By PeterDO 31367/97

Our Recent Witnessing Adventures!2

Phenomenal Growth Since the Charter!2

Witness and Souls Up!3

Lit Distribution Gains!3

The Grapevine—Meeting the Need!3

Your Views and Ideas Make a Difference!3

Mama's Concern for Each of You!4

The Free Zine!4

Other Pubs!4

Family Web Sites!5

Pray for the New TeleTRF!5

HomeARC 98!6

Spirit Stories!6

Christmas Spirit Stories for the GP!6

WS Book Giveaway!7

Book Printing Project!7

Following the Lord as He Leads8

Mass Marketing of Our Videos!8

Broadcasting "Treasure Attic!"9

Manifold Blessings!12

A Warning from the Lord!13

The GPU Vision!15

Following the Lord Brings His Blessings!16

Educational Tools!16

Expanding the VS Program!17

Music‚ Music‚ Music!17

Family Income at Its Highest Level Ever!18

Increased WS Services to You!18

Your Support Needed for New Projects!19

We're Proud of You Who Are Helping Other Missionaries!19

You're Needed on the Mission Field!20

Our Family's Unsung Heroes!20

Old and Young Merge in WS and Leadership!21

David and Nicole Come to Help for a Time22

New Names for DO and TRF Supporters23

Brief History of the TRF Supporter Program23

The Lord's Special Love for Each of Us!26

Why Strive for the Charter Member Standard?29

We All Have a Place in His Kingdom32

Dear Family,

1. God bless you! You're so precious to Mama and me, and we're proud of you for the tremendous job you're doing of preaching the Gospel and reaching the world with the Lord's message of love and salvation. Since it's now the middle of '97, we thought it would be a good time to assess our progress as a Family, and share with you some of what the Lord is doing around the world! We'll also tell you about some of the paths the Lord is leading us to take. If the second half of the year holds even a portion of the excitement of the first half, this may turn out to be the best year the Family has ever known in terms of souls won, Gospel preached and progress made! But before I embark on all that, I want to share with you a testimony from Mama and me.

Our Recent Witnessing Adventures!

2. We recently needed to make a trip and were away from home for a while. You'll remember that the last time we took such a trip, Mama and I were able to do some witnessing and distribute some tracts, and on this trip the same was possible. The Lord miraculously kept Mama's eyes from getting too sore during this time, which is further fruit of the effect of your continued prayers for her. Thank you for so faithfully praying for her. She appreciates it greatly‚ as do I.

3. While on the trip we met a beautiful and very precious 26-year-old woman who worked at a restaurant we ate at occasionally. Our first encounter was when we saw her talking to people outside the restaurant. The Lord immediately gave Mama the burden to give her a tract and talk with her for a few minutes. Later, when we returned to our apartment, Mama had the burden to pray and receive something from the Lord for this dear girl—especially since she had been asking us why the Lord had allowed her to have a long-term illness and why other "bad" things happen to "good" people in the world.

4. We had one of our team pray for her, and the Lord gave a very sweet message, which we were able to give her a few days later. We arranged to meet her soon afterwards in order to discuss the prophecy with her and try to answer her questions. We spent two hours witnessing to her and answering her questions as best we could. We were also able to impart to her how much Jesus loves her and wanted to give her eternal life. We spoke to her about simply talking to Jesus as a friend. We told her that when she went home she could just talk to Him like He was her best friend and invite Him into her heart and life. When we saw her again a few days later, she told us that she had done just that and had gotten saved, which was a blessing and joy to us. (See the full story in GN 747, "'Instant' Witnessing," coming soon!)

5. We also met a young man, who after receiving a tract and a witness, mockingly proclaimed, "I am God! I am greater than God!" The next time we saw him, however, he was quite down. When we asked him what was causing him to be so depressed, he explained that his mother had just gone to the hospital and was in intensive care. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with her. Mama told him that he should pray and talk to the Lord and that the Lord could heal his mother. We explained that we would pray desperately for her as well. Mama later had a burden to get a prophecy for him, which we gave him a few days later.

6. The next time we saw him, he was much happier. He informed us that his mother had been moved out of intensive care and was now in a regular ward, and that things were going better. We told him that we would continue to pray for her. When we saw him again a few days after that, he was thrilled to tell us that his mother was now home and completely healed! He said, "I will never forget this. I'll never forget you! Now I talk to God all the time." When we told him that we would be returning home soon and didn't know if we'd ever see him again, he replied, "If I don't see you here, I'll see you in Heaven." He too had gotten saved. Praise the Lord!

7. You probably have many testimonies like this in your Home on a daily basis, but because we can't do much direct witnessing, it was very special to have this opportunity to witness and lead these precious ones to the Lord. We know that the hundreds of tracts we were able to pass out during our trip brought others to the Lord, as well.

8. Well, that's just some personal news from Mama and me. Thanks once again for your prayers for us; we just can't do without them.

Phenomenal Growth Since the Charter!

9. Some exciting news is that we now have more Homes in the Family than we've had since 1984! At that time we had about 1,300 Homes, a number that steadily decreased until the onset of the Charter. Our Charter member (CM) Homes (formerly known as DO Homes) are now up to 692, and our Fellow member (FM) Homes (formerly known as TRF Supporter Homes) are up to 551, for a total of 1‚243 Homes worldwide. (See more on the new terms "Charter member" and "Fellow member" later in this GN.)

10. Since the implementation of the Charter‚ our Charter member Homes have tripled, going from 230 to 692, which is a phenomenal pioneer push! God bless you courageous pioneers who have launched out by faith to open new Homes and start new works for the Lord in many countries where the Family has never been before‚ or at least not for many years.

11. Our average Home size has decreased from 35 at the onset of the Charter to 14 at present. (It reached a high of 42 in 1991.)

Witness and Souls Up!

12. In the first six months of this year, Family members have personally witnessed 4.4 million times and have won 594,000 souls to the Lord! That means we are winning about one soul out of every seven times we personally witness! That's a tremendous rate! We are now witnessing more and winning more souls than we have in the past few years. Five years ago‚ during the first half of 1992, we personally witnessed 3.2 million times and won 479,000 souls to Jesus. And last year‚ 1996, during this same six-month period we had personally witnessed 3.8 million times and won 489,000 souls. So we're witnessing 37% more and winning 25% more souls than we were five years ago. And we are witnessing 14% more and winning 21% more people to the Lord than we did last year! So you smaller Homes are doing a bigger and more efficient job of reaching the lost, resulting in more fruit for God's Kingdom! Praise the Lord!

Lit Distribution Gains!

13. In our lit distribution we have seen significant gains in our total output, even though the amount of some tools distributed has gone down slightly. For example, so far this year we have distributed 71,000 videos‚ 199,000 tapes/CDs‚ and 4.1 million posters, which along with other types of lit gives us a total of 10.1 million pieces or 89 million pages distributed. During the first half of 1996 we distributed about the same amount of videos (72,000) and more tapes and CDs (215,000), but a million less posters (3.1 million), giving us a total pieces distributed figure of 6.3 million pieces, or 70 million pages—or about 27% less lit distributed last year at this time than this year!

14. So, all in all, we are witnessing 14% more than last year at this time, winning 21% more souls, and distributing 27% more lit and tools! Praise the Lord! Let's keep up the momentum! Let's make this year one of our greatest witnessing and soul–winning years ever! You can do it by faithfully doing your part every day, one day at a time. Every time you go out the door you can witness, even if the most you can do is hand out tracts to those you meet or interact with, like Mama and I try to do. Let's reach'm this year! Let's get out the tools! Let's pack'm in to the Kingdom of God!

The Grapevine—Meeting the Need!

15. The Grapevine is now coming up to its first anniversary (August 1st)! Hasn't the Grapevine staff done a wonderful job in putting together such a newsy mag chock full of interesting and inspiring news and views? We've received hundreds and hundreds of positive comments about the Grapevine with expressions of gratitude for sharing the news, making it possible for Family members' views to be heard, and for telling the bad as well as the good—although, thank the Lord, the good far outweighs the bad.

16. As inspiring as the Grapevine is, it's really just reporting the news that you are making! You are the ones who are doing the job, and the Lord is the One doing the miracles! And together you make an unbeatable team! Thank you for faithfully sending in your articles and testimonies for the whole Family to enjoy. Please keep'm coming!

17. Mama and I enjoy reading each issue right before it's published. We make it a priority so we don't hold up the news from reaching you as soon as possible. Sometimes we have a few suggestions for the editors, but generally it's in tip-top shape‚ ready to roll!

Your Views and Ideas Make a Difference!

18. Besides reading the news, we've been especially happy for the open forum topics, in which you are able to share your feelings. We very much appreciate hearing your opinions, questions, suggestions, and comments. When we receive letters or articles along those lines, it motivates us to pray about these matters‚ and sometimes the Lord shows us to make changes as a result. So by sharing the things the Lord lays on your heart‚ you may be helping us shepherd the Family. So if you have ideas, burdens, or suggested changes, we'd like to hear from you.

19. Of course, with the multitude of mail, reports, and other work that comes to us on a regular basis, we're not always able to answer you personally‚ as much as we would like to. But when you feel burdened about some problem or you feel some change should be made, please don't hesitate to write us. Don't worry about what our reaction might be. We're happy to hear from you‚ no matter what it is. And even if we can't answer you, we do read all the mail that comes in, so you can be sure that your letter is read and your ideas are considered and prayed about. And often questions that you raise in your letters prompt us to bring those issues before the Lord for His counsel, which sometimes results in general counsel for the entire Family which we are able to share via the GNs.

Mama's Concern for Each of You!

20. Often when I'm out visiting different areas, people say, "Oh‚ I've wanted to write you and Mama, but I know you have so much to do and so much to read, so I don't." My answer is that Mama and I love to hear from anyone in the Family, because you are all our brothers and sisters, our co–workers, our loved ones, and our children, so of course we want to hear from you!

21. So if the Lord puts it on your heart to write, please feel free to do so. On the other hand, we know you're busy and have many things to do—children to care for, your outreach, your follow-up and all the rest, which takes virtually all of your time. So if you don't write us, please don't feel bad about it.

22. We receive many letters from different ones sharing their hearts‚ their problems and the things that they're going through. Mama often feels led to have someone in our Home pray for these folks and receive something from the Lord for them. Since the Charter, Mama and her secretaries have sent out 550 personal letters and prophecies in response to the heartcries she's received. So besides working on the GNs and other pubs, as well as Family administration, the Lord has made a way for Mama and her team to answer the bleats of the sheep in a more personalized way. God bless them!

23. She is of course sorry that she can't answer all your letters or send prophecies to everyone. However, since so many Family members have the gift of prophecy, when you are in need of special, individualized encouragement or direction, you don't necessarily have to write and ask Mama to get something from the Lord. You can ask the Lord yourself, or ask those in your Home to pray and hear from the Lord for you. Since it's the Lord speaking, He is able to tell you or someone in your Home the same thing He would tell us. So when you have problems and you've gone to the Word for encouragement and direction but you still need something more specific, take it to the Lord and He'll give you the answer. He never fails!

The Free Zine!

24. The Free Zine has been a major upgrade and has hit the mark with our JETTs and teens! We receive scores of wonderful reactions to it each month! The stories and testimonies are tremendous! The Zine team is very anointed in their work, and it shows in each edition! We're so proud of them! Like the Grapevine, Mama and I read the Zine before it's published, but we don't get a chance to see the layout and artwork. So if the Zine seems too zany for you, don't blame us! Ha! Usually, we quite like the way it's presented and think it's very well done! God bless the Zine team. Please keep sending in your testimonies, stories, pictures, poems, articles, jokes, etc.‚ as the Zine is dependent on you. They even got me to send something in—an interview—though I'm not sure it's zany enough! Ha! We'll see!

Other Pubs!

25. Adding on the Free Zine and the Grapevine has not taken away from the other pubs you've been used to getting. God bless our pubs units who keep putting out FSMs‚ Prayer Lists, Family Activity Reports and WNDs—not to mention all the kids' pubs! Actually, in the first six months of this year, we've published more of these pubs than in the first six months of 1996, so you're getting more than ever! Thanks for your prayers and support, which make it all possible!

Family Web Sites!

26. The WS computer team recently did a major upgrade on the Family's web site, with the new addition of the Free Zine‚ pictures of Dad, and many other hot items. Did you know that the international Family web site now has 86 MO Letters that people can read?—As well as Daily Mights, Word Basics‚ Mountain Streams, numerous tracts‚ and a variety of other material? It also has 34 sample sound clips from Dad. It's a great site, one that is proving to be quite a witness! God bless the team that pioneered it and is updating it regularly!

27. Besides being a witness, the web site and e–mail address is an open door for communications with friends and former members. Each month our web/e-mail team receives an increasing number of e-mail responses‚ both from those who knew nothing about us before logging on to the web site, as well as former members wanting to get in touch again. They are also getting requests from people wanting to help or get involved with the Family's work and mission.

28. So far this year we've had 9,231 visits to the site, which means on average we have 52 cyberspace visitors every day! During this period of time over 3¼ gigabytes (3,275 megabytes) of material has been downloaded to our visitors' computers. Translated into GN-sized pages, this means that 650‚000 pages have been downloaded—about 3,600 pages per day! Since the web site was set up 18 months ago, over a million pages have been downloaded! That's quite a witness!

29. Besides the international Family web site, we have local web sites in Thailand, South America, Russia and Japan. Sites are also being set up for North America, the Washington, D.C., Home, and in Arabic (for the Mideast), Chinese, and probably elsewhere as well. The ASCRO office just opened a new web site dedicated to the Endtime. It's an inspiring site which has a lot of material regarding the Endtime, the Hale-Bopp comet, etc. We hope to see this developed even further, so it can become a real hot spot on the web for people who are interested in Endtime news. You can check it out at http://www.countdown.org. (We'll be publishing the addresses of our web sites in an upcoming Grapevine‚ as soon as we can collect them, so that you can give them out to friends or contacts who are nationals of these countries or are interested in our work there. So if you set up a web site, please send in your address! Thanks.)

Pray for the New TeleTRF!

30. The WS computer team and others are in the early stages of preparing a new very user–friendly Windows-based TeleTRF program, as well as the programs the CRO offices will need to process your TRFs faster and more efficiently. Undertaking this project is a major commitment on the part of the computer team‚ as it will probably take a year to complete, so please keep this in your prayers.

31. The goal is to make this new TeleTRF a comprehensive program that will cover all aspects of the TRF from start to finish.—That is, from the daily collection of statistics at the Home level, the compilation of the stats and other information by the Homes at the end of the month, the processing of this information by the CRO offices, and the final processing by WS, all with the necessary security protection. To accomplish this, they will have to start from scratch rather than just add on to the existing TeleTRF program.

32. Presently the computer team, the CRO offices and WS are in prayer and consultation as to what information is needed by each level, with the goal of dropping any unnecessary information from the TRF, thus streamlining and hopefully shortening it. Once that is determined, the programming can begin. Our goal is for the TeleTRF to make your job of reporting as simple and quick as possible. The program will include an easy–to-use worksheet, which Homes can use on a daily basis to record their stats and other info. Then at the end of the month a great portion of the TRF can be generated automatically by the computer—which means less work for you! Also built in to the program will be routines to process the address lists, personnel‚ witness, tool and other stats‚ and categorize the comments and suggestions—all of which will be major time–savers for our offices.

HomeARC 98!

33. The computer team is also working on the second HomeARC, which will be an updated version of the HomeARC with many more pubs and Letters that were not completed in time for the first version. They're pushing to get this completed and out to the Homes by the end of the year. It will most likely be a set of 2-3 CDs, and include many Family books that have recently been scanned for computer storage.

Spirit Stories!

34. We hope that all of you are enjoying the amazing spirit stories in the new Heaven's Library magazines. God bless our staff of young people who are working diligently to complete an issue every three weeks. They are especially thankful for all of you who have taken the time to pray for stories and have sent them in by faith. God bless you! In order to produce an issue every three weeks, it's going to require a large pool of stories—many more than those in WS can receive. Therefore we need your help. If you have a burden, please ask the Lord to give you a story, and once He does, send it in! Even if you don't feel it's very good, we'd still be interested in receiving it.

35. Remember, it's Family members just like you who have been receiving these stories in prophecy. They had to step out by faith and try a new thing, and when they did, the Lord came through just as He promised He would. Have you tried? How about taking a bit of time to come before the Lord as a channel to receive a story from one of the Heavenly authors? Our children will benefit from it‚ the Heaven's Library team will greatly appreciate it, and the Lord will use you to help inspire the whole Family.

36. To those of you who have already received stories and sent them in, a big thank you from Mama and me and the Heaven's Library team. Please keep them coming! We'd greatly appreciate it if those of you who have the burden and gift of receiving spirit stories might be willing to commit yourself to getting one story a month. What do you think? We know it takes some time and work, but your efforts affect every Family member, our children in particular.

37. Mama has been absolutely thrilled with the stories received so far by young and old. Even some junior teens and JETTs have been getting stories and sending them in! It's wonderful to see you step out by faith to receive these tales from Heaven. God bless you all!

Christmas Spirit Stories for the GP!

38. Speaking of spirit stories, the Lord laid the idea on Mama's heart, and confirmed it later in prophecy, that we should prepare some of the spirit stories for the GP, especially Christmas stories. Christmas is a time of year when families are more inclined to do things together, and it would be a great time to be able to offer them a magazine of a few Christmas stories for young and old. So during the Feast, Mama asked the members of our Home if they would be willing to take some time off to pray and ask the Lord to give Christmas stories. Everyone took a big gulp of faith and agreed. The result of everyone's participation was a number of beautiful Christmas stories. Some were Family oriented and others were geared to the GP.

39. After much prayer and counsel, we selected four or five (depending on what fits) appropriate stories to use in a 32-page (GN size) Christmas storybook—including one story that had been sent in from the field by faith, even before Mama's spirit stories request went out! Artists Eman and Tamar are working on color artwork for it, with the goal of having a picture every few pages or so. We hope to send you an advance copy in August or September, though not in color, to give you the vision for using them to feed the sheep during the upcoming Christmas season. Our hope is to make the booklet very affordable for you so that it will be a useful addition to your Christmas outreach, along with the beautiful new Christmas cards that are being produced, the "Christmas Treasure" CD, and "Forever Friend" and "Fantastic Journey" Treasure Attics that were produced last year.

40. Christmas is our biggest outreach season of the year, so we're trying our best to produce new tools that will be an inspiration for you to distribute. Please pray for those who are working to complete this year's new tools, as they must go through a number of production steps before getting to the PPCs in plenty of time to make them available to you for this Christmas season.

WS Book Giveaway!

41. We hope that you're taking advantage of the WS book giveaway that is currently underway, as it's a golden opportunity for you to get the books that you may not have copies of. The offer won't last forever, and once the giveaway is completed these books will have to be ordered from the North American SC, and you will have to bear the expense of getting them to you. So don't miss your chance! Don't put off ordering your books until tomorrow, as that may be too late! Do it today!

Book Printing Project!

42. Speaking of books, the book printing team is presently finishing up the books for the first consignment, which should be getting to you in a few months, God willing. As we explained in Grapevine 22‚ the Lord miraculously supplied the funds for the printing and shipping of nine books through the forsake-all of a new disciple in Japan. God bless him and his Home, as their giving has benefited every Family member‚ including you! Praise the Lord!

43. As of now, the Lord has not seen fit to drop down from Heaven the funds for the second consignment of books that are going to press, God willing‚ in October. Thus we have sent you a recent notice asking your help and cooperation by holding two attack days, one in August and another in September, to help cover the costs of printing and shipping this next batch of 18 books to you. We are very thankful for your willingness to help in this manner. Everyone in the Family will also thank you, as everyone will benefit from these new and reprinted books—especially our children, who desperately need the books that are in the lineup for them.

44. As mentioned in the WS notice you recently received‚ in October we are hoping to publish the following books‚ which our pubs teams are presently finalizing:

* Lifelines 21, covering Letters 2856 through 2957.

* Lifelines 22‚ covering Letters 2958 through 3028. This will mean that all but the latest hundred or so Letters will be in books.

* Daily Bread 12 (about 640 pages, covering Letters 2890 through about 2980 or so).

* From Jesus With Love, Book 2 (about 550 pages of prophecies, published and unpublished, in Daily Might format).

* The FSM Book, 960 pages of the most important past FSMs, including the childcare FSMs. (Actually, the latest news is that we might do two FSM books—one with all the childcare–related FSMs and another with the other reference-type FSMs, on subjects like follow-up, finances, persecution tips, shepherding, etc. Having these in two separate books should make it easier for you, especially all you parents and teachers. Please pray that the Lord provides the funds to print them both!)

* The Junior Daily Breads 2 and 3 for OCs, including all the DB Letters listed in the Word Curriculum for the OC age group.

* The MLK Book, consisting of all MLKs published to date (and some other pubs for kids).

* The Kidz Mag Book, with most of the past Kidz Mags.

* Power and Protection Book, with approximately 350 pages of exciting miracle stories we've published throughout the years.

* The Revised Story of Davidito Book, which is full of excellent childcare counsel.

* The Victory in Babylon book (which will include some Life of Grandpa issues that came out after LOG volume 1).

* The updated Charter in GN size.

* Kidz TKs 3 and 4 reprint.

* Activity Books 1-4 reprints.

45. The printing of these books will allow each Home to have a full library of past pubs in an easy-to-manage format‚ which means it will no longer be necessary to keep so many loose copies of past GNs, FSMs, etc. Virtually all of our past children's material will now be in book form, making it easier to feed our children.

46. Some might question why we feel led to spend so much money on printing this material when we could put it out on computer CD for much less. In fact, most of this material is already, or will be, included in the HomeARC. However, not every Home has a computer with a CD player, and those that do usually only have one, thus limiting the number of Home members who can use it at the same time. Our children don't usually have access to our pubs on CD, so having books available for them is much more practical. Also, computer technology hasn't replaced the printed page. You can't curl up on your bed with a computer screen, or use a computer when you're on the toilet.

47. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for everyone to swim in the wonderful refreshing waters of God's Word, whenever they wish to. We believe the spiritual dividends derived from making the Word available to all are well worth the large financial investment. So please pray with us that the Lord supplies the needed funds through the two attack days being held worldwide. Thanks again for your willingness and faithfulness to give, to share, and to work together with the whole Family to reach these financial goals, and thus receive the blessings of these books for both young and old.

Following the Lord as He Leads in New Ventures!

48. As you know, the Lord has repeatedly talked about this being a new day. He promised that He was going to be pouring out more of His blessings as time goes on, and especially as we love Him intimately. He's also said that in this new day we would be moving in new directions, doing things we'd never done before, reaching more and accomplishing more with less effort.

49. The Lord has also continually reminded us of the importance of simply following Him step by step, and said that as we do, He will lead us in the paths that He has chosen for us—the paths of His highest will. Mama and I have been trying to do just that‚ by seeking Him daily and following what He shows us to do. The paths that the Lord has been showing us to walk in have been exciting and thrilling, as they are leading to places we never expected to go.

Mass Marketing of Our Videos!

50. One of those paths has led us to attempt to mass market some of our videos. For many months now‚ the GPU and the IVM have been working on the legal details involved in entering the mass marketing world with our "Kiddie Viddies," "Treasure Attics" and "Fantastic Friends." The goal is to get our videos distributed in large numbers through stores and via mail-order‚ direct marketing, etc.

51. They're presently negotiating a contract with a man who wishes to distribute a revamped "Kiddie Viddie" series in three countries. (The reason the "Kiddie Viddies" are being revamped is because it was necessary to drop a few songs for legal reasons. We also designed new covers that were more suitable for mass marketing, where the video has to sell itself.) This man plans to advertise them on TV and distribute them through stores and other retail outlets.

52. We're praying‚ of course, that this will be the first of many such successful marketing agreements. It's our hope that this and other such marketing ventures will help the Family distribute these wonderful videos en masse, either on a local or national scale, to get out more of the message and generate income that can directly benefit you.

53. In reading this‚ some of you may be wondering how it's going to affect you and whether all of a sudden someone's going to be mass marketing in your back yard without your having any say in it‚ or whether it will affect your local distribution adversely. Please rest assured that this is a major factor in all our considerations, and that we're seeking the Lord for the best ways to make mass marketing work in such a way that would enhance, rather than detract from, your Homes' local distribution and income. In fact‚ one of the main purposes of pioneering these new methods of tool distribution is not only to get out more message via these wonderful videos, but also to benefit our Family Homes' income in some way.

54. So please keep all this in your prayers. Pray also for the videos to become a big hit with the public, so thousands upon thousands can be reached with the message—people who we might never reach any other way. There will be more details on what this mass marketing entails, the part you can play and how it can benefit you, coming from the GPU in the near future, D.V.

Broadcasting "Treasure Attic!"

55. Besides mass marketing, the Lord has also set the IVM on a new course. After a great deal of counsel and prayer with the members of the IVM, the Lord has shown us to do all we can to get the "Treasure Attic" shows broadcast on television throughout the world. This will be a huge undertaking‚ and one which will require a great deal of work for the IVM team. They are now completing five new "Treasure Attics," which will give them 13 episodes (shows)—the minimum number needed to qualify for television broadcasting. The goal is to have these 13 completed and ready to offer to TV stations in October, 1997. The IVM team hopes to be able to attend TV trade fairs to negotiate contracts to get the show on the air in various countries.

56. Along with the IVM, the GPU has been doing a great deal of research and preparatory marketing of the TV series. Many broadcasting and marketing people are interested in the show, not just in the U.S., but in other countries as well. Please pray with us that this new venture will be successful, as it will be a wonderful opportunity to get out the message.

57. Getting the "Treasure Attics" on TV will also hopefully increase your distribution of these wonderful tools, since airing the show on television provides free advertising of the videos. Some people have wondered whether broadcasting the videos on TV might slow distribution, since people may be less likely to purchase the video if they can see it on TV. However, research has shown just the opposite to be true! Because most sales are made on the basis of name recognition, people are much more likely to buy the videos if they've seen them on TV. Children love to watch a certain program more than once, and they only get to see it once on TV. So if the children like it, the parents will want to buy it. Even if their children haven't watched the show, the parents are much more likely to purchase our videos if they've either seen them on TV or read about them in a TV guide, etc.

58. During our meetings with the IVM, the Lord gave the following message when we asked Him if we should consider trying to break into the television broadcast world with the "Treasure Attic" series.

59. (Jesus speaking:) It's the Spirit that gives life. My fruits of the Spirit—the joy, the peace, the love, the long-suffering, the patience—these are all shown through the pictures, through the songs, through the movement of these precious tools that you produce. For it is My Spirit captured in song, in dance, in dialogue, in action. It is My Spirit that pours through your performance. It moves and strengthens and changes the lives of those who watch.

60. There are many‚ multitudes upon multitudes‚ that I wish to have see My Spirit encased in your tools. For they will be touched and moved‚ and it will change their lives in ways they do not even know. I wish for My message to be poured forth over all the world, so all can see and hear and learn and come to know Me.

61. You are preaching My Gospel—My Gospel of love‚ of joy, of life—for you spread forth My Spirit‚ which portrays these things! Unto you I say‚ great is the job that you have done, but that which you have done is nothing in comparison with that which you shall do. The effect that you have seen thus far is as nothing compared to what is ahead of you!

62. I have used this time and I have taught you many lessons. I have molded you and melted you and have made you a team. All that you have gone through, all that you have learned—the tests, the trials, the faith that is required—all of this has only been in preparation for this time now, and for that which is ahead. Lift up your eyes and look upon the fields, for they are white, they are ready‚ they are open, and they are wanting My Spirit in pictures, in song, in dance, in story! Great is the multitude of those who will listen, who will watch, who will receive, and who will receive My Spirit.

63. So you ask this question: Should we broadcast? Should we work toward this goal? Should we produce in a new way to provide the material so that millions upon millions upon millions may see and feel and become one with My Spirit? I give you a very simple answer: Send these things forth, that they may preach the Gospel—the Gospel of My love, My joy‚ My Spirit into all the world! Stand back and see Me fight! Stand back and watch and see if I will not do a new thing in the land this day!

64. I have invested time and training in you, I have put these things upon your heart, and now the time has come to fulfill. The time has come to move forward. The time has come to make changes. The time has come to send forth My Spirit in pictures, in songs, in dance, in spirit, into all the world! So do not hesitate, do not look back, and do not fear. Follow Me faithfully day by day. Move forward with this vision, and seek Me for the details of how to accomplish it, and I will show you.

65. I am well pleased that you have been seeking Me and listening to My voice. I have heard your prayers, I have seen the desires of your heart, I know your wishes, and I say unto you, I will deliver. I will deliver in a way that you have never known. I will mightily anoint you to produce all that needs to be done, so you may reach the world through broadcast after broadcast after broadcast.

66. This is My message to you—to prepare for what is ahead and make haste, for the time is short. Know that you labor not in vain, for in due season you will see the promise and will reap the rewards of your faithfulness, your love, your loyalty, your diligence, and your obedience.

67. So rejoice, I say! Rejoice this day, as you know all that I wish for you to do! Rejoice in this direction! Rejoice that you will preach the Gospel unto all nations! Rejoice that you move forward within the will of God. (End of message from Jesus.)

68. (Dad speaking:) Well‚ folks, we did it with radio. We were able to produce the shows and get them out all over the world, and the message was preached! The Gospel was given out—the songs‚ the music‚ the dialogue‚ all of that! It worked, and it worked well. We had very little in those days, but the Lord did it. It was His will for that time‚ and we reached millions.

69. Now it's time for something new. Now it's time to reach the world again in a major way. So you don't have to fear or worry—just do the job! You've got the message, which gives you the vision! Of course‚ you already had that, but now you've got the faith and the courage to go forward, because you've heard the Word and you know what His will is.

70. So move forward now in faith! It's a big job‚ and we're working with you. We're praying for you and doing all that we can to help, because this is a big ministry! There's a lot involved, and it's going to take mighty miracles. But the Lord wants it done, and when He wants something done, it gets done—if you're willing to do it, if you're willing to pray, and if you'll go after it with all your heart!

71. Let me tell you, I'm excited! We're all excited, because we see what's up ahead. God bless you, boys, for having the vision! God bless you all for having the faith and the courage to do the job! God bless you for all that you've done, and God bless you for all that you're gonna do! (End of message from Dad)

72. (Peter:) When praying further about this matter, the Lord had the following to say:

73. (Jesus speaking:) Can you feel it? Can you feel it in the spirit? Do you feel it in the air? Do you feel the stirring of My Spirit as the winds begin to blow, as the air begins to circulate? You can feel these things if you are sensitive in the spirit.

74. I know that you do feel these things in the spirit, so it's good for you to come to Me and seek Me and ask Me. For you do not know where the wind will blow, but you feel the stirring of the wind, the stirring of My Spirit. But I am He that creates the wind. I am He that stirs the air, and I know where the winds blow. I know from whence they come and where they go. I know the direction and I can reveal these things to you.

75. I have many great things in store for these who have been so faithful (the IVM team). They have laid down their lives for the sheep and for the brethren, and I wish to reward them with great abundance—an abundance of My Spirit, an abundance of My love, an abundance of My care. I wish to inspire them! And what will inspire them? What is it that I will do to show My abundant love so that they can feel fulfilled in their service to Me and know that that which they do is reaching the lost?

76. The message that they send forth is a message that is needed by the children in the world. But what good is the powerful message if it does not reach the people? And, oh, I know how limited My children can be, for they have many things to do. They give their heart and their soul to preaching the Gospel. They have so many things that they must do, so many to reach, and the job is overwhelming.

77. But I say unto you that I can do the job. As you follow Me step by step, I can lead you and guide you to those who will broadcast these shows and who will be the conduits to get out My message—the love of My Words, the love portrayed in the pictures, in the songs, in the stories, in the joy, in the inspiration that pours forth through these videos. These conduits will pour forth the videos‚ broadcasting them for the millions!

78. Have I not said to streamline? Have I not said to prepare? Have I not said that I will pour forth‚ but that I cannot until you are prepared? So I say to these: Plan and prepare! For My wind blows in this direction—the direction of sending forth My message across the airwaves to millions. But you must plan and prepare and realize the great responsibility that it is to go forth with My message in this way, for there is much that must be done: Much technical support must begin, and much streamlining must happen.

79. My wind is now a gentle breeze and you can feel it lightly‚ but this wind, this movement of My Spirit, is just beginning! The light breeze that you barely feel rustling your hair will become a wind of great force‚ of hurricane force, as I blow with great power and move My children in new ways! For all that I have said to you will come to pass, and all of the promises that I have made will be fulfilled. Those who have remained strong and faithful and who have held on during the lean times will be rewarded through the days of plenty.

80. I am stirring in the Spirit and you are feeling the gentle breeze‚ and you will feel the breeze intensify until it reaches hurricane force! For My Spirit is moving! It is moving upon the hearts and the lives of those who have been faithful‚ who have held on, who have accepted Me as their Lover—these, My children, the children of David, the faithful ones who have served Me night and day.

81. So stand back and marvel as you see all that My Spirit is able to do. Be not afraid to tell these ones what is ahead, what is in the plans, what is in the works, for it will comfort their hearts to know that you, My king and queen, are attuned to Me and that you are seeking solutions, and it will put their hearts at rest.

82. To these who work on visualizing My Spirit—who visualize the love, the joy, the lessons‚ the humor, who capture My Spirit in picture and in song and in story—to these, I say, great will be the fruit of your labors!—More than you have ever imagined! But move according to My Spirit, according to the way the winds blow. And be sensitive to My whispers, sensitive to My voice.

83. Seek Me in prayer and hear My voice. Listen to Me, for I have many things to tell you, and many new ways in which to direct you. For there are many new things that you must do, many new ways in which to approach your work, many new ways to streamline in order to accomplish My will. And these can be found through seeking Me, through crying out to Me, and through listening to My voice.

84. Oh‚ the places My winds will blow you! Oh, the places that you will go! And, oh, the many lands that My Spirit will go to, captured in picture, in song, in story, in humor and in lessons, and what great things it will do!

85. So stand back and watch My winds blow. Be blown yourself in the direction that My winds direct. You will have great reward! You will see the fruit of your labors, and you will benefit from the fruit. You'll have great satisfaction, and will know that your sacrifice and your labors have changed the world! (End of message from Jesus.)

86. (Peter:) In light of what the Lord said above, the IVM team has spent the last few months praying about how to accomplish this task. It will have taken seven years to script, film, edit and complete the first 13 "Treasure Attic" shows. However, once TV broadcasters accept these shows, within three months to a year they will want another 13 shows. After a great deal of prayer, research and planning, the IVM has begun work on the next 13 shows and aim to have them completed by the middle of next year. It's a tremendous undertaking, which has necessitated the complete reorganization of the HCS and many changes in their production procedures.

87. The basic plan calls for doing the filming for all 13 shows over a period of about seven months, and then assembling the shows from the film footage at the editing stage. This is a major time–saver, as it allows them to use many of the same sets, locations and costumes for a number of shows, without having to build and take them down for each show. Doing it this way does‚ however, take a lot more organization and planning—not the least of which includes writing the scripts for all 13 shows at once! Through prayer, prophecy and hard work, the writers have now completed the scripting for these 13 shows. Throughout July and August the music studios around the world will be writing and recording songs for these shows. By the time you read this, the filming should be underway.

88. In the meantime, the IVM team and the provisioners from the Japan Service Center are trying to provision a great deal of very expensive and needed equipment, including a new video camera‚ more efficient lighting‚ and further upgrading of their editing equipment, all of which will make it possible for them to cut down on their production time considerably. Along with the provisioning‚ they are also working on raising funds for the operating expenses that will arise throughout the next year of highly concentrated production work. Please pray the Lord will supply all that they'll need, as it will make the production of these shows go much faster with less work.

89. The HCS has served many different functions‚ one of which has been to house the IVM for many years, along with acting as a training center and school for our young people. With this new pioneer effort‚ however, the focus of the HCS' work has changed, and it will no longer continue as a training center, but rather as a full-time production studio. So the initials HCS will no longer stand for the Heavenly City School but rather the Heavenly City Studios.

90. God bless our IVM team! Please keep them in your prayers as they finalize the last five "Treasure Attic" shows (of the first set of 13), and the "Endtime Music Video" this year, as well as begin work on the second 13 "Treasure Attic" shows for next year. Pray also for those who will be approaching TV networks and stations around the world.

Manifold Blessings for Those Who've Held On!

91. Besides guidance for the IVM, the Lord made an important point in the above prophecy. He said: "All that I have said to you will come to pass, and all of the promises that I have made will be fulfilled. Those who have remained strong and faithful and who have held on during the lean times will be rewarded through the days of plenty."

92. Since the Charter, a number of people have left the Family for various reasons, including some of our second generation teens and adults. Many others have been strongly tempted to leave, but instead have fought to keep their place in His Kingdom. Those of you who have held on will surely be blessed‚ as the Lord has said. You've been faithful to hang on through thick and thin, through "the lean times," and the Lord is planning to bless you as a reward for your faithfulness.

93. Mama and I don't know exactly what the Lord has in store up ahead, but we do know that He has made many precious promises to those who continue in service for Him. Recently when in prayer, we asked the Lord to tell us whatever He had for us, and He gave the following:

94. (Jesus speaking:) Behold the new things that I do for My children, the paths that I bring them upon, the places that I take them to that are new, that are different, that go far beyond that which they have done in the past. I say to you there is much more that will come, for I am now beginning to pour forth My blessings upon My Bride for her love for Me. These blessings will come in many forms—spiritual blessings, physical blessings, financial blessings, sowing blessings, reaping blessings, harvesting blessings. For it truly is a new day, and My children will see an even greater fulfillment of that.

95. Many things will become new, and I will open many doors for them because they have loved Me. Even as you have loved Me and have stayed in the bed of love, so they love Me and have poured out their hearts to Me. So now do I wish to pour forth My blessings upon them, as I have promised.

96. Stand back and see My blessings fall! Stand back and see the dividends of love, the dividends of praise, the dividends of obedience, and the dividends of yieldedness. For I have sifted and I have purged, and I have seen those who have held on and remained in spite of difficulties, tests and trials; in spite of the onslaught of the Enemy and his evil forces.

97. My children have stood strong, and I will now pour forth blessing upon blessing upon blessing! Stand back and watch Me; see if this is not so. For I have opened doors, and I am continuing to open doors. I will make ways in the wilderness, and I will cause the desert places to spring forth with flowers and fruit and water!

98. The blessings of God will flow in abundance upon My children, for they have sacrificed for years and have given their all. They have been tested and tried and proven, and have given Me all that I have asked in obedience, love, faithfulness and diligence. They have gone to the uttermost parts of the Earth to preach the Gospel. I will pour out My blessings upon them, and they will know that My blessings come because of their obedience, their faithfulness, their yieldedness and their love.

99. It is coming! Yes, it is coming‚ and even now is at the door! All that I have promised will be fulfilled. So rejoice, My shepherds! Rejoice, My king and My queen! Rejoice that because of your obedience to speak My Words and to give them to My children‚ they will now reap the benefits of their obedience to those Words. For it is a chain of events—a chain of Me giving My Words and you receiving them. A chain of you believing them, practicing them, preaching them and publishing them. A chain of their receiving them, believing them, obeying them and doing them, followed by the links of My blessings and the fulfillment of My promises.

100. Because each link of this chain has been strong, so is the chain strong, and so will My blessings and the giving that I will give to My children be strong links added to the chain. It is a chain of love, a chain of obedience, a chain of yieldedness; a chain of sacrifice‚ a chain of promise and a chain of fulfillment.

101. So prepare yourself to receive the blessings of God, for they come upon you in ways seen and unseen! I will pour forth unto you the blessings of My Word, the blessings of strength and power‚ financial blessings‚ blessings of acceptance, the blessing of a good name, the blessing of reaching the lost like never before, and more and more blessings of My Words will cascade down upon you all because of your obedience, your faithfulness, your yieldedness, and your love for Me. (End of message from Jesus)

102. (Peter: ) Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't it make you happy that you've held on? The Lord said that He's sifted and purged, which means that He's put many of us to the test. He's let us be tempted and tried; we've gone through battles and trials. Some have let go, deciding they could no longer keep fighting, but you have held on, and now the Lord is telling us that His blessings are at the door! They are many and varied: blessings of the Word, strength, power, finances‚ acceptance, a good name, reaching the lost, etc. They're coming, so keep holding on and keep fighting!

A Warning from the Lord!

103. Earlier this year, quite some time before giving the above prophecy, the Lord spoke to Mama and me, warning us of the danger of getting our eyes too much on the blessings. The things He said were very sobering, as any warning is. On the other hand, it was encouraging, as it made us realize that the Lord was apparently planning to pour out a great many new blessings. Otherwise, why did He need to give us this warning? Even though we don't specifically know what each blessing is that the Lord is going to pour out, we do know His abundant blessings are coming in a much greater quantity than ever before. Because of this, now seems to be a good time to share this sober warning with you.

104. (Jesus speaking: ) I pour abundant blessings down upon My children, for they are My children of love. Each one of you, My precious Family, is My precious pet, and I bestow upon you many gifts and many riches—the riches of the Spirit, the riches of My Words‚ the riches of My blessings.

105. I've also poured upon you the riches of tests and of trials‚ so that you might be ready to receive the riches of My Spirit. I cannot pour forth these riches that I give you to others of My children‚ for they are not open and broken and receptive to receive them. They are not ready. But you, My children, are ready and you are open, for you are humble in My sight.

106. You look around and see the difficulties that you face‚ the tests and the trials, your lacks, the struggles that you face day to day‚ and you think of them as a burden. You don't see them as the blessing that I tell you they are. You are not rich and increased with goods. You do not live in the lap of luxury. You have to struggle day by day. You have to fight! You cannot hold up any great buildings or any great worldly riches to show others how prosperous you are‚ how great you are, how blessed you are, and this humbles you in their sight. But I say to you, it lifts you up in My sight. For before honor is humility, and I have kept you humble.

107. You have had to stand for the truth of My Word in the face of scorn and of mocking, even as I was scorned and mocked. They derided Me and mockingly said that I was the king. They looked at Me, and I did not look like a king—I looked more like a beggar. They whipped and scourged Me. And so it is with you. They do not see that you are children of the King. They do not see that you are My mighty children‚ because they do not see with the eyes of the Spirit, even as they did not see that I was the Son of God, the King of kings. But just because they didn't see it, that didn't make it any less so, and so it is with you.

108. You have stood up for My Word, for the meat of My Word, even in the face of mocking and scorning, and it has humbled you. Before honor is humility, and I will honor you, My children. For you have been lowly—lowly in My sight, lowly in the sight of man, and lowly in your own sight—and I will bless this lowliness, this humility, with honor.

109. I bring you now unto a new pathway, and I lead you upon this pathway. As you follow Me step by step, so will I bring you into more honor and more riches. For I can now trust you with these things. I can trust you because of your humility.

110. But there is a danger on this pathway, and that is the danger of compromise. You must remember that I am the One Who leads you down this pathway. I bring forth these blessings, these riches. You must remember to give Me the glory for them‚ and realize that they come from My hand. My blessings come from My hand.

111. Do not make the same mistake that so many of My children have made in the past—the mistake of getting their eyes on the blessings and taking their eyes off the Blesser. For they began to operate in the arm of the flesh as they put more importance on the blessings than on the Blesser.

112. This is always the temptation of those whom I bless with abundance. They begin to see the abundance as the blessing rather than the Blesser as the blessing. They begin to do things in order to ensure that they keep the blessings, for they do not wish to offend, they do not wish to be seen to be humble, they do not wish to be humbled in the sight of man.

113. But I say to you, even as you have been different in many other things, so be different in this thing. No matter what comes your way, what blessings, what abundance‚ keep your eyes on Me. As you, My children‚ the children of David, the children of My Family‚ have been different in many other ways from My other children, so be different in this.

114. Do not look to the eyes of man. Do not cater to the opinions of man. Cater to Me. Continue to always look to Me, and to realize that any blessings that come into your hand come from Me‚ even though I may use man to bring them to you. You must understand that I am the One Who moves them; it is not you. Yes, you must be faithful. Yes‚ you must care for them and feed them and follow up on them. But you cannot cater to them to the neglect of catering to Me.

115. This is the ultimate test: to see if you become rich and increased with goods, and forget Me. Do not do this thing! For I have no problem with giving you your needs, with pouring forth financial favor and help, because I know that in your hearts you wish to feed My children and to strengthen them, to reach the world with My message. I know that this is in your heart‚ and this is why I am willing to pour forth to you and to bless you.

116. But you must keep this as the motivation of your heart, and you must be willing to follow Me and My Words no matter where they lead, even if they humble you in the sight of men, even if they cause you much disdain in the eyes of men. Still, you must be willing to follow, to obey, to preach My message and to stand up for My truth. Do not fear the System. Do not fear the opinions of man. Instead, stand in awe of My opinion.

117. I tell you these things now in preparation for the days ahead, when I wish to pour My blessings and My abundance upon you, even more so than in the past. For as I said, I lead you upon this new pathway‚ and I am there with you. I will guide you step by step, moment by moment, as you seek My face, and in that, nothing will be different. For if you will seek Me, I will show you what to do. If you will cry out to Me, I will lead you clearly and plainly.

118. But as in every path that I lead you upon, there are obstacles and dangers, and you must be aware of them in order to avoid them and to overcome them. So it is with this pathway, and so do I give you these warnings. These are the warning signs that I put on this pathway: "Beware of the deceitfulness of riches! Beware of compromise with the System! Beware of looking to the abundance of man rather than the blessing of God! Beware of catering to man! Beware of pride! Be humble. Be wise. Be full of love. Be giving."

119. Remember your mission of preaching the Gospel. Remember the lost souls that I have called you to reach, and remember that I am the One Who pours forth these blessings upon you. I control these blessings. And I will continue to pour these blessings upon you as you continue to follow Me, as you continue to stay humble and sweet and seek Me, as you continue to stand up for My truth, and as you continue to be willing to be humbled in the sight of man, that you may be honored in the sight of God. (End of message from Jesus.)

120. (Peter:) May the Lord help us all to heed this serious warning. May we pass this ultimate test by remaining humble, yielded and willing to follow our precious Husband wherever He leads, whatever the message‚ whatever the method. May we always look to Him‚ knowing that these blessings come from His hand‚ and may we never compromise for those blessings. God help us to keep our eyes on the Blesser and not the blessing. And He will, if we stay close to Him‚ yielded to His will, and we keep witnessing His wonderful Gospel of love until the day He returns.

The GPU Vision!

121. Another wonderful new path the Lord has been leading on is that of the GPU. As you know, they have been working on GP booklets, the first of which, "The Future Foretold" and "Glimpses of Heaven," will be sent to you shortly. Two other booklets, "Parenteening" and "Pulling Through," are also in the works. The book publication has gone slower than we expected. This isn't because the GPU is falling down on the job, but rather that the Lord has been leading us step by step to venture into other areas at the same time as working on books, booklets and other GP tools.

122. The Lord told us to publish books, and that was the original purpose for setting up the GPU. In order to accomplish that goal, we needed a team available to work on writing, compiling and marketing them, hopefully through System outlets. We have since found that it's been somewhat a case of getting the ship moving so the rudder could take effect. Once the Lord saw we obeyed in setting up the GPU‚ and they had begun researching the publication of books through System outlets‚ He began to show them other avenues which He wanted them to travel down as well, all of which is a step in that direction.

123. As mentioned above, they are deeply involved in pioneering the mass marketing of videos and TV broadcasting. They've worked hand in hand with the IVM legal department in making sure all of our tools are legally secure. They've done a great deal of marketing research, including conducting surveys for the titles and covers of our new GP products. They've also been working on new GP booklets and Christmas tools. Most of their work so far falls under the category of "that banana there," in that most has been pick and shovel detail work that goes unseen. They're a fairly small team that is overloaded with work. God bless them!

124. A major project that some of them have undertaken has been setting up a nonprofit tax-exempt foundation, known as the Family Care Foundation. This is something the Lord led them to do while they were researching various ways of fundraising and publishing. To share their exciting story, they have written an FSM that goes into greater detail concerning the Family Care Foundation. That FSM is coming soon.

125. The Family Care Foundation has been set up by some members of the GPU‚ along with other individuals in the U.S., as an independent legal entity, completely separate from the Family. It has its own board of directors and makes its own decisions, as required by law. The Foundation's goal is to raise funds from donors and by other means, which can then be used to sponsor those who are doing missionary and other public service type work, such as CTP work‚ both in the U.S. and abroad. The Foundation has its own mission statement and operates as a nonprofit corporation under California law and in accordance with strict IRS rules and guidelines governing tax-exempt organizations.

126. The GPU members, those whom the Lord showed to start this Foundation, have spent a great deal of time completing reams of legal paperwork involved in creating it, and now have teams involved in concrete fundraising activities. Their goal, as a public service charity, is to raise large sums of money that can then be used to eventually help fund charitable projects worldwide that fall within their mission statement. We're praying for them in this effort and fully support them in this exciting new venture. We ask that you do the same by praying for them and their success.

Following the Lord Brings His Blessings!

127. So as you can see, the Lord has chosen many new paths for us to walk upon, some of which are very new for us all. And as He has led and guided us, showing us through prophecy and other means where to go and what to do and how to do it, we've tried to obey and fulfill His wishes, which is bringing down His blessings.

128. Although many of these projects are just beginning, we believe the Lord will mightily bless each one, as He's been the One directing the moves and changes. However, some of these efforts, such as the television broadcasting and the mass marketing of our tools, will take time. There is a lot of legal work yet to be done—contracts to be signed, production dates to be met, marketing, sales and all the rest—and it's a major undertaking!

129. It requires a great investment of time and finances to get these projects rolling, but once they begin to gather momentum, we believe they will reap great results, especially in reaching the world with the Gospel, and hopefully by bringing in much-needed finances. We expect to see the fruits of some of this work in the time to come, but it may take up to a year for things to take off as we hope and pray they will. So we must be patient and not expect giant strides of progress overnight. Please pray with us that the Lord will open the doors and bring great victories to pass through these investments and through our obedience to Him and His voice.

Educational Tools!

130. Mama and I hope that you young people are taking advantage of the CVC. While visiting Thailand recently, I was able to talk with a number of young people who were working their way through some of the CVC courses. They were very encouraged and inspired by it, and were making plenty of headway. Some had just completed courses and were awaiting their diplomas.

131. These young people explained that acquiring a clear understanding of exactly how the CVC worked was the biggest hurdle, but once they'd taken the time to read through the instruction pages and saw how simple the program was, it was clear sailing from then on. Being able to choose the subjects they were most interested in studying and then going to work at their own pace was a main motivator for them. They all said that they were learning a great deal from the material and from the practical, hands-on work the courses require. What I saw was inspired, fulfilled and motivated young people using the CVC to further their education and usefulness.

132. If you haven't begun to personally use it‚ we highly recommend you do. A great deal of prayer, planning and hard work was put into it, and you'll find it a great asset in your education and training. The beauty of it is that you don't need to wait around for anyone else; you can begin on your own. Go at your own pace, choose the curriculum that you wish to pursue, then follow through on your own initiative and get the credits and the diplomas you desire.

133. Some further good news is that the CVC team is presently working to put as much of the CVC reading material as they can on CD. This means that almost everything that needs to be read on every subject will be included on the CVC CD. It will no longer be necessary to hunt down the various books to find the articles you need to read; they will all be right there on your computer‚ and yours at the touch of a finger! Please pray for the small team working on this project, which presently consists of one adult counselor and his YA son who does all the computer work, as it's a huge job and will take quite some time to complete.

Expanding the VS Program!

134. Another area in which major progress has been made this year is the further expansion of the VS program. We now have 63 VSs throughout the world, who spend a great deal of their time traveling and visiting the Homes‚ helping out in any way that they can. VSing is a big job‚ so please keep them in your prayers. When your VSs come to your Home, please welcome them and do what you can to be a blessing to them, as they lay down their lives to try to be a blessing to you.

Music, Music‚ Music!

135. Our audio department and studios around the world have really been cranking out the songs this year! So far this year they have already sent out the following five tapes: "Dropped Out," "Desiring You," "Breaking Down the Walls," "Destined," and "Heaven Is." These tapes consist of 65 songs, which works out to our worldwide studios producing a new song every three days.

136. Besides these five tapes, our studios have completed four new GP tapes—two composed of new songs and two compiled from FTT recordings. One of the tapes, titled "Higher‚" was recorded for teens and includes mostly new songs, with a couple from the FTTs. The new adult tape (title not yet decided), consists of mostly all-new music as well. "Uncharted" is a compilation of songs from the FTTs geared to both young and old. And another new tape has been compiled for Christian audiences, containing songs from the FTTs.

137. "Higher" (the GP teen tape) and the adult tape (still untitled) will be sent to the Homes in the next couple of months. But to save funds we won't be sending you copies of "Uncharted" and the tape for Christians (still untitled)‚ since they consist of FTT songs which you already have. These four tapes will all be made available to you for outreach purposes by the SCs according to the need and the production schedules of your area's SC.

138. As I mentioned earlier, the studios are presently producing 25 new children's songs for the 13 new "Treasure Attic" shows earmarked for television broadcast. Besides the "Treasure Attic" songs, the studios are continuing to work on FTTs, a new "Loving Jesus" tape‚ and a praise song tape. Please pray for the studios; they have a great deal of work at the moment and are really cooking! God bless them!

139. Another interesting music project in the works is the compilation of a comprehensive Family songbook with as many of our Family songs since the Family's inception as we can get our hands on! WS has entered into the labors of some wonderful Family members in North America who worked on this project for a couple of years. It is our hope to initially put this collection of songs out on computer CD. Receiving it on CD would mean that you could select the songs you want to learn and print those out from your computer, thus allowing you to create your own songbook tailored for your personal use. We might later be able to print it and make it available for you to order at cost. (We wouldn't be able to afford to give these songbooks away, as each would be the size of a phone book!)

140. In addition to all the music tapes you've received, you've also gotten two "To Jesus—With Love" tapes, making a total of seven DO tapes sent out since January. Happy (Simon Peter) recently recorded a number of tapes entitled "From Jesus—With Love!" These are short Daily Might-type prophecy readings of words spoken by Jesus to us, taken from the new book of the same title which is now being printed. We hope to send some of these inspirational prophecy tapes to you sometime later this year; or if we don't make it by then, certainly in time for a birthday present at the Family Feast in February 1998!

Family Income at Its Highest Level Ever!

141. You'll be encouraged to know that for the last four months, the overall Family income has been higher than it has ever been in our history. From the beginning of the Charter until now, the overall Family income—that is, the Homes' cash income—has risen 51% as compared to the same two-and-a-half year period prior to the Charter. Since the beginning of this year alone it is 21% higher than the first half of last year! This means that the tithe income to WS has also increased, thank the Lord, which has made it possible for us to do many of the things that we've been telling you about in this GN.

142. However, while Family tithes have been higher, by January and February of this year the overall WS balance was quite low. The reason is that special offerings to WS (windfalls, inheritances, etc.) had been almost nil since the Charter, meaning WS had to reach into its reserves to finance new projects, pubs‚ and extra missionary giving, which the increase in tithes was not able to keep up with. Thus the reserves held by WS had reached a critically low point.

143. At the same time, the balance of the FAF fund was also dropping to below the figure we consider needs to be held as a minimum balance. This was due to the large number of new Homes opening, each of which required HER gifts and pioneer funds. At that time, after prayer and counsel, we decided that we might have to reduce the pioneer gifts from $1,000 to $500. However, before following through on that decision and sending out a letter on the subject, we prayed once again and the Lord said to wait‚ to not cut back, and that He would supply. From that point onward, WS income grew for four consecutive months!

144. This extra income replenished the FAF to well above the minimum balance, and boosted the WS reserves, which has allowed us to undertake a number of new projects and publications. What an answer to prayer! We're so thankful that we didn't have to cut back on the pioneer gifts after all, as we know that they're very much needed by all you new Homes.

Increased WS Services to You!

145. Like Dad used to say, "The Gospel's free, but it costs something to pipe it to you." Within the last year we've introduced three new pubs: the Grapevine twice a month‚ the Zine every month, and now Heaven's Library every three weeks. Along with that, we have established our GPU team‚ and bolstered our Family Care unit in order to significantly increase the number of kids pubs produced, which we're sure has been a great blessing to all of you parents and teachers!

146. In order to accomplish all of this‚ it has meant opening and fully supporting a new Home (the GPU), bringing 15 new people in to WS‚ increasing NPC and LIM budgets (to handle the expense of printing and mailing more pubs), investing in some new NPC office and printing equipment, and covering the increased postage costs for the many mailings. On top of this‚ with the rising number of Homes, the cost of getting the FTTs and other tapes to you has risen.

147. In 1996 it was necessary for WS to have two financial cutbacks where we had to trim some of the administrational and missionary gifts in order to keep our monthly expenses below our monthly income. But this recent increase in overall Family income has meant more tithe income to WS, which has relieved the financial pressure. Nevertheless, we still have a lot of expenses to cover in our service for you. So far this year you have received over 1,200 pages in regular mailings in English, and in the major language areas many of these pages were also published in the national languages as well.

148. This breaks down to: 25 GNs (one a week!), 10 FSMs, 14 Grapevines, 7 Zines, 6 WNDs, 6 Hope TKs, 6 Heaven's Libraries, 13 MLKs, 13 FARs, 2 Power and Protection‚ 1 Family in Action, 7 Prayer Lists, 12 LNFs and notices, 4 Kidz activity pages, 5 children's posters, 5 FC Pubs, 1 Home Educator, 5 tracts and 10 other pubs. Besides this, there are nine books nearly ready to ship to you!

Your Support Needed for New Projects!

149. Besides financing the creation, production and shipping of the publications, books and audio tapes in weekly mailings, and monthly support to poor mission fields, such as Russia and elsewhere, WS also finances your CROs and their office staffs who lay down their lives daily in service to you. All this is a substantial amount of funds that is supplied through your faithful tithes, gifts and offerings.

150. The tithes you send in each month barely cover these regular monthly expenses and the WS tithe to the FAF. Even the increased tithes WS receives from the overall rise in Family income has been just enough to cover the increased expenses mentioned above. So undertaking major new projects is usually contingent on income from your special gifts and offerings above your tithe, or from windfalls of some sort. God bless you for your faithful giving!

151. It's wonderful to see how the Lord is answering everyone's prayers for more income, as evidenced by the recent rise of income at the Home level. He never fails! For WS, this increase came just in time. If it hadn't, we would have had to drop some projects and cut back on some of the gifts we pay out monthly, including FAF gifts.

152. There are many things we wish to do to help you. We'd love to give more missionary gifts to those on the poorer and more difficult fields. We want to supply more pubs, more new tools‚ more tapes, more CDs, more computer programs, more support for those in need, whether they be missionaries on poor fields, CTP programs, single moms, hardship cases, etc. Please continue to pray the funds in so we can accomplish some of these goals.

153. We'd like to thank those of you who have sent special gifts to WS in response to our plea a few months ago. The special gifts over the last few months have increased somewhat, making it possible to take on some new projects, including the first consignment of the book printing project. But much more is needed if we're going to accomplish all that the Lord has for us to do. So if He blesses you or your Home with a windfall, please pray about giving some special gifts and offerings to World Services. Through your giving, you help the whole Family.

We're Proud of You Who Are Helping Other Missionaries!

154. Mama and I were recently discussing how very proud we are of you who not only faithfully send your tithe, but who also give to other Homes. The Family's designated gifts to people in other Homes is phenomenal. Normally such giving is from those on the richer fields who help support those on the poorer and more difficult fields. Besides their 10% tithe and 1% FAF gift, hundreds of Homes are giving designated gifts through their CRO offices to Homes on the field. Overall, this giving averages an extra 2% of the Homes' income!

155. For the first five months of this year‚ January to May, designated gifts rose 36% over the last five months of '96! No wonder the Lord has increased the Family's overall income, because so many are giving so faithfully and sacrificially. You never lose by giving!

156. God bless you Homes who are giving to others! Keep it up, as the Lord is blessing you for it. It's just wonderful and makes us so proud of you. If you're in a richer area and your Home hasn't been giving to those on the poorer fields, perhaps you can pray and ask the Lord if you should be. If you are having financial trouble, perhaps you should consider sharing some of what you do have with those on the poorer mission fields‚ and we think you'll find that the Lord will bless your giving by giving to you. "Give and it shall be given unto you" (Luk.6:38).

157. Perhaps you might want to adopt a Home and pledge to give a monthly gift‚ or pledge to give to a needy area. A number of new Homes have opened in China within the last year, and we now have 11 Homes there. We also have 19 Homes in Africa, one in Vietnam‚ one in Burma, 30 in India, three in Pakistan, one in Nepal‚ one in Turkey, 35 in Russia and the CIS, and 55 in Eastern Europe. Virtually all of these Homes struggle financially, with very little possibility of raising much in the way of local support. So if you have a burden‚ or the Lord lays it upon your heart, please pledge to give to them so they can continue reaching the billions of needy souls in these countries.

You're Needed on the Mission Field!

158. Or better yet, perhaps you might want to join them on the mission field! When you consider the ratio of Family members to the populations of these various countries, you can see that we need to get more laborers into these fields that are so needy and desperate for the Gospel. Australia has 1 Family member for every 56,000 people; North America, 1 for every 96,000; Japan, 1 per 111,000; South America, 1 per 120,000; Western Europe, 1 per 225,000; Eastern Europe and Russia, 1 per 300,000; Nepal‚ 1 per 1,400,000; Pakistan, 1 per 1,900,000; India, 1 per 2,150,000; Africa (53 countries there!), 1 per 3,450,000; Vietnam, 1 per 6,650,000; Burma, 1 per 7,400‚000; and China, 1 per 16,000,000!

159. What these stats tell you is that there are billions of people waiting to hear the Gospel—people who've never even heard of Jesus or salvation, who need to be reached! Are you one of those being called to do the job? Has the Lord laid it on your heart to step out by faith to one of these or other needy fields? Are you listening to His call? The billions are waiting! Are they waiting for you?

Our Family's Unsung Heroes!

160. During my recent trip to Japan and Thailand‚ I was able to spend time at the CRO offices‚ the LIMs, NPCs‚ and other Service Homes. I was extremely impressed with how hard-working and sacrificial those who work behind the scenes in these jobs are. Some of our NPC personnel have been serving you for more than ten years, daily printing, folding, collating‚ stapling, stuffing envelopes‚ and sending mailings to you every week. It's the same work‚ day in and day out. It's the same for the office staffs—logging stats, processing TRFs, keeping track of personnel, answering mail, typing phone messages, and on and on.

161. Most of these behind-the-scenes teams sacrifice their fellowship with the greater Family in order to serve you. Imagine living in a small Home with the same people for five or six years or more, doing the same job, not fellowshipping with others, not witnessing, and in many cases not changing location. That's what many of these precious ones do in order to serve you. They are the ones who make it possible for you to receive your mailings (both in English and your language, in some cases), your FTTs, your outreach tools, etc.

162. In a prophecy I was able to share with these Homes, the Lord called these brethren our "Structure Homes" and explained how important they are to the running of the Family. Mama thought it would be a blessing for everyone to hear what the Lord said about these brethren, as they are some of the unsung, unseen heroes of the Family.

163. (Jesus speaking: ) Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Greater love has no man than this, that a man sacrifice himself for the good of others. And greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for Me and for My will.

164. I say to you who work behind the scenes, you who toil day by day to care for and feed My sheep, great is your reward in Heaven! You give your lives every day to keep My Kingdom functioning. Day by day you do the little things, one little thing at a time. But these things add up, and they make it possible for the flow of My Word to continue to go forth to My children and to the lost. You are like the water pipes buried deep beneath the earth—unseen, yet vital to the carrying of the water to refresh the people.

165. You do all the many little things that make it possible, and you have laid down your lives to do so, and this is held in high honor. Not the honor of man, for man does not see all that you do. But to you is given the honor of God, for I know all that you do, and there is great reward ahead for your faithfulness, your love, your sacrifice and your diligence.

166. I have called you those of the structure. And what is a structure? What do I mean? When you look at a building being built, the first thing you see going up are the steel girders—strong and permanent—and they give shape to the building. They are what hold the building together. This is the structure‚ and this is what you are—those who help to hold the building together. Then all of the parts that are seen—the walls, the floor, and all the rest—can be constructed and used. The girders are unseen‚ but they keep the building standing, and without them the building would crumble.

167. You are like the infrastructure of a country—the roads, the transportation, the rail lines that keep things moving, keep things going, keep the goods traveling, the mail moving. That's what you are—part of that structure within the Family—keeping the flow of the Words going, keeping the information passing back and forth, putting My Words into the language of the land so that all may understand, sending out the tools—My Words in pictures and in music and on paper to the Homes, so that they can reach the lost. All of this is part of the infrastructure, part of the structure, the part that you play.

168. So do not minimize that which you do, and do not compare with those who have other ministries that seem to be more glorious and more fun. Know that you partake of their rewards, for you have helped to make their work possible.

169. You are as those who manufacture the ammunition and who ship it to the soldiers that fire it. The soldiers so often get the credit for winning the battle—and it is true, they deserve the credit, for they have put their lives on the line. But those who manufacture the ammunition also get the credit, for without their faithfulness and willingness to work day in and day out, doing the same thing over and over and over again‚ the soldiers would not have the bullets which won the war.

170. You, My precious structure children, are precious jewels! You are the precious jewels in the watch—tiny and unseen‚ but strong and pivotal, keeping the face of the watch functioning. For though all that is seen by the outside are the hands moving, and all that is heard is the tiny "tic‚ tic‚ tic," yet behind it are the intricate workings, delicate and unseen‚ that make it happen. You are the jewels of My watch—very precious in My sight and very needed.

171. When Satan tempts you to feel that you are not accomplishing very much, or he tries to make you feel bored or unchallenged, remember this: All those day-to-day things that you do over and over again are those things which keep My Kingdom running, that keep My sheep being fed, that keep My Words flowing to the multitudes‚ and that keep My sheep well shepherded.

172. You are of great importance to Me, and I love you! I am so grateful for your willingness to be buried behind the scenes in order to allow My Words to flow through you, to quench the thirst of all the people. And again, I say, great is your reward in Heaven! (End of message from Jesus.)

173. (Peter:) Please pray for all of our behind-the-scenes "Structure Home" personnel, as it can be very difficult to do the same job day in and day out with very little change, little fellowship, and little or no witnessing. Pray especially for the newer members who've joined the behind-the-scenes ranks within this last year.

Old and Young Merge in WS and Leadership!

174. In WS and our CRO offices, VSs, and Service Homes, etc., the first and second generations have merged into united teams who are working side by side to serve you. Our WS publications and office teams consist of 63% first generation members and 37% second generation members. (The second generation figure counts only those who are actually doing the work, not the children.) 75% of our CROs are first generation and 25% are second generation. The CRO office teams are made up of 51% first generation and 49% second generation. The VSs consist of 51% first generation and 49% second generation. So as you can see, in all of our publications, administration and leadership, we have joined both generations in service to you. It's been wonderful to work together and it's bearing tremendous fruit!

David and Nicole Come to Help for a Time

175. We've just added two new young members to our Home. We asked David, who spent the last year and a half in Russia and Eastern Europe, if he'd like to spend some time with us. So he and Nicole [Elixir], his girlfriend, have come. It's quite amazing for us to see how much David has changed in spirit. He has really grown and is doing great. Thanks for your prayers for him. He's been helping on handyman projects and on some Grapevine editing. He's also been transcribing and generally filling in wherever needed‚ including praying and receiving prophecies for different ones in need.

176. Sweet Nicole has been a tremendous blessing as well. She's been a real Godsend to us‚ as our kitchen overseer was needed for other duties. So Nicole recently took over the kitchen oversight and is doing a great job at it, as well as helping on secretarial and pubs work. We don't know what we'd do without her!

177. Recently you got a chance to hear more from David via a Grapevine interview, which we hope you enjoyed! That interview mostly covered news of what he was doing while on the field. However‚ since so much has taken place since he was last in our Home‚ we thought you might be interested in knowing what changes David noticed in returning, and what's different from when he was last here. We put that question to him, and this is what he had to say:

178. (From David:) The biggest change that has taken place since I've been gone has been the young people who have joined the staff. Their arrival has greatly affected the whole atmosphere of the Home in a positive way. When I was invited back here for a visit, I didn't look forward to meeting any of them because I thought they must be the real "spiritual," proud, social–climber types. I figured they would probably act like they had finally "arrived" because of coming here. To my relief, they were not like that, thank God! They have not attained to some problem–free spiritual state (as Gabe and Amy can testify)‚ nor are they "better" than anyone else. I've found them to be like many of the young people I met on the field, who are serving the Lord to the best of their ability and are bearing a lot of fruit for the Lord because they're in the center of His will. They carry big loads here and are doing a great job!

179. Another change I've noticed is the frequent use of prophecy in the Home. If I had to make a guess, I'd say it's about a 1,000% increase! The "new day" stuff came out before I left, so at that time, different ones in the Home were already taking time almost every day to stop and hear from the Lord on a variety of subjects. But now everybody in the Home is encouraged to take regular prophecy time, hearing from the Lord about their personal lives, in addition to frequently asking the Lord for answers to work–related questions, problems that come up in the Home, why the Lord allowed something to happen, etc. I often wonder how we ever got along without it!

180. Lastly, I was very encouraged when I saw how relatively healthy my mom is. She was very weak before, and at times it would take all her strength to simply walk around the room. When she was stronger, it was still hard for her to have regular get-out. Sometimes even just riding her exercise bicycle for a few minutes or going for a short walk would exhaust her and bring on strong headaches. Now, thanks to the Lord and all of your prayers, she's much stronger and is able to have regular get-out. While her eyes are still sore, they're not nearly as sore as they used to be, even when she's used them more. It's a miracle! Please keep praying for her, as I know that's what keeps her and Peter going. GBY!

New Names for DO and TRF Supporter Members

181. As you'll remember, some months back we asked you TRF Supporter members to vote on a possible name change. We gave the choices of Partner member and Fellow member. After receiving the results from the Homes that voted, the majority chose Fellow member (FM), and thus from this point on when making references to the TRF Supporter Family we will call you Fellow members.

182. At the same time we would also like to change the name of the DO Family to Charter members (CM), to reflect their commitment to live according to the rules and guidelines of the Charter. So the Family now consists of two types of live-in members: Charter members and Fellow members. (Of course, there are still other types of members, such as catacombers, live-outs‚ outside witnessers, etc.) Charter members are those who live in accordance with the Charter, and Fellow members live in accordance with the "Statement on Fellow Members" (previously known as the "Statement on TRF Supporters").

183. Over the last year we've received a number of letters from Fellow members asking why there needs to be two classifications of Family members‚ and a differentiation between Charter members and Fellow members. Why can't everyone just be the same? At the same time we have received many letters from Charter members asking why it seems there is no difference between Charter members and Fellow members. After all, both receive many of the same pubs and enjoy many of the same benefits of service in the Family, and the Lord has indicated in prophecy that He loves everyone just as much, regardless of their status. So if there is no difference‚ why should they have to keep all the additional rules outlined in the Charter that the Fellow members don't have to keep?

184. As you can see, different people look at things differently. The Fellow members don't understand why there has to be a difference between them and the Charter members, and the Charter members are asking why there seems to be so little difference. This is a rather complex issue, which we will try to answer. We'll start with the Fellow members. To help make this more understandable, we will use the terms DO members and TRF Supporters in the explanation below, since those were the terms used during the time period we will be discussing.

Brief History of the TRF Supporter Program

185. Perhaps it would help to first give a brief history of the TRF Supporter program. In 1989‚ it was discovered that virtually all of the DO mailings were somehow being leaked to antagonistic former members. This was at a time when the Family was not as open to the outside as we are today, and having our mailings fall into the hands of people who were actively campaigning against the Family was, and still is, a very serious matter. Many of those mailings, things that were meant only for the DO Family, were twisted and used against the Family during the raids and court cases that we had to endure from 1990 to 1993. So our initial concern about these leaks proved to be a valid concern in the years that followed.

186. Before 1988, the great majority of the Family was on the mission field, but starting in 1988, many Family members began to return to Western Europe and North America from the mission fields of the South and East. At that time CRO leadership was established in both of these areas‚ and it became evident that many Family members who had been living in Europe and North America were somewhat lacking in their dedication to the Lord and the work. In comparison to the returning missionaries, many of those who had remained on these Home fields were Family members in name only, and were not fully following the Letters or living in accordance with Family ways.

187. It had come to Dad's attention that the leaks of our DO material were coming from either Europe or North America. So at that point all mailings to the Homes in these areas were put on hold until the CROs (or their representatives) could visit every Home to determine whether each Home and its members were living in accordance with the Family's guidelines‚ rules and standards—in short, whether they were bona fide Family members or not.

188. One of the options discussed when praying about the situation was to excommunicate anyone in North America and Europe who was not living the DO standard. However‚ the Lord showed us that it was time to create a different level of Family membership, that of TRF Supporter—someone who wanted to be associated with the Family and receive literature, but who did not live up to all of the Family ways. Once it was decided to set up the TRF Supporter program, the CROs (or their representatives) visited all of the Homes in North America and Europe and made their judgment in regards to each one, whether they would be able to remain DO or would become TRF Supporters.

189. Although many considered this to be quite a harsh move, the alternative at the time was to simply excommunicate and cut off all lit and fellowship from those who weren't making a sincere effort to live up to the Family standard of discipleship. Instead, we kept the literature line open and sent regular mailings to those reclassified as TRF Supporter brethren. Over the next few years, CROs, as well as the NASs (who were the area shepherds during that period) visited the Homes throughout the world. When they found Homes or personnel who they determined were not living up to the Family standard, they recommended they be moved to TRF Supporter status.

190. In the early days of the TRF Supporter program, it was used as a disciplinary measure. Judgment was made as to the standard of discipleship those in question were living, and if it was not what was considered the DO discipleship standard, they were moved to TRF Supporter status. Unfortunately, as time went on, the criteria for moving someone to TRF Supporter status, and what exactly the "DO discipleship standard" consisted of, became much less clearly defined. It became more of an arbitrary decision by the NASs‚ who by this time were the main ones making such judgments, though the CROs were involved to some extent as well and had the final say.

191. The manner in which TRF Supporters were given notice of their new status and were moved out of the Home ranged from very loving to appalling. In some cases, people were handled very unlovingly and harshly. For this we are very sorry, and we once again ask that you forgive both us and those who treated you unlovingly.

192. During this time the TRF Supporters were not allowed to have fellowship with the DO Family, as we thought such fellowship might lead to security problems and other problems. In hindsight, we wish we would not have been so strict in this matter, as it would have caused a lot less grief for many of you.

193. In 1992-93, during the various court cases, it became evident that we should open up more to our TRF Supporter Family. Since that time we have done our best to break down the barriers that were erected between our DO and TS members, by opening the door to fellowship and working together cooperatively. From that point on‚ WS has steadily increased the number of mailings and pubs that are sent to our TRF Supporter Family.

194. When writing the Charter‚ we went to great lengths to make the rules and regulations regarding moving someone to TRF Supporter status very clear and explicit. We did not want the decision to be an arbitrary one. Under the Charter‚ it is a decision made through following a clearly defined standard, which applies to everyone across the board. The standard of DO discipleship and rules that one must follow to retain DO status are now much more clearly defined than before. This should hopefully prevent anyone from being moved to TRF Supporter status unjustly, as happened on occasion in the past.

195. The overall attitude and mentality of the DO Family towards our TRF Supporter Family has changed radically over the years. Mama and I have made an effort to help the DO Family understand that our TRF Supporter Family is very much a part of our overall Family‚ that they're very loved and needed and should be treated with love and respect. It is our hope that you Fellow members feel this now from the Charter members.

196. The question still arises whether we should have any kind of categorization at all—and the answer to that is yes‚ we must. And the reason is this: The Lord showed us to put in place the Love Charter of Rights and Responsibilities. We went through a great deal of prayer, work and counsel to create the Charter to be the governing constitution of the Family. We have clearly stated that Charter members (formerly known as DO members) are those who live in accordance with the Charter.

197. This inevitably brought up the question of, "What do you do about those within the Family who feel that living the Charter is too difficult for them?" We wanted to let everyone choose their own level of service‚ but could we just open the doors to everyone to be a Charter member regardless of their commitment to follow the Charter? How could the Family hold together as the Family if there wasn't some basic standard that all members must adhere to? We realized that amongst Family members there were many different levels of obedience, yieldedness and service, so we decided that we must set a basic level which all who wished to be Charter members must abide by‚ and that is our Love Charter.

198. Through the Charter, we in essence drew a line and stated that if you live on one side of the line you can be a Charter member, and if you live on the other side you can be a Fellow member. The choice is basically yours. Both are part of the Family, but the standard and code of conduct are different. Naturally, the benefits are different as well.

199. It's important to remember that in any organization, there are rules and regulations that the members must follow if they wish to remain members. If you cease to follow or obey those rules, you must forfeit your membership. The Family is no different. The Charter contains our governing rules, and those who wish to be Charter members must live according to the Charter. However, we also understand that not everyone can or wants to live the Charter standard, and thus in love and respect for these disciples' wishes, we have made another level of membership‚ which is that of Fellow members. This is the route the Lord showed us to follow—that we needed to have these two levels of Family membership, so that everyone can find their place of service.

200. We have recently revised the Charter to make it much easier for Fellow members to become Charter members, if they choose to do so. There are still stipulations built into the Charter that allow the CROs to make the final judgment and decision in cases where they strongly feel someone should not become a Charter member, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Our Fellow member Homes have decreased since the Charter, as a sizable number of you have become Charter members. And all Fellow members who desire to live by the standard of the Charter are welcome to make the choice to become Charter members and to begin the procedures for doing so. In fact, we welcome you.

201. We no longer look at the Fellow member program as a disciplinary action, but rather as a lifestyle and circle of fellowship and discipleship that Fellow members have chosen, according to their faith. It is simply an acknowledgment of the choice you've made within the overall Family. If, however, a Charter member ceases to live in accordance with the Charter, it will be seen as their decision to become a Fellow member.

202. Of course, if you were reclassified to TS status before the Charter, you may not feel that you are a Fellow member by choice. And it's true, initially it was not your choice. In many cases you became TRF Supporters because leadership at some level made that decision for you—sometimes unfairly. We are very sorry if you were unjustly put on TRF Supporter status. We are also very sorry if you were handled in an unloving manner, or if you felt slighted, abandoned or hurt by the overall Family due to our past policy of DO members not having contact with TRF Supporters. We've been doing our best to change this.

203. However, since the onset of the Charter all Fellow members have had the opportunity to begin the procedures to move to Charter member status. So unless their request to move to Charter member status was turned down for some reason, then it's only fair to conclude that those Fellow members who decide not to begin the procedures for moving to Charter member status remain Fellow members by their own choice.

204. Please remember that Mama and I don't look down on you Fellow members. We understand that this is the choice you have made, and that you are in the place you feel is God's will for you. We are very thankful for our Fellow members, as you make up 25% of the Family and 15% of our personal witness. We're very proud of you, and we love you dearly. Our hope is that this new name will reflect just how we look at you—as Fellow members, co-laborers, brethren whom we love and who are part of us.

205. However, it's also important that you realize there are understandably certain benefits to being Charter members and living in accordance with the Charter. These benefits include receiving all of the publications that WS produces, as well as more help and oversight from the CROs and VSs.

206. There have been times that some of you have written and expressed that you feel hurt or left out when you read in the Grapevine (or other DO/TS pubs) references to different publications that you have not received. This has been somewhat of a dilemma for us, because the Lord has earmarked certain pubs for Charter members only. But at the same time He wants us to be open and to share the good news of the Family's activities with you through the Grapevine. Thus we chose to give the Grapevine to you, even though we knew that there would be some articles that might make you feel a little bad or left out. We are sorry if you sometimes feel that way. We expect, however, that overall you would rather receive all the news of the Family's activities via the Grapevine than get an edited version of it, or none at all‚ just because there are some things in there that might make you feel bad. If you wish to receive all the Family publications, you can begin to work towards becoming a Charter member. That choice is yours.

The Lord's Special Love for Each of Us!

207. Charter members‚ we ask that you continue to recognize our Fellow members as partners, co–workers and brethren who deserve our love and respect, and that you treat them with kindness and love. Before publishing the "Bridging the Gap" Letter (ML #3068, GN 696), we sought the Lord in prayer‚ asking Him why there needed to be a distinction between Charter members and Fellow members. Dad spoke and explained it very well. Here's what he said:

208. (Dad speaking): Honey‚ that is a good question. It's something that will surely come to the hearts and minds of our dear [Fellow] member folks. They're going to be reading this Letter from you and they'll catch the spirit of it, they'll feel the love and encouragement, but that part is likely to stand out to them. They'll wonder, if the Lord doesn't see any difference between the [Fellow] members and [Charter] members, then why do their earthly shepherds see this difference and make this distinction and draw lines and build walls and dividers? They'll wonder why they feel so left out if there's no difference. If it doesn't make any difference to the Lord, why does it make any difference to us?

209. It's a difficult thing, trying to describe the Lord's love. Human words and expressions fall so short. That's why He so often gives word pictures or analogies to try to help us to grasp His great, marvelous‚ infinite love. His unconditional love is something that you're learning a lot about, and something that I'm still learning a lot about. It still amazes me! It's remarkable, astonishing! I'd say it's unbelievable‚ but I do believe it because I've seen it and experienced it. Of course, I believed and knew the love of the Lord when I was with you, even before I came Home, but now I understand it so much better.

210. If people could just understand the magnitude of the Lord's love, how truly unconditional it is, how vast and deep and wide and unending it is, it would solve so many of their problems, and they would find freedom from so many of their fears, worries and condemnation. When you know the Lord loves you and you really understand that, then you know everything's going to work out. You know that He truly is going to cause everything to work together for good. He's in control of every detail and His hand on our lives is so perfectly loving.

211. Those prophecies the Lord gave in "I Love You—Just You!" made such an impact on people (ML #2985‚ GN 627). They are finally starting to get the point of how much the Lord loves them! It's so true. The Lord loves each person as if he or she were the only one. He would have died for any one person who ever lived!

212. Sometimes we think that the Lord loves us more because we serve Him, because we're dedicated to Him, because we've given Him our lives. [Charter] members may think the Lord loves them more because they try to live up to the standard of the Charter. They may think that the Lord loves them more than the [Fellow] members or former members. But the Lord loves each person as if they were the only one, as if they were an only son—be they a [Charter] member, a [Fellow] member, a former member, or even the unsaved and incorrigible.

213. The Lord loves each one the same, with infinite, everlasting, unconditional, timeless love!—Whether they be a missionary, a church pastor, the CEO of a corporation, a musician in a hard rock band, a drug addict on the street, a homeless person, a soldier, a beggar, a prostitute, a terrorist, a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a president or a king or a prime minister, a hot dog vendor, a teenage mother, a child, a teacher—the list goes on and on and on!

214. I'm just trying to make a point, Honey, that no matter what a person's station, circumstances or profession, or even their faith, the Lord loves every person as if they were the only one. That's how great the Lord's love is for each individual. That's why the Lord can say that when He hears the prayers and sees the concern and desperation and needs of our dear [Fellow] members, He doesn't look at them as lesser or compare them with others. He looks at them as His children, His people, His creation whom He loves. His love for them and for everyone is without end.

215. Nothing people can do or say can make the Lord stop loving them. His love is just that marvelous and that perfect. It's superhuman and supernatural. That kind of love is God's. It wouldn't be so special, so tremendous, or so very different for God to love His children who are dedicated and doing their best to serve Him. Of course God, or a father, even a human being loves those who try to please, who try to serve, who try to obey. That is not the greatest testimony of God's love.

216. The greatest testimony and proof of the existence of God's love is that He even loves those who don't love Him! He even loves those who hate Him and reject Him, who refuse to believe and listen and receive Him.

217. Just think, He died for each person, each individual. And even after making that great sacrifice, if they refuse to believe, if they refuse to accept the gift of His death‚ He still loves them. He loves them just as much as He ever loved them. He loves them in their moment of rejecting Him as much as He loved them the moment He died for them. That's how great, how marvelous, how wonderful God's love is.

218. Now the tricky part‚ Honey, the difficult part to understand and differentiate is where there is a difference and a distinction in how the Lord's love is manifested in people's lives. Of course, there are varying degrees of how the Lord can manifest His love in people's lives, because that depends upon their love for Him, their yieldedness and desire to obey Him and keep His commandments, their desperation with Him‚ their acceptance of His will‚ and whether they are willing to repent and let go of their sins. That's where you see a difference in how the Lord's love is manifested.

219. That's why people sometimes think the Lord loves some more than others. While His original love, the source of His love, the creation of His love for each person is the same, the manifestation of His love is different because it is dependent upon each person's actions, choices‚ decisions and attitudes.

220. The Lord looks down from Heaven on each person, each individual‚ every tiny little child, every elderly person‚ every man and woman, and His heart overflows with love! But He has limited Himself in how He can manifest His love in their lives. It is dependent on so many factors. For example, say you have two people who love the Lord and are both trying to serve Him to the best of their ability and do what's right. If one cries out to the Lord desperately and the other one doesn't, then of course the Lord will be able to manifest His love to the one who has cried out to Him desperately.

221. Or say you have two Family members who are both very talented. They have many gifts of the Spirit and natural gifts. They are both strong and healthy and they are both in fairly good circumstances. If one of them has a tremendous hunger for the Word and really looks to the Lord in the written Word, desiring more than anything to be close to the Lord and drink in the New Wine and follow you and Peter closely, and the other one doesn't have that desire for the Word and doesn't stir himself up to follow closely and drink in the New Wine, then of course the Lord can manifest His love more to the one who is hungering. It doesn't mean He loves one more than the other, but His love is manifested to one more than the other.

222. Or say you have two people who have both committed sins, serious shortcomings, who've really failed the Lord in some way. One of them is crying out desperately to the Lord, repenting, and is humble and broken. He feels weak and incapable and is crying out to the Lord and willing to be soft clay in His hands, saying, "You're the Potter‚ I'm the clay. Do with me as You will!" The other one feels no remorse and is not repentant and isn't crying out to the Lord to be made a new creature, to be given a fresh start, and to be forgiven for past sins and failures. So of course the Lord is going to be able to manifest His love more to the one who is the humble, repentant sinner.

223. So you see, the manifestation of the Lord's love depends on all kinds of things—attitudes, choices, desperation in the spirit, humility and faithfulness. Those who really do their best to serve the Lord diligently, faithfully and obediently will reap the benefits with greater manifestations of the Lord's love—because of course He rewards His obedient children and those who do their best for Him.

224. His love is manifested in so many ways—in the supply of all your needs, in His living Word that He freely speaks through willing channels, in the blessing of love relationships and children, in fruitful work and satisfaction in your labors for Him. There are so many ways the Lord manifests His love through special blessings, gifts and rewards.

225. So in some ways, people have a lot of control over how much the Lord's love is manifested in their lives, because it depends on their attitudes, choices, decisions and how close they stay to the Lord. But sometimes, unfortunately, the love the Lord would want to pour forth is stymied, thwarted and lost because the channels the Lord wants to use are not open and receptive, or they don't understand the Lord's love and they don't know how to be a channel of His love. (See John 14:21-23.)

226. Oh, Honey, I think I got a little sidetracked here, a little off the main subject. But every time I start thinking and praying and talking about the Lord's love, it's just so marvelous and so wonderful that I can hardly do the subject justice! I just want to go on and on and on to try to help you and others understand the vastness of His love, the power of it, and how available it is to each of His children!—How much He wants to pour it forth, how much He wants to use you to give it‚ and how much He is willing to have you receive it.

227. The Lord will love them regardless of whether they're [Charter] members or [Fellow] members. There is a difference in how that love is manifested, but the fact that the Lord loves them does not change. He loves them whether they're a [Charter] member or a [Fellow] member. He loves them if they're a former member. It makes no difference to Him—He loves them, just plain and simple! But of course their service, attitude and faith make a difference in how He can bless them and reward them. There's no difference in how He loves them‚ but there is a difference in how He rewards them.

228. You asked, "Then why does there need to be a distinction? Why do we need [Fellow] members and [Charter] members? If it makes no difference to the Lord, why can't they all just be [Charter] members?" Well, Honey‚ I think it's pretty obvious. I'm sure it's obvious to you and your leaders‚ and it should be fairly obvious to most of the [Fellow] members.

229. There needs to be a distinction because people have different levels of faith and different burdens. They make choices; they want to live one way or the other. You have people who are choosing to leave the [Charter] member fellowship and are becoming [Fellow] members for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's because of personal problems. Sometimes they just don't have the strength, power and faith to continue the more rigorous [Charter] member lifestyle. Sometimes they get stumbled by the New Wine and they need some time to just reflect and pray.

230. There are all kinds of reasons why there is a distinction in the Family, but most of the reasons have to do with just making it easier for the Family. It makes it easier for the [Charter] members when they don't have people in their Home who don't want to be [Charter] member disciples. They don't have to spend so much time trying to help and counsel them and bring them up to the Charter standard; and those who do want to live by the Charter aren't being pulled down by those who don't. But it also makes it better and easier for the [Fellow] members. If they just can't or don't want to live the [Charter] member lifestyle, then it's much better to give them a place of service that's easier and where less is required, rather than lose them altogether.

231. There are lots of [Fellow] members who are happy being [Fellow] members. They like it. They've found their niche. They feel that they're doing their best for the Lord. They're doing what they can and they're thankful that they're able to serve Him at all. Some of them are [Fellow] members temporarily while they work out personal problems, and they just feel that that's what the Lord has for them right now. They're following the Lord step by step, and they're faithful and loving and trustworthy and loyal and they're doing their best for Him.

232. So you can just explain that the two different designations—[Fellow] members and [Charter] members—are needed to make it easier on both the [Fellow] members and [Charter] members. That way, [Fellow] members are free to do the things that they want to do and live according to their own faith. And the [Charter] members don't have to battle with trying to make people live up to the [Charter] member standard who don't want to, or who don't have the strength or the burden.

233. People have to be willing to live according to their own faith. We can't try to push everybody into the [Charter] member mold and require things of people that they're not able to give for whatever reason. People can choose whether they want to be a [Charter] member or a [Fellow] member. [Charter] members can become [Fellow] members, and [Fellow] members can become [Charter] members, provided they're willing to live up to the standard and the requirements put forth in the Charter.

234. All the [Fellow] members can't be [Charter] members, because not all the [Fellow] members are meeting the [Charter] member requirements in the Charter. It's a choice they've made. It's a lifestyle they've chosen. They know the rules, they know what's required‚ they know the standard, and if they choose to live as a [Fellow] member, then they should be a [Fellow] member. If they choose to live like a [Charter] member, then they should be a [Charter] member.

235. So it's pretty simple, Honey. They know the requirements of the Charter‚ they know the standard, and each person makes a choice. Each person is responsible for whether they're a [Charter] member or a [Fellow] member. They make the choice by the way they choose to live. If you've got [Fellow] members who deserve to be [Charter] members because they're living the standard and requirements of the Charter‚ then fine, let them become [Charter] members! Just as when you have [Charter] members who are not willing to live the standard of the Charter, then they should become [Fellow] members. We still need designations, Honey, to help people to be happy and to serve the Lord according to their own faith. (End of message from Dad)

Why Strive for the Charter Member Standard?

236. (Peter:) So as you can see, Dad has explained the situation very clearly. Praise the Lord! Of course, some of you Charter members may still wonder if it's worth it to live according to the Charter when you could have many more "freedoms" by being Fellow members. So we asked the Lord if He had anything to say on this point, and of course, He did.

237. (Jesus speaking:) You who live in accordance with the Charter, the rules and the plan that I have laid out, are a special breed. All of My children are special, and all of My Family children are called out and special amongst all of My children. And you Charter members, within that special category, are a rare and priceless breed.

238. You are they who give up everything to serve Me, who give your all and dedicate your life completely to Me. You forsake all, you give all, and for this there is great reward. I say unto you, I reward all of My children: First, I reward them all with the gift of My salvation. I reward them all with My love. I reward them all with Heaven. But for you who serve Me in the ranks of the Charter membership, the benefits, rewards and blessings that you reap both now and in the life to come are far beyond anything that you could ask or think!

239. All My children are rewarded and blessed, but you who have given your all, who have laid down your lives daily, who have left the world behind, who have fought in the front of the battle, on the front lines, face to face with the Enemy, who day in and day out die daily—to you are given the greatest rewards!—Both now in My blessings, in My peace, in the abundance of Word that is poured out to you, and in the life to come. Every sacrifice, every hardship‚ every test and every trial will be rewarded.

240. So it is well worth the sacrifice. It is well worth the choice to serve as one of the rare breed of My children. Great are the blessings, great are the rewards, and great will be the life you lead in My Kingdom when you come unto Me! (End of message from Jesus)

241. (Peter:) Charter members, please bear in mind that the commendation the Lord is giving you in this message is if you are truly living up to the standard of the Charter and trying your best to fulfill all your responsibilities and be the sample of missionary discipleship that the Lord wants us all to be. Just being a Charter member in name only doesn't mean much if you're not truly living the standard of the Charter in your heart and interaction with others.

242. If you're a Fellow member and upholding the standard of the Charter, the Lord will credit you as much as He would a Charter member. On the other hand, you could be a Charter member and not get credit for it if you're not really upholding the standard. In other words‚ when you get to Heaven, the Lord's not going to check a little name tag to see whether it says CM or FM and automatically reward you accordingly. He's going to look at your life and the standard that you lived by—how loving you were, how closely you followed the Word‚ how obedient you were to His leadings‚ and how much of a witness and a blessing you were to others.

243. Recently, when we again asked the Lord about the Charter member/Fellow member issue‚ in response to some questions from the field, Dad gave some additional counsel and explanation regarding the difference between the two and the blessings involved:

244. (Dad speaking: ) A lot of people have had this question about CM and FM: If the Lord loves everyone the same and has the same amount of care and concern and love for each person, then what's the difference? Why make the sacrifice needed to keep the standard of the Charter? Why go through all these sacrifices of doing so much for the Lord if it doesn't really matter anyway, because the Lord loves us all equally and we're all still part of His Family? So I guess you're wondering, is there any advantage to being CM over FM, or even over not being in the Family at all?

245. Well, the difference is, the Lord rewards you for the sacrifices that you make for Him. The Lord rewards you according to how obedient you are to what He's told you in the Letters, and to the counsel that He's given you directly through prophecy. He may love you just as much if you're following afar off, but you're gonna miss out on the blessings that He has for you, not only in your life on Earth, but especially up Here.

246. Remember that your life on Earth is just a tiny speck compared to eternity in Heaven, and up Here is where it really counts! But even though your life there on Earth is so short‚ it's very important. It's like a testing and proving ground to see how close you're going to follow the Lord, to see how obedient you're going to be, how much you're going to take to heart what He says and follow it.

247. Yes, you are all part of the same Family and the Lord loves you all. He's thankful for all that you do to serve Him—whatever it is, whether big or small—but He rewards you according to how much you do. Your salvation is free, but in all the rest, just like the Bible teaches, you are going to be judged according to your works. And your works include not only your accomplishments but how much love you have for others, how much love you have for the Lord, how much you sacrificed for others, and how much you sacrificed to overcome your own problems so that you could be a better sample to others of the Lord's love so that you could help them. The Lord is going to judge you on all these things.

248. Your status is not as important as your obedience. You can be a Charter member and still not be very obedient. Or you can be keeping the rules and just barely getting by with the minimum amount, but still be pretty far off in your heart. Or you can be a Fellow member and be as obedient to the Letters as you can and really try to follow the Lord closely, getting out there and witnessing and telling others about the Lord and really laying down your life for others.

249. On the other hand, though, most of those who are Charter members are CM because they're trying to be more obedient and more closely follow the counsel that the Lord has given—through me while I was there on Earth, and through Mama now. And those who are Fellow members, it's usually because they would rather not have to follow all of this counsel and guidance. Well, that's okay, the Lord allows that, but those who are more obedient He's going to bless more. That's just the way it works. He loves it when we follow Him and when we follow what He says, even when it's difficult.

250. So if you think there's no difference or it doesn't matter one way or the other, you're wrong, because it does matter—not so much the status itself‚ but how much you do with that status. Are you being an obedient Charter member or a disobedient one? Are you following closely or are you walking along the fringes? By the same token, are you an on–fire Fellow member who's trying to be obedient and follow the counsel in the Letters, the full counsel of the Lord, as closely as possible? If so, the Lord's going to reward you for it. If you're not, if you just don't have the faith or the will or the determination to make those sacrifices‚ the Lord will still give you some blessings and some rewards for doing what you can—for the souls that you've led to Him, for the witness that you gave, for leaving the System behind and following Him in this Family‚ and for giving your life for Him.

251. Those who give the most receive the most‚ and those who are the best sample also get the greatest rewards.—And that is why we have the Charter. The Charter was meant to be a standard you could live by in order to be the sample that the Lord wants you to be. If folks would really follow the Charter and do what it says in there—not just obeying it by the letter of the law in all the little details, but really following the spirit of the Charter, the spirit of love, the responsibilities of the individual members—then they would be the sample of love that the Lord wants them to be and He would bless them. That's the blessing of being a Charter member, because they're trying to be the best sample that they can for the Lord. And if that's what you're trying to do, then the Lord's going to reward you greatly for it‚ not only in Heaven but on Earth too. He's going to give you fruitfulness, inspiration and joy, because your sample is going to make others happy, and that is going to make you happy in return.

252. If you see others who are on FM status and they don't have to follow the same rules of the Charter, and they don't have to uphold the same standard and be the same sample, yet they still seem to get most of the same lit and they seem to have many of the same blessings, well‚ "What is that to thee? Follow thou Me!" You just keep following the Lord and following what He shows you to do and the conviction that He's laid on your heart. If you have the conviction that you're supposed to uphold the standard of the Charter and that you're supposed to be the sample that He wants you to be by following what's written in the Charter, then that's what you should do, regardless of whatever anybody else is doing!

253. It's not wise to compare with others and what they're getting, or what they get to do or don't get to do, because what really counts is what's between your heart and the Lord. What counts is whether you're following what the Lord wants you to do. So don't go looking around at others and what they're doing and how closely they're following, but check your own heart as to how closely you're following. The Lord will take care of others and He'll reward them accordingly; He'll either give them lots of rewards or give them very few rewards, depending on how closely they follow Him and how much they do for Him. But that's not your business or your concern. Your concern should be whether you're following the Lord closely and whether you're doing all that you can for Him.

254. You might feel a little discouraged because some of your friends decided to become Fellow members or even leave the Family altogether, and yet they still seem to be fairly happy and the Lord still seems to be blessing them to some degree. You feel like, "Gosh, I'm making all these sacrifices. Is it worth it? What's the point?" Well, let me tell you, the Lord's going to reward you a lot more than He's going to reward them. He still loves them just as much, but they're not going to have the same reward and the same blessings, because they didn't follow as closely.

255. That's not to say that everyone who is CM follows closer than everyone who is FM. It's not just those two little letters that make you follow closely or not; it's what you do with that status that counts. You can be FM and be following the Lord more closely than a Charter member, and the Lord's gonna reward you more than that Charter member. But in general, as I said, most people are CM because they want to follow the sample and the standard in the Charter. Most people are FM because they want to be able to have more independence, without having to abide by the standard that we have set down in the Letters.

256. The Lord knows each person's heart‚ and He'll reward them accordingly and He'll bless them accordingly. The Lord is very fair and He's very loving. And while He loves everyone equally and one person is just as precious to Him as another, He doesn't reward everyone equally, because their rewards are contingent on their obedience, their faithfulness, their desire to be a good sample of one of the Lord's children, their love for others, their love for the Lord, and how much they sacrifice and lay down their lives for others. The more you pour out, the more you give, the more the Lord will give you—a hundredfold in return.

257. So stay faithful! Keep giving! Keep doing your best to be obedient and follow what the Lord has shown in the Letters and the counsel that He is giving now directly through prophecy. Don't compare! That's a trick of the Enemy to get you looking down at yourself and others instead of looking up at the Lord and His will for you. Keep your eyes on that Heavenly goal, and don't let anything dissuade you from following the conviction that the Lord has put in your heart. (End of message from Dad.)

We All Have a Place in His Kingdom

258. (Peter:) Whether you're a Charter member or a Fellow member, you have your place in the Lord's Kingdom. You're valuable to Him and to us. He and we need you and love you. You are part of the wonderful work the Lord is doing. You are the ones who make the Family possible, who do the job, who preach the message, who win the souls, who pioneer new Homes, new cities, new lands, new ministries.

259. The Lord and we want you to be happy in your service. We want you to be able to choose your place of service, your level of service, and your degree of service. Like the Lord, we love you, simply because you love Him. Let's all try to do the same. Let's love one another and respect one another and work together to make even more progress toward the goal of reaching the world with His message of love and salvation.

260. Mama and I are so proud of all of you! We hope that hearing the progress that has been made and the plans that are underway has been encouraging for you, and that you will pray for those who are pioneering these many new directions the Lord has led us in. Every day there are brethren who are working diligently to make these things happen, just like you are working day by day to reach the world. We're all in it together, so let's support one another in prayer! God bless and keep you!

With love and admiration,

Peter

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family