DO 2908Comp.12/93

(The following Jewels were given before the release of our brethren in Argentina:)

Persecution Makes Us Stronger!

1. YOU CAN ACTUALLY strengthen a tree or hedge by trimming it. It makes it stronger. Isn't that a good lesson for us? The Lord taught it in the 15th Chapter of John. "Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: & every branch that beareth fruit‚ He pruneth (purgeth) it, that it may bring forth more fruit."—John 15:2. These persecutions are like a pruning to find out who is strong & who is weak, & the strongest will survive & be better for it.—Like when you prune a tree or a hedge.

Prayer for the Frontline Soldiers!

2. Bless all those on the front lines, Lord, all those in battle. Give them victories, in Jesus' name!

The Lord Started Something Nobody Can Stop!

3. When the Family began‚ the Lord started something that nobody can stop, & no man can stand against it! It just keeps growing & growing.

4. I never expected that my little spark would kindle such a big fire! Imagine‚ sociologists, academics & theologians all studying us, trying to figure out how it happened, & they can't believe it was just the Lord. They're all trying to figure out why it happened. It was the Lord, He did it! He wanted it to happen so He made it happen, & we were just His instruments & tools. Praise the Lord! I'm glad we were willing, at least. "By one man's obedience shall many be made righteous."—Rom.5:19. I don't deserve it‚ Lord‚ that You should have used me, such a poor instrument, & not very righteous either, but You did it! Praise the Lord!

ACs Going After the Catholic Church!

5. Did you notice how the ACs are attacking the Catholic Church now? I was expecting that they'd go from the little fellows like us & the televangelists, & work their way on up to attack the Evangelicals next. I guess they decided the Evangelicals weren't as big a threat to them as the Catholics, & if they wanted to get control over religion, they were going to have to knock out faith in the Catholics. So they're really using this child abuse scandal to get at the Catholic Church.—And the Catholic Church has really got child abuse, & they know it.

6. They know we don't have any child abuse.—That's ridiculous! They're just using that as an excuse to hit us hard, because we are very threatening to them. The Catholics have not gotten much into exposing the AC Conspiracy, but we've hit the ACs pretty hard on that. We've exposed them a lot & we're making friends with a lot of the ACs' enemies. So that's one reason they've hit us pretty hard & tried to make us look like "the most dangerous sect of all!"—Ha! Well, we are to them!—Because we're the only ones who know the truth about what's happening, & as a group are waging an active open war against the Antichrist & those who are putting him into power. The Antichrist knows we are exposing him & he is doing all he can to try to stop us.

Waco Fire!

7. The BATF could have just come to the Davidians with a search warrant, but no‚ they were determined to wipe them out from the beginning! Absolutely! (Family: The video expos we saw actually showed how the tanks lit the fire.) Yes! Good night, the Davidians had no electricity, they had nothing but lanterns & candles in there‚ so the FBI must have known they were going to start a fire just by knocking down the walls!

Argentina Embarrassed Worldwide!

8. Argentina has now been so embarrassed about all the propaganda we're getting out against them all around the World through our protests & marches & demonstrations & tens of thousands of pieces of lit denouncing what they've done, that they've begun to let our folks out, dribble them out little by little, a couple of parents & their children here & there, so they can say that they are releasing them & blah blah.

Menem Joined the Conservatives!

9. (Family: I heard Menem was favourable to the Family at one time, then all of a sudden he didn't seem so nice any more.) Well, he joined the other side of politics. He forsook his liberals & joined the conservatives, & they're the ones who are persecuting us there, backed by the Catholic Church.

God Uses Others to Defend & Protect His Children!

(Testimony from Claire while imprisoned in Argentina, followed by Mama's comments:)

10. (Claire: We had a rather somber experience this week. Sorry to tell you these experiences that are more traumatic testimonies than anything else, but I imagine you would want to know. Thank the Lord, we learn so much through these experiences & doubtless the Lord brings them our way in order to teach us & strengthen us, thank You Jesus!

11. (As I believe we mentioned in an earlier letter, we were sharing our patio with a woman who is in solitary confinement. She is a totally distorted person, who was convicted of killing an eight-year-old child in a very brutal way. Personally, I wasn't happy about sharing the patio with her‚ as I had an uneasy feeling of danger. She's obviously demon-possessed & has bouts of violence. Lord help me, I mentioned it several times, but should have been quicker to act, to counter the order to share the patio, since the Lord was giving me these checks. The day before the incident‚ her face was black & swollen & she looked like a demon. Every time we'd start praying, she'd start singing loudly or screaming.

12. (As it turned out, the girls in our room seem to have provoked her [we five were in our beds reading & napping, our cellmates were on the patio], & she got violent & threw a table & chair & the girls beat her up. It was a horrible, brutal experience. I went running to the door right away calling the guard to come, followed by Paloma who continued calling [they were far away & it took the nurse awhile to fetch them]. We sat down in a corner & prayed until they came a minute or two later, & four to five guards came in, followed by five doctors & nurses [our room is close to the medical center].

13. (The whole experience was upsetting for us & we didn't rightly know how to react, as the prison heads came to find out what had happened & our cellmates totally denied having hit the woman‚ which we knew wasn't true because we had heard the sound of blows. The spirit of it was so ugly—although the woman is a deformed, monster-like person, it was very brutal of the four of them to hit her that way.

14. (We explained to our cellmates that we aren't used to this kind of experience, as we have dedicated our lives to loving & helping & comforting others & we just couldn't reconcile this to our beliefs.

15. (We didn't make a big issue of the thing, though our cellmates knew we weren't in agreement & we had called the guards to break up the fight. A question came up about the lies that were told‚ but we didn't personally really see what happened. After discussing it‚ it seemed to us all that He had led us to handle this wisely by not getting involved more than we did‚ & we were not called upon to act as witnesses.

16. (As a result of this woman getting beat up, she was moved elsewhere, so we no longer share the patio with her, thank the Lord! Romans 8:28. The main instigator of the whole affair, one of the girls in our cell, has been going through it a lot since we were clear about our feelings about the whole affair, but we're praying the Lord will help her to simply accept her error & peace can be restored. Thank the Lord! Eze.33:7-9.) (End of Claire's report.)

17. (From Mama:) Obviously the Lord used this incident to get rid of this very demon-possessed woman, who He knew was not going to change, & who was obviously placed there to try to cause our girls harm. When I heard about it, I felt like saying‚ "Give those women prisoners a medal for doing a good job of getting her out of there!"

18. We wouldn't have provoked such an incident, nor initiated such an attack. (However, if she had attacked our women‚ I'm sure they would not have hesitated to fight back.) In this case, we shouldn't have any qualms about others fighting for us! We would certainly not want to give place to these demons who were annoying, harassing & terrifying. We have no reservations about fighting the Devil, nor his demons. Usually we do it in the Spirit, & we are very hesitant to do it in the physical unless it is in self-defense. But if the Lord in His wisdom saw that these other girls could do the job for us, we certainly should be very thankful to them for what they did.

19. I don't think Claire's System cellmates should feel at all condemned for what they did. It may have been an act of concern, not so much for themselves, but for our people. And even if it was done solely with a selfish motivation, we feel the Lord directed their moves without them realising it. As the Word says, "The Lord shall fight for you & you shall hold your peace."—Exo.14:14. In a way, these girls were the hand of the Lord fighting for our women so that they didn't have to do anything. I'm sure it was an answer to their prayers to get rid of this woman.

20. In this case, I don't see that there was anything at all wrong with these girls even provoking the attack, if they indeed did, & actually I see an awful lot right with it. Personally, I would thank them for what they did. There might have been other factors that entered in that made what they did unwise, but from the things that we have read, this would be my conclusion.

21. What a harrowing experience!—God bless our dear women! Every time we hear these things, we certainly pray all the harder for them! Somebody gave the verse that I wish I had thought of when I wrote them my last letter, as it expressed so well what I was trying to say, & makes me cry every time I think of it: "They that sit in darkness have seen a great light."—Isa.9:2.

22. We get so used to ourselves & each other & our problems & shortcomings & weaknesses, & we don't see much light in ourselves. But somehow, unbeknownst to us‚ the brilliance of His Light that shines through us is so powerful that other people can't help but see it. And as the Lord has said, it either draws them to us, or it makes them run in anguish from it because their deeds are evil. They either are drawn toward it, sometimes in fear & awe, or they run from it in pain.

23. Those that come toward the Light don't always embrace it immediately with open arms, because sometimes it's foreign to them. They've never seen the Light & they don't understand it, even though they are attracted to it. But we have to keep shining it, & keep beckoning gently to them, & keep patiently persevering—& it's working.

24. As Paloma told us in her letter, the lives of some of those dear folks are changing day by day as they are drawn closer to the Light. The flame may eat up the candle, but together they give such a beautiful light. We die to ourselves that the flame can burn & give life to others.

25. It's hard to know what to say to our precious women who are going through so much. It's hard to express how proud we are of them‚ & how precious they must be to the Lord, Who has seen their great love for Him manifested during this test that He is allowing them to go through.

26. When you think of it, even though these three months have seemed very long & almost unending, 100 days or so is actually a very short time for the Lord to have done such a priceless work in Claire, Paloma, Charity, Flor & Consuelo's lives, teaching them precious, wonderful, life-changing lessons that they could have never learned any other way.

27. All of our dear folks there are suffering, each in a way that God knows is best for them, & He is going to teach them the lessons that they need, & bring about the changes that will make them more useful vessels for Him in their great ministries.

28. "But the God of all grace, Who hath called you unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect (or complete), stablish, strengthen, settle you." If you suffer with Him‚ you shall also reign with Him. (1Pet.5:10; 2Tim.2:12.)—Much love & prayers, Mama.

Every Field Has Its Day!

29. (From Mama:) I hope you folks in other parts of the World are not feeling bad that so much is going on in the U.S.A. at this time. Please don't compare your witnessing activities & follow–up to what is going on in the U.S.‚ as it's an entirely different matter & we would not want anyone to be discouraged for one minute over this. It looks like the U.S. is the most fruitful & exciting place to be right now.—Just as it looked some time ago like Eastern Europe was the most exciting place to be.

30. I do feel that the Lord is working very mightily in the U.S. right now‚ because we need the favour of certain folks there to help our Work in the rest of the World. So there is something to the fact that a lot is going on there, & possibly faster & even more spectacularly in some ways than what's going on in some other fields.

31. It just shows, though, how things change. For awhile nobody wanted to go to the U.S., & most of the people who stuck it out there looked at other fields with envy & felt like they were castoffs & not in the mainstream of the Family. So I guess every field has its day!

32. Every field is very important in its own way & in its own right, it's just that the "excitement" seems to come to different fields at different times. When the excitement on your field may not seem as great as it is on somebody else's field, then you just have to realise that that's when you need to "be not weary in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not!" (Gal.6:9.) That's also when you can learn valuable lessons of patience & perseverance & faithfulness in plodding along day by day, just doing the common everyday & maybe somewhat boring things, which in the Lord's eyes are still very important.

33. On the other hand, many of the non-Christian & poor Third World fields, for instance, are certainly more difficult fields than the U.S., & in some ways require tougher soldiers. But the Lord will reward everyone accordingly, & is proud of all of us who are persevering under difficult circumstances.

34. The U.S. in many ways is a much easier field to work in, as it is English–speaking & has a Christian culture & millions of Christians. In some ways, our Family there is entering into other men's labours‚ which have continued on now for over two hundred years. They are ministering to people who have largely had at least some Christian background, even if only a cultural one. Besides this, because so much evil abounds in the U.S., grace has to much more abound, & many people are waking up to the dangerous state of their country. There are many factors that make the U.S. a very different field, which make it very much easier to reach the specific types of people who are now being reached there.

35. So we greatly admire our brethren in heathen lands & non-Christian fields who are willing to faithfully continue with their very difficult job, in spite of, in some cases, perhaps seeing very little fruit for their labours, yet having to persevere. Thank the Lord, He does let you see some of the results here & there, & when you do‚ it's a wonderful inspiration & boost. Then you realise & know that your labours are not in vain! We are all, as Paul said, "labourers together with God" (1Cor.3:9), & we've been called to reach "all the World" with His Message‚ so each labourer in each field is precious to the Lord. Praise the Lord!

The Catholic Church & Regimentation!

36. (Dad's comments while watching a video about the Catholic Church:) They accuse us of being tough on our people, just look at the Catholic Church! I think this video must be a slam at the Catholic Church. Talk about us seeming regimented, the nuns even have to cut off all their hair. It sounds like the army! If you did anything wrong in the army they often penalised you by sending you to do K.P., working in the kitchen & all sorts of things.

37. Talk about regimentation & total organisation, the Catholics regiment every thought! Nobody could be more regimented & strict than the Catholic Church. We look like saints compared to the Catholic Church, except for our sexual views. This is very interesting! They accuse us of the very same things the Catholic Church does, yet the Catholic Church is not criticised for it, at least not by very many, & they're even one of our critics! They don't have as many critics because they're so big & powerful.

38. This principle would be good for our court cases! They're making such a stir about us, when the Catholics have been doing worse for ages!—Although they're very conservative about sex. And of course that's one of their biggest critiques of us, & why they're making such a big furor about us, complaining that we're allowed to exist with such untraditional sexual ideas. But our beliefs are scriptural, based on the Word, while their Sodomy is not!

PERSECUTION PSALMS!

Psalm 16—"In Thy Presence Is Fulness of Joy!"

39. (Fam: Verse 1-6, "Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust. O my soul‚ thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord; my goodness extendeth not to Thee; but to the saints that are in the Earth‚ & to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance & of my cup: Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

40. (Verse 7, "I will bless the Lord, Who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.") Your reins are your kidneys, by the way‚ & they're pretty important. A lot of people have to go to a hospital once or twice a week for kidney dialysis. They get the poison pumped out of their blood because the reins or the kidneys won't do it any more. Their kidneys are all plugged up. Your kidneys filter your blood, along with your liver. And the spiritual significance of reins is that they symbolise purification & emotional guidance.

41. (Fam: Verse 8, "I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.") We move a lot, but we'll not be moved away from the Lord, amen? (Fam: Verse 9-11, "Therefore my heart is glad‚ & my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell; neither wilt thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.") The Lord really does give us a lot of pleasure, amen? He's given us a beautiful place to live, like a little bit of Heaven, & precious loved ones & a wonderful job to do for Him, & priceless Words for our encouragement & comfort—wonderful revelations & mysteries of the present, as well as the Eternal Kingdom to Come.

42. Bless our Family, Lord, especially those in prison. Encourage them & release them as soon as Thy purpose is accomplished. Strengthen & encourage them in their persecution & struggle. Provide for them & protect them.—In Jesus' name, amen!

Psalm 18!—"He Delivered Me, Because He Delighted in Me!"

43. (Fam: It says David wrote this Psalm after he was delivered from the hand of all his enemies.) Praise the Lord! Maybe it's time for our deliverance! (Fam: Verse 1-4, "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, & my fortress, & my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, & the horn of my salvation‚ & my high tower. I will call upon the Lord‚ Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me & the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.") David did get afraid once in awhile. It's scary what they've done to us sometimes.

44. By the way, the correct pronunciation of "compassed" is "kum'pest," with the accent on the first syllable. It's pronounced the same as "compass," the instrument that tells where North is. Excuse me if I correct your English, but I think I should, because I know you're not as familiar with it as I am. After all, I was an English teacher!

45. (Fam: Verse 5–6, "The sorrows of Hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, & cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, & my cry came before Him‚ even into His ears.") He's going to answer prayer. (Fam: "Then the earth shook & trembled.") Shake'm up Lord! Make'm tremble! (Fam: Verse 7-8, "The foundations also of the hills moved & were shaken, because He was wroth. There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, & fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.") God is getting stirred up now!

46. (Fam: Verse 9, "He bowed the heavens also, & came down: & darkness was under His feet.") Hallelujah! Trample them down, Lord! The Lord knows how to shake'm up. They say Judge Marquevich in Argentina seems to be going crazy. The lawyers who've visited him say the things he says don't even make sense. (Fam: Verse 10, "And He rode upon a cherub, & did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.") Hallelujah! Did you ever read that description of God's Chariot in Ezekiel Chapter One?—The Lord's transportation!

47. (Fam: Verse 11, "He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters & thick clouds of the skies.") For our enemies He's darkness but for us He's Light! Thank You Lord! (Fam: Verse 12-13‚ "At the brightness that was before Him His thick clouds passed‚ hail stones & coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, & the Highest gave His voice; hail stones & coals of fire.") He can really scare'm!

48. After our departure from the Philippines‚ they had one of the biggest volcanic eruptions that they had had in centuries! Mount Pinatubo blew up & the U.S. had to abandon both of its bases there. Isn't that amazing? It just devastated that little town full of prostitutes next door to the base! They were spreading AIDS like mad. Hallelujah! Sock it to them in Argentina‚ Lord, as soon as You get our people out of there! The Lord has to get His people out first, & then He socks it to their persecutors.

49. (Fam: Verse 14, "Yea, He sent out His arrows, & scattered them; & He shot out lightnings, & discomfited them.") Did you see that documentary on Pinatubo? The ashes were raining down like snow, one or two feet deep! They say the land won't be good for anything for years. It was even caving in the roofs of the big buildings & the hangars at the base. The U.S. tried to hang on to the air base, but when they saw how bad it was getting, they fled. They said the base was absolutely no good. They were going to try to save Subic Naval Base‚ which is about 20 miles away, but it finally got so bad there they boarded their ships & sailed away.

50. (Fam: Verse 15-17, "Then the channels of waters were seen, & the foundations of the World were discovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils. He sent from above, He took me‚ He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, & from them which hated me; for they were too strong for me.") They're too strong for us, but not too strong for the Lord!

51. (Fam: Verse 18-26, "They prevented me in the day of calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, & have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His judgments were before me, & I did not put away His statutes from me. I was also upright before Him, & I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight. With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt shew Thyself upright. With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; & with the froward Thou wilt shew Thyself froward.") "Froward" means bad, mean, vicious, crooked or perverse. Does anybody else know any meanings for "froward"? (David: Obstinate or stubborn.) That's pretty bad.

52. (Fam: Verse 27-28, "For Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down the high looks. For Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.") Boy, those verses really mean something when you're in trouble, don't they?

53. (Fam: Verse 29-33, "For by Thee I have run through a troop; & by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect: the Word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. For who is God save the Lord? Or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, & maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, & setteth me upon my high places.") This is the Psalm that David wrote after the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies & from the hand of Saul. (Techi: Yes, it's the same Psalm that is in 2Samuel 22.)

54. (Fam: Verse 34: "He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.") How about that? They had bows of steel that far back. Maybe they were like crossbows. He even broke one. (Fam: Verse 35, "Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: & Thy right hand hath holden me up, & Thy gentleness hath made me great.") I told that to a dentist once. I said, "Do you know why you're such a great dentist?—It's your gentleness." I said, "Did you know that's in the Bible? Gentleness will make you great!—You get more business that way!"—Ha! There's something in the Bible for everybody!

55. (Fam: Verse 36-37‚ "Thou hast enlarged my steps under me‚ that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies, & overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.") You've got to enlarge your steps so you can run faster & overtake them. Praise the Lord! (Fam: Verse 38-40, "I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.") Can you just see us standing there with one foot on their neck?—You know, like David did, & then he chopped off Goliath's head with his own sword. That's pretty significant too, chopping off their heads with their own sword!

56. (Fam: Verse 41-42, "They cried but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but He answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.") Praise the Lord! Thank You Lord!

57. (Prays:) Lord bless & keep, in Jesus' name. Keep us in Thy Will, Lord, & help us to be prayerful & not to forget Thee for one moment. Keep us safely in whatever we do. Bless & keep us & make us a blessing. Bless those of us who go out to the battle, & those of us who stay home to stand by the stuff. You said we will receive equally. Bless those that are out there at the battlefront, & especially, Lord, ease those who are in bonds & release them as soon as You've accomplished Your purpose. Thank You Jesus! Bless & keep us all & make us a blessing, & give us strength for this day. Thank You Jesus!

Psalm 21:9–12!—The Lord's Gonna Make Our Enemies Run!

58. (Psalm 21, Verse 9:) "Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath‚ & the fire shall devour them." God damn those Argentine authorities! Imagine them having the nerve to still be keeping our kids after all the protest that has been generated around the World! They've gotten letters & thousands of cards & lots of bad publicity, yet they're just like a bulldog hanging on. Of course, Argentina has been like that for a long time. They murdered tens of thousands of people when the military ran things!—Murdered them! So I presume they think they're being pretty good to us.

59. (Verse 10–11:) "Their fruit shalt Thou destroy from the Earth, & their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against Thee: they imagined a mischievous device‚ which they are not able to perform." Thank You Lord! Destroy their fruit! "Therefore shalt Thou make them turn their back, when Thou shalt make ready Thine arrows upon Thy strings against the face of them." Do it, Lord!—Make them turn their backs on us & run!

60. Make our folks real witnesses & then let them go, in Jesus' name! My advice is that as soon as they can, they ought to leave that country & commit their persecutors to the Devil! "It'll be worse for them in the Day of Judgment than Sodom & Gomorrah."—Mk.6:11. What evil men!

Psalm 23!—His Rod & His Staff to Protect Us!

61. (Family quotes Psalm 23 with Dad.) When I was little I wondered how the rod & the staff could comfort you, because when I got the rod & the staff, it didn't feel very comforting! But it's speaking there about going through the valley of the shadow of death, & you'd be glad to have a shepherd who has both a rod & a staff to protect you from the wolves. That's a beautiful Psalm, one of the World's favourites.

Psalm 24!—To the King of Glory!

62. (Verse 1-2:) "The Earth is the Lord's, & the fulness thereof; the World, & they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, & established it upon the floods." It's all the Lord's. It belongs to the Lord, the Devil is just a tenant, & a very bad tenant. He even tried to tempt the Lord. Do you remember what he said? (Fam: He said, "All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt bow down & worship me."—Mat.4:8-9.) Yes, he said it was given to him to do that, & it looks like he's given it to the ACs!

63. (Verse 3-4:) "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, & a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."

64. I just heard a report from Argentina where our five women are in prison, & how they're winning the four criminals who they share a cell with, & so far two have gotten saved. They've been having sweet fellowship & prayer & Bible reading, & then the authorities put two real evil murderers in with them who both have AIDS! You talk about new forms of torture!—They deliberately put them in there! The two prisoners with AIDS were in there one night coughing & spitting. They were filthy & left dirty underwear everywhere‚ plus a horde of flies that came in with their dirty pet frog. Our women actually felt these mean prisoners were sent there to do them harm, if not to kill them!

65. So our women prayed that the Lord would get rid of them, & their original four roommates knew they were praying & encouraged them to keep on, even though the evil newcomers threatened them to stop their praying & Bible reading. Then in answer to prayer, the authorities moved the two AIDS-infected prisoners out the very next day. So one of the criminal girls said, "Wow! If prayers work like that, I pray that I'll get out & join you!" So our women are in there to be a testimony‚ no doubt. If the Lord hadn't put them there, how else would they ever reach those girls? The Lord's got compassion for those prisoners too.

66. (Verse 5-10:) "He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, & righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; & be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; & the King of glory shall come in." Hallelujah! "Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong & mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; & the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah."

Psalm 25!—Let Our Enemies Be Ashamed!

67. (Verse 1–3:) "Unto Thee‚ O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in Thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on Thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause." Boy I'll tell you, the public got pretty aggravated over the Branch Davidian massacre, the way the government operated. The FBI put the government to shame, literally‚ by the horrible thing they did‚ massacring those families.

68. (Verse 4–12:) "Show me Thy ways, O Lord, teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth‚ & teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies & Thy lovingkindness; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord. Good & upright is the Lord: therefore will He teach sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgement: & the meek will He teach His way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy & truth unto such as keep His covenant & His testimonies. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he shall choose."

69. Thank You for a wonderful day of so much accomplished, & all Thy provision & protection. Bless our house & all of our Homes & people everywhere, especially those that are suffering. We know You're going to release them as soon as Your Will is accomplished. Thank You for what good care You take of us, & what good care all of these dear ones take of me. I'm not too much good for some things, but at least I'm still here & I still hear from You, Lord. Thank You Jesus! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 28 & Serbia!

70. (Verse 1-4:) "Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if Thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward Thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, & with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, & according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert." Amen, Lord, it's coming!

71. (Verse 5:) "Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them, & not build them up." What nerve those people have to attack God's Work & God's people! That reminds me of a film I saw about the Serbs!—The nerve of the ACs to actually put out propaganda defending the Serbs! The Serbs have been condemned by everybody for being the aggressors & starting the war, but now the ACs have finally made a film called "Sanctions Against Serbia," all about "the poor Serbians, they're suffering from all these sanctions, the children & the babies & the mothers & the sick & the old" & blah blah blah.

72. I got so mad I yelled! Maybe you heard me. I said (speaking to Milosevic)‚ "God damn you! Why don't you stop the war?!—Then they'd stop the sanctions!" It showed how the Serbs were suffering & couldn't get enough gasoline & they couldn't get enough coffee‚ etc. Great suffering, you know, when the Serbs are shooting off the arms & the legs & heads of people in Bosnia! It made me so angry that they'd have the nerve to put out a thing defending the Serbs! Whew!

73. It's finally getting down to where people don't seem to care much about the Bosnians any more. "Let the Serbs kill kids & shoot off heads & arms & legs & whatnot, we don't care!" So now the ACs can start gently telling people to be better to the Serbs, "Look how the Serbs are suffering!—They have to go for miles & miles & cross borders to buy certain products!—Isn't that terrible!"—While they're shooting off heads & arms & legs in Bosnia! So I just shouted & said, "God damn you! Why don't you stop the war & then you wouldn't have to suffer all those sanctions!" Whew! God damn the ACs!

74. Imagine making a whole film to try to get you to be sorry for the Serbs, when everybody knows that they're shooting & exterminating the Bosnians & committing ethnic cleansing. They're chasing Bosnians out of their houses & putting in Serbs instead. Excuse me, but that verse reminded me of it. "He shall destroy them & not build them up!" Amen, Lord, sock it to'm!—And He is, they're suffering for it, but not near as bad as the Bosnians yet. But let's hope they will get to where they will really suffer & maybe then the people will put pressure on their dictator‚ Milosevic‚ to stop the war.

75. Every time I've seen him on the news he always has a nice pretty smile like he's winning, & no matter which conference he goes to, he's going to win. It makes me furious! It looks like he's enjoying it. Those Serbs on that film never once mentioned the fact that it was their own fault, & that they're suffering because of it, & it's because they are attacking the weak & helpless in Bosnia. All they did was talk about how the poor Serbs are suffering, they don't have enough medicine for the babies, & they don't have enough this or that. I just got so mad I yelled‚ "Well, God damn you, why don't you stop the war! Quit killing off the Bosnians!"

76. (Verse 6:) "Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications." Amen. These are our prayers. He's going to do it. God damn the Serbs! Let'm eat what they have to eat—or just don't eat! They're complaining about shortages when they're cutting short the lives & legs of the people in Bosnia. "Oh it's so pitiful, so sad, how the Serbs are suffering—shortages of food & medicine & gasoline to drive their cars." Whew!

77. (Verse 7-9:) "The Lord is my strength & my shield; my heart trusted in Him, & I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; & with my song will I praise Him. The Lord is their strength, & He is the saving strength of His anointed. Save Thy people, & bless Thine inheritance." Amen, Lord, do it! Deliver our folks in Argentina! "Feed them also, & lift them up for ever."

78. We're sure getting a lot of publicity out of this persecution, & I guess persecution is the price we have to pay. We're giving all these sociologists & lawyers a cause to speak about & defend at these conventions & human rights conferences. The Lord's going to end it in His time, & in the meantime He's using it as a good excuse for complaining to the World about their cruelty in attacking religions.

Psalm 29!—And Bible Animals!

79. (Psalm 29:6) "He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon & Sirion like a young unicorn." I saw the most interesting documentary on Israel. They're importing all the various animals of the Bible into Israel‚ & you ought to see the assortment.—Unicorns & all kinds of animals.—Of course‚ these unicorns have two horns, some with straight horns & some with little spiral horns. Oh, it was really fascinating, all the different kinds of animals they're importing into Israel, all those mentioned in the Bible. I guess they want it to be like in was in days of old. They said it was mostly the prophets that mentioned the animals, Jeremiah‚ Isaiah, & somebody else. So it was really interesting, & you're reading about some of them right there.—The calf & the unicorn!

80. (Verse 7-9:) "The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, & discovereth the forests: & in His temple doth every one speak of His glory." When it says "the voice of the Lord," I think it's talking about thunder. The voice of the Lord makes the hinds to calve, how about that!—Helps them give birth.

81. (Verse 10-11:) "The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever. The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." Praise the Lord! Thank You Lord. Do it, Lord! Release them soon! Thank You Jesus! The Lord is able & He will.

82. (Looking at the birds:) Don't you enjoy watching the Lord's little creations? It gives me a feeling of rest & peace, that He's got the whole World in His hands, including our Family, wherever they are. They've been meeting a lot of high & mighty personalities & the word is getting out. If we hadn't had all these persecutions we wouldn't be getting all this publicity. World-famous sociologists are writing books on us & all kinds of things. We have to suffer in order to get the Message out. God bless those that are suffering.

Demonstration in Argentina!

83. On our 100th day of captivity the folks in Argentina had a private interview with the Minister of Justice & the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I'll tell you, it really pays to advertise! When Menem came to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the glorious Argentine democracy, our folks were right there to demonstrate & let them know it wasn't quite so democratic!

Psalm 30!—"Thou Hast Turned My Mourning into Dancing!"

(After the release of the brethren in Argentina:)

84. (Psalm 30, Verse 7-9:) "Lord, by Thy favour Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide Thy face, & I was troubled. I cried to Thee, O Lord; & unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth?" Amen! In the case of our folks in Argentina, I don't think there would have been any value in our folks continuing to suffer there.

85. We were just hearing about all the good news that's happening there! The government is blaming it all on that one judge & police chief so they can save face & get out of the blame. So praise the Lord! And the newspapers are now coming out with favourable articles about us, think of that!

86. Lord, You said‚ "Wait'll you see the end!"—And now we're seeing it! Thank You for answering prayer. We ought to really be thanking the Lord! Let's give a really good thanks! (Everyone praising the Lord!) Thank You for answering prayer, Lord! Thank You‚ Lord, for giving us the patience to wait. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!

87. (Verse 10:) "Hear, O Lord, & have mercy upon me: Lord, be Thou my helper." Amen. Well, He was. He did hear, & He had mercy & He's been their helper.

88. (Verse 11:) "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, & girded me with gladness." We'll have to have a dance sometime to celebrate! Maybe we ought to send out a proclamation to all the Family around the World to have a victory celebration, a victory party! (Family: Amen!) Praise the Lord! We've had our prayers & fasts, now let's have a victory party & celebrate!

89. (Verse 12:) "To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, & not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever." Praise the Lord! Amen. We'll have a victory party & celebrate the liberation of the prisoners! Thank You Lord!

90. Thank You Lord for how You've rescued us from trouble, & all our precious loved ones who were in bonds.—And how You've kept us around the World for 25 years now. We have grown & multiplied & survived many troubles‚ most of which, thank You Lord, never happened. Praise the Lord! You must love us even more than we love our little pets. You love the little birdies outside & all the other creatures. Not even one sparrow falls to the ground without You knowing it, & You said we're worth more than many sparrows.

91. Thank You now, Lord, for a good night last night, safekeeping, good sleep & another beautiful day. Thank You for life & strength & health for today. Give us a good day‚ bless & keep us & make us a blessing. Bless our Home & all our Homes around the World. Thank You for releasing those that were in bonds & getting the victory & putting our enemies to shame. Thank You Lord!

92. Just think, this judge has been completely disgraced & declared incompetent. Boy oh boy! Thank You Lord for answering prayer! Hallelujah!

Psalm 31!—Deliverance from Our Enemies!

93. (Psalm 31, Verse 1-4:) "In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in Thy righteousness. Bow down Thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be Thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For Thou art my rock & my fortress; therefore for Thy Name's sake lead me, & guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for Thou art my strength." That's for sure! The Lord delivered us from the snare of the fowler. He got us out of it, thank the Lord.—Now they're getting into it! Marquevich is totally disgraced & up for impeachment. Sometimes I wonder what some of those guys must have on the president or on somebody high up, that they let them stay on so long & make so many mistakes.

94. (Verse 5-6:) "Into Thine hand I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord." Boy, they sure have regarded lying vanities about us, haven't they? (Verse 7-8:) "I will be glad & rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities; & hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: Thou hast set my feet in a large room." Amen!

95. Lord, thank You for this wonderful day & all our blessings.—A good night's sleep, safekeeping‚ & wisdom & strength for this day as You've promised us. Thank You Jesus! Help us with our work now this afternoon‚ that we can accomplish something profitable. Bless all of us, Lord‚ all Thy creatures. Give us strength & wisdom & safety as we work this afternoon. Praise the Lord!

Argentina's Sneaky Deals!

96. Marquevich has actually been declared incompetent! I don't think the Argentine government ever expected to get such a worldwide reaction & such bad publicity as they got out of this case! They're used to doing sneaky deals & killing people & burying them in mass graves. I think there are still 20-some-thousand people missing in Argentina from their "Dirty War" era‚ & nobody knows what happened to them. So it could be worse. But we really publicised what they were doing to us, so they wouldn't dare let it be worse, & the Lord really got on their case. It's also given us a lot of publicity & we've made us a lot of friends. That's about the only way to get some people's attention.

Argentina Victory!—December 13th!

97. We heard that our men in prison in Argentina received the parallel of Marquevich to Haman in the Book of Esther, & that the women in prison got the Scripture from Esther that said the king would send forth a decree on the 13th day of the 12th month declaring the innocence of the Jews.—And that's the exact date when the Appeals Court made its decision in our favour, on the 13th of December! That sure must be an encouragement to them! From all we've heard, our women were the ones who were suffering the most, & Claire nearly died. They really were treating the women the worst. I think they were trying to corrupt them or destroy them completely.

98. (Family reads from Esther 8, Verse 12:) "Upon one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar." Wow, December 13th exactly! That must've been a thrill to them! That's the exact day the Appeals Court made its decision. "The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, & that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies." And it has been published! (Verse 14:) "So the posts that rode upon mules & camels went out, being hastened & pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace."

99. (Verse 16 & 17:) "The Jews had light, & gladness, & joy, & honour. And in every province, & in every city‚ whithersoever the king's commandment & his decree came, the Jews had joy & gladness‚ a feast & a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them." Maybe that means we're going to win a lot of souls. Wonderful! That's good. Fabulous!

100. Thank You for this beautiful passage, Lord, & really answering prayer! Thank You Jesus! Thank You for so specifically promising our women how soon it would be. They were claiming that passage & said the Lord specifically gave it to them, & that's the way it happened, they made the proclamation on the 13th! Boy, that is really getting specific! Thank You Lord! Thank You Jesus!

101. Bless all our dear folks in Argentina now & release them all from this burden. May they rest & recuperate & have real joy & celebration because You have answered prayer. Bless & keep us today, & the Family around the World. Keep us all safely in Thy care & make us a blessing. Thank You for answering prayer for those in bonds, & liberating them as You promised to do‚ & so specifically encouraging our poor women who were suffering the most, with that specific passage. Thank You Jesus! Help us & give us strength for this day, which You have promised to do. Thank You for keeping us all.

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family