Maria #204 DFO 2884 7/93

Dear Mother & Dad, Janice & Rosalee,

1. I LOVE YOU, my sweet family, & pray all is well with you. It was reassuring to hear from you & to know that you are all okay. Of course‚ I know that the Lord will keep you in His care‚ & has for these many years. I'm sorry that I didn't write you my yearly "epistle," but at least I did get a note off with the children's tapes. I guess this year I let them do the communicating for me. I thought they did far better than I could have. I'm real proud of them, & I'm sure you are, too. You couldn't have sent them a gift that they would have appreciated more—those cute dog & cat calendars were just so precious & so practical.—A beautiful calendar & note paper all rolled into one. And thank you so much for the one you sent me, it was a very thoughtful gift & much appreciated.

2. Thank you for your concern about my eyes. So far my eyesight itself hasn't been too seriously affected. It's just that my eyes are so sore that I can't use them much, because when I open them, it causes quite a strain on them, resulting in headaches; although, even there the Lord has been very good to me & I haven't had very many or very severe. But I do have to keep my eyes closed most of the time. This hasn't affected my work too severely (except that it requires much more time than before to carry out the same process), because I'm still able to continue my writing & editing using dictaphones & tape players. Thank the Lord for these wonderful tools!

3. This past year has, as always, been a very very busy one, & our ministry has expanded outward much more. Previously it was mostly a ministry of the Word & of education to our own members. Of course, we distributed thousands upon thousands of Posters & other pieces of literature each month‚ but the major work of writing & producing them was done some years back. However‚ the work of caring for our own members continues on a daily basis as we produce material for our children & our teens, as well as our adults.

4. But now, as we have been highlighted in the media due to attacks of our enemies through court cases & negative publicity, we have been obliged to stand up for the Truth & fight back. So our ministry has broadened to many more outside our Homes, & instead of being just one of spiritual counselling & feeding of those who we meet personally‚ it has also become very much one of explaining our ministry‚ our lifestyle, our whole life & doctrine to the public in many countries around the World—& this we have been doing through Statements, rebuttals, open letters, etc.

5. The judge in one of our cases, in Barcelona, Spain, who cleared us of all charges after some of our children were taken by Social Services & kept for a whole year in institutions, declared that we were an organisation "under attack." And that has certainly been the case in country after country. We have been attacked viciously by anti-cult groups & backslidden members who have turned their backs on the Lord & the Truth & have joined forces with these anti-cult groups to try to destroy our Work.

6. In Australia, 142 of our children were snatched from their Homes in pre-dawn raids on just supposition, & after being held for a week & investigated & tested thoroughly, they were all released. And after having gone through months of court cases, we were found innocent of all charges. In Venezuela & Argentina our Homes were likewise raided, some of our children were taken in & examined, the adults were questioned & interrogated‚ & no evidence was found to substantiate any of the charges concocted by bitter enemies & anti–cult groups.—For whom we are an easy target, as we are a very small group with not much money or support, & we do not have many powerful friends to protect us from this kind of abuse of power by the authorities.

7. People have a hard time understanding why, if we have done nothing wrong, we can be so persecuted. This is because they do not understand the great spiritual battle going on & the fact that the Devil is furious that we are exposing his devices in openly preaching the Endtime Message & what he is planning to do to take over the World in setting up his evil superman dictator, who will demand that the whole World worship him. In fact, the Devil has almost got the World completely within his grip now. I don't think it would bother him so much if we were just preaching that the Endtime was going to come "someday," but we are preaching that it is going to come in the very near future in our lifetime—almost certainly within the next few years. And this is a little too true for his comfort, so he stirs up the pot & everyone who has any possible axe to grind against us. "For we wrestle not against flesh & blood, but against principalities & powers, dominions & rulers of high places."

8. We admit that in the course of our movement maturing we have made some mistakes, such as young leaders being given too much responsibility & not always being qualified to be good shepherds of a flock, which we are sorry for & have tried to improve & rectify. We also are very controversial, which we do not apologise for, because we believe that our doctrines are Bible-based & are of the Lord, even though we admit that some of them are now better only believed & not practiced. But all of this, of course, has left us more open to attack, & the Enemy certainly has taken advantage of it.

9. But the wonderful thing about it is that the Lord has used all of this persecution for His glory & His victory in helping us to get out the Message of His Salvation & of the Endtime more than ever before! Our persecution has been nothing but a victory for us in every case, & has gained us many friends & supporters, & people who now take us very seriously & are happy to listen to us, & even look to us for our guidance & counsel. So the Lord knows what is best & what we need, & He knew that we needed this persecution to cause us to stand up & fight & to show ourselves & what we really believe‚ & to even have to reach out with the Lord's Message to those of influence in many countries, including legislators, law enforcement officials‚ social services, sociologists, psychologists, the media etc.

10. In almost every case where people actually get to meet us & talk with us, their whole attitude changes & they see that we are not as we have been portrayed by the very negative publicity that we have gotten in the past, which has been full of lies‚ distortions & misinterpretations. Some people have actually been so scared of us because of all the terrible anti-cult propaganda that has been pouring forth worldwide, that they have trembled with fear upon meeting us! But after having been around us for awhile & getting to talk with us & communicate heart–to–heart & see us in action‚ along with our children & teens, they have completely changed & come to respect & even admire us, as well as inviting us to work with them in their cause. This includes home schooling groups, VOCAL chapters (Victims of Child Abuse Laws—an organisation of people who have suffered false allegations), other small religious groups, etc.

11. Right now in France several of our Homes have been raided & many of the children taken into custody. Some in one town have been released, & those in another are still being held. An anti-cult group in France was mainly responsible for propagandising the whole country against not only us‚ but other small religious groups‚ & we are the victims of false charges & brutal police treatment. Prior to this they had investigated us for two years & still couldn't find any evidence against us, so they decided to raid our Homes. Then after nine hours of search through our Homes, they still could find nothing incriminating. They let the adults go & now they are wanting to test the children psychologically to see if any damage has been done to them by living in our group. It's amazing the wide array of charges they level at us, & if one doesn't work, they'll try another. None of them ever work, but they keep trying!

12. Thank the Lord, many of the grandparents have come to our defence in France‚ but there doesn't seem to be much they can do, since the judge & legal system have such a stranglehold on things. We are doing everything we can, including sending press releases to the media, picketing & lodging protests at French embassies worldwide, & so forth. We know that the Lord has allowed this to happen for a purpose, probably for several purposes. And that He will only allow it to go on as long as is necessary & is good for us & His Work.

13. We are furious & enraged at these monsters who brutally & violently handle our parents & children who love Jesus & are doing their best for Him‚ while they let all kinds of criminals & child abusers go free & never pursue them at all! But we expect that, of course, because the Bible continually tells us that if we are going to live for the Lord & preach His Message, we are going to suffer persecution, but that it will be for our good. We know that there will be a victory coming out of this situation too, as has happened in every other. It breaks our hearts to see our children suffer this way, as well as their precious parents‚ but we know that He will reward them in His time & make up to them everything that they have suffered & sacrificed. This "light affliction is but for a moment‚" & afterwards in His Heavenly Kingdom they will reap great reward.—And it won't be too long now! Thank the Lord!

14. Anyway, I couldn't possibly fill you in on everything just in this short note‚ so I'll be sending you some of the Statements that we have worked on over the past year, as well as rebuttals & press releases, cover letters‚ etc. I hope you will study these thoroughly. Some of these I have worked on personally, & others I've counselled with the writers about. They reflect our very true feelings & doctrines on these subjects. We hope it will give you a clear picture of what we're doing, where we're at & where we're going.

15. Well, it's certainly been a victorious year & one we've been thrilled with in spite of the seeming defeats, because the seeming defeats have turned into victories in every case, & the Lord has promised many more to come. You always have to have a battle to gain a victory. We're going to suffer some wounds along the way, but we're going to come out the better for it. As the End gets closer, things will get tougher, of course, & the persecution more vicious & frequent. But in all this darkness the light will shine even more brightly, & His Truth will come through even more clearly.

16. Of course we won't be the only ones who are persecuted. The poor Waco people have even been martyred this early in time!—Which actually should show the World that it isn't really "early."—That it's getting very late! All kinds of excuses were given why the Branch Davidians needed to be attacked, but the truth was that they were martyred for their faith. Granted, David Koresh was a little off on some things & he was definitely wacky in trying to compare himself to Jesus, or even thinking that maybe he was Jesus; he certainly went astray on that. But when you really get to the bottom of everything & look at all the facts & expose all the terrible goings-on‚ you see that no matter what excuses the authorities used, none of them held water & all of them were too weak to justify the terrible, inexcusable thing that they did—no matter what those poor people believed.

17. There were so many lies & cover-ups that it's almost unbelievable! In many respects these people were living according to the Word & true to its principles, & the Devil hated them for it. That horrible infringement of human rights & religious liberties should have been a signal to every American that they'd better watch out!—That religious persecution, if they never realised it before, is at their very door & about to overtake them. It's already started.—Not just with the "cults" but even with many of the small denominations.

18. Some people are finally waking up & realising that Christians had better start getting together & working together instead of fighting each other over their particular differences. Some Christians are even "deigning" to work with us now, realising that they need us & that all of us had better hang together or we're going to hang separately. We have just "agreed to disagree" on our differences & doctrines, because they know that we love Jesus & are true Christians in spite of some of our "controversial" doctrines. And we know that they are true Christians in spite of some of their failures & disobediences in following the Lord. But we can all get together on the fact that we love the Lord & we know the End is almost upon us, & we know that we're all going to be persecuted soon & we'd better get together to fight the evil. It's a dangerous time for Christians, but it's also exciting for those of us who are out in the forefront & really fighting for our lives‚ & seeing God do marvellous miracles daily!

19. Well, this is supposed to just be a short note, but when I start talking about the exciting & dangerous time we're living in, & about our brave & dedicated Family, I get really inspired. I'm so proud of them! They've sacrificed a lot & they're so precious & dedicated. Our teens are becoming some of our greatest samples & greatest witnesses. People are very impressed with them, as you can imagine after hearing from David & Techi. All our teens who have been brought up in the Word & out of the System as much as possible are starting to reach the point of adulthood where they can be more used by the Lord & take their place alongside us adults as real missionaries & prophets of the End. Of course, we haven't had all successes. Some of our teens have decided to leave us & pursue other work.

20. But we give our kids the choice, just as the Lord gives us all a choice of what we want to do with our lives. Some of them have felt that this life with us was too sacrificial & too disciplined & they wanted to get out & "see the World" & "have fun" & be able to do just what they wanted to do, so that's what they've chosen. But the Lord has great things in store for those of our teens who have stuck it out & who have been willing "to suffer affliction with the children of God rather than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season." He has promised great things to them & about them. They're going to be some of our stars in the great battle of the End between the forces of good & the forces of evil, & some of our greatest shining witnesses!

21. OK‚ I'd better stop preaching now! Thanks so much for listening, & thanks for writing me & for keeping in touch. I love you & I always have a very special place in my heart for my wonderful Mother & Dad who started me on the right path & instilled in me faith & conviction to do the Lord's Will‚ & to be obedient to His call. I know the Lord is going to reward you for that, as well as for all your labours for Him & the souls you have won to His Kingdom.

22. Happy Birthday to you, Mother & Dad. I'm sorry it's belated, but I really do mean it. And also to you‚ Rosalee & Janice. Sorry that all of these birthday greetings are belated except yours, Janice. Mine will be coming up soon, & at this point I almost like to lose track of how old I really am, since I still feel just like a kid in spirit. I guess the Lord has kept me feeling like a little child so I can better enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. I guess He's kept me very simple & uncomplicated in the way I speak & act so I can relate to so many others who are the same way. I take comfort in the thought that Jesus appealed to the common people & they heard Him gladly. If He had been too complicated & complex, they never could have understood Him or received His message.

23. I love you all very much! Please give my love to the others. And please thank Aunt Claire for her letters, which I do appreciate. I especially enjoyed hearing about my grandfather. This was a letter that Aunt Claire sent to one of my cousins (I don't remember which one now), but I don't ever recall hearing that much about my grandfather before‚ & it was very interesting & very sweet. The kids enjoyed it as well. We know we've got some loved ones Up There rooting for us, don't we! Praise the Lord! I'm sure they must be helping us from the Spirit World. God bless them!—And He does.

24. I really like that little story Aunt Claire wrote‚ Mother‚ about how you & she wanted to go to the dance. So you asked your Dad about it & he said to go pray about it, & you both knelt down by your bed together & promptly got up again & went to the dance—but you felt horrible & came home early. Did I get it right? It was really cute. But it just shows that whatever we do that is not of faith, is sin, & we'll end up feeling pretty miserable about it.—And that if our mind is already made up about what we want to do, we're not going to be very open to what the Lord has in mind. If you ever have any more of those stories, it would be fun for the kids, as well as for me, to hear them.

25. God bless you! I love you lots & am praying for your health‚ your happiness & your service to Him. When things get real rough here, just remember that it won't be long! Just hang on a little longer & He'll welcome you Home with His‚ "Well done, thou good & faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Much love,

Your Daughter

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family