—Or Home-Grown!—MWWFNL No.22—MOOctober 17, 1974NO.315C—DFO

Copyrighted October, 1974 by The Children of God

P.O. Box 31, London WC2E 7LX‚ England or GPO Box 3141, San Juan‚ Puerto Rico 00936

Dear Family: Greetings in Jesus' Precious Name! Thank you once more for all your reports, letters, pictures, gifts and especially your literature samples, etc. God bless you all!

2. IT IS YOUR GLORIOUS INDIGENOUS LITERATURE AND WORK WHICH HAS INSPIRED THIS LETTER!—And in case you don't know what this big word is, according to the dictionary "indigenous" is an adjective describing something which is native, native-born or originating and/or produced naturally in a certain country or soil.—In other words, it came straight from the grass roots‚ in our case, you common people at the bottom of the pile!—People Power!—YOU at the bottom!

3. INDIGENUITY IS THE NOUN DESCRIBING THE QUALITY OR CONDITION OR STATE OF BEING INDIGENOUS, or that thing or person, plant or Colony which possesses this quality could be said to be indigenous or possessing the ability of INDIGENUITY: able to be native, native-born and originate and produce naturally in a certain country, area or soil right at the ground level from the ground up—real pioneering!—Or really the native-born fruit originating and produced naturally in a certain country or area or community from your pioneer sowing of the seeds of His Words!

4. THE INDIGENOUS COLONY, THEREFORE, IS WHAT WE USED TO CALL THE NATIVE CHURCH, composed of the natives or nationals of that particular community or country who have become disciples produced on their own native soil from the seeds of the Gospel of God's Words sown in their hands and hearts by the original pioneering missionaries‚ you, our beloved pioneers!—Amen?

5. AT FIRST THE FARMER PLOWS AND FURROWS THE LAND‚ breaking it and opening it with loving hands and forceful plow, the instrument of his lovemaking‚ so he can insert the seed in receptive soil, the Body of His Bride, the Church!—The true Church‚ the real Church, the genuine believers, receivers, repenters (Revolutionaries) and doers of His Words! These are they conceived by the spirts of the Spirit-filled seeds of His Words in the womb of the Body of His Bride to bear Him Children!

6. THESE TENDER YOUNG PLANTS, THESE NATIVE-BORN CHILDREN, YOUR NEW NATIVE NATIONAL DISCIPLES born and growing on their own native soil, inheriting its citizenship and speaking its language and knowing its customs and people and country well, are your native fruit produced naturally in their own country, your indigenous church or Colony‚ a native plant in its natural habitat, a native child in his natural surroundings, home-grown produce on local soil!

7. BUT THIS PLANT, THIS CHILD, THIS CHURCH OR COLONY OF TENDER PLANTS OR CHILDREN, MUST BE TENDERLY CARED FOR WITH MUCH LOVE AND PAINSTAKING LABOUR, fed and protected, continually loved and watered and washed with the Word and fertilised with nourishment by the Farmer‚ its parent, until it is full grown, strong and hardy and able to reproduce itself by producing seed of its own: "The fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind‚ whose seed is in itself"—Self-propagating!

8. BUT THIS NATIVE TREE, YOUR NEW COLONY ON NEW SOIL, MUST NOT ONLY BE SELF-PROPAGATING or perpetuating by means of the same seed or the same kind of seed‚ duplicate seed, the same as that from which it came, identical copies of the same words, but in order to survive and thrive and stand on its own without too much more tending from the Farmer, it must be self-supporting! It must be able to stand on its own two feet, its own roots with a strong sturdy trunk with fruit-bearing branches that can hold their own without being continually propped up by the Farmer!

9. AFTER A FEW MONTHS THE STRONG NEW YOUNG TREE SHOULD BE ABLE TO STAND STRONG AGAINST ANY BLAST OF ANY STORM if rooted and grounded firmly in the soil of God's Words, well-watered and washed by His refreshing latter rains from above and underground streams from below without too much further personal attention from the Farmer himself except an occasional nourishing dunging and purging and pruning of the fruitless branches that it may bear more fruit, and an occasional protective spraying from otherwise damaging and devouring attacks of the enemies!—Amen?

10. THEREFORE, DURING THE FARMER'S EVER-MORE FREQUENT AND PROLONGED ABSENCES, THE TREE MUST ALSO LEARN TO GROW UNDER THE DIRECTION AND GUIDANCE OF GOD HIMSELF without the Farmer's assistance, for although one soweth and another watereth, it is God that giveth the increase and causes it to grow according to His own direction and in the direction that He pleases and He knows is best in whatever way He chooses or the tree chooses under His guidance.

11. IT MUST THEREFORE BE SELF GOVERNING ACCORDING TO GOD'S GUIDANCE! Your new young Colony must learn to operate under its own leadership according to its own faith and by the ways and means that it feels led are best for its particular habitat‚ soil and surroundings. It must learn to let go of the farmers and let God lead and "For God's sake, follow God!" under His personal guidance by His Word alone!—Hallelujah?

12. FINALLY‚ THE FRUIT OF THIS TREE MUST FEED THE FARMER AND HIS FAMILY TOO‚ AS WELL AS PRODUCE FOOD FOR OTHERS AND MORE SEED FOR THE PLANTING OF NEW TREES TO BEAR MORE FRUIT to feed more people to plant more trees to bear more fruit to feed more people to plant more trees, etc.! Having been cared for by the Farmer, if the tree in turn does not care for the Farmer himself, the Farmer's Family would soon starve for lack of his share of the fruit! If the Farmer's Family did not share along with others from his bountiful harvest‚ he would soon have to leave the farm and desert it to its own devices and it would lose his protective care and cultivation!

13. WE MOVED ONTO A RANCH IN TEXAS LIKE THIS ONCE, AND IT WAS IN A HORRIBLE MESS! THE buildings were rotting and falling down, the livestock were long dead and gone, the fruit trees had become old and gnarled and neglected and had ceased to bear fruit and the fields were overgrown with weeds and thorns and thistles which had altogether choked out their fruitfulness until even God Himself had withheld His refreshing rains until His once-fruitful land had almost become barren semi-desert, brown, parched‚ cracked, dry, hard and desolate!—Remember?

14. SO IF YOU WANT THE FARMER TO KEEP FARMING and cultivating and planting and feeding and watering and protecting and guiding and guarding and purging and pruning that ye may bear more fruit that he may plant more trees with more seeds to feed both his own Family and the world, "The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits!" (2Tim.2:6) "Bake me a little cake first, and afterward for thee and thy house!—For then saith the Lord God of Israel, thy barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall thy cruise of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth" (1Kings 17)‚ the end of the present world famine for the Word and the beginning of the plenteous Kingdom of God on earth!—That's God's law: God and His warning Worders the Prophets first!—Then He'll bless you yourselves with plenty thereafter!—Amen?

15. "NOW CONCERNING THE COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS, AS I HAVE GIVEN ORDER TO THE CHURCHES...EVEN SO DO YE: Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him‚ that there be no gatherings (collections) when I come!—And when I come (by Letter), whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them (your Letters) send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem (our present world Headquarters!)." 1Cor.16. "Muzzle not the ox that treadeth out the corn!"—Even if some of it's pretty corny! But, "the labourer is worthy of his hire!"—1Tim.5:18.—and "they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel!"—Amen?

16. "AM I NOT AN APOSTLE? ...ARE NOT YE MY WORK IN THE LORD? ...FOR THE PROOF OF MINE APOSTLESHIP ARE YE in the Lord! ... Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister? ... Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof, or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock?... He that plougheth should plow in hope, and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope (of harvest)! If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things... Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple (you!), and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the alter? (Sharers in your sacrifices unto God!)"

17. SO THE FARMER'S FOOD AND NECESSITIES ARE HIS SHARE OF THE PRODUCE of the harvest which helps him to continue being the Farmer and helping you to produce the fruit! This completes the cycle of indigenous farming or the indigenous church or Colony: Total indigenuity!—A totally self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing farm which also rewards the Farmer for his farming with its sustenance as they share together the blessings of God's increase with a Word-hungry World! This is God's own plan, in both His natural and spiritual kingdoms!—Praise the Lord?

18. ARE YOU A SELF-PROPAGATING COLONY PRODUCING GOD'S GOOD FRUIT WHOSE SEED IS IN ITSELF, HIS WORD FOR THE REPRODUCING OF MORE SOULS FOR HIS KINGDOM? Do you have your own printshop or faithful printer reprinting these seeds to produce more souls? Are you self-supporting, feeding of your own labours and feeding the Farmer too as well as others outside your farm with the bountiful harvest wherewith God is blessing you? Are you self-governing, bearing your own burdens of rulership in His Kingdom, growing strong and tall‚ able to carry your own branches and be as little care and trouble to your Farmer as possible? Are you really now?—Truly?

19. AND ARE YOU REMEMBERING TO SHARE GOD'S GOOD INCREASE WITH THE FARMER AND HIS HANDS WHO HELPED RAISE YOU? Are you truly indigenous—self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing—as well as remembering to reward your Husbandman as the first partaker of your fruits for his labours? If you are‚ thank you, and God bless you! If not, here's how you can be!:

20. SELF–PROPAGATING: PRODUCE YOUR OWN PROPAGANDA! TAKE THE SEEDS OF HIS WORDS THAT I SEND TO PLANT in your hearts and conceive and bring forth fruit that will help you reproduce these seeds on your own printing presses—or have the System print it for you if you can with their own super-sophisticated farm machinery and technological know-how, while you furnish them the seeds for reproduction‚ for they have super-duper mammoth mechanical incubators and hatcheries that can reproduce them by the millions while you're fiddling around trying to learn how to produce a few hundred on your home-made mimeograph bird's-nest-size printing equipment! They already know how and have the equipment to do it with and the time and labourers to do it, while you're the only ones in the world who really know how to get out and plow and plod and plant and water to make it grow!

21. WE ALREADY HAVE ABOUT FIFTY PRINTING CENTRES AROUND THE WORLD IN NEARLY AS MANY COUNTRIES WHICH ARE ALREADY DOING A TREMENDOUS JOB of this, but we need about 5,000 more, or thousands of printers who are willing to do it for us‚ so that every area can print its own with its own address in its own language and its own most effective style from the tiniest town to the biggest Bishopric! None of them should bear any international address like London, expect for the legally required microscopic fine print copyright credit in the small print just below the title on the first page!

22. ON THE BACK OR FRONT OR WHEREVER THERE'S ROOM TO PUT IT ON EACH PIECE OF LIT THERE SHOULD BE ONLY YOUR OWN LOCAL ADDRESS, so the local people will know where to find you or write you! Every Colony that's big enough to do its own printing and have its own office address or box number should also answer its own mail responses to its own lit and follow them up with further lit, answers, invitations or even personal visits if possible! Let each fold not only take care of its own sheep but its local "other sheep" as well and find and save them!—Not London! This will virtually do away with the necessity of any international offices except for a minimum of international administration—meaning to add their ministry to yours to help you add–minister!

23. THE INTERNATIONAL OFFICE THEN WILL ONLY HAVE TO ANSWER COLONY CORRESPONDENCE and communications and questions, compile computerised statistics from your reports and publish them and the worldwide New Nation News, MO Letters and any other necessary publications for worldwide Colony consumption only, to be reproduced by the Colonies themselves for their own disciples, friends and the general public, Colonies answering their own mail response therefrom, receiving their own gifts and donations or local sales income from the local sheep to whom they minister, preferably on the local Colony level! Until so able‚ your local District, Regional or Bishopric Office may have to do it for you.

24. OUR INTERNATIONAL OFFICE WILL THEN BE ONLY THE FARMER FURNISHING YOU FARM HANDS the seed and know-how to plant and reap yourselves and merely return to the Farmer his share of the harvest for his trouble in training you, supervising you, assigning your fields, furnishing the seed corn, answering your questions or helping with your problems, exchanging information and good harvest reports, issuing advice, telling you how to make or find your tools and labourers, how to sow, tend and reap and finally share your crop with others and the Farmer himself!—Amen?—This is what's called "share-cropping"! Are you willing to be a share-cropper for Jesus?—PTL!

25. GOD'S ORIGINAL STANDARD OF 10-PERCENT of your total-take for the Farmer and his Family, the Shepherd and his Staff, the High Priest and Levites of the temple headquarters who process your sacrifices and offerings for the Lord and issue you His instructions, would be a good start for those who can, the tithers‚ plus additional offerings from those whom God has blessed abundantly above their own needs to help the poor and make up for the lack of those who cannot. This would help the international Office of the Farmer to support his own Family, the Shepherd his own Staff, The Children of God their temple fellowlabourers who are helping them with the seed, tools, advice, lands‚ labourers, news and mobile communications with home-base at the ranch-house!—Amen?

26. THIS WOULD ALSO FREE THE FARMER FROM HAVING TO DO SO MUCH OF HIS OWN WORK of plowing, planting, tending and reaping for the mere support of his own Family locally so that they can give you more of their time, tools, labourers, counsel and seed for you and your fields instead of having to spend so much time, trouble, workers, housing, equipment‚ labour and expense on the ranch–house alone and much of the Family there who could be freed to help you in your fields!

27. SELF–SUPPORT AND SELF-GOVERNMENT: —WILL AUTOMATICALLY FOLLOW AS GOD BLESSES your own crops for your sacrifices and gives you greater independence and freedom from so much centralised control, freeing Farmer and Family to help you more personally in your field with what you need most: More seed, news, counsel‚ tools, labourers and finances to pioneer new fields! Be indigenous!—Amen? PTL!—You can!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family