—MOMarch 23, 1971NO.60—LTA

WITNESSING—MO'S GOOD EXAMPLE OF CATHY

1. My dearly beloved children: Greetings again in Jesus' name! Thank you again for your many faithful reports, logs, and letters, including your interesting enclosures. It would have thrilled your hearts this morning if you could have seen the face of OUR BEAUTIFUL 13-YEAR-OLD FRENCH WAITRESS when she excitedly brought us your letters from Jesse, Nicholas and Dupa of Rahel's English class. She cannot read English, although she can speak it, having learned some in school, but has picked up most of it from her boss and the British tourists. However, she can read French, as both her parents were French, and also she can read Greek, because all classes in school here are in Greek, which she can also speak. Having spent several years of her little life in Italy, she can also speak some Italian; but her father being an exclusive French chef, moving frequently around from job to job, from country to country, she did not learn to be too literate in any of these languages. Nevertheless, with the help of her mother‚ who also speaks and reads some English, they had managed to decipher enough of your letters to be quite excited about them! God bless you! We had not expected so quick a RESPONSE TO OUR APPEAL FOR PEN PALS‚ and so were quite pleasantly surprised ourselves. Praise the Lord! Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord!

2. WE HAD BEEN WORKING ON CATHY AND HER MOTHER FOR SOME TIME, but both her mother and her boss, a sort of foster father, due to her own father's recent death‚ are typical 10:36ers, after the usual fashion! Her selfish mother was putting up the usual pitiful tale about how you can't leave me here all alone with your little sisters and no job, and your dear father who is buried here‚ just when Cathy had about decided to go with us; so she came back and said she could not leave her mother, her dead father, and two little sisters.

3. HER BOSS ALSO‚ OUR LANDLORD, IS THE FAMILY'S LEGAL SPONSOR, as well as their employer‚ since they are French immigrants whose living must be guaranteed by him—and he was very anxious to keep Cathy as a very good and hard-working waitress. They know nothing of child labour laws over here, and many are virtually slaves to their employers! She was working from six in the morning to eleven at night, waiting on tables, washing dishes, scrubbing floors, helping with the cooking, baby-sitting for her employer's children‚ and even cleaning rooms! It's almost unbelievable how much a girl so young and so frail could do. When her mother took sick‚ she had to do all of her mother's work and her own besides, as well as to try to care for her mother and two small sisters at home in the bargain. And remember, she's only thirteen! Some American girls don't even know how to wash dishes or sweep the floor at that age, they have been so pampered by their parents!

4. BUT THIS GIRL DID HER WORK CHEERFULLY AND SEEMED TO ENJOY IT! It's true, she is rather precocious and full-grown for her age, very beautiful, and could easily be taken for 18 or 21 with her hair done up—and she's certainly doing more than the work of a woman that age, as well as showing the responsibility and maturity of a grown woman in many respects!

5. BUT STILL HER CHILDISH HEART WAS OVERJOYED AT THE SIGHT OF YOUR LETTERS—to think that someone really cared enough about her to write her a letter from half-way around the world in the dreamland of America—the place that everybody in the world wants to go! I think some of them think that it's Heaven on earth, and that its streets are paved with gold, and they would like to have some of it! However, she was sacrificially choosing to stay at home to take care of her poor mother and little sisters, although WE OFFERED TO TAKE HER WITH US TO GO TO OUR SCHOOL IN AMERICA!

6. SO WE NEARLY GAVE UP, FELT THAT WE HAD DONE OUR PART, DELIVERED OUR SOULS, and had done all we could do‚ and were somewhat relieved, as the case presents many problems; so we just put her in the Lord's Hands and said, "Lord‚ if you want her to go, we've done all we can do; now You'll have to do it"! Our landlord, who claims to be an atheist, but always wants to argue religion, and when he's not full of the Devil, is really a rather kind-hearted man, suddenly got very angry with her and her mother, first fired her mother, and a few days later fired Cathy, and notified the immigration authorities he could no longer be responsible for this little orphan French family; which means that sooner or later, they will have to leave the country! GOD HAS WAYS OF MAKING FOLKS SAY "UNCLE", AND THE SELFISH MOTHER, WHO IS TRYING TO HANG ON TO CATHY, WAS NOW LOSING EVERYTHING, and has now told her she can go; and her former employer claims he has now washed his hands of the whole affair, and says he thinks it would be good for her‚ that if he had had such a chance when a young man, he would have taken it! However, both mother and employer are very emotional‚ excitable‚ and frequently possessed; so it'll still take a miracle, and CATHY HERSELF, WAS STILL TORN BETWEEN HER DESIRE TO GO AND HER LOYALTY TO HER FAMILY.

7. THIS MORNING YOUR PRECIOUS LETTERS OF LOVE ARE HELPING TO TURN THE TIDE! She was overjoyed as we read them to her, and said, "How can they love me so much when they don't even know me?" And we told her of course‚ it's like you said, "The Love of Jesus!" She wants to answer your letters, but since she cannot write English, is going to dictate a reply to our little secretary, which may be enclosed! REMEMBER, IT WILL STILL TAKE A MIRACLE, but God is able! SO SIN NOT IN CEASING TO PRAY FOR HER! Amen.

MINISTRY OF THE MAIL—ROUTING—TYPING—AND ANSWERING

8. SO THIS ANOTHER VISIBLE RESULT OF YOUR MINISTRY OF THE MAIL, which even the least of you can have, and which is beginning to reap fruit around the world! This also reminds me that WE DID NOT QUITE COMPLETE OUR SERIES OF LESSONS TO YOU ON THE HANDLING OF "LETTERS"! I think we got as far as the reading and marking of incoming mail; and THIS IS AS GOOD A PLACE AS ANY TO ADD THE FINAL TOUCHES REGARDING ROUTING FROM THERE ON. I'm speaking particularly for the benefit of you smaller colonies who do not have a highly technical staff and large, well-organised office with many labourers. Your little operation is almost as small as ours here, so the way we handle our mail has a little more personal touch and is probably better for you!

9. AFTER READING AND MARKING A LETTER‚ REPORT OR LOG, THOSE WHICH ARE MARKED WITH A BIG RED X AND HAVE BEEN CHECKED WITH POINTS TO BE ANSWERED ARE PUT IN A SPECIAL PILE OF MAIL TO BE ANSWERED. Of course‚ you shouldn't let this grow to a pile, if you can help it; but try to work on it every day, and answer all of it each day as it comes in, if you can. "Time is short‚ and the days are evil, and we must work the works of Him that has sent us while it is yet day, for the night cometh when no man can work" (Jn.9.4), so TRY TO KEEP YOUR WORK CURRENT, AND UP-TO–DATE. I don't know if any of you smaller colonies have as much mail to answer as we do, since we are receiving mail regularly from all of you but if you are, you've got a full time job for at least one or two of you, along with writing your own logs and reports, as we do. These letters we write are our reports to you and answers to yours.

10. AT THIS POINT IN THE OPERATION, YOU WILL PROBABLY ROUTE THE INCOMING LETTER WITH A NOTATION AS TO HOW IT'S TO BE ANSWERED, WHAT PARAGRAPHS TO USE‚ AND WHAT SPECIAL ANSWER IS NEEDED‚ if any, to whatever secretary is assigned to this task, who will then type it, or have it typed, probably in triplicate‚ to keep copies for their file for reference, and return the answer clipped to the original letter to the official secretary for her approval, who will either then sign it with her own name as official secretary for the boss, or pass it on to him‚ if that important, for his final approval and personal signature, which he then places in a box or tray for the one who does the final folding, stuffing, stamping, and sealing, removing of stamps from the incoming envelope, filing of the incoming letter or passing it on, if of special interest to whoever takes care of public group reading.

11. THE SEALING OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT IS LEFT UNTIL THE VERY LAST, in case at the last moment, due to any further information, any additions, PS's, corrections, enclosures‚ or changes need to be made‚ and WHOEVER'S IN CHARGE OF FINAL SEALING, WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, SEALS YOUR LETTER AND DELIVERS IT TO YOUR POSTMAN, AS WELL AS CHECKING AND DOUBLE-CHECKING THE ADDRESS, RETURN ADDRESS, AND PROPER POSTAGE. WE ALSO LAY HANDS ON OUR OUTGOING MAIL, AND PRAY FOR IT that he Lord will bless and keep it, and use it for His Glory, which is even safer than trusting the postal system, which can fail, without the help of God. So don't forget to pray!—Always!

12. THE REMOVAL OF THE CANCELLED STAMPS FROM THE OLD ENVELOPE, especially of all these foreign stamps you're getting from us and places all over the world, because they ARE VALUABLE AND CAN BE COLLECTED AND SOLD for a good price to philatelists, or stamp collectors, which means more money to buy new stamps for your outgoing mail! Amen?

A MAIL LOG—SHOULD BE KEPT—HOW

13. BE SURE TO MARK ON THE INCOMING LETTER THE DATE IT WAS ANSWERED, AND ENTER THIS DATE IN YOUR LETTER LOG BEFORE FILING IT AWAY IN ITS PROPER PLACE. A letter log should be kept in all colonies for the sake of your own records with a brief notation listing the items of mail received each day, along with the date received in the incoming section, plus the date answered in the outgoing section for ready reference of the progress of your mail, and what was in it, both incoming and outgoing. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN YOU WANT TO CHECK and see if a certain party had already received your answer‚ either before or after he wrote again, etc. And, for another example‚ in our case, it saves you another bawling out from me, when I see you're still doing the same things I told you not to; but I refer to my records and find you haven't had time to receive my recent directive on the subject, so you're spared a little while longer, and given a little more time to repent!

ADD NAMES TO YOUR MAILING LIST

14. BEFORE FINAL FILING OF THE ANSWERED LETTER IN ITS PROPER SECTION—filed perhaps by areas, or colonies, or types of correspondence, such as donors, applicants, inquiries, officials, 10:36ers, kids‚ testimonials, complaints, etc., etc.—YOU WILL WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT FRIENDLY NAMES ARE PUT ON YOUR MAILING LIST FOR YOUR REGULAR PERIODICAL PRAYER LETTER‚ NEWSPAPER, ETC., WHICH SHOULD BE SENT TO ALL friends, donors, friendly parents, friendly visitors, interested youth, etc.—And here your Ministry of the Mail continues in an ever-widening circle of witnessing to others around the world whom you hope to help, win, gain as disciples, or be helped by. The possibilities are limitless‚ like the harvest fields so white‚ and there will always be more than enough for the labourers so few! DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MINISTRY OF THE MAIL! AND DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE IN THIS EACH MEMBER'S LETTERS TO HOME AND FRIEND!

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAVING ON POSTAGE

15. ONE FINAL, VERY IMPORTANT ITEM ON THE MINISTRY OF THE MAIL: SOME OF YOU ARE SOMETIMES GUILTY OF NOT GETTING THE LORD'S MONEY WORTH OUT OF YOUR POSTAGE, and are not filling your envelopes with as much as your stamp could carry. Recently, Cincy, you sent us two single sheets of paper separately in two different envelopes of the same price that you could have mailed six in one, or fifty cents worth of postage; or you could have mailed both, which were mailed on the same day, and received the same day here, anyhow, in one envelope for the price of one 25-cent stamp‚ instead of two! In fact‚ you could have even sent three sheets in one lightweight airmail envelope for only 25 cents. This may seem insignificant, but envelopes cost money, your time in addressing them is worth more than money, and this makes double work, as well as double the postage, double the envelopes, and this can soon mount up, if multiplied by 52 times a year, or once a week. And not to mention the time and labour in a year's time—how much more postage and envelopes could you buy for the Lord for that wasted $15.00 in a year's time! It could almost double your office expenses! Maybe the one report was a little late, and you didn't want to delay it for the other; but eventually both were mailed the same day, and received the same day, so you might as well have waited. THIS MAY SEEM LIKE A SMALL THING, BUT "HE THAT IS FAITHFUL IN THAT WHICH IS LEAST, IS ALSO FAITHFUL IN THAT WHICH IS MUCH" (Lu.16:10), so don't despise the day of small things (Zech.4:10). Even a little faith, no bigger than a grain of mustard seed can remove a mountain (Mt.17:20); so if you'll save a few of these little grains of postage, they can help move a mountain of mail.

16. ALSO, THE FULL QUOTA OF SHEETS OF PAPER IN AN ENVELOPE, ESPECIALLY THESE THIN AIRMAIL ENVELOPES, HELP TO REINFORCE AND STRENGTHEN THEM, so they're not so easily damaged. Remember, in one of these lightweight airmail envelopes you can safely send with the Lord's help, three sheets of airmail paper (the tissue-thin onion–skin type‚ even legal size, like ours) for only one 25-cent stamp, and eight sheets in one envelope, for only two stamps, and 13 sheets in one envelope‚ for three stamps, which is about the limit to what these envelopes can hold safely. So you see‚ the more you send in a single envelope‚ the more you save; because, for each additional half ounce after the first one, you're sending only sheets of paper‚ and not another envelope—and this also saves time in addressing, stamping, mailing, and trips to the post office. EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS! LET'S BE GOOD STEWARDS OF GOD'S GIFTS. WHEN GOD FINDS HE CAN TRUST YOU WITH A LITTLE, TINY LITTLE THINGS LIKE A FEW PENNIES' POSTAGE, HE'LL GIVE YOU MORE!

17. Not only this, but my dear little reminder just reminded me not to forget to tell you, especially YOU SHEPHERDS, FROM WHOM I HAVE REQUESTED A BRIEF, WEEKLY REPORT mailed directly to me, that if you have nothing else to send with your report, although you should have the week's log, etc.‚ YOU CAN, IF YOU WISH, SAVE POSTAGE ON AN INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL REPORT OR LETTER, BY USING ONE OF THESE LITTLE, BLUE, INTERNATIONAL AIRMAIL LETTER FORMS, which cost you there only 13 cents each, half the price of the usual stamp, and are big enough that you could almost write a week's log on it, along with a paragraph of your personal report‚ and fold up into a tiny envelope and mail at half the price of the normal airmail letter. Some of you have already used these for personal letters to us, and I commend you for it: but remember, you cannot enclose anything else in them—not even one scrap of additional paper, or they will send it surface mail, and it'll take it more than a month to get here. Also, if you have more than one sheet to send, and at least as high as three sheets, you can save postage by sending them in one airmail envelope with a normal 25 cent postage stamp.—Every little bit helps! WHAT'S WILLFULLY WASTED WILL BE WILLFULLY WANTED SOME DAY! WASTE HURTS YOU AND THE LORD!—AND ME! Maybe this is why God now trusts me with you and so much more! And this is also why you will find that it's no coincidence that our letters to you are nearly always either three, eight, or thirteen pages long, and written on from the North to the South, and the East to the West, coast to coast, and shore to shore, top to bottom, and side to side! I don't even like it when my little secretary fails to fill a line to the very end and the edge of the paper, or paragraphs too soon, or indents too far—it wastes so much paper! Wow! You didn't know anybody could be that saving, did you? Well, remember, SALVATION IS OUR BUSINESS; WE EVEN SAVE PAPER AND POSTAGE STAMPS! Amen? It may be hard to read‚ but it makes talk a whole lot cheaper! (Gotta fill out this line.)

PROOF READING IS IMPORTANT

18. Finally, Brethren and Sistern‚ while we're on the subject of the Mail Ministry of the New Colonies, as well as the Old, let me say this to our dear publishers at GHQ: I know you can't do this with anything as urgent as the prayer letters or newspapers, but if possible, on any major publications, which can be delayed a few days, it might be well for me to see the final draft for my final approval for suggestions which might be helpful, even corrections in your spelling, I notice! You've done some beautiful jobs lately, which contain some laughable errors‚ which could destroy the soberness of your Message! AT LEAST SOMEBODY OUGHT TO PROOFREAD THEM! Not everybody can spell or use even basic grammar. (My secretary just asked me how to spell "grammar"!—See?) O.K.? ONE TINY ERROR CAN CHANGE THE WHOLE MEANING‚ OR REFLECT ON YOUR ACCURACY! Billy Sunday asked a little lad the way to the post office, then promised to show him the way to Heaven, but he replied: "How can you‚ when you don't even know the way to the post office?"

CATHY'S LETTERS

19. AND AS A CONCLUSION TO THE MINISTRY OF THE MAIL, we now present to you CATHY OUR BEAUTIFUL YOUNG FRENCH WAITRESS, who is now helping us with the mail, as our assistant secretary‚ WITH HER REPLY TO THOSE WHO WROTE HER LETTERS!

Dear Jesse, My age is almost 14, and I am French, and I live in Famagusta, Cyprus. Cyprus is very nice. In Cyprus now, there are already flowers, because it's already warm, and everybody goes swimming. We have oranges, and some other fruits. And I would like to go in America, but now I cannot because, my Mommy she's sick, and not ready to work now, so I have to work to help my Mommy, and when my Mommy can work‚ then I can come. And I am not the religion of you—I am Catholic‚ and I believe also in the God, in Jesus, but there are some different things, it is not the same. In your religion, when we are sick, you pray, but we pray and we call the doctor to help us, and God help them, because we say, help yourself, then God help you, and there are some other things not the same, (I can't say I love Him, because I don't know Him, because we don't say that.) I want a photography first, and I will send my photography when I can make one. And I want to say he will write to me quickly and the photography quickly. Thank you for writing me. Sincerely, Your friend.

20. Dear Nicholas‚ I am the same age as you are, and I can not come to live because my Mommy's sick‚ and I must baby sitter to help my Mommy. About a year my Daddy die, and I am also a little bit crazy, not crazy, but bad girl, but I love very much my Mommy and I start to be a good girl, and I will like to come in America to ride the horse, because I never be in the horse. I am not your religion, I am Catholic, but I love Jesus‚ and I love God‚ and Maria, how you say‚ Mary. The true religions from the Rome, Maria, she don't make love for have a baby‚ an angel come and say Maria you are going to have the baby, and God give the Jesus to her, cause Adam made a mistake, and God said you are going to make love to make a baby, and after everybody make love to have a baby. What mistake she make—because one day there was one tree with apple, and the God said I am going to sleep and I don't want nobody touch this tree and eat the apple, and afterward come this serpent and said to Eve, Go ahead to eat one apple‚ that's not make nothing to eat one apple, and she was really hungry, and said to Adam, take with me, and she said why‚ Jesus said don't touch, but they both eat, and after God come and see they eat apple, and He said now for punish you, I will make something for all the world going to do it, to have a baby for don't have a clean baby, like we make now, for your punishment. (You don't think it's alright to make love?) Maybe it good, maybe not good.

21. I was learning English, but I stopped, because my teacher was very bad woman, and now I finish school, and I know some French, but not enough, and I study Greek to read and write and I will love to go to learn some English in your school; like you said, it is very good school; but only for six months, because I am not allowed to go more, and maybe after, I will go again in America to finish and start again to learn. I clean the dishes, I cook for my mother and my sister, who are going to school now in Cyprus‚ and everybody eat and after I clean the dishes, and after I read a little bit from Mickey Mouse. I read every day a book about Jesus, who is the Bible of the day. I write in the afternoon on the day I have the letter, but the picture I don't have it of me, only when I was very young‚ and I cannot send. In the second letter, I can maybe send it, and please write me quickly and send the picture. A picture not too young, who is the same age. (a recent picture) I want to say I love him like a brother, and I send you my love. Sincerely, Your friend, Cathy.

22. Dear Dupa—Who are you?—a girl or a boy? I think you're a boy, because your name sounds like a boy. I thank you for praying for my mother, because you help me to pray, she is a little bit better. And Cyprus, too, is beautiful, the sun comes quickly, the flowers and everything come quickly‚ and pretty soon you can go swimming. And I can swimming like a fish‚ I want to know if you swim like that. Everything I take (learn) quickly‚ and I am going fishing‚ and sometime I take some fish a little big, and sometimes so small I cannot see them. Every morning I give some milk from all the cats, they wait me at the door, because every morning I give a big cup to the cats. In the night, after dinner, I give the rest of the food to the cats, they love it. I have also many sisters, not many, one more big of me, and two others smaller than me, one nine, and one eleven, and I make four, and I want to know how old you are and I will say how old I am. I am near 14. Every Sunday I am going in the church, 7 o'clock‚ and I have a big book from the Sunday School about Baby Jesus, and we learn some sing, from the Jesus‚ but I am Catholic, and I believe also in the God, but some things are different, and if you want to know, I say it to Nicholas in the letter. We have palm trees and mimosa trees and many others—I have only one in my house—mimosa, they have leaves on them now, because it is cold in Texas, but warm here. We have a cukcukcukcuk (cocks) also and dogs and cats; we don't have many cows, also no many horse. I would like to ride horse. Now I say Bye Bye and we cannot write any more. I don't know whether you are brother or sister, so I love you like a friend.

PENPALS—A GOOD EXAMPLE—CATHY

23. WELL, PRAISE THE LORD! THERE'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE MINISTRY OF THE MAIL, AND HOW TO ANSWER YOURS, IMMEDIATELY, THE VERY SAME DAY. Cathy came in this morning at breakfast with your letters that she and her Mother had just read, and wanted us to help her answer them; so we told her we would do so after our work was done this afternoon. So we had just finished writing you the first three pages of this epistle on the Ministry of the Mail, when she showed up, ready for action!—And my little secretary readily obliged, to help her by taking her dictation in her own words, since she herself cannot write English, although she can speak it fairly well‚ as you can see by the preceding page of her answer to you.

24. At first we suggested, when she began, that she write all three of you together, such as, "Dear Jesse, Nicholas, and Dupa‚" but she said, "no, no, no!"—"I want to write each one of them something different"—and she would have it no other way. YOU HAD WRITTEN TO HER SEPARATELY, SO SHE WANTED TO ANSWER YOU IN KIND, dear little girl, she is so precious! So the preceding page is the result in her own words, just as she dictated it. First she would ask me to read a little of your letter, until she would stop me and say, "Yes‚ I want to say about that", and then she would tell us what she wanted to say—then we would read a little bit more‚ until she stopped us again, and wanted to say something about that! IT WAS REALLY SWEET THE WAY SHE DID IT‚ WITH REAL FAITHFULNESS AND THOROUGHNESS, NOT WAITING TO FORGET ANYTHING OR LEAVE ANYTHING OUT‚ AND TO BE SURE TO ANSWER EACH THING FOR EACH OF YOU! What an example of faithfulness and promptness in the Ministry of the Mail—and she wanted to answer them this very day that she had received yours, another very good sample of how to take care of the mail.

25. WE COULD NOT TELL HER WHAT TO WRITE, for whenever we suggested something, she often said, "no, no, it's not like that", or "no, no, I cannot tell them I love them like that, but like a sister, for I do not know them", and she wanted to be very honest with you, and make it very clear that her Catholic religion was not exactly like ours, nor her views on healing, prayer, lovemaking, babies, etc.! My God, what false doctrines the Catholics have been responsible for, and how many little ones like her they've caused to stumble! Surely Hell will have to be enlarged for their leaders—but she is still young and impressionable, and the Lord's Hand is surely upon her, or He would not have sent her to us;—so there is still hope! Keep praying!

26. AFTER COMPLETING YOUR LETTERS, SHE SAT THOUGHTFULLY FOR A FEW MOMENTS‚ THEN SHE SAID EMPHATICALLY, "I WANT TO GO, I WANT TO GO!—And I will go! She will see what trouble I make if she don't let me go! I can be very bad girl if she don't let me go! You don't know how bad I can be!" She said, "I can be very bad girl when I want to do something, and she have to let me!"—Quite obviously she was referring to her selfish mother, who is apparently hanging on to her for dear life! As you can see, selfish parents are the same the world over, God help kids! Well, we hope this will help you pray for her even more! She's so sweet and eager!

27. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PERSONAL INDULGENCE IN THIS TINY LITTLE PERSON A WORLD AWAY FROM YOU! God bless you for your interest and prayers! She is a good sample of the needs of youth the world over, as children and parents are the same everywhere! Pray! Soon you will be in London, God willing, as the beginning of our major invasion of Europe; a colony in England could solve the problem of many of these little ones who cannot afford to go all the way to America, yet whose home countries are so conservative, religiously bigoted and antagonistic, that colonies in them would not be feasible. To them, a trip to America sounds like, and is almost as impossible as‚ a trip to the moon, but trips to England are quite common, inexpensive, and within the realm of probability. Many of them even have relatives there, and some have already visited there themselves—But America is another world to them, and terribly expensive compared to their poverty-stricken condition!

28. For example, the cheapest flights from here, even only as far as New York City, are over $400.00, but they can go to London by boat and train for only $100.00!—So you can see there's quite a difference, and we hope that London will be the answer to the needs of the youth of Europe and the Mid-East, and the springboard to even further! Please pray that the Lord will make this possible. It certainly looks like He's working in that direction, in every way! For example, we could easily take young Cathy as far as London for a very little cost, and perhaps not as strong objections from her family; but America is like going to Heaven, never to return, and to them, even more expensive! So London could solve a lot of problems for these!

HOW TO GET MARRIED

29. Before you proceed with our advice on the personnel of new teams and colonies‚ I would like to reply to the very urgent needs of a number of you who have written me regarding marriage. Thank you for your sweet letters! I have already stated recently that I DON'T KNOW WHY WE HAVEN'T HAD MORE MARRIAGES LATELY, AND SO MANY OF OUR LEADERS ARE STILL WITHOUT MATES, THOUGH THERE ARE MANY AVAILABLE, QUALIFIED GIRLS! FIRST, THE TWO OF YOU MUST AGREE ON IT‚ THEN APPLY TO YOUR ELDERS FOR THEIR APPROVAL, AND IF THEY AND THE LORD APPROVE, I CERTAINLY DO! Go to it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE THINGS—WHAT THEY LEAD TO

30. Well, Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus! The mystery of the mail is solved! We just picked up 32 pieces of your mail yesterday at the post office which had been lost due to your addressing them all to Poste Restante, even as late as the last day of February, although we had notified you by letter on the 2nd, and by telephone on the tenth of our change of address—All because the person to whom I gave the box number on the phone on February 10th did not immediately notify you all, as I requested! And as I recall, the person was Faith, who wrote it down‚ and even read it back to me on the phone, but apparently, promptly forgot it, and failed to pass it on to you! WHAT A GREAT FIRE A LITTLE FLAME KINDLETH, BUT YOU CAN ALSO FREEZE TO DEATH FOR THE LACK OF A MATCH—And this big bundle of 32 pieces of mail was frozen in the cold storage of the Post Office, all because someone forgot one little tiny box number! BEHOLD, TO WHAT MIGHTY OAKS DO LITTLE ACORNS GROW! WHAT A LESSON AGAIN IN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SMALLEST DETAILS.

31. IT REMINDS ME OF THAT FAMOUS BIT OF BRITISH HISTORY: "FOR WANT OF A NAIL‚ A SHOE WAS LOST. FOR WANT OF A SHOE, A HORSE WAS LOST. FOR WANT OF A HORSE‚ A KING WAS LOST. AND FOR WANT OF THE KING, A KINGDOM WAS LOST!" The story of a king who lost his kingdom because his horse fell when it lost a shoe, because of one tiny missing nail. Because you failed to pass on that box number when I told you to, we lost 32 pieces of mail, some of them large packages of many important reports, some of them vital letters and personal reports on extremely urgent matters which now it is too late to help, and the damage is already done!

32. THE VERY INFORMATION FOR WHICH I WAS ANXIOUS AWAITING TO RECEIVE FROM YOU, AND UPON WHICH HINGED SOME MAJOR DECISIONS, NEVER ARRIVED, BECAUSE YOU LOST THE BOX NUMBER! Result was that some serious mistakes were made‚ I was left in the dark about certain matters which I needed to know so I could warn you and prevent these mistakes, and now we're suffering the results!—And you have suffered several severe scoldings from me because of your lack of communication, when most of it was because of your lack of thoughtfulness in remembering and using one tiny little detail—a mere three-figure box number in our address! What a sad commentary on the danger of the smallest neglect! What a bitter lesson on unfaithfulness in that which is least! It made a mountain out of a molehill! AND FAILURE TO PLUG A TINY LEAK IN THE DIKE CAUSED A FLOOD! "DESPISE NOT THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS" (Zech:4:10)—even one talent, five loaves and two fishes, one wrong decision in the Garden of Eden; one tiny boat in a worldwide flood, one little Tower of Babel, which has caused worldwide confusion ever since and untold wars between nations; one little promise to Abraham, which has brought blessing to the whole world; one little man on a mountain who brought the moral laws of God to the entire earth; one little mistake by Joshua—the only one he ever made that's in the record, but from which Israel is still suffering; one little lad in a sheepcote, who became King and a type of Christ, and changed the history of the world; a handful of meal, and a few drops of oil, which kept God's prophet and his hostess and her son alive through three years of famine‚ when mixed with obedience; one little look by King David divided the Kingdom, and nearly destroyed it! One little hasty disobedience on the part of his predecessor, Saul‚ had caused Saul to lose it! So many examples are coming to me I can't possibly keep them all in order—THE IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE THINGS! One little stone brought down a giant; one little haircut almost lost the Kingdom; one little lunch cost a prophet his life; one little manger changed the destiny of mankind; and one little deal brought death to the Saviour, so that only a little mustard seed of faith could move mountains! I wonder how many mountains failed to get moved, for lack of that tiny seed of faith! The mountain of mail we brought home from the post office is one of them!

33. THERE ARE SO MANY EXAMPLES OF THE IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE THINGS THROUGHOUT HISTORY, EITHER FOR GOOD OR FOR EVIL, that they are almost innumerable: Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean, and the beautiful land!—And constant dropping can wear away a stone! I hope you haven't dropped anything lately that could bring future destruction! One of these things was George, about whom we wrote you an entire letter, and asked you to watch for his letter to us, addressed to L.A., so you could take action on it immediately, save his life for the Lord's service, and through it perhaps gain a foothold in his country. Instead, when you got it, instead of noting who it was from‚ which was plainly visible on the back and should have attracted your attention, particularly since it was from here, but instead of attending to it immediately as we asked you, you carelessly forwarded it on to us, again addressing your letter to the wrong address, and it was sent along with the others‚ and now it has been over two months since he wrote it, and he has still received no answer, when he needs at least that long to process his papers, get his visa, and make his preparations and reservations to come to our school this Spring, as he had planned—and we may even lose him altogether. All because somebody didn't pay attention to our long letter, and failed to note his name on the envelope! L.A., I don't see how you think you can do a job out there with only two secretaries, which TSC barely does with 15!

34. Who goofed? Who forgot the box number? Who didn't notice George's letter? Who also didn't study what I said about the thorough preparation of new teams, and sending them out only one at a time, in instalments when well-prepared and well able to do so without weakening home base? And who sent one of these teams‚ contrary to instructions, to a large city such as San Diego with no place to go, camping on the streets‚ and incurring the wrath of the Romans‚ just as I had warned? And did you discuss all of these major moves with the King first, plan them with him, and get his agreement, as we promised him we would do on any major decisions? And, as a result of our recent tidal wave of good publicity, what have other news media and interested visitors found in L.A.‚ such as Newsweek? Could the weak news article they wrote about us be the result of our new weak condition there?

WHO WERE THE FIRST OF THE JESUS REVOLUTION?—WE WERE

35. AND WHO TOLD THEM WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE "JESUS" MOVEMENT", the "Jesus People", or the "Jesus Freaks"? WE'RE THE ONES GOD USED TO START THIS WHOLE THING, that Look and Nova and NBC and Newsweek and Time and radio and television and newspapers and commentators are talking about the world over! Who said we have nothing to do with the "Jesus" Movement? Who do you think started this recent movement among youth in California? Who were the first to reach the hippies with the Gospel, through the street witnessing, a coffee house, and massive demonstrations, and a fanatical challenge to the churches? Who were the first to get thrown in jail for it, and risk their lives for it, and be called fools and fanatics for it, and to insist there was hope for the hippie, before everyone started climbing on the bandwagon and doing the same things, because they saw that our crazy methods were being met with wild success? Who were the pioneers of these street marches, sit-ins, singing, and powerful picketing for Jesus? Who first started calling it a Revolution for Jesus, and using a Christian revolutionary finger–salute? Who led the way into the streets and the parks and the beaches and the campuses with their open Bibles and their Gospel tracts and their picketing placards and singing marches, and massive beach baptisms? They never did this before we came!

36. WHERE DID YOU EVER HEAR OF SUCH THINGS IN CALIFORNIA BEFORE WE STARTED THEM? Who else did you read about in the newspapers, or hear on the radio, or watch on television that were doing these things before we came? Only the Communists, the radicals, and the violent revolutionaries of the Devil! Nobody had thought, or even dared‚ to use such methods for Christ! Even Dave Wilkerson himself, as revolutionary as he had been in times past in reaching the old teen gangs of New York in the days of the beatniks, before anyone ever heard of a hippie, and about which he still brags, because he has nothing recent to brag about—even dear Dave, when he first heard of hippies, said they were impossible and never heard of any of `em getting saved, and instead, aimed his milquetoast and pink-tea-coffee houses and his Youth for Christ-ish rallies at the straights and the churchy kids—And God knows, they needed it!—But he even wrote a chapter in one of his recent books against us and our methods‚ and said they would never win the youth, or the world to Christ!

37. But now he and his cousin Ralph, WHO HATED AND FOUGHT US AND CALLED THE COPS ON US, ARE ALL IMITATING AND APING OUR METHODS‚ ALONG WITH COUNTLESS OTHERS, AFTER THEY SAW THEY WERE SO SUCCESSFUL, including Breck, whom Hosea won to the Lord and our tactics; Calvary Chapel and their Houses of Miracles; the Alamos and the God Squad; Arthur Blessit and His Place; and Duane Pederson and the Jesus People! Even Billy and his followers are climbing on the bandwagon with gigantic rallies of churchy Jesus kids using our slogan "The Revolution for Jesus" and a finger salute of their own! Hallelujah! OUR LITTLE SPLASH HAS STARTED A TIDAL WAVE! BEHOLD WHAT A GREAT FIRE OUR LITTLE FLAME HAS KINDLED! WE WERE THE TINY LITTLE PIONEERS! I even remember the first time we were called the "Jesus Freaks"! We even started using all those "hip" expressions: "High on Jesus", "The Ultimate Trip", "Take a trip with Jesus", and "Revolution for Jesus", etc.! WE WERE THE PIONEERS, AS ALWAYS!

38. BUT WE HAD DECLARED WAR AS WELL ON THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM, AND THEY WOULD HAVE NONE OF US, and went about seeking to slay us, instead‚ and wouldn't have been caught dead in our company, cast us out of their synagogues, hounded us with their police‚ cast us into their prisons, and in general, tried to fight and repudiate every move we made, every doctrine we preached, every method we used, every action we took, and the publicity we gained!

39. BUT IN SPITE OF THEM, THESE THINGS WERE NOISED ABROAD, AND THE MULTITUDES GATHERED TOGETHER BECAUSE OF THE IRRESISTIBLE POWER OF THE SPIRIT‚ the unconquerable truth of God, and the overwhelming love of Jesus, along with the uncompromising adherence to His Word, His Ways, and His wonderful Way of Living! They never heard of such a thing before‚ and they said it couldn't be done—But we did it!—And now they're all trying to do it, with a measure of success as long as they're preaching Jesus! Thank God the Gospel is preached! WE ARE THE "JESUS" MOVEMENT OF TODAY! WE STARTED THIS PRESENT TIDAL WAVE of witnessing and hippie hallelujahs! Don't knock it—Use it! Amen?

40. But if you keep telling them that we're not a part of the "Jesus" Movement, we're not "Jesus People", that we have nothing to do with them—you're crazy!—BECAUSE WE'RE THE ONES WHO STARTED THE WHOLE THING! We are the original Jesus Freaks, because before us, there weren't any—at least not since the days of the Twelve Disciples! WE ARE THE REINCARNATION OF THE EARLY CHURCH, REINCARNATED BY THE HOLY GHOST OF GOD, POSSESSED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT—THE MAD FANATICS OF THE LAST CHURCH, THE RADICAL CHRISTIAN EXTREMISTS OF THE LAST DAY, THE WILD PROPHETS OF GOD OF THE TIME OF THE END! THIS IS IT! WE ARE IT! And you better believe it, Man, and don't knock it—Use it!

CHURCHY IMITATORS AND COUNTERFEITERS

41. THEY'LL NEVER GIVE US THE CREDIT FOR IT, BUT GOD WILL! They'll say "it began somewhere in Orange Country, California, about three years ago", but you don't think these damn churches who are now climbing on the band wagon will ever confess that we were the first drivers, do you? You don't think for a moment that these compromising Christians who condemned us in those early days are going to give us the credit for it, do you? Don't think for a minute they're going to say who it was that started it, or exactly where it started, and how! They just say that's a mystery, Thank God! They're taking all the credit for it, themselves, and they have their reward! We'll get ours in Heaven! Besides‚ if they confess now that we were the ones, some might say to them, as Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees of John the Baptist‚ His pioneer: "Why then, did ye not believe on him, and receive him?" (Mt.21.25)"—But instead, calling us publicity-mad, false prophets of a false cult, and persecuting us in the name of religion and their own hypocritical self righteousness!

42. I HAVE OFTEN SAID, IF THE PHARISEES COULD HAVE PUT THEIR OWN BRAND ON JESUS and used Him for their own glory, to promote their own synagogues, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN GLAD TO HAVE HIM, NO MATTER WHAT HE DID—BUT THEY COULDN'T BUY HIM! He wouldn't say "Uncle"! He just kept leading a revolution against them, so they finally had to kill Him, even though they later imitated many of His methods, and tried to copy His success, like the Seven Sons of Sceva, who tried to use His name to promote their own religious business! But the Devil knew the difference, and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul know, but you who are ye?" (Acts 9:13-15)—and attacked them, and they couldn't withstand him, because they didn't have the strength of the ones they were trying to imitate! They were fakes, weak plastics, counterfeits, compromisers, the Concision, the Circumcision‚ the churchy copy of God's original, a poor carbon copy of the real thing, faint and almost unintelligible, as sheep having no Shepherd‚ but plenty of false ones, and oodles of well-constructed folds happy to receive them in their large lily-livered numbers, glad to put their brand on them and proclaim them theirs! May God deliver us from such sickening lukewarmness! It makes me wanna puke, the same way it does God!

43. BUT THE SYSTEM THINKS THEY'RE GREAT, A MARVELLOUS NEW MOVEMENT, in which thousands of kids are getting saved and turning from drugs and crime and violence, a ray of hope that may save their filthy rebellious and stiffened necks; so they're tickled pink to have them, hoping that now Jesus will do for them what their education and damnable system has failed to do:—save them from a flood of violent revolution, which is about to sweep them all way! So they're so thankful!—So let `em be thankful! Don't knock it—Use it! Let `em thank you for it! Tell `em you started it! TAKE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE! TELL `EM WE ARE INDEED THE PEOPLE, THE "JESUS PEOPLE", THE 100 PERCENT ORIGINALS TO WHOM THEY CAN GIVE CREDIT FOR THE WHOLE MOVEMENT—AND LET THEM GIVE YOU HOMAGE AND PROTECTION AND HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE‚ and lay at your feet everything you need to finish the job, including a free tomb, after they've crucified you! They'll even provide the cross!

44. BUT IN THE MEANTIME‚ USE THE NICODEMUSES, THE GAMALIELS, AND THE JOSEPHS OF ARIMATHEA‚ TO FURTHER YOUR CAUSE! All things are yours in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah!—including the "Jesus People" and the "Jesus" Movement! You started it by the Grace of God, the Power of His Spirit, and your obedience to His Word! Accept it! Use it! And thank God for it! And no more of this "I am of Paul" and "I am of Apollos"—But we're all of Jesus!—But we're just a little more of Jesus than they are, since we got there first‚ and got them started! If they wanna see a "Jesus" People, or the genuine "Jesus Movement", let `em take a look! We are the Real McCoy! TELL `EM YOU'RE THE ONES WHO STARTED IT THREE YEARS AGO, AND ARE THE LEADERS OF IT, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WAVE OF PUBLICITY GOD IS GIVING US! DON'T KNOCK IT—USE IT!

45. REMEMBER THE EARLY CHURCH RODE THE CREST OF THE TIDAL WAVE OF JESUS' NOTORIETY and the flood of publicity which his early disciples had received, and which swept the world in the early days of the first Jesus Movement; and notice they didn't hesitate to take advantage of it! They used the temple crowds, and both Jesus and Paul and their followers accepted invitations to speak in their synagogues and political rallies. They didn't deny they were the leaders of it, and used every open door to spread their message! You're tagged—and you're it! Catch `em! Tell `em you're it! You are!—Use it!

PIONEERING, POPULARITY, AND PERSECUTION—SCRIPTURAL PATTERN!

46. I WAS PRAYING ABOUT THIS THIS MORNING WHEN THIS CAME TO ME. THE EARLY CHURCH RODE THIS WAVE OF EARLY PUBLICITY AND JESUS' AND THEIR POPULARITY, UNTIL THEY HAD FILLED ALL THE WORLD WITH THEIR DOCTRINE—and people everywhere were trying to imitate them, and climb on their coattails. God got out the Message, made it and them popular eventually after those early-day struggles, until He'd accomplished His Purpose in reaping that last-day harvest, before the doom of the Roman Empire and the Jewish Nation! First the pioneers, then the popularity—then the persecution! GOD HELPED THEM GET OUT THEIR MESSAGE WITH TREMENDOUS PUBLICITY, UNTIL IT HAD SWEPT THE WORLD‚ AND REAPED THE HARVEST PLENTEOUS OF SOULS, THEN HE CRACKED DOWN ON THEM TO PURGE THEM‚ drive them underground, and scatter them even further, by allowing a mounting tide of jealous opposition and Satanic fury of the radical right to rise against them. This caused a time of trouble under the anti-Christ Roman dictatorship, such as had not been since the world began, and guaranteed its downfall! First came the fall of their homeland, Palestine, with the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of their temple, and destruction of their false worship, and the crucifixion of thousands of the persecutors of the Early Church, as the judgments of God began to fall upon them for how they had treated those Children of God, leaders of the first Jesus Movement; and the final anti-Christ dictators of Rome rose to power on the burning bodies of the martyrs of the Early Church!

47. BUT WHEN THE CUP OF INIQUITY OF THAT ANTI-JESUS MOVEMENT WAS FULL, God destroyed the government that persecuted them, wiped out its religions, and the Church took over the world—A type of what is yet to come in an even greater fulfilment! Hallelujah!

48. SO MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES. GATHER IN THE HARVEST BEFORE THE STORM‚ for the night is coming when no man can work. They couldn't stop us‚ so they had to join us. They couldn't stop us, so they had to follow! But we're hanging ten on the crest; we're riding the top of the waves—and they're having to carry us, whether they like it or not! The Early Christians never denied they were Jews, or even followers of Moses! They didn't try to fight the Pharisees; the Pharisees fought them, and denied they had anything to do with the Christians; and the compromising Circumcision condemned the radical Paul, leader of the fanatical Children of God‚ the real beginners of that Jesus movement‚ and tried to corner the whole thing in their synagogues! They tried to turn a Revolution into a Reformation!—to make it popular to be a Christian; and they succeeded for a while–until the persecution came, which wiped out the half-hearted, the compromisers, and the System Christian, but only set more fire to the true Children of God, which burned even brighter‚ until the anti-Christ dictatorship of Rome was destroyed! HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, AND I'M SURE YOU CAN SEE THE PARALLEL!—TO US!

49. TO THIS DAY THE JEWS, REMNANTS OF THE SYSTEM-RELIGION OF THAT DAY, STILL TELL A LEGEND ABOUT ONE OF THEIR LEADERS, a great teacher named Saul, who suddenly disappeared‚ but that it was rumoured that he was the fanatic and mysterious leader of the radical Jesus Movement, even though they couldn't find him! Quite an analogy, huh? Any resemblance to any persons now living is purely intentional, Praise the Lord!

RIDE GOD'S WAVE OF WITNESSING AND POPULARITY!

50. SO ENJOY THE RIDE WHILE YOU CAN, KEEP YOUR BALANCE, AND STAY JUST A LITTLE AHEAD OF THE WAVE, AS LONG AS IT'S ROLLING, AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT! USE IT! BUT ALSO REMEMBER THAT EVERY WAVE COMES TO AN END, and finally crashes on the beach into a breaker that can tear you to pieces‚ wreck your surfboard, and drown you, if you don't know how to swim—so always be ready for the crash! Be prepared for the Great Confusion which is almost upon you! The Jesus Movement is upon us now—the mighty wave of the Word of God through His powerful prophets, the Children of God! But be prepared for the Great Confusion, which is almost upon us, and will be upon us next! You're in the public eye now; you're right in the swell of publicity, God's mighty sea of the masses! You're on top, and everybody's watching, all down the beach and on the pier! You're really rolling, and all the other Children with you! It's a glorious sight! It's beautiful—and you're a terrific testimony to the thrill of witnessing! You're still in deep water, and you've got the whole ocean underneath you! BUT WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WAVE BREAKS, THE CREST COLLAPSES AND TURNS INTO ROARING BREAKERS OF CONFUSION? Do you know what to do with your board? Have you learned how to swim? Do you know what a sandburn is like? Are you prepared for the crash—and do you know how to survive it—because if you don't‚ the board that bore you can beat you to death—and the wave that carried you can break and turn on you and drown you‚ and you can wash up on the beach—another dead body, like many of the others who went before you! May God help us to be ready to know how to dodge that board, survive the breaker, and land on our feet without going under, so we can retrieve our vehicle and try again, instead of getting wiped out! Amen? You fellow surfers will understand! Explain it to the land-lubbers! They're ridin' high now and don't even know it, and may not know how to stay there! You show `em, and teach `em how to survive the crash and keep their boards, before they are swept out to sea! Praise the Lord? That 7-page Look Magazine" article is here before me! It's about us—and the wave got started with us—and its heading is screaming at me: "THE JESUS MOVEMENT IS UPON US"—and those last three words are underlined in the article, by the Lord: "THE JESUS MOVEMENT IS UPON US!" Lead it! Use it!

51. THIS WAS LENIN'S ADVICE TO THE COMMUNISTS: FIND A REVOLUTION AND LEAD IT! WE'VE FOUND OUR REVOLUTION: LET'S LEAD IT WITH THE POWER OF GOD! THE REVOLUTION IS THE WAVE‚ the rise of the masses beneath, the sound of many waters, the sea and waves roaring, while men's hearts are failing them for fear! What is the surfboard? It's got to be symbolic of something! Hallelujah! It's the buoyant, exuberant, power of God that carries us high about the surface of the waters beneath, clearly visible to all—a living sample of the power of God and its ability to save from the dangerous depth below, and to lift you on high in a thrilling joyous existence that can carry you to the very shores of Eternity, but don't lose it! Keep on your toes—always ahead‚ always out in front! Don't lag behind or you'll sink—and don't lose it when the crash comes—when the rising tide becomes a mighty breaker of roaring confusion! Hang on‚ or it can kill you! That Power is all that lies between you and the rage of mighty waters—the Great Confusion—God's Gigantic Breaker‚ which will destroy the others, and save you! Ride it well! Lift it up on High, and keep your balance! Don't slip or slide, especially backward! You've got to be out in front, and you've got to stay there! You don't dare to stop or slow down—or you'll sink into oblivion, like all the rest! Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Don't let it happen to you! Let's hold hands till we reach the shore! Don't let anybody falter or fail! Let's all make it! Hallelujah? Praise God! Thank you, Jesus! He's the One that can keep you from falling! Hold to His Hand‚ and don't look at the waves. KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS! LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD! DON'T TURN TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT, BUT ZOOM STRAIGHT TOWARD THE SHORE‚ AND MAKE IT BY THE HELP OF GOD! Praise the Lord? Amen! THE JESUS MOVEMENT IS UPON US! GOD STARTED IT THROUGH US, GOD BUILT IT THROUGH US; LET'S CONTINUE TO LEAD THE WAVE, AND STAY OUT IN FRONT OF THE REST, WHO WILL SINK IF THEY LAG BEHIND! GOD HELP!

EARTHQUAKES

52. ALSO, WHEN I WAS THINKING THIS MORNING ABOUT THE SEVEN-YEAR WOBBLE OF THE POLE, the earth's axis, which is also upon us, and causing earthquakes, so the scientists say, I was reminded of the Scripture in Isaiah 24; "The windows from on High are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake; the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones, the kings of the earth. Then shall the moon be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion (our New Nation), and in Jerusalem (our New Church)‚ and before His ancients gloriously O Lord, thou art My God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy Name, for thou hast done wonderful things!" Hallelujah! Praise the Lord? Amen? Glory to God! All Glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain, Who hath borne all our sins, and hath cleansed every stain—Jesus! Hallelujah! Amen! DON'T FORGET HE'S THE ONE THAT STARTED YOU!

SECURITY FOR LEADERSHIP—ANSWERING THE TELEPHONE

53. PLEASE REMEMBER MY SUGGESTION, GOD HELP YOU TO REMEMBER THESE SUGGESTIONS!—THAT I THINK THE TOP LEADERS, IF POSSIBLE, SHOULD STAY AS UNDERGROUND AS POSSIBLE IN THE RURAL RETREATS TEACHING THE BABES, and getting a little more rest than you have been‚ while you let your top lieutenants run your front, the front-line battle confrontation, under your close supervision by telephone and clandestine visits and conferences in your retreat! This is just plain commonsense! No top leader in his right mind should sleep with a connected telephone by his bed! He should be sleeping with his wife and not a telephone! The only live telephone should be the one in his secretary's or his top lieutenant's bedroom, who should answer it first, and be a buffer between him and the world, and not disturb him unless it's necessary. Or close down your whole operation at nights, so that nobody can get through to you except the boss and your lieutenants on your unlisted number! I NEVER ANSWERED THE PHONE MYSELF. The only time I can ever remember doing that was early one morning when nobody else answered it, and I was led to pick it up myself and see who was there! Guess who? Our little Hannah‚ who runs our kids' school now—my fruit, praise God! She was running away from home, wanting me to pick her up, and so I did! And that's the last time she ever saw home! They wouldn't even let her back in for her clothes, Hallelujah! But that was a miracle—just one of those special things‚ out of the ordinary. I didn't answer the phone like that all the time, as usually it was neither Hannah or an emergency‚ like that time! Sometimes it was just some old crackpot who wanted to waste the Lord's time and talk your ear off for an hour. The only reason we answered the phone at all between 5 at night and 9 in the morning was because it might be Danny in another emergency down at the Club‚ or one of our kids in jail, etc. Even then, I always had someone else answer it first, find out who they were, what was their business, and who they wanted to talk to! If the other folks could handle it, I let `em, although I often listened, monitoring on my extension to see how they were doing, in case they needed help. If the party asked for me, the others were instructed to say‚ "I'll see if he's in," pause awhile, and wait and see if I wanted to come on the line, but if I didn't, they were to say, "I'm sorry, but he's not in"—and I wasn't—I was just outside in the Cruiser! Ha! If you have a long enough cord on your phone, you can even carry it outside your office‚ while she says this, and adds, "May I help you?" or "Leave your number."

54. I ENJOYED TALKING TO YOU ON THE PHONE TODAY—YOU KIDS IN L.A.! Sorry I had to phone, but I felt it was an emergency, and so it proved on both ends of the line! I wanted to make sure to tell you what had happened to your mail, and not take my resulting scolding too hard. But I am glad you called off your dogs temporarily—your watchdogs of the faith, brought in your teams, and had that good convention, and a better understanding of our expansion policy, PTL! I hope it really pays off, and you won't be in such a hurry next time, better prepared, better personnelled, and better placed.

55. I'M ALSO GLAD YOU'RE TAKING BETTER CARE OF YOUR VISITORS, AND GIVING MORE ATTENTION TO THIS VITALLY IMPORTANT DOOR MINISTRY. Maybe Mr. C could help you on this, a good public relations man with the Systemites of the older generation. Remember, I told you that you had to design each greeting team to handle three kinds of people: parents, prospects, and the poor in-betweens; and you must have teams of enough of this variety of greeters to greet all kinds and all numbers at all hours‚ because THIS GATE MINISTRY IS ONE OF OUR MAJOR MINISTRIES. God promised they would come to us! Have you been receiving them properly? Have truly qualified personnel‚ wise in the ways of the world been prayerfully dealing with these strangers within your gates? I hope so! It could make or break you, and you're probably reaping now in the attitude of officials some of the consequences of your mishandling of these matters!

NEW DISCIPLES AND WEAKER BRETHREN POLICY—BALANCE NEEDED

56. AS FOR NEW DISCIPLES, AND A MORE LENIENT POLICY TOWARD THE WEAKER OF THEM, I DID NOT MEAN TO TURN OUR PLACES INTO HOSPITALS, MENTAL INSTITUTIONS, OR REFORMATORIES. These new babes must have the same Salvation, the same power of Spirit, the same motivation‚ the same desire to forsake-all, and the same total dedication to serve Jesus! They must abide by the same rules of the revolutionary articles of war, which are the same for both officers and men‚ from generals to privates. My suggestion was that when we have the facilities for it‚ preferably separate facilities for these weaker babes, weaker perhaps in mind or body, but not in spirit, not necessarily leadership material, but at least followership timber‚ that we should try to comfort the feebleminded, and receive these weaker brethren into our fellowship to do tasks they are capable of—not stretcher cases and patients for padded cells, or confirmed criminals, And when I spoke of pregnant or unwed mothers, I had in mind the same kind of material, physically able and willing to do their jobs, devoted to Christ, and with small children capable and yielded to be trained for His Service also. … I never said, take in anybody and everybody. Even Jesus put his disciples to tests that turned most would-be followers away of their own accord, including that cannibal sermon‚ and a few other shockers. It won't take many challenges like this to see if they really mean business; but I don't ever recall him asking them to fast for 7 days, or sending them back to the Pit to wallow a little longer in the slime to find out if they still wanted to come; they might be too weak to stand, and might go under. SOME OF YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE UNDER, IF WE HADN'T TAKEN YOU IN WHEN WE DID. You couldn't have stood then, in your weakened condition, another trip home. If they're all that strong‚ they don't need us. We've lost some by making that mistake. How many fish have you caught again, that once you had `em hooked, you threw `em back in to see if they'd survive? I do not think it's Scriptural! TEST THEM, BUT DON'T THROW THEM BACK to the wolves and the sharks. … THE TESTING SHOULD BE AS TO SALVATION, SPIRIT, DESIRE, MOTIVATION AND DEDICATION NOT STRENGTH AND KNOWLEDGE. How much strength and knowledge has a little babe got? How much does he know and how much can he do? How much did you know, and how much did you do when you first came, but we still took you in and gave you time to grow, get stronger and mature till you could stand on your own. …

TRAINING BABES AND LEADERS BY RESPONSIBILITY! SCHEDULES!

57. AND AS FOR COMPLETING THE COURSE BEFORE YOU TRUST THEM WITH WORK OR ANY RESPONSIBILITY, MUCH LESS LEADERSHIP—HOW MUCH OF YOU LEADERS COMPLETED THE COURSE before you were put in positions of leadership. I don't think Josh and Jeth ever had the course, and neither did Maria and a few others! So who the hell are you to question the wisdom of God on the basis of pencil-pushers and paper skill. Three of our greatest leaders can't even spell; some of them never even finished Junior High, much less all of our requirements, but GOD PUT YOU IN PLACES OF RESPONSIBILITY AND LEADERSHIP WHEN YOU WERE NEEDED, AND JUDGED YOU BY HIS OWN STANDARD. Selah! Put the babes to work and let them marry!

58. THE EVERY DAY MANUAL LABOUR OF COLONY OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THEIR TRAINING, and if they can't pass that test, they'll never make it. He that would be chief among you must be servant of all. The Son of Man himself came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. If they don't learn this lesson‚ they'll never learn anything—and headstuffing with a lot of Scriptures and Bible Prophecy, facts and figures and theories won't mean a thing. This is one of those cases where you have to let `em work out their own Salvation‚ and with fear and trembling learn to obey! Amen? But we always tried to make it voluntary, as Jesus does, and give you the kind of work you like and want to do, and in which God blesses you, the desire of your heart, as God does also as much as possible. WE USED TO ROTATE ALL JOBS IN SUCH A MANNER THAT NOBODY HAD TO MISS CLASSES VERY OFTEN, ALTHOUGH EVERYBODY TOOK THEIR TURN AT THE LABOURS. IT TAKES A GENIUS TO WORK OUT SUCH A SCHEDULE, which is why I used to wind up doing it. Not only this, I ALSO MADE SURE THEY HAD THEIR ALLOTTED FREE TIME EACH DAY! Everybody's gotta have a little time for personal rest, prayer, study‚ or recreation. Don't you dare rob them of it, except in cases of dire emergency—only rarely and occasionally‚ when it can't be helped. Otherwise, get that work time and that play time both in there‚ as well as the class time—or I'm gonna come back and make some of you leaders take the course! Besides that‚ you need the free time too, because all work and no play makes you a very dull, as well as very tired, leader, and can soon destroy your value as a leader by wrecking your health or your nerves! A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE. NO MATTER HOW MUCH WORK I HAVE TO DO, I INSIST ON TAKING A WALK OR HIKE EVERY DAY FOR RELAXATION, RECREATION, REFRESHMENT, GOOD HEALTHFUL EXERCISE, UNLESS IT'S A VERY UNUSUAL DAY‚ like today, when I ran up and down stairs so many times to the telephone‚ that I don't really need any more. You even need to relax your mind, and give it a little relaxation, a rest from its usual problems, by engaging in a little sport, indoor sport with your wife, or outdoor sport with the boys!—Watch out girls!—or something different from the usual grind! Even Jesus had to! Amen?

59. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT HOW CAN YOU LEADERS COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH PEOPLE TO RUN THE CAMP, WHEN YOU'VE GOT ABOUT 90 BABES, GIRL BABES, THAT IS, AND 120 BOY BABES sitting on their fannies all day having their ears tickled by the teachers, instead of being put to work at some job for their half a day like everybody else! No wonder you leaders are overworked! You just like your favourite few doing their typical tasks, and you don't want to train anybody new! IT'S ALWAYS EASIER TO DO IT YOURSELF THAN TO TEACH SOMEBODY ELSE HOW TO DO IT, SO YOU'D RATHER HAVE THE ONES YOU'VE ALREADY TRAINED, THE CHOSEN FEW YOU'VE HAD AT IT FOR MONTHS OR YEARS, EVEN WHEN THE JOB GETS BIGGER THAN THEY CAN HANDLE because of so many students, and yet you refuse to give the babes time to work or time to be trained for your jobs, so you can be relieved. Maybe you're afraid they might beat you out of it permanently‚ and you wouldn't be so desperately needed any more, and might have to go to some foreign field instead, or some road team or lead some new colony, instead of home, sweet home! We leaders are prone to love our little loveable long-time sociable, and sometime laughable cliques of thee, thou, me and no other! My church was even furious when I brought in the Mexicans and the Indians! It threatened their status quo; and I remember one church that was furious at Eve for winning so many new women to the Lord they were invading the sewing circle; and the hierarchy of my denomination I remember only too well was absolutely furious at the endeavours of us young rebels to change the status quo by invading their power structure. But new blood is the life of this party‚ and we'll never be able to handle growth without it. You're becoming just like the churches, afraid to trust anybody new with responsibility, but the preachers, or the usual board‚ and there are just certain people you like‚ and you don't like anybody else to intrude on the nice little privacy you're enjoying with them—but you'll never have a Revolution that way! EVERYONE OF YOU SHOULD BE TRAINING TWO OR THREE OTHER PEOPLE TO DO YOUR JOB‚ SHARING YOUR SECRETS AND FORMULAS WITH THEM, teaching `em how to cook your old treasured recipes‚ and concoct your special potions! BUT HE THAT WITHHOLDETH, IT TENDETH TO POVERTY, and there is that scattereth abroad, yet increaseth (Pro.11:24)! If you hold work back from these babes, IF YOU WITHHOLD ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR FEAR THEY'LL LEARN YOUR JOB, AND OUST YOU, YOU OUGHT TO BE OUSTED, BECAUSE THIS IS A CLINIC, FOUNDED AS A CLINIC, TO GIVE ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, TO LEARN BY DOING, AND TO TEACH OTHERS TO TEACH OTHERS TO TAKE THEIR PLACE! What's wrong? Have you forgotten what you joined the Army for? SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO BE OUT HEADING COLONIES OF YOUR OWN, BUT YOU LOVE HOME SO MUCH‚ YOU DON'T WANNA GO! You're in a rut, and I hope God doesn't have to kick you out of the nest to wake you up! AND SOME OF YOU LEADERS LOVE YOUR LITTLE CHOSEN HANDYMEN SO WELL, YOUR PERSONAL HENCHMEN, THAT you don't wanna let them go, or train anyone else to take their place! Who were the 70, I wonder? They certainly weren't the Twelve‚ but they must have trained them, and Jesus sent them all out. YOU BETTER QUIT TELLIN' ME YOU CAN'T DO YOUR JOB WITH SO FEW LEADERS WHEN YOU'VE GOT BABES ON HAND THAT OUGHTTA BE LEADERS, OR I'LL COME HOME AND MAKE LEADERS OUT OF `EM, LIKE I DID YOU, AND SEND YOU TO THE FIELD!—And if they've reached the status of leaders they oughtta be on your council, and kids at school!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family