective forces and guardian angels as his helpers. Once while driving a Caterpillar onto a big truck, the whole Caterpillar slipped down and could have crushed him inside, were it not for the Lord's supernatural protection.
Another time he had a head-on crash when his whole family was in the car. None of them were wearing seatbelts, but by a miracle not one of them had even a scratch. We always tell him that we pray for him and his family regularly (and we do, of course), and he testifies to the power of prayer, as he has seen the effect it has. Once, after experiencing the Lord's great protection in one of these accidents, he asked if we had anything else to do besides pray for him.—Ha!
Since we have known C., our relationship with him and his family has become a true friendship. He has now helped us with a few cars and vans, and also donates financially to our work.
A.: While going office to office, we met A., a former city counselor and the owner of a prestigious and well-known factory. He was quite unfriendly and antagonistic at the time, and had many questions about our work, how we finance ourselves, etc. He was generally skeptical, but, surprisingly, he helped with a generous donation.
We wrote him, sending newsletters and feeding material, and when we went to Switzerland on another road trip, he welcomed us and was a changed man. He was very open and interested in our work, and helped again generously. We kept in touch with him through the mail, and whenever we went to Switzerland, we would visit him. Although a very busy man, he always took time with us and told us many things about himself and his family. We were able to witness to him deeply about our beliefs. He was especially interested in the AC conspiracy and the Endtime.
After our last visit with him we wrote him a deep letter and told him that we loved and missed him. We got a beautiful response from him, saying that he hadn't heard the words "I miss you" from anyone in a long, long time, not even from his wife. He started sharing with us some deeper thoughts and very personal things, and got saved. He also promised to make a lot more time for us on our next visit.
R.: R. owns an exclusive furniture shop, and is (or was) a proclaimed atheist. When he met us he told us right from the start that he doesn't believe in any of this "faith stuff," but he helped us anyway with a generous donation. He was sweet, though upfront in his statement.
Over the next year or two, we saw him a few times and sent him some milky material with pictures of our work and thank-yous for his help. He continued helping us generously, and told us during one of our appointments: "The mailings you have sent me are really interesting. I like them. Actually, they are about the only Christian literature I read, and I was even thinking of buying a Bible to read." "He who receives you receives Me" (Mat.10:40).
We have also sent regular newsletters to Hungary to some of Jenny's contacts, who are also getting closer, and whenever Jenny makes trips there to visit her parents with her kids, she follows up on these people. Some of them have become regular supporters as well, and have great respect for the work we do here in Romania.
Our overall support
The Lord has blessed us with so many friends and supporters we hardly have time to follow up on them all! The need is so great, and there are so few of us, and the Lord just pours in the support we need.
For example, two years ago the Lord answered our prayers through a food chain here, which supplies us with fresh fruit and veggies; and recently they started helping us with staples such as rice, pasta, flour, canned goods, spices etc. Their help covers about 80% of our food expenses. To cover the cost of these supplies in the System, four people would have to work full-time to get the salary for it!
In addition to this, our sweet Jesus led us last year to provision the cost of the gas used for heating, cooking, hot water, etc. The people here in Romania often cannot afford to pay the monthly gas bill, so many of them either heat only one room, or don't have heating at all in wintertime.
We have other contacts that give us meat, bread, cleaning supplies, gasoline, etc. Our rent and other monthly bills are paid by our supporters here on the field as well as our friends and kings from abroad—the fruit of our mail ministry.
All our friends are activated and read and love the Word, and they in turn help sponsor subscriptions, Daily Might books, etc., for the people in the places where we minister, the hospital, the old folks home, etc. We can see the direct relationship between our obedience to feed and activate the sheep, and our supply being met through supporters and provisioning. "Obedience brings on the blessings of God!"
The switchover from hand-to-mouth living to support through follow-up
Even before the Activated mag was translated and made available for our use in Romanian, we made efforts to follow up on our sheep regularly. However, whenever financial pressure came, our first reaction was to go on the road, and at that time we did lean heavily on the funds that came in from our tooling.
Having been in this conservative field for five years, we have found that it has taken our friends a long time to trust us. There are many humanitarian organizations with foreigners coming and going, hardly anyone ever sticking. But having been here so long, we have received media exposure about our CTP programs in the form of regular newspaper articles and TV and radio programs. People have heard and read about us, and that way have learned to trust us. Many times when out on follow-up, our friends would tell us that they had read about us in the newspapers or heard about us on the radio. It gave them the confidence that we really did what we said we do.
One of our local friends is activated, helps us in many ways, and has said that he really admires us. This man is usually not so meek, but on our last visit he mentioned to us sweetly that he looks up to us because we are the only organization that really does something without any selfish motive.
V., the director of a big company who regularly donates large amounts of food to our work, commented that we're the only ones he trusts.
Besides visiting our friends and sheep regularly, we also include them in our day-to-day life. Some of them are like part of our family and go with us on witnessing adventures and/or outings, have dinner with us, and play with our kids (who love them). At times, some of them have even taught us and our kids Romanian for free. They love to be involved with us and help us with special activities, cooking, gardening, CTPs, and even housecleaning.
Of course, on the other hand, when they need our help with something besides teaching them the Word and the ways of the Lord, we try to help and usually do. We check with the Lord first, though, as this could sometimes turn into a trip-off. We find when we do help them with something that they need, they get to experience firsthand our way of life and to see a living sample. That of course is a big responsibility, as we have to be the right sample.
We opened a local foundation to help with the legal papers for donations we receive, and it helps us to obtain visas as well. But we do operate under the name of the Family.
We also work closely with other organizations and foundations. Sometimes when we meet poor people who need material help or social assistance, after giving them the Lord and some literature, we take them to an organization that specializes in giving this kind of help. And it works the other way, too: Some of the foundations we work with bring hungry sheep to us. One of these sheep was Shine, who later joined as a full-time disciple.
What gave us the faith to go on a more all-out attack in follow up and Activated was the Word and promises attached to the Activated vision in the GNs. We just started to do it, claiming the power of the keys, and we were amazed at the change. Whereas before we had had times of struggling financially, now the funds just keep flowing in, even without us asking or being anxious about it! It's amazing!
(Joy, finance deacon: I used to worry every month about whether we would have the funds to pay the bills, but now this concern doesn't exist, PTL!) Even in normally low months, such as in the beginning of the year, the funds just pour in! We just have to work hard at feeding the sheep, and the Lord feeds us! Literally!
Testimonies of our friends
The psychologist: We met C. four years ago. She is the owner of a gold shop, and in addition she was studying psychology to be able to help people. "It will be my service to mankind," she said. After two years had passed, she got her diploma as a psychologist.
The first time we met her, we included her in our local mail ministry, and when the ContactS (Activated in Romanian) magazine came, she was already sold out and happy to subscribe. She just devoured every single word of our mags. One time we gave her a bunch of Reflections, and she told us that they are so beautiful that she has put them under her pillow and almost memorized them.
Recently, after we got to know her better, she told us that her previous husband had died in a car accident, and that it had been very hard for her, but that this had caused a big change in her life, and it made her want to help others more. "You know, I'm so sold on the ContactS mags! Give me some flyers and magazines to sell in my private clinic, so I can help people more by giving them these magazines."
She said that she's so privileged to know us since we're the only people with whom she can talk about spiritual things. She went on to tell us of some very deep experiences she had with the spirit world, of some life-after-death experiences, etc.
After reading our materials, she said, "I conclude that I have to be aware that my priorities in life are in proper order. I pray that it will be Jesus, others, and that I would be last. When I come to this point I will always be happy and content with whatever I have and whatever happens to me. In this way, I'm able to help more people effectively."
The challenge: We have known M. for the past five years. His business was always the same—"hardly making any progress, just enough to survive."
Two years ago, I asked him: "Do you want your business to prosper, 100% guaranteed?—Try going into business with Jesus! Things will improve. It's a fact that people cannot deny." We gave him some things to read about Mr. Colgate, Mr. Kraft, Mr. Rockefeller, etc.
After six months he told us: "I'm investing in a new machine for my business, and I took out a loan from the bank. Please pray that this will work out."
So we told him again: "Remember your potential business partner!"
Four months later he visited us and he brought us a gift, telling us excitedly, "I have found my new business partner, and you know Him very well!" We tried to figure out what had happened to his previous partner, as we had forgotten the admonition we had given him on that visit months earlier. He told us that his partner was still there, but that he also had a new partner. "Jesus is my new business partner now!"
A year later he told us the following: "I never do any advertising in my business, but my business competitors are surprised at how customers come to me more than to them, so I usually tell them that it's a miracle."
Recently he told us, "Please do me a favor. Come here every month and I'll give you my donation. Jesus told me Himself, as my business partner, ‘You have to help the Family in your town and I will never fail you.'" Amazingly, in spite of the business crises in this town, M.'s business has made such tremendous progress that he was able to upgrade his business, repair his house, and take a vacation for the first time in five years. He was able to help us more, and recently he asked us, "Do you see that new car? It's the first Rexton car in town. Well, Jesus gave it to me. So, if you want to tell people about the secret of my success, send them to me and I will challenge them to make Jesus their business partner, as you challenged me two years ago."
One more point about this man: He is so busy that we have to spoon-feed him. We have given him many prophecies and he's activated, but he hardly reads the mags. For a while we thought that it was not so fruitful to follow up on him because of that. But then again, it's very important to have lots of love, patience, and understanding for this kind of sheep, and a vision that they can make it. Often we just pray for him right there on the spot, or we send him encouraging notes, or visit him with our kids, or read with him in his office, even if it's just a paragraph or so.
Sometimes I think that we are our sheep's lifeline to progress. So much depends on us—our vision and love for the sheep. I'm sure we could do more for others, and this only shows what a big responsibility we have, with so much to do but only very few of us to do it. But through the power of the keys, all things are possible.
CTPs and the media
Old Folks Home: Since arriving in our city, we have been visiting the elderly monthly, celebrating their birthdays with cakes and little gifts, inspirational readings (such as Reflections), music, dance, children's singing, etc. Forty Activated magazines go to the old folks home every month. The residents in these homes have gotten very close to us and look forward to our visits with eager anticipation.
Hospitals: Pablo and Sam (a.k.a. Flip and Flop), our faithful and funny clowns, visit the children's wards in two local hospitals monthly, each time praying with the little patients and cheering them up with tricks and balloon creations. This has opened the door for us to visit the patients in other wards of the hospitals. Every room in every department receives an Activated mag monthly—a total of 75 subscriptions.
Feeding the poor and homeless: Since this field is very poor, there are many homeless people on the streets. Some of them we have been helping regularly with food, clothes, counsel, and salvation. At one time, the Lord led us to help two beggars off the streets, and we gave them the opportunity to have a change of life. (See GV 112, under "legal and media," for the story of this project.) This in turn helped us to get a lot of media exposure, as it caused no small stir. We even appeared on national TV and newspapers, which again helped us to become more known and trusted, and to make new friends. (We are not suggesting here that anyone get involved in such a ministry unless the Lord specifically leads that way. We learned many lessons the hard way about what not to do, but praise the Lord, He turned the whole situation into a big Romans 8:28.)
This ministry to the poor started a beautiful relationship with an ambassador who traveled 650 km (400 mi) to attend a local function we organized for one of the beggars. The mayors of two cities attended this function as well.
We get a lot of food donations from the local mall for the expressed purpose of sharing it with the poor, and make weekly packages for about 20 poor families in the neighborhood. A former prison inmate who is the brother of one of the two beggars we helped comes to our place daily, helps us with gardening, and delivers food to the homeless at the train station every evening.
Media coverage: In the beginning of our work here, we called the newspapers and invited them to our CTP events, but now they often do articles on us without us even knowing about it. Sometimes we find out later from a friend that another article about us has appeared in the newspaper. We have become friends with some of the journalists, and that has proven to be a good step in our persecution prep. One journalist is a very close friend, is activated, loves the Word, calls us often, and many times volunteers to do articles about us, even nationwide.
Do we feel capable of teaching and shepherding the sheep?
The answer is a big "NO!" We certainly haven't attained, and we don't feel that we have it so together at all. We still have a long ways to go in establishing the national church here, and we're consistently working at it. We do have to constantly put an emphasis on staying organized, not getting lethargic, and pressing in on feeding the sheep, especially with the meat of the Word. The Lord is blessing us with so much that it's easy to get familiar with Him and secluded in our blessings. We ourselves need to constantly learn more, sharpen our swords, challenge each other to make progress, and study in order to be able to teach others.
Since there are so many details to attend to in regular Home life, it's easy for important things to get lost in the myriad of little and big things that need to be done each day. We sometimes find it hard to stay organized, keep up with everything, and not let that one thing go undone.
In order to be sure we're keeping the Lord's priorities in place, we scheduled a little time for everyone to get away from our busy schedule to meet together and ask the Lord what things He wanted us to major on. We are a relatively small Home with two childcare groups, new disciples, a big fold to shepherd, etc., and we can't be involved in everything. We'd rather do the things we do right, than do more things, but not thoroughly.
Pull quotes:
We just have to work hard at feeding the sheep and the Lord feeds us! Literally!
We find that being united as a Home is one of the most important factors to be fruitful.
We are our sheep's lifeline to progress. So much depends on us—our vision and love for the sheep.
It takes a lot of love, work, openness, honesty, tolerance, and of course prayer and the keys' power to make a Home tick, and it's important that we all have the same vision and the faith to make it work.
Captions:
Our hospital CTP
[Box]
(Peter:) All of us need to get on the ball and make promoting Activated our priority. The Lord said it's the first step in His multistage program which will lead us to the future He has for us. Why aren't you offering those new converts the Activated mag, encouraging them to take it, begging them to subscribe or at least take the first three free issues, since they need to grow in spirit after getting saved?
Folks, we must feed them! We're failing the Lord and His sheep if we're not! Feeding the sheep is the Family's future. If we can't be faithful to gain subscriptions to a magazine that will give these new converts the spiritual nourishment they need to grow, then how can the Lord trust us to teach, pastor, and shepherd those He sends to our door? How about it? Will you do it? Will you get those subscriptions? Will you put feeding the sheep before your income? Will you trust that as you give, the Lord will more than repay?
Don't let another day go by when you lead someone to the Lord and don't offer to feed them through Activated.
Now is the time. Today is the day to begin. Please don't put it off till tomorrow, or you may miss the boat, and the future of the Family could suffer as a result. Let's throw our whole hearts, energy, initiative, prayers, vision and plenty of hard work behind this program—and make it work! The rewards and blessings will be more than worth it!
(ML #3308:53, 61, 63, 150; GN 908)
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Copyright © 2004 by The Family
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