Maria
May 5, 2003
By MariaCM/FM 3315 11/00 Maria #547
Dear Family,
1. God bless you! I know you're looking forward to some quality time with our amazing Husband, and you won't be disappointed! The Lord has poured forth some fascinating treasures from His Heavenly stores, and I believe you'll be pretty excited about the news He has to share with us!
2. Peter and I would like to kick off this Feast celebration by telling you how much we love and appreciate you! Each of you is very precious to us! Thanks for all you do to reach the lost and to make this Family the wonderful place that it is.
3. We hope you enjoyed the latest Action Series Letter, "That Banana There!" (ML #3313, GN 917). There was some inspiring news shared in that GN, and we pray it encouraged you to read about some of what's happening. If you haven't had a chance to read that GN thoroughly, please try to do so soon. It's packed with interesting information that's important to your Home and future.
4. But that GN doesn't contain all the good news that's happening these days. There are victories and progress on many fronts, so Peter has put together a few more tidbits about what's going on for this GN. This also only covers part of the action, but hearing of more steps forward will help you see that things are really on the move. We hope the following brief update, along with the last Action Series GN, will help to keep your vision focused and your hearts encouraged. Praise the Lord!
Activated and Other Happenings
5. (Peter:) There's a lot going on, and it's certainly the era of action! As I explained in Action Series #4‚ "That Banana There," some of this "action" is still in the inception and foundation-laying stages, and it takes time‚ prayer, and a lot of hard work behind the scenes to bring the fruit the Lord has promised to full fruition—but we're working on it! We in WS are doing our part, and we pray that you are doing your part to push Activated, to follow up on your sheep, and to let the Lord lead and guide you through the doors that He's promised to open in this era of action!
6. Over the past year we've made tremendous progress, which is manifested in all that's happening in the Family, primarily with the focus being on Activated and the Lord's challenge to feed His sheep and expand the Family. I'll only touch briefly on some of the advances and progress made over the past year since the era of action officially began, as we'll cover some of these in greater detail, as well as a number of other victories and accomplishments, in an upcoming "Year-end Review" GN.
7. Thank you‚ dear Family, for doing your part to obey the Lord and His challenge to you. You're the ones who are making Activated happen! You're the ones feeding the sheep and getting out the message! You're the ones who the Lord is using to be His mighty witnesses—and this is just the beginning. As we revamp our Family structure and obey what the Lord has asked of us‚ He's promised to heap on the blessings and empower us as never before!
8. Setting up the Activated program has been a monumental task. It has taken time to get set up and rolling, but it's catching on! Activated in India, in particular, is taking off! The number of subscriptions collected has shot up dramatically since May 2000. You're doing the job‚ India! Many Homes are beginning to distribute the Activated tools and products, and are finding them hot items. Mottos for Success is proving to be a favorite, and has been a big success in India. Try it in your city!
9. Undertaking the creation of a Family Board structure is also a monumental task. These things take time, but again, it's part of the era of action, and the Lord is moving us toward a better and more efficient and effective structure that will provide the framework for the era of action to be made complete. You'll be happy to know that we're coming close to finalizing the Family Board structure, and Lord willing, we hope to share the details and inner workings of this plan with you in full in the first half of 2001. Please keep this in your prayers!
CRO Meetings and
Family Board Structure
10. As we said in "That Banana There," in November we met with one CRO representative from each area in order to further discuss the board vision. Our next point of action will be to‚ Lord willing, finalize the planning of the board vision at Summit 2001. Please pray for our work on this monumental undertaking, which will benefit the overall Family structure. The Lord has promised that it will be a very good change, but we desperately need His help and guidance to fit all the pieces of the puzzle in place.
Activated Meetings in
Mexico and the U.S.!
11. As you've read in FSM 361, "Conéctate al Futuro—in Mexico," a team of CROs from NACRO and SACRO, along with some Family veterans in the field of follow-up, gathered in Mexico and the U.S., hosting a series of three-day meetings, helping to kick off the Activated/follow-up vision in those areas by sharing their personal experiences and tips on how to get a local Activated and discipleship explosion and fruitful work going.
12. From all that we've heard since, new Bible study groups, fellowships and get-togethers with the sheep and more committed live-outs and Family friends are springing up all over! Homes are catching the vision‚ and you can too! Be sure to tune in to these FSMs and avail yourself of the counsel and testimonies in them, so that you too can be part of the Activated and follow–up revolution that the Lord is bringing about!
Activated News from You!
13. In order to keep you abreast and informed about what other Homes and areas worldwide are doing in the Activated arena, we've begun a new series of FSMs, called Special Action FSMs. These go hand in hand with the Action Series GNs and are designed to promote Activated and follow-up, and provide you with a forum to share your tips, news, how-tos, lessons and victories on this topic. Send in your testimonies and photos, and we'll print them, D.V.!
Activated/Follow–up
Web Corner!
14. Yet another Activated/follow-up focus is taking off on the Members' Only site, where a corner is now devoted to Activated-related news‚ testimonies, running shiner stats and updates. There's also a question and answer column where your Activated related questions will be answered and posted for all.
15. You will find all Activated and follow-up related pubs posted there (we're still in the process of posting them, but they'll be there), as well as a variety of follow-up tools and material sent in by Family members around the world, such as a weekly feeding fax series called "Fax of Life" (courtesy of Anthony [Laban], Africa), a set of revised letters for the ECCC (Executive Counseling Correspondence Course, courtesy of Mary Dear and Home, Bombay), and more! (The "Treasure Hunts" will be posted soon too.) Check it out, and send in your contributions so that others can benefit.
Follow-up Class Book
And Handbook
16. As explained in Action Series #3, "The Family's Future and Expansion Program!" (ML #3308‚ GN 908)‚ a follow-up teacher's handbook and class book are in the works. Though the project is not finalized, we've begun to post individual chapters of The 12 Foundation Stones Class Book on the MO site—in the Activated corner—for you to begin downloading and using now. The Lord is serious about Activated‚ and therefore we're serious about getting you the tools and materials needed to do the job and feed the sheep!
17. If your Home hasn't seen or used this class book yet, be sure to get the introduction and initial chapters from the Activated corner on the MO site. Are you in a pinch with no time to prepare a Bible class? Unsure of what topics to teach your newly saved sheep first? It's all there in The 12 Foundation Stones Class Book! The classes are planned and prepared for you. All you've got to do is USE THEM!
Thailand News!
18. Publicity about the Family in Thailand has continued to explode, as Jonas and the singing team have been featured on countless TV shows and programs, and have basically become a household name. Through this, many opportunities and possibilities for witnessing and further advancement of our tools and message are becoming available to the Family there.
19. Initially‚ the Family members in Thailand weren't sure how much they should bring up Jonas and team's association with the Family; however, the Lord has brought the Family into the limelight too, to the point where some TV shows have featured "a-day-in-the-life of a Family Home!" When our Family members go on outreach in Thailand, it's common for them to be asked if they're part of "Jonas and his friends." This has been a great help to the Family's witness and CTP ministries there, as the Family is better known‚ and Jonas' sample of "becoming one" is a good sample and has tremendous appeal. So the music‚ the message, and the sample is getting out, praise our dynamic Husband!
20. Check out an upcoming Zine (#50) for an in-depth interview with Jonas and team. Take a look into their daily lives and how things have changed for them since the era of action!
Family in the Middle East
21. The Family in the Mideast also has a wonderful work going. We're not able to publish much about it, due to the sensitivity of the Mideast countries; however, we have quite a number of Family Homes in the area and they're doing a tremendous work, ministering to officials and very influential people and getting a message of hope, encouragement, and salvation to the poor and needy. They've had several opportunities to perform at various festivals throughout the area. During these festivals, they have distributed thousands of tracts which were received in prophecy specifically for the people of that particular country. The mass witnessing opportunities that the Family in the Middle East have had are now resulting in a substantial follow-up ministry, as our Family members continue to feed those who are hungry and desperate for the truth via mail.
22. Please keep these precious people in your prayers, and pray for our Family members, that the Lord will continue to give them wisdom, anointing, and protection in their witnessing.
The "Spirit of Africa"
23. I hope none of you missed out on reading FSM 364, which outlined the amazing way in which the Lord has been working for our Family in Liberia. (See page 18‚ "Awakened!") The story of CHEM and their hunger and desire to follow in the Family's footsteps—and even to be called after our name—is a fantastic fulfillment of the Lord's promises. As we obey and get out the message, feed the sheep—both in personal follow-up and through Activated—the Lord is bound to bring more hungry disciples along our path!
24. In Sierra Leone something similar is happening. On-fire catacombers who are hooked up to and being fed by Activated are witnessing up a storm and gaining new members and forming new groups‚ all wanting to be part of the Family. The team who originally got them saved and gave them the basic Bible classes to start rolling will soon return to follow up on them and help them further in reaching this sad and war-torn "paradise lost"!
25. While Andrew V. was still in Africa, he recorded six songs for NuBeat, using local Ugandan talent. Two of the songs, "Spirit of Africa" and "Soldier Boy," were sung by Richard Kawesa‚ a popular Ugandan singer who is born again and loves the Lord. He's been busy organizing concerts as well as radio and TV appearances to promote these songs in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda).
26. The songs have been a great success, with thousands flocking to his "Spirit of Africa" concerts in Tanzania, wearing "Spirit of Africa" T-shirts, holding each other's hands and raising them high while singing the catchy chorus, "It's the Spirit of Africa!" It seems the "Spirit of Africa" has a deep meaning for Africans. It means the spirit of unity, harmony‚ oneness, love‚ self-expression—all these things combined.
27. In Kenya‚ Kawesa performed the songs for the vice president of Kenya and the CEOs of the International Cricket Council and the Kenyan Cricket Association. They were so impressed by the song that they chose it as the theme song for the International Knockout 2000 Cricket Tournament, which was held in Nairobi in October. This is the largest International cricket tournament after the World Cup, attracting a crowd of around 50,000 people at the grounds and a worldwide TV audience of three million viewers (all the former British colonies). The "Spirit of Africa" was played at the beginning of every telecast, and was heard on every TV ad around the world that advertised the tournament. [Note: This song has apparently been chosen for cricket's next World Cup match as well, to be held in a few years.]
28. Kawesa has also been doing radio and newspaper interviews to promote Andrew V.'s song "Soldier Boy"—child soldiers being a very pertinent topic in Africa. Last we heard, "Soldier Boy" had reached number 2 in the Kenyan top 10.
EE Mail Ministry Home's
10-Year Anniversary!
29. For years the Lord has used the Eastern European Mail Ministry Home to answer the over 289,000 letters they've received from people who have written us after having received a piece of Family literature—either on the streets or through a relative or friend. In August, the MM Home celebrated its tenth anniversary—ten years of following Dad's vision to feed the hungry of Eastern Europe after the Iron Curtain fell. They've been feeding people in 13 different languages and have sent out 665,000 mailings with over 8 million pages of lit, which have resulted in over 50,000 souls saved. (These are just those people who wrote in saying that they had prayed the prayer on the literature—there are probably many more who didn't write in, others who received the Lord as a result of reading a mailing sent to a relative or friend‚ etc.)
30. With the advent of the era of action, the Lord has led us to take a good hard look at this follow–up ministry to reassess everything in light of the Lord's new commission and promises to us. As a result, the MM teams have been working on revising the old follow-up course into a new shorter one, with the goal being that the sheep can more quickly begin receiving the Lord's New Wine and be ready to move on to the same Basic Course that will be used for those who have been receiving the Activated mailings.
31. MM/Activated delegates meetings have been held in Ukraine, Hungary and Romania, and Homes in those countries are now actively collecting people's addresses to send in to the MM team. Translators are also working on translating many of the Activated booklets (Understanding God's Word, Hearing from Heaven, Discovering Truth—Bible Basics, From Jesus With Love, etc.) into various EE languages, and soon the majority of these books will be in print in Hungarian, Romanian, Croatian, Albanian, Russian and Ukrainian (with the other EE languages soon to follow). Please pray that the Lord will raise up translators for this enormous job and supply the finances for both the translating and printing.
32. (Mama:) That's some pretty significant Activated progress! Thank the Lord, things are really moving! You will be thrilled to see‚ as you read the messages the Lord gave for this Feast celebration, that our amazing, miracle-working Husband is making a way for us to do even more for Him! He's doing all He can to make it possible for us to fulfill our destiny‚ so our part is to do our best to follow where He's leading. We've got a glorious future ahead of us, and so much to look forward to! Hang on for the ride of your life! Praise the Lord!
Prayer Requests
33. As you read in GN 918, the Lord is asking each of us to spend 30 minutes a day during this Feast celebration in intercessory prayer. Here are some prayer requests which we'd appreciate your keeping in mind during your vigils and your times of united prayer.
34. Thank you, dear Family, for your faithful prayers. We know they avail much and we will see the fruit of them. We have so much to be thankful for and to praise the Lord for!
Thankfulness Prayer
35. We praise You, wonderful King and Lover! We thank You for all You're accomplishing through the Family. We thank You for Your love for us, for how You've chosen us, and that even though we are weak, You work through us and accomplish a marvelous work. We know‚ precious One, that it's only because of You in us that we are able to do these things, and we don't take this lightly. Thank You for choosing us to be vessels of Your love and power.
36. We praise You, Jesus, for the great privilege You give us, that You've chosen us to be Your brides and to spread Your message to the world. Thank You for this honored place of service where we can be a blessing to others, for the privilege of being Your intimate brides‚ the ones who carry Your fresh, new, living Words for today.
37. We love You and praise You, our dear Husband, for taking such good care of us, for providing all our needs, for Your protection and safekeeping. Thank You for staying the hand of our enemies, for raising up a standard against the attacks of the Evil One. Thank You for being our Great Physician, for Your healing touch, and that though we have afflictions‚ You deliver us out of them all.
38. Thank You for being our Counselor and Guide, for answering every question we bring to You, for giving us detailed instruction. Thank You that no question is too big or too small for You to concern Yourself with. Thank You for hearing us out‚ for giving us this never-failing means of communication with You.
39. Thank You for the power of prayer, that through our prayer channels we can come to the aid of those in need. Thank You that Your power is always on, that Your ear is always open to us. Thank You for giving us this direct hotline to Heaven, for the tremendous means we have at our disposal to tap in to Your power source.
40. Thank You for the insight You give us into situations, into people's hearts and lives and the world around us. Thank You for revealing the future to us. Thank You for your life-giving Words, which You pour out to us so abundantly.
41. Thank You for choosing us to bring Your message to the world in the Time of the End. It's an awesome responsibility, a daunting task‚ one that almost scares us, but we trust You to do the work through us. Thank You, wonderful Lover, for this priceless privilege to be Your representatives in these Last Days.
42. Thank You for propelling us onward in the era of action. Thank You for the renewed anointing You've given us. We never could have dreamed it was possible to do the great things You've promised to do through us, but we know You're not going to fail. Thank You that You never have. You've never let us down‚ never forsaken us‚ never left our side. Thank You that where You guide, You also provide our every need.
43. Thank You‚ precious One, for the challenges before us. Thank You for all the good changes You bring our way, and that You never allow us to stagnate or get settled down to where we grow self-satisfied and self-centered. We love You and praise You for the fresh new vision You've given us, for keeping us stirred up and on our toes.
44. Thank You for the era of action and that it's already begun, it's a reality. It's absolutely thrilling to watch it unfold, to see the advancements and progress that are already being made‚ just as You promised!
45. Thank You for giving us the tremendous Activated vision. Thank You for our Activated future. Thank You for giving us a workable program to get the job done and for giving us the vision to follow up on those we meet. Thank You for the vision to expand, and for the plan You've given us that will bring this about. Thank You for helping us to get back to the basics of witnessing and spreading Your truth, of winning souls and new disciples, of opening our doors and broadening the borders of our tents, of feeding the sheep. Thank You, our Miracle Worker, for using us to reap this last great harvest. We know our future is as bright as Your promises, and You've certainly heaped plenty of those upon us, and we thank You for each one.
46. We love You, sweet Jesus, and we just can't thank You enough for the new horizons ahead. Thank You for the tools You've put into our hands, for books and magazines, new tracts and flyers, tapes, videos, and CDs that will help us spread Your truth. Thank You for our websites and that we can use this means to spread the message.
47. Thank You for the wonderful way You're using the Family around the world from north to south and east to west‚ in far-flung mission fields. Thank You for the doors You've opened and for helping us to reach the world—from reaching the top, to ministering to the hungry, the desperate and the poor in war-torn lands and disaster areas and in countries that have barely heard the Gospel.
48. Thank You for making us a multifaceted body of believers, diverse in talents and areas of service, but a body that is fitly joined, united in visions and goals, all heading in the same direction, one in mind, heart and spirit‚ joining forces to accomplish Your will in these Last Days.
49. Thank You, Jesus‚ for being our constant Companion, our faithful Husband, our Lover and Guiding Light. Thank You for holding us and comforting us and giving us the faith we need to keep forging ahead. Thank You for giving Your angels charge over us, and for giving us spirit helpers and guides and unlimited help from Heaven.
50. Thank You that though we have tests and trials, You see us through them and we always come out better for it in the end. Thank You that You make us strong‚ and for the opportunities You give us to allow our faith to be stretched, for the battles and the tests that help us to grow. We thank You, precious Savior, for being our Husband‚ for caring for us and taking us into Your bed of love and giving us Your seeds.
51. Thank You for the amazing and inspiring challenges that lie before us! Thank You for a Family of loving, caring brothers and sisters, friends and mates and loved ones. Thank You for our children‚ our hope of the future. Thank You for our faithful long-time veterans who have stuck it out through the years. Thank You for melting us together, young and old alike.
52. We have so much to thank You for, dear Jesus; words fail us to express all the thankfulness in our hearts. Thank You for Your power and light and love that You so lavishly pour out on us. Thank You for being our King and Savior, as well as our Best Friend, our Soul Mate, our intimate Lover.
53. Thank You for opening Your heart and life to us‚ for sharing Your Own personal lessons and the private details of Your life, for giving us Your life-giving, strengthening Words and the solution to every problem, the key to every lock. Thank You for filling us with faith and the power to fulfill our destiny.
54. Thank You for providing this time for us when we can find rest and repose, when we can pull away from our busy daily routines and come into Your presence and commune with You. Thank You for this time to feast on Your Words, for this time when we can lie in Your arms and be refreshed and renewed. Thank You for this priceless privilege we have to retreat into Your presence, when we can unite in heart, mind and spirit, for this time when we can love You intimately and listen to Your voice.
55. Bless these days, dear Lord. Bless the Family everywhere as we enter this time of our Feast celebration. Help each Family member to take full advantage of these days. Please keep away distractions, anything that would hinder or pull them away from You. Keep each one's mind and heart; help us all to focus fully on what You have to share in these days. Make these days a time of great strengthening and renewal.
56. Bless the Family around the world as they devote these days to communing with You and hearing Your voice. Make this a powerful time of prayer as we intercede for the many requests You've committed to our care. Give each of us the strength for these days; create in each of us a great vacuum, a tremendous hunger for Your Words and Spirit. Give us concentration and focus; help us to greatly benefit from this time. Help us all to put aside any weights or burdens, to lay it all on Your altar, entrusting it to Your care, so we can rest in Your strong arms and receive all You have to give us.
57. Thank You, our dear, faithful Husband, for all the tremendous gifts You have for us. We're nothing, Lord‚ but You are everything. Thank You for the great privileges You've given us. We dedicate these days to You—please make them all that You want them to be. Thank You‚ dearest Love. We need You so much. We love and adore You. We want all You have to give us during this time. Please fill us with Your Spirit. We're Yours; we give You our hearts, our time, our love, our affection, our undivided attention, our all! We praise You, wonderful Lord!
58. God bless you, dear Family, as you go into this Feast Celebration 2001. Peter and I pray it is rejuvenating for each of you‚ and that you have a wonderful time of fellowship with each other and the Lord.
Much love in our amazing Answer Man‚
Mama