—From M&M Personally!4/5/81DO No.1011

1. NEW BOOKS!

WELL‚ PTL, THE KOMIX VOL.1 IS OUT AT LAST! Some of you have probably already received yours, nearly 800 pages of thrilling Komix of all kinds from the first basic Letters of the Family, all the way thru' the alphabet to No.69. Some of these, remember, were not just numbered with a number but also followed by letters A, B & C, & it will include quite a few of those, so there are actually 143 Komix in the book with nearly 40 artists involved.

I HEAR THAT WE NOW HAVE ABOUT 75 ARTISTS in the Family who are drawing for the next Komix books the next of which, Vol.2, should be out sometime in June, D.V.

KOMIX VOL.1 WAS MAILED OUT ON THE 3rd & 4th OF THIS MONTH OF MAY, AIRMAIL & CERTIFIED, to make sure you get yours safely. So if you haven't received yours within two to three weeks of the mailing date or at least by the first of June, let us know & we'll see what we can do about it, if anything. But we've had no trouble with this airmail certified so far & everybody's been getting their books safely that we know of, TTL.

SO ARTISTS, GET BUSY ON THOSE VOL.3 KOMIX! Volume 2 will contain Komix from number 69 to about 180. So be sure to get your assignments from our Artist Supervisor Hart in Madrid. Write him at: Maria Campos, Apdo. 46131, Madrid, Spain (with an inner envelope marked TK), & make sure that you get a definite assignment. Write in & request one so that there will be no duplications, please.

WE REALLY HAD TOO MANY DUPLICATIONS IN THESE FIRST VOLUMES because at that time the Artists were just doing it on their own more or less without much guidance & just at will, so there were several Komix of which there were two or three different copies. But we'd like to avoid that in the future, so please try to get your specified assignments from Hart before you go to work, & get it now, because we're already working on Vol.3 & hope to be able to get it out sometime this summer, D.V., or sometime this year at least.

OTHER GOOD NEWS IS THAT ML VOL.7 OF THE COMPLETE 800s from 801-900 in a beautiful green leatherette flexible gold embossed cover is already here in my hand as I speak to you, & by the time you are reading this notice will most likely have already been mailed to you. You therefore will be receiving your copy very soon. PTL!

THIS ALSO WILL BE MAILED TO YOU AIRMAIL CERTIFIED to make sure it gets to you safely, so please don't hesitate when you go to get it to sign for it. We must of course send it to you in your legal name, & they will undoubtedly ask to see your passport for proof of identify. So far the certified mailings have been very successful & we've had no complaints as far as we know.

WE'VE JUST RECEIVED THE VERY LATEST FIRST QUARTER STATS OF THIS YEAR, & we now have the most Homes ever!—2188 Homes in 76 countries with a total population of nearly 9,000, to be specific, 8‚715! PG! Hallelujah! GBY! You're really working, really growing & getting disciples & knew disciples & all the rest. PTL! And there are lots of good old fashioned backsliders coming home again & some of the old-timers rejoining & the Family is growing & growing! PTL!—More & more every day! TYJ‚ & thanks to you!

SINCE WE GOT THESE STATS WE HAVE NO DOUBT 2200 HOMES BY THIS TIME TO SEND ALL THESE NEW BOOKS & TAPES & OTHER PUBS TO! As you saw, the Komix Volume was quite big‚ thick & heavy & really cost a lot of money to send to you. It cost more postage to most of you than the actual cost of the book!—A total of something like $15-20 a book, depending on where you are. The new ML Volume 7, thank God, is not quite as large, thick & heavy, but it's beautiful with all 100 Letters there & more‚ & it will also be sent airmail certified & will cost another fortune. Again, the postage is going to cost more than the book itself so that'll be another $15-20 per book to most of you.

SO WE'RE REALLY ROLLING THE GOLD‚ & IT'S COSTING A MINT OR MINE FULL, along with the four new MWM tapes you'll receive this month, plus the first Magazine of the month which you just received for May. So you'll be receiving about $40 worth of books & $40 worth of tapes, & I'd say the Magazines are certainly almost priceless & worth more than $20. So actually you'll receiving during this one month of May alone, D.V., approximately $100 worth of publications per family! This of course is a great deal more than most of you are able to tithe per Home but you have been tithing faithfully & this is what makes it possible between you & the Lord. So thank God we were able to do this this month.

BUT IF YOU CAN SEND A FEW GIFTS & OFFERINGS ABOVE YOUR TITHE TO HELP DEFRAY THIS TREMENDOUS EXPENSE OF THIS MONTH'S PUBLICATIONS, over $100 worth of publications this month to each of you families‚ we would truly appreciate it & thank you very much for your faithful help & support. Of course, you're also getting the LIN & Kidz Magazines this month as well, which is two more publications for your family & friends.

ALSO WITHIN THE NEXT TWO OR THREE MONTHS WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO PUB THE NEW SONGBOOK with all the words & guitar chords for nearly all of our Family music & all MWM's latest songs & newest tapes with words & music, plus the Childcare Book of nearly 500 pages, another heavy tome, plus the complete Dito Book with all the Davidito Letters, D.V., that have so far been written!

ML VOLUME 8 OF ALL THE 900s, 901-1000‚ IS ALSO IN PREPARATION & should get to you even sooner than usual. Just our sending them out to you free really speeds things up. We don't have to wait for your orders & that long drawn-out process. We just decided the best thing to do is have a great give-away each time, & we really enjoy it, & we're giving away everything we can for as long as it's possible as long as you keep faithfully tithing & sending in as much as you can to help pay the cost. So you should be getting your Volume 8 also sometime this summer, D.V. Also there's a new Children's FG Mag & a Poetry Book which are being worked on & we hope to have out sometime this year‚ D.V.

SO WE'RE REALLY ROLLING THE GOLD & POURING OUT THE WATER & THE SEED, & your Shepherdess is really scattering it with a lavish generous hand! So I don't think you can ever accuse us of withholding it from you anymore. We're really giving as generously as we possibly can, just as fast as we can! Takes a lot of work as well as a lot of money, so thank the Lord for His help & your help, & God bless all the dear staff members who've had a part in it & worked hard to make these publications possible & all of you dear Family members who have worked hard to send in your Tithe & make it possible to pay for it. GBY! And thanks a lot! We surely hope you're really enjoying them & using them as a tool for His glory & for witnessing & to educate yourselves & your children.

WE CAN TELL YOU'VE REALLY BEEN WORKING! I notice by the latest stats your lit distribution has almost doubled in this last quarter, the first quarter of the year, so obviously the Lord is really blessing you financially for your faithfulness & you've been able to send in your Tithe to help pay for all of this.

PLEASE DON'T GET EXCITED OR WORRIED IF YOUR MAGAZINES SEEM TO BE A LITTLE LATE. We try to get them out as close to the first &/or 15th depending on how many other things we've published. As we told you, some of the books will have to take the place of some of your Magazines so you may not always get a Magazine if you've gotten a book, but we're still trying to get them out as close to those dates as possible when we do get them out unless replaced by a book. But you may receive them a little bit late now & then. Particularly the last couple of Mags, we understand, will be out closer to the end of the month rather than the middle.

YOUR NEXT MAILINGS, God willing, will be the TK Book Vol.2 to be sent in early June, & Mag 40 to be mailed by June 30th, D.V.

2. MWM INTERNATIONAL!

MWM INTERNATIONAL!—THE LATEST NAME FOR OUR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC WITH MEANING SHOW WHICH IS IN ENGLISH, the most international language in the world, & which it will be called from now on. MWMI has been putting out not only gorgeous music but some beautiful children's drama tapes, music-for–witnessing tapes‚ music-for–loving tapes, disco tapes, Daily Might devotional tapes, audio tapes, some of which you'll be getting soon if you haven't received them already, D.V.

THEY'VE ALSO BEEN PRODUCING SOME BEAUTIFUL MWMI HALF-HOUR VIDEO SHOWS, adaptable or suitable for TV, if your TV station isn't too particular as to the actual technical quality, because we still don't have professional equipment‚ but they're beautiful & I'm sure that all you members of the Family would certainly enjoy seeing them & they're already being exhibited throughout the world by special video representatives & VSs who are showing them to you & circulating them in your areas.

THEY ARE CIRCULATING AMONGST THE WS UNITS IN A SORT OF TEST PATTERN to see what will be the best ways in which to distribute or circulate them on a loan circulating library basis; most likely those of you like VSs & leaders & WS units & so on who have videos will be the ones to receive them. We will be sending them to you, loaning them to you‚ that is, free of charge like everything else, as long as you're faithfully tithing & making it possible.

THE VS OR LEADER WHO HAS THE VIDEO & HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR RECEIVING & EXHIBITING THESE VIDEOS WILL BE THE ONE WHO WILL RECEIVE THEM & come show them to you & figure the way to exhibit or distribute them, to circulate them in your particular area. So if you want to know about the MWMI videos & various other Family videos that are in circulation from various mission fields & leaders around the world,

CONTACT YOUR NEAREST VS, WS UNIT OR TRAVELLING LEADER or some Family Home that you know has video equipment & if you have video equipment perhaps they'll be able to loan you copies. If not you can come to their house & they'll share them with you I'm sure. We're hoping to have exhibits of these videos at every Fellowship Meeting in each area & you'll hear more about those Fellowship Meetings in the article in this Magazine—a new bomb‚ "The Fellowship Revolution!"

SO THESE VIDEOS WILL PROBABLY BE EXHIBITED AT YOUR VARIOUS FELLOWSHIP MEETINGS in various areas at your LAFS, DAFS‚ GAFS or NAFS, your Local Area Fellowship Meetings, your District Area Fellowship Meetings, & these are going to be, I'm sure, a great thrill to you & you'll really enjoy making these a part of your Fellowship Meeting's program. At the present time the greatest problem & the delay in getting them to as many of you as possible is the difficulty in getting an office where we can have full-time workers & technicians who will have the professional equipment that they need to edit & assemble & copy, duplicate, & then distribute them to you throughout the world.

THIS IS GOING TO BE ANOTHER MAJOR MINISTRY, VIDEO MINISTRY, & it's going to require a lot of hard work & good labourers & require quite a bit of expense, but we feel it's worth it & we're doing our best to try to arrange it & get them to you as soon as we can. Just please be patient & pray & give your best so that these will reach you & be a blessing to you & yours & your area as soon as possible. In fact, our own personal Home & personal staff workers, in order to make some of these available even to our various WS units, have been using our amateur video equipment 24 hours a day on just two ordinary normal video machines duping at the normal speed that the videos run‚ which of course takes hours, three hours to a three-hour tape.

THEY'VE BEEN DUPING ALMOST 24 HOURS A DAY JUST TO GET ENOUGH OF THESE TAPES IN CIRCULATION FOR WS UNITS ALONE, duping them all night long, setting their alarm clocks to get up & change tapes in the middle of the night so that you can benefit & enjoy these wonderful wonderful tapes that we've been getting from all over the world, from our various mission fields & our video missionaries around the world as well as the beautiful MWMI shows.

SO PLEASE DO PRAY FOR THIS MINISTRY THAT THE LORD WILL SUPPLY WITH YOUR HELP THE LABOURERS MOST OF ALL—that's what's most needed. God's got plenty of money, I'm sure, & He'll give it to you to give to us to pay for it. We just need to find the good technicians & labourers to do the job who know how to do that kind of work for this tremendous operation, not only editing, duping but distributing, mailing & handling the office mail response & requests & so on. It'll be another complete unit office & work lab & so on, a whole new WS unit of the video ministry, the VM! PG!

SO PLEASE PRAY FOR IT & IF YOU HAVE SUCH TALENTS LET US KNOW & GIVE YOUR BEST, EXTRA GIFTS & OFFERINGS ABOVE YOUR REGULAR TITHE IF YOU CAN, to help support this Video Ministry. If you wish, you may designate them for that particular purpose & ministry as some of you already have. GBY for it! It has enabled us to buy some very much needed equipment for MWM to make you these beautiful shows. They're going to have not only beautiful musical shows for TV & the general public & good PR but also children's shows & dramatic shows.

DEAR SIMON PETER'S FINALLY COMING INTO HIS OWN IN HIS TREMENDOUS DRAMATIC TALENT & directional talent & they are producing some marvellous audio dramatics already which some of you may have already received or will receive soon. They're working on the video dramatics of the future! So Hallelujah! We're really rolling! We just need to pray for labourers who can handle the jobs & get them done so you can get the results on the receiving end if you'll be on the giving end. GBY!

AND INCIDENTALLY, PLEASE PRAY FOR MORE TECHNICIANS FOR MWMI & MWMS—that's Spanish—& MWMF—that's French—& so on. We're also already getting out an MWM Italian & it's really beautiful, but we need more technicians, more helpers, more cameramen, more studios, more lightmen, soundmen, video men; the need is just almost endless of what we need in the way of technicians & equipment.

SO IF YOU CAN FURNISH YOUR TALENT OR YOU HAVE ANY EQUIPMENT or get a line on a good professional equipment in particular, perhaps a bit used but reasonable or within reach of MWMI in Greece, please let us know. We just about have enough people in the way of numbers at MWMI already with all those families & all those children, so we won't be able to take too many more families with children, but we would like to get some more single technicians if possible & the singles will be given preference in this case. Sorry families‚ but we just hardly have room for you there anymore.

3. MORE ON PAL!

HAVE ANY OF YOU FOLKS IN THE U.S.A. YET OBTAINED A PAL VIDEO SYSTEM in order to receive these tapes? Please let us know. We have advised you & warned you to be sure to get PAL‚ but of course it is not the system which is used there & it is very difficult to transfer it from PAL to your NTSC. NTSC is, by the way, the worst in the world with the fuzziest picture & the most unsteady colour. Why in the world they never developed it we don't know. We've seen samples of both & we're sold on the most popular European system which is PAL & which is the most popular system which is PAL & the very best with bright sharp clear picture in vivid colour just almost as good as your direct TV. In fact, first copies are just as good as you see on your television set on a direct telecast. So these copies that we receive ourselves are just as good as television, whereas—

THE NTSC SYSTEM OF THE U.S.A. IS JOKINGLY KNOWN AS NEVER THE SAME COLOUR! We know this from samples of your U.S.A. system, videos made from it‚ & they are really lousy! It's just almost unbelievable that you Americans would put up with such poor video. Maybe the U.S. will wake up to this someday, we don't know‚ but if you think video's bad & kind of fuzzy it's only because your American video is very bad. The European video is not dim & fuzzy & wavering in its colour like your American video.

THE PAL VIDEO VHS SYSTEM IS THE VERY BEST IN THE WORLD & the most widely used as well. Of course some of you folks who are already getting copies of our present videos in PAL VHS may think that we're pretty fuzzy too—but on our amateur equipment, just copying from a normal little home video to another one, third & fourth copies can get pretty fuzzy.

TO REALLY GO IN FOR THIS IN A BIG WAY WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EQUIPMENT which is very expensive or have it professionally done. We're sorry that the ones we're now circulating in the Family are some of them copies & a bit fuzzy, but that's not because the originals are bad. The originals are beautiful, as good as any television‚ any colour TV, but by the time you make third & fourth copies on amateur home TV equipment, why, they deteriorate each generation. So forgive us until we really get set up for this with good professional equipment.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME, YOU FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE RECEIVING THEM OR GETTING TO VIEW THEM‚ PLEASE BE PATIENT & we hope you enjoy them anyhow. We love them! No matter how fuzzy they get they're still gorgeous. They may sometimes look slightly diffused, like taken thru' a diffusion lens‚ but that gives them a nice soft artistic appearance & very arty & very beautiful nevertheless, & after all, who's going to complain? You're getting them free so don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Amen? GBY! You ought to be thankful you're getting them at all, right now with what amateurs we are & what amateurish equipment we're having to use.

THE ONLY PROFESSIONAL THING ABOUT THEM RIGHT NOW IS THAT WE'RE PROFESSING THE GOSPEL. HALLELUJAH! And of course MWMI's gorgeous music & beautiful dramatics & their lovely backgrounds & scenery there are certainly professional, too. So be thankful for your many blessings & don't gripe until you're able to give enough extra above your Tithe to help us pay for this better equipment to give you better copies. PTL!

4. CAN YOU TAKE A VIDEO TO BRASIL?

AND BY THE WAY, ANYBODY WHO IS GOING TO BRASIL FROM EUROPE PLEASE LET US KNOW. We'd like to send along a PAL Video with you to Tiago & Tabita in Brasil for the use of the Brasilian Family there to see our Family videos. It would be a very great & kind deed on your part if you would help us get it there. We'll furnish the video, all we need is the transportation to make sure it gets there safely. So if you're going to Brasil soon, please let us know. Notify WS at Pf.241, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland, & if you're going very soon you might get a phone call from us & we will supply you with a video quickly, D.V. that you may take it with you for the use of the Brasilian brethren there by the VSs Tiago & Tabita.

5. WHEN WRITING TO WS...

BE SURE THAT YOU ALWAYS ADDRESS YOUR LETTERS TO WS‚ POSTFACH 241, 8021 ZURICH, SWITZERLAND—not to WIM unless you are specifically reporting to WIM. If WIM is your Reporting Office, when addressing your Reports please follow the instructions that have been given. All communications to Pf.241, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland must be addressed to World Services, Pf.241, 8021 Zurich, Switzerland, please, lest your letter go astray. Thank you!

6. VIDEO MAILING TIPS!

ANOTHER LITTLE TIP REGARDING THE MAILING OR POSTING OF VIDEOTAPES: Be sure they're placed in a very well-padded package to protect them from damage. As we've said before, be sure that you either insure or certify them to ensure their safety. If they're going to cross a border, be sure that you have a Declaration Slip pasted to the front of the package declaring what it is, a personal used video tape of whatever value you want to pay customs on or your recipient to pay customs on. We are usually putting on ours simply the value of the tape itself, anywhere from $20-50, so that if the country should happen to want to charge duty on it, it will not be too much for the recipient. Not only wrap them securely in a padded package & mark them clearly: "personal used video tape," but...

ALSO PUT "VHS-PAL SYSTEM" ON THERE, particularly if you're in an area which does not use PAL so they're not as likely to be stolen in that area since the people will know that they can't use them anyhow. So you can even put that on your Declaration Slip: "VHS-PAL." And be sure to pray over each package as you mail it!

DON'T MAIL THEM MORE THAN ONE OR TWO TAPES AT A TIME IN A PACKAGE, by any means, & be very cautious how the tape itself is labelled inside that there are not security hazzards in names or labels or subject matter listed that would arouse curiosity of authorities or perhaps even their ire.

THEN, OF COURSE‚ BE SURE TO SEND THEM AIRMAIL OR FIRST CLASS, & EXPRESS if possible. If they're that valuable at all, they're worth the air postage & express plus certification or registration or insurance, whichever you find the most practical & economical. Of course‚ these personal tapes & tapes of which there are sometimes only one copy coming in from the field are absolutely priceless & would be a tragic loss in some ways if they were lost, as many field representatives & video ministers do not have duplicating facilities for keeping a copy.

SO PRAY DESPERATELY OVER EACH PACKAGE BEFORE YOU MAIL IT that the Lord will protect it & keep it & cause it to arrive at its destination safely, but you can give the Lord a little cooperation if you'll follow our advice on the packaging with being very securely wrapped & tied or stapled in padded packages that they sell at some of the stationery stores &/or some of the video stores perhaps as well, & they're sometimes used also for books. It's the same as a padded book package.

BE SURE THAT YOU LABEL THEM CLEARLY ON THE OUTSIDE. Also, in most areas of the world, if you mark it "small packet" or "small package" it's not subject to postal inspection if it's under one kilo weight, that's in other words‚ less than two pounds. So please be very prayerful & cautious how you label your tapes themselves & their boxes & how you wrap them & package them & label the outside of the package & address them & Custom Declaration, airmail, express, insured, registered or certified & so on. Make it very clear what it is so the postal inspector won't have to open it up to see, & make sure it's obviously labelled in such a way that it won't look like anything he'd be interested in or even a system that he can use. So, PTL! GBY! Above all things be prayerful & cautious in your handling & mailing of video tapes.

7. NEW PASSPORTS!

ANY OF YOU FOLKS NEEDING PASSPORTS OR NEEDING TO RENEW YOUR PASSPORTS SHOULD GET THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE as some governments are beginning to clamp down. Particularly the new Reagan Administration of the U.S.A. is clamping down on Americans in their foreign travel & is even making it quite tough on Americans returning from abroad who have been away for some time, making their entry difficult & checking them with a fine-tooth comb, checking them with the central computer system, their passports & numbers & names & all of this.

IN FACT, GOING INTO U.S. TERRITORY RECENTLY OUR OWN DEAR FAITHY WAS STRIPPED TO THE SKIN & SEARCHED THOROUGHLY, for what we don't know‚ but possibly they're getting tough on drug carriers & so on & they thought since she was young & had been abroad for some time that perhaps she was like so many American young people who think they can get away with bringing drugs back into the country from their tour, their stay abroad.

IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE THEY'RE LOOKING FOR OTHER ITEMS that people may be trying to smuggle back into the States. One popular item is jewelry & gold & special valuables which are cheaper abroad than in the U.S.A. & on which the U.S. has tough customs duty laws which if you violate you're apt to not only be fined‚ you could even be imprisoned‚ & you might be thankful if you just lose the materials themselves without a fine or imprisonment, if they simply confiscate them as punishment for your trying to import them or smuggle them‚ even if you didn't do it intentionally or you were ignorant of the rules.

SO RETURNING AMERICANS, WE WARN YOU, YOU HAD BETTER VERY CAREFULLY STUDY THE U.S. IMPORTATION REGULATIONS which you can get at any American Embassy or Consulate or any U.S. Government Office or U.S. Customs & make sure you're familiar with the U.S. regulations on import items of Americans returning from abroad, so that you don't get caught trying to smuggle something in without declaring it, which might cause you a lot of trouble even if you did it unintentionally & ignorantly.

ON THE MATTER OF PASSPORTS, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS NOW ALSO CLAMPING DOWN TIGHTER ON PASSPORT ISSUANCE & INSPECTION. In fact, they're putting into practice a new system of passports with an invisible ID number to be both produced by machine & read by machine, & this system will be in use throughout U.S. ports before long. There will be no possibility of any type of passport peculiarities or changes or anything like that, & they will be tighter on their regulations & tighter on their issuance & tighter on their permissions to go abroad as it becomes more & more of a police state under this tough new militant Reagan Administration.

SO OUR ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GET YOUR NEW PASSPORT NOW, whether it's your first one or renewal, get it as soon as possible & while you can still get it. If it's soon to expire, perhaps within the year, you can go down & request a new one. Tell them using one [reason] or another that it's because it's getting so full of stamps or you wanted the new size or you wanted the Centennial issue or you're leaving the country & you might not be near a place that issues passports where you could get one as easily when yours is ready to expire so that you're asking for one in advance. You folks in the U.S. had better get your passports now & get out while you still can before it becomes your prison & death chamber!

8. LIM LETTER IDs!

YOU LIMs WHO ARE PUBLISHING IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH, it would be a very great help to us & to everybody around the world who may use your particular publication for their areas, if you would kindly place in microscopic print somewhere, probably underneath the copyright on the inside of the first page, at the bottom of page 2‚ the title of the Letter in English as well as the name of the language that it is written in. This is very difficult sometimes for us to tell, especially in some of the rare languages.

PLEASE PUT THE TITLE OF THE LETTER IN ENGLISH AS WELL AS THE NAME OF THE LANGUAGE, such as "Letter from a Lover"—Danish, or "The Fellowship Revolution"—Cantonese, or something like that. Please put this in very small print on the bottom of the second page underneath the copyright identification. Thank you! We made this request about 8 or 10 years ago when we were still in London but of course you folks don't read the old Letters so a lot of you've never heard it & we're asking it again.

WE'VE ASKED IT SEVERAL TIMES.—I think we made the request again from Tenerife, but apparently some of you have forgotten it or never heard it, so we'd like to make it again please. Help those who like to use your lit & want to use it with those who may speak that language in their area by identifying the name of the Letter & it's language at the bottom of page 2, thank you! Either that or on the very back, anywhere that you feel best.

[There is no number 9.]

10. REPAIRS & RECEIPTS!

WHEN LEAVING ANY VALUABLES FOR REPAIR be sure you do not do so until you have very clearly obtained an estimate on approximately what the repair is going to cost & are satisfied with the cost, plus also getting a receipt for your valuable, whatever it may be. Whether it's your watch or your automobile, be sure you get some kind of receipt for it to prove that you left it there.

OTHERWISE, YOU MIGHT NOT EVER SEE IT AGAIN! What if the manager or the owner of the shop drops dead who took in your watch or maybe sells the shop & by the time you get back it's under a new owner or management who knows nothing about your nor your watch nor your repair & might not be as honest as the other man & profess ignorance of knowing anything about it or you!

I HAVE ALWAYS MADE IT A POLICY TO MAKE VERY CLEAR WHAT THE APPROXIMATE COST OF THE REPAIR WAS GOING TO BE, as well as get a receipt for whatever item it was that I left so that I would be sure to have some legal proof that I had left that item there in case there should ever be any difficulty about it. Of course, it's a good idea always when buying anything to ascertain the price of it very specifically in advance & test it to be sure that it works & that it's functioning before you leave the shop, not later. If you bring it back broken they may say, "Well, you broke it!"

BE SURE YOU MAKE SURE THAT IT FUNCTIONS, OPERATES OR WORKS BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE SHOP & in fact before you even put your money down & pay for it or buy it. Some shopkeepers & clerks will be a little lazy & reluctant to test it for you but just say, "Well, I'm not going to pay good money for it & buy it unless I know it works!" You have a perfect right to insist that they test it before purchasing, so be sure you do.

11. ABRAHIM!

WE FOUND RECENTLY IN GETTING VIDEOS & AUDIOS FROM VARIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS AROUND THE WORLD that apparently we have never made it very clear exactly how Abrahim's name is pronounced thinking that, of course, you would just naturally know how to pronounce that kind of a name. But of course you didn't or at least some of you didn't, & we can't blame you for it. It was our fault for not putting the pronunciation into the very first mention of him very clearly.

THE NAME IS PRONOUNCED: A, like Ah; bra, like the bras that you threw away, & the last is not pronounced "him" but "heem" in English, Abrahim, & the accent is on the last syllable actually in most cases. Abrahim! The primary accent on the first syllable & the last syllable. So please do in your videos & audios particularly produced for the Family such as at MWMI & so on, be sure that his name is pronounced correctly—Ah-brah-heem! Thanks a lot!—And thanks from Abrahim also. GBY!

12. WANTED!

BILINGUAL SPEAKERS fluent in both English & Spanish‚ especially North & South Americans, who could help at the Latin American LIM to be relocated in the Americas, or who could help with field translations, please write to Dave & Carmen at the Iberian LIM: Juan Fonta‚ Apdo. 2561‚ Madrid‚ Spain with an inner envelop for D/C.

BIBLE & ML-BASED CHILDREN'S POETRY by Jared Wood & Azhi who have produced some very good children's poetry in the past. Please write for an assignment if you can. We'd love to publish them in our new children's Poetry Book.

SOL HOPI'S RECORDINGS or copies of his music either in sheet form as found in some Pentecostal Hymnals such as the publications of the Four Square Gospel Church or the Life Bible Institute‚ or actual recordings which were probably on disc records. Words & music of the songs can be found most likely in these full-Gospel publications such as those of LIFE or the Four Square Institute of Four Square Evangelism at Angeles Temple in Los Angeles where he was saved & of which he was once a member & where he played & who did have, as I remember, copies of his records & his music. MWMI would very much appreciate it if you could send them such copies if you can find them. Just be sure you transfer the disc or record to an audio cassette tape first, lest it arrive broken & we be brokenhearted‚ because these are now probably collector's items & almost priceless. If you can afford to purchase & send them to MWMI in Greece we would greatly appreciate it as a gift to the Lord's work, but if not & you can't afford to pay for them yourself, MWMI would be happy to reimburse you for their cost & postage as soon as they receive them there in Greece.

13. YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN FLANNELBOARD FOR FLANNELGRAPHS!

WE HAVE BEEN AMAZED TO DISCOVER THAT SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT THEY HAVE TO BUY THEIR FLANNELGRAPH BOARDS! But it's very very simple to make one by simply purchasing an appropriate size piece of very wooly hairy flannel material & fastening it to either a large lightweight very thin piece of plywood or even better to a very large lightweight cardboard stock desk blotter or poster card material bought at an art shop or just use the side of a large cardboard box in which many TVs & refrigerators are shipped which you will find thrown a way in a trash bin of some stores.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR A PROFESSIONALLY MADE FLANNELGRAPH BOARD with all the problems of having to order it & pay for it & transport it to you & all the rest. It's very simple to make one of these boards. Just get yourself any kind of a board or a wall or anything. You just stick your flannel to it or thumbtack your flannel to it & you've got your flannelboard. That's all there is to it‚ as long as you have your own flannelgraph scenes & figures, of which we have already sent you many. PTL! GBY! KGFG! GBAKY! WLAPFY!

14. THE ISRAELI/ SYRIAN CRISIS! 12/5/81

PLEASE PRAY! The Syrians have finally gotten fed up with Israel shooting down their planes over Lebanon, & with Israel having complete domination of the air over Lebanon & attacking Palestinian refugee camps & PLO camps & Lebanese civilian villages & Syrian planes & bases in very cruel murderous attacks against the Lebanese & their Palestinian & PLO guests & Syrian protectors. Syria finally got fed up & sent in three missile batteries of several missiles each into the Bekaa Valley to protect Lebanon from these vicious Israeli attacks.

THIS IS THE SAME VALLEY OF BACA AS MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES which I have mentioned before as going to be a scene of battle according to the Bible, & already is between Israel & Syria.

SO SYRIA MOVED IN ITS MISSILES & HAS THREATENED TO SHOOT DOWN THE NEXT ISRAELI PLANES THAT TRY TO BOMB LEBANON. Israel has made these raids obviously with the consent of the U.S., because the U.S. has not objected whatsoever to these raids. And so Syria finally just got fed up & sent it the missiles. Since then the Israelis can't fly over Lebanon with out endangering their planes getting shot down‚ because these very sophisticated computer guided heat-seeking missiles once shot into the air actually follow a plane until they hit it. There is no way of avoiding them.

THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO GET RID OF THE MISSILES IS FOR ISRAEL TO SEND IN SO MANY BOMBERS with so many pilots in a saturation bombing that there would be more planes than there are missiles, so that even if they shot off all of their missiles & knocked down 25, 30, 40 planes with that many missiles, at least there would be enough planes left to knock out the missiles. So a massive bombing of the missile sites would require a huge lot of the Israeli planes & pilots, which has, of course, stopped their air raids over Lebanon temporarily.

BUT BEGIN IS PROMISING THAT ISRAEL IS GOING TO DO IT ANYWAY & they're not going to allow Syria to have these missiles there to stop their bombing raids on Lebanon against Palestinians, Muslims & Syrians. Begin needs this war to keep him in office,—otherwise, he doesn't' have the slightest chance of getting re-elected. But ever since he's taken a tough stand & threatened that he's going to start a war with Syria & bomb the missiles, his popularity in Israel has gone up 35%! They say there is only one chance of his being re-elected & that is to start the war.

SO KNOWING, BEGIN AS WE DO, A WAR IT WILL BE!—EXCEPT FOR A MIRACLE! Since that is his only chance of getting re-elected‚ he is determined to start a war with Syria‚ figuring probably on a quick win to probably conquer both Lebanon & Syria. Assad, President of Syria‚ needs a war too just as much as Begin, because he's had a lot of domestic problems in his country, but his sudden tough resistance attitude over the missiles has started to unite his country & other Arab countries behind him.

SO, IT SEEMS THAT BOTH BEGIN & ASSAD NEED THE WAR & ARE DETERMINED TO GET INTO IT, WIN OR LOSE! But of course, with Israel's far greater superiority in weapons & sophisticated missiles & the best planes & the best pilots & U.S. backing & army & support‚ Syria hasn't got a chance to win even with Libyan help.

WE'VE ALREADY POINTED OUT THAT THE U.S. IS PREPARED TO ATTACK LIBYA if Godhafi tries to help Syria against Israel, even to the point of grabbing Libya & its oil—which is why she kicked out all Libyan diplomats & told the 2,000 Americans in Libya they'd better get out!

SO IT LOOKS LIKE, EXCEPT BY A MIRACLE OF GOD‚ THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN NOW STOP THIS WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL & SYRIA. They've both put themselves out on a limb & flatly refused to back down‚ so they're on a collision course. It would mean a loss of face & popularity to either leader if he would now back down from his tough stance. The Syrians say they will not move out the missiles, & Begin says that Israel is going to bomb them if they don't‚ & Syria says if they do, that's war!

SO THE WAR COULD START ANY DAY, IT COULD ERUPT ANY DAY NOW! If it does, this probably will mean the U.S. will attack Libya & grab it to keep Godhafi from backing Syria. Russia already backs Syria in a very strong friendship alliance & defense treaty, so Russia will be expected to come to the aid of Syria, & the Arabs are expecting Russia to help Syria thru' Libya, thereby saving any embarrassment of direct help from Moscow which some Arab countries would resent—in other words, try to make it a more localised war between Arabs & Jews by trying to keep the Superpowers out of it.

THE ONLY THING THAT COULD THREATEN THE U.S. GRAB OF LIBYA WOULD BE A THREAT FROM RUSSIA‚ because Russia has a lot invested in Libya with all kinds of technicians, arms, etc., there. Russia could immediately issue a warning to the U.S. that if the U.S. touches Libya, Russia is not going to remain idly by. Syria's & Godhafi's only hope right now is Russian protection. It looks like they're on the verge of war with Israel & it could happen any minute.

IT WILL TAKE SOME KIND OF MIRACLE TO STOP IT, so if we're not ready for it & God's not ready for it, of course, He can do some kind of miracle. Otherwise, it could erupt any day, & if so, it could immediately start involving, of course, many other nations. It's the one thing that could unite the Arab world: if a real war erupts between these Arabs & Israel. Even tho' most Arabs don't like either Syria or Libya & consider them fanatics, they hate Israel even more, so as an Arab family they'll stand together. So if Israel now attacks these Arab nations of Syria & Libya, as much as they dislike them, the most unpopular nations in the Arab world, I believe the Arabs will stand behind them & give them all the help they can, if not actually go to war to help them.

SO IT IS A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION & REQUIRES PRAYER that the Lord has His way, & will at least postpone the crisis long enough if possible until as many of us as possible can get out of Europe & try to get someplace safer.—Because such a war can escalate very rapidly, & one of the immediate results that usually happens is the tightening up of travel restrictions & all kinds of security measures by all the various countries that could get involved, & it might make it more difficult to get out of Europe to somewhere safer.

SO WE NEED TO PRAY DESPERATELY ABOUT IT! It could happen any day, so I would suggest that perhaps if you are planning to leave Europe, you ought to be moving your departure date up sooner in order to make sure that you get out before the war makes it more difficult. You're not very far from all those things right there in Europe—Libya is just across a little bit of water! If the U.S. gets into it & starts attacking Libya, there's apt to be some serious confrontations with Russia as well as the fight between Syria & Israel. So may the Lord bless & help & keep us & postpone anything serious that would prevent our early evacuation of Europe. That's very important, so please pray! Praise the Lord! GBAKY, in Jesus' name!—Amen.

15. "IT'S A SAD DAY FOR A FRENCHMAN!"

THE SURPRISING OUSTING OF PRESIDENT GISCARD D'ESTAING OF FRANCE & his former strong government, which was very friendly towards both Arabs & Russia & business, & the shocking election of a Socialist Government under Mitterrand, changes the whole picture of the face of Europe in general, & particularly for our Family in France. Led by Socialist Jews, the new government of France will be strongly pro-Israel … & anti-Arab, anti-Russia, as well as insecure economically.

THEREFORE, FRANCE WILL BE A MUCH LESS SECURE PLACE FOR THE FAMILY than it was before under Giscard D' Estaing‚ whose former government was so friendly towards Russia as to make France an unlikely target for atomic warheads unless they came from the U.S.A. Its economy will likely follow the road of most socialist economies: insecurity for business & investment & therefore a downhill road to bankruptcy such as Britain‚ resulting in economic chaos as we find in Britain today with its poorly-managed government–owned & operated business & banks going bankrupt & out of business, throwing even more people out of work & causing even more strikes & unrest—a fertile field for communism. On the first business day after the French election, both domestic & foreign investors began pulling their funds out of France lest they be taken away from them by the new socialisation, & the French Franc plunged to its lowest level in years!

ALSO THE NEW SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT … will undoubtedly encourage our enemies to make it even more uncomfortable for us there where they are already very strong. So I hereby & immediately withdraw France from the list of European countries which we previously classed as lower-risk areas of Europe, & place it in the high-risk category for members of the Family in Europe.

GISCARD D'ESTAING WAS A FINE, STRONG, KINGLY‚ GODLY & VERY WISE LEADER headed in the right direction in view of the future, & the past 23 years of Conservative French Government had made France one of the strongest, most stable & wisest governments in all Europe, if not the world. If he had remained in power I would have expected God's mercy to be continued to be extended for France, as he was the subject of our strongest prayers in his behalf‚ & under him the Family had much greater freedom than it can expect under the new Government. But now that he has gone we can expect France to get whatever it deserves for electing such as uncertain Government with all the risks & dangers for both itself & our Family in its change of direction.

SO IT LOOKS LIKE THE LORD WANTS US TO GET OUT OF FRANCE as well as the other dangerous areas of Europe. Southern France can no longer be considered a fairly safe haven for the Family for even a while. So I would strongly advise against any members of the Family either staying there or going there in the future for very long. I consider that even the French Music Ministry should plan on some safer location abroad rather than in Southern France as previously advised or be reconsidered altogether whether advisable at all!

THE ELECTION OF A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE HAS ALREADY SHOCKED THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, the French Franc has plummeted to its lowest level in years & French stocks are selling madly on the stock markets as both foreign & domestic investors are pulling out of France in the face of its new economic uncertainty of the nationalisation of banks & industries there. So the outlook for France looks much more gloomy now than it did under its former benign God-blessed President.

I WOULD ADVISE ALL FAMILY MEMBERS WHO CAN TO CONTINUE TO MAKE YOUR PLANS FOR EVACUATING MOST OF EUROPE as soon as you can, particularly in view of the new war threat in the Mideast which could easily trigger The Big One! So God's original advice to us to continue to go South still holds. So, go South young folks, go South, & hope to survive with the natives! For a semi-permanent new home for the French & French-speakers I would suggest, as I had before‚ some of the French islands of the Caribbean & South Pacific or even some of the better French cities of other former colonies.

BUT ONLY GOD CAN TELL YOU EXACTLY WHERE HE WANTS YOU TO BE, or even to stay if you prefer to go down with Europe. The choice is up to you. All God & I can do is tell you what's happening & counsel & advise you what these possible alternatives are. Only you alone with the Lord can make the decision. So God bless & keep you & continue to make you a blessing wherever you may be. Praise the Lord! We love you!—In Jesus' name, Amen.—Sadly‚ —Dad.

16. PRAYER FOR THE POPE 14/5/81

LORD, BLESS HIM & STRENGTHEN HIM & HELP HIM & HEAL HIM IF IT BE THY WILL. If he goes, he'll only go the sooner to be with Thee, & his problems & troubles will be over. But if we need him around a little longer, if you're willing, You are more than able easily to heal him. We don't know why You let it happen, Lord, except perhaps to be a lesson to the world how evil it is getting & that a lot of very serious things are happening right now. We didn't expect Mitterrand to get elected in France either. We didn't expect this war between Israel & Syria to start so soon & Libya to be grabbed so soon, which it looks like it may be.

THINGS ARE REALLY RUSHING, LORD, SO HELP US TO GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE THE EXPLOSION! Thank You Lord for the sweet time this afternoon with the children. Help us, Lord, with all the things we still have to do before we go, in Jesus' Name we ask for Thy glory. Amen.

17. FREE TAPES ON THE WAY!

YOUR MOST RECENT MWM MAILING OF 4 MUSIC TAPES WAS SENT OUT to you during the week of May 11-15. Then God willing, the next package of 4 more will be sent out during the period of June 5-9. Be looking for them at your P.O. Please pray that these valuable tapes reach you safely & quickly. Also, starting in June you will be receiving 2 free tapes from Wild Wind each month, D.V. Look for your copies. Also‚ if you haven't received yours by the end of July please let Wild Wind know.

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family