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the grapevine
(Issue #104; January 15, 2001.)

Ponder
       Praise works with only three types of people; men, women, and children.

kidbits
       Lisa,born to Joanna and John Daniel on August 3.-Japan
       Tyler Kai,born to Nicole and Mark on September 8.-Pacro
       Gavin O'Test,born to Faith O'Test and Amos O'Test on September 17.-Australia
       Cedric Shannon, born to Crystal Lily and Francesco on September 17.-Japan
       Tyler, born to Angie and Sam on September 22.-Japan
       Daniel Ryan, born to Crystal a nd Peter John on September 27.-Pacro
       Alyssa, born to Joy and Shem on October 23.-Philippines
       Sergio Daniel, 1st child, born to Daniela on October 28.-Colombia
       Kevin Max,born to Faithy and Jesse on November 17.-Pacro
       Paul, born to Pearl and Francis on November 22.-Japan
       Chad Marshall, born to Martin and Ruth on December 13.-Thailand

tidbits
getting together…
       Danny (Spanish, 20) and Sara (Danish, 21) were married in India. Congratulations!

prayer list

Situations Requiring Ex tra Prayer Power

       Francisco and Cecilia (FM, Argentina): Healing from AIDS. Francisco has problems with insomnia.
       Carolina: Multiple health problems, including weak immune system; various recurring infections; pangastritis (stomach pains); dizziness; migraine headaches; sclerosis (hardened artery); bleeding of the uterus.
       Valerie Nicole (newborn of SGAs Tim Stone and Maya, North America): Recovery after surgery to repair obstructed bowel.

Pacific

       Jorge: Tumor on head.
       Mary P: Cys t on womb.

South America

       Brisa (SGA, of Ezekiel and Sunny, Brazil):Lupus.
       Mary (of Pierre, Brazil): Benign cyst in right breast.
       Amber (Chile): Back problems, uterus and ovary problems, hormone imbalance, anemia and fatigue.
       Abe (of Joanna, Peru): Sinus and bronchial problems.

on the net

Japanese Family Web site, December 2000

Christmas Love Homepage:
       * New E-card page (Christmas greeting cards). You can choose from 6 pictures and 3 background music files, and add your p ersonal note to the recipient!
       * Nine MP3/WMA audio files added.
       * Dec/Jan calendars (wallpapers and PDF files).
       * Christmas screensaver (No.3).
       * i-mode page: Four Christmas stories and some color/B&W pictures for the mobile phone screen. Also new “Chaku-melo” download section was opened. (Chaku-melo is a tune you hear when your mobile phone receives a call.)

Send a beautiful Christmas e-card to your friends and contacts! (Japanese only):
http://www.family.gr.jp/christmas/e-card/gre eting.cgi

world news

Commemorating the King of Thailand's Birthday
By Silas, Thailand

       The king of Thailand's birthday was on December 5th. For Thailand, the king's birthday is definitely the most important holiday of the year-a much bigger event than Christmas, for example, or even New Year's. The DF and singing teams were involved in some different programs on the 5th, each of which was quite important.

       Police Hospital Program: On the morning of the 5th, the singing team, includi ng Jonas, Christy, Angelina, as well as the dancers and the children from the DF Home (all the way down to the preschoolers) performed at a large hospital for policemen who were wounded in the line of duty. It was a CTP type of show in conjunction with the Red Cross to honor HM the King and to help the Police Hospital in its fundraising/blood donor drive.
       Though the crowd was not tremendously large, it included the entire administrative staff of the hospital, with their wives. They especially loved the little children, of course.
       News of the program has also already been spread throughout the entire police force, as their official photographers and camera crew were present for the program.

       Concert at Sanam Luang: In the evening, Jonas and the dancers performed at the main stage in Sanam Luang (large public area in front of the Grand Palace), which, again, was broadcast on nationwide TV, and attended by more people than we could number. They told us that there were around 300,00 0 there or maybe even more. The crowd was very responsive and enthusiastic.

brotherhood

The Action Series comes to life in Salvador!
By John (of Angel), Salvador, Brazil
       It was exciting to see the Action Series GNs come to life this year, as we saw two new Bible study groups come together in our Home. It all started with one of our long-time faithful friends, Julian, handing a tract to a lady who runs a real-estate agency. She called Julian back to ask about the tract, and he put us in touch with her. Consuelo (of Jeho) went to visit her, and she was full of searching questions from all her experiences with other religions. Another friend of hers came the next week. Then a precious couple, who had recently lost their child in an accident, started to attend, and the class was underway. This couple invited us to use their apartment for our Saturday afternoon Bible studies, and now after about four months we have six faithful members, with more on the line.
       Another class starte d up in the Home of another long-time live-out disciple, Marily, whose daughter was in the Family for several years here in Brazil. She moved here recently and expressed a desire to have classes in her home. A couple (one of whom is a retired federal policeman) who recently rented out their beach house to a Home in a nearby town started to attend the class as well, and now they have four faithful members.
       A third Bible study class, which has been going on for several years in the center of Sal vador, has recently been rejuvenated with new blood, and they now have five faithful members.
       Reading through the Action FSMs 2 and 3 provoked us to godly jealousy. Sara (of Tiago) who has the class in the center [of town], plus our Home (Jeho and Consuelo) along with Nehemias and his on-fire YA-SGA band decided to pool our talents, and after getting the Lord's go-ahead in prophecy, we planned our fellowship lunch for December 16th.
       As a confirmation of all this, one member of our Bible stud y group volunteered to sponsor Christmas T-shirts to sell as tickets for the event! Also, a friend of ours who owns a high-class restaurant near the center of the city agreed to host our get-together at a low-cost price (even though he was tightly booked). Nehemias and his band, along with Argentine Jeremy, spent long hours practicing Christmas songs and up-tempo rhythms, and one member of each Bible class volunteered to give his or her personal testimony-a real step of faith to speak in front o f a large crowd. To our surprise, 85 people (one-third Family and two-thirds friends) showed up-not including children!
       Ana Luz (of Stef) provisioned a Sprinter van to bring our kids' Christmas show of ten to perform, and they won the hearts of all present. After all had eaten their fill, several members of the Bible classes came up to give their testimonies. Tanya, of Sara's group, led off with her stirring story of how the Lord had delivered her from deep depression, and how she is now feeli ng the Lord's tug on her heart to serve Him fulltime! Then Rita, of Consuelo and John's group, gave a moving message of how the Lord calls some to come to His fellowship through hardship and pain. She told how one week after she and her husband lost her little boy, she met the Lord through us at her first class, and then one month after starting to attend classes, she got pregnant! There weren't many dry eyes in the house after she finished.
       We wound up our two hours of fun, food and fellowshi p with a raffle, and then sang Happy Birthday to our dear Birthday Man-Jesus! This was a wonderful way to promote our Bible study groups to those friends who as yet had not been to one, as well as promoting the Contato mags, which were on prominent display next to the buffet!
       All went home that afternoon with a heavenly glow on their faces, and we are already talking about how to organize a united retreat with all three Bible study groups in March. This has certainly been a year of Action, and we are looking forward to more action next year!

happenings

[Milestones]
       Andrew (of Miracle), Oasis Home, Kosovo: As the New Year turns once again, I see my birthday coming in a few days when I will finally join the “over 50s,” PTL! I was not one of the earlier disciples, but because of the numerical oddity of when I joined, I wanted to share it with you here: I joined the Family in 1976 when I was 25 years old. Now I'm turning 50, and have been in the Family for 25 years. So exactly ha lf of my life I've been serving the Lord alongside you all! And I can't think of anything I'd have rather done. God bless you, Mama and Peter, and all my Family around the world!

[“It is the Spirit that witnesses...”]
       Izmir Home, Turkey: Because of their faithfulness in their responsibilities as government officials, our friends Mahel and Fira (aliases used) were asked to move on to another higher post in a city quite far away. When they called to inform us of this change in plans, we arran ged to meet with them as soon as possible before their departure. The time spent together, though short, was very precious.
       Because we are close to them and they consider us part of their family, they invited us to their house on an overnight trip, even though they were in the midst of packing (something unusual, as customarily only immediate relations are allowed to intrude or help out with what are considered by all here to be very personal and intimate procedures).
       They introduced us to a number of folks, leaders in their respective departments, who like themselves have a caring heart for the people. Among those we met were a local judge and his wife, and the area director for the Ministry of Agriculture. Our friends' faithfulness in passing on the different things that they had learned from or observed in us (courtesy of the Lord) impressed us deeply. It was amazing to see how much of the deeper things of the Spirit they had tacitly grasped and were eagerly passing on to those around them.
       The judge and his wife were invited over for coffee. Fira descriptively introduced us and our various activities to them.
       “Whenever this family comes,” she said, “they always have a story or something positive to share with us.” She related the “Footprints” poem to them.
       “You know,” she went on to say, “these people are very different from us. They always think about what they can do to help others. Each morning, they get together and ask God for a message for the day. Then th ey do whatever He says. One morning, I got up and opened my window. I stood there, prayed and then waited for a message, but I didn't get one!”
       We gave all the glory to God and then encouraged her to spend a few moments with Him every day before things begin tumbling about her. She promised to give it a try.
       The next morning, we went to Mahel's office for the first time. We were to pick up a couple of certificates he had prepared for us in appreciation of our CTP efforts for the earthquake v ictims over the last year.
       It was quite something for us to see our friend in all of his official splendor. Due to the circumstances, we greeted each other formally, exchanged civilities, and were invited for a traditional glass of tea. It was so funny because this gentleman is already quite impressive in himself, but when flanked by all his surroundings, staff and more, one doesn't know what to think or just how to react!
       In between the constant ins and outs of various paper-wielding subord inates, ensuing signatures, phone calls and the like, our friend introduced us to Mr. Gem, the area director for the Ministry of Agriculture.
       “These people have learned to find happiness in the simple things. For the last year, they've come regularly to bring supplies for the earthquake victims we've been caring for, presenting musical programs and animations to help restore the people's morale, and have been an encouragement all around,” Mahel told him.
       After having new certificates made, s ince the former ones had long been buried in the formidable bureaucracy somewhere within the building, we were invited to Mr. Gem's office for the next round of tea. We spent the better part of the next three hours with this precious soul, and he poured out about himself, his background, his upbringing, subsequent marriage and present job.
       Towards the end of our conversation, he asked, “So, what religion are you? Are you Christians? The reason I'm asking this is because for a number of years I lived in the south-eastern part of the country, and I had the chance to observe some Orthodox priests. They are very different from us. In Islam, the Hoca gets paid for everything religious that he does: chanting the holy prayers, reading the Quran, etc. It is like a profession. But those people that I saw, nobody paid them. They did it out of love. They let us come to their services and visit their churches; the men and women were together and it was beautiful.” (In Islam, the men and women ar e segregated.)
       This was the perfect opportunity to tell him about what the Lord has done for us, and how we in turn are now indebted to let others know of His care.

[Cool tips for hot outreach]
       Sam, Crystal, Ben and Meekness, Botswana: Jesus is so wonderful. Since coming to Africa He's done so much for us. Our time here has been our happiest, most challenging, fruitful, exciting and adventure-filled.
       Our Home is a semi-mobile Home. We enjoy witnessing. Here are a few ideas and tips from how we are changing our part of the world.

       * To have fruitful outreach, we found that it's very important to have a reliable car. Two companies out here donate all the servicing and parts for our vehicle. Also without fail, a service check is done every 10,000 kms. The standard we try to keep is “Would we take Mama and Peter for a drive in the car?”
       * While on outreach we found that when people say “no” they often actually mean yes. In other words, they are challenging you to convince the m that what we have is what they need. We have the best product in the world-Jesus. We've picked a winner! How can we go wrong?
       * Always offer the tools in large quanties-people feel chauffed (African term for feeling good about themselves). They actually enjoy that you think highly of them, as well as respect them, by offering them a large quantity of tools. The system is all about “status” and this puts them with the “Joneses.”
       * Referrals. They're like the Nike ad that says “Just do it.” We've found that referrals are powerful and carry a lot of weight. If a close friend has sent you, then chances are that 90% of the time they will help, and on top of it they will give other names. On one of our road trips, we went to a town with the names of five people. This list snowballed into a list of fifty names. Forty of those names are now regular supporters.
       * Go to the Africans. There is a revival with the African businessmen. More and more are coming to the Lord. They are friendly, giving, and want to give the best to their kids.
       * Build up a good stock of tools. It is always a help to have a variety. It's like going to a large supermarket. When you walk in, the atmosphere is customer-friendly. The shelves are always full, the presentation is immaculate, everything is clean and shiny. The aircons are on, people are friendly, and you feel comfortable shopping. We're not marketing System goods-this is eternal life we are talking about.
       * Make outreach a goal in life. Re ach out to that lost soul and God will always bless it! Witnessing should be a way of life. At every opportunity, don't let people pass you by.
       * Consistency brings results. Don't just do it at the month's end when the rent is due.-Do it daily! Do all that you can and watch God do the rest.

       All that is getting done here is by His grace as we obey the New Wine by faith, no matter how crazy it seems or sounds. The nice part is we don't have to do it. All we have to do is say yes to Jesus and the miracles won't stop.

[Miracles of supply]
       Peace (SGA, of John D.), Thai VS Home: It's been awesome to stand back and watch the Lord miraculously answer prayer after prayer, supplying need after need over the past month. It's a tangible fulfillment of all that Mama and Peter have talked about and the Lord promised to do in the era of greater works.
       To recount a few of the miracles the Lord has wrought for us over the past month, we'd have to admit that initially many of our needs fell into the category of “would be” prayer requests, or things that, although we kept on the back burner of our prayer list, due to more pressing pending needs we didn't have much faith to pursue. So limited by our own lack of faith and persevering prayer, for the previous months we had been praying off and on for many various needs and in many cases hadn't really taken a definite stand in prayer and claimed the answer.
       But the breakthrough came when a new GN from Mama came out in which she sugge sted each Home write up an “impossible” prayer list and claim it as done! This was EXACTLY the extra push we needed to take the plunge and DO IT! So we pulled out that rusty pen and paper, made up our list of “impossibles,” and went to work on praying for them every day at every devotions, every meeting and anytime we were together for prayer. Our list included (to name just a few!):

       1) A new vehicle
       2) Two new washing machines
       3) Playground equipment
       4) New glass louvers for our back house
       5) New glass windows for our main house
       6) A new sound system for our van
       7) For Mikey (an autistic child in our Home) to be able to attend a special input course for disabled children without having to pay the exorbitant fee
       8) For the transportation funds needed for Mikey to attend the class, as he would have to go by taxi
       9) Funds for braces for one of our teens
       10) A new oven
       11) Regular Thai classes for our adults, SGAs, YAs and teens
       12) Milk powder contact
       13) Pain t for our inner perimeter wall
       14) Thai dancing and manners classes for our children and teens
       15) Funds for a vacation for the whole Home
       16) Furniture
       17) CD writer

       Well, the miracles were on their way! Soon after we began our fervent prayer push, we were able to get in touch with a woman who owns a large playground equipment factory! The Lord touched her heart and she decided to give us three new pieces: a double see-saw set, a swing set and a set of monkey bars! PTL!
       Next we he ard from one of our contacts that he had decided to donate milk for needy institutions! We still have to keep praying for a contact for our Home's children, but it's a great beginning!
       Then we received an answer from a lady who deals in paint who decided to give us 20,000 Baht worth (US$460) of top-quality paint completely free!!!
       But wait...it doesn't stop there! The Lord continued to supply, to where before we knew it our answered prayer list read like this:

       1) Two new washing machines for less than ½ the cost of one
       2) A new sound system for our van for ¼ of the usual price
       3) A free condominium vacation spot for our entire Home
       4) Funds to cover the other vacation needs, e.g., food, recreational activities, transportation, etc.
       5) Funds for braces for the teen who needed them
       6) New glass louvers for all our back house windows
       7) New glass windows for our main house
       8) More than enough paint for our inner perimeter wall
       9) Free weekly evening two-hour Thai c lasses for our adults, SGAs, YAs and teens
       10) Free special input course for Mikey
       11) Funds to cover Mikey's travel expenses to and from the course
       12) Free savory and sweet pies and pastries on a bi-weekly/monthly basis
       13) New cupboards
       14) New articles of clothing for the younger children
       15) A new CD writer on its way
       16) Free Thai dancing classes for our children and teens
       17) Free Thai manners classes for our children and teens
       18) A consistently raised budget

       And th e list of miracles and answered prayers doesn't end there! The Lord is continuing to bring in need after need, performing miracle after miracle, to where we're nearly at the “wants” stage, ha! There're a few things that are still in the “prayer funnel,” such as a vehicle, etc., so we'll just keep on prayin' and praisin' and we know the Lord will send 'em through! Praise His Name!
       We wanted to say a big THANK YOU to our dearest Mama and Peter for making all this possible through all the Word th at the Lord has given us through you. It is our source of faith, guidance and direction. If it hadn't been for your Letter encouraging us to aim for the impossible, we would never know what the Lord is capable of!

post-its

Basic Picture Words “Flash card” offer!
By Phil, for TEAM Foundation

Dear Ones,
       Greetings from TEAM Foundation! We'd like to send you a brief “update” about the FLASH CARD offer by TEAM that many of you have responded to, telling us how much you could use and would appreciate this teaching tool for your children and your home schooling needs. We'd also like to thank each of you for writing and relaying to us your educational needs as well as for your encouraging words to us in our ministry.
       About the DK Flash cards: In July, a company called PRI (Printing Resources, Inc.) bought the Dorling Kindersley Company, which produces these flash cards. Their management decided to close the “Family Learning Division” who produced the flash cards exclusively. As o f Sept. 15th, “Family Learning Div.” officially closed its doors for business. I've called and e-mailed various places to find out if there's any remaining inventory or returns, but have not found any. Since learning this, we have been searching for a similar type of flash card to offer. And, we have found one. It is called Basic Word Pictures (set 1) and More Basic Word Pictures (set 2) that is made by Carson-Dellosa Publishing Co., Inc., in North Carolina, USA.
       Each set contains 95 flash car ds. They are 3 inches by 6 inches in size and are in color. On one side of the card is a simple but cute color picture of the object or animal, along with the corresponding word. On the other side of the card is just the word. These are inexpensive, and cost $5.95 (USD) per set or just under $12.00 (USD) for both sets. We are submitting a request to the company about donating a quantity of these for our Family missionaries; if this doesn't work, then we will apply for a distributor's discount, w hich is 50% with a minimum order of $150. Please keep this in your prayers. Thank you.
       In case you are unfamiliar with this product, you can look at them online at: www.carson-dellosa.com or at www.amazon.com. We also sent a set of these to Ginny at NACRO-FED to review before recommending these to you. Here's what she commented about them:
       (Ginny:) An SGA mom, who teaches our two- and three-year-olds, has been using the basic word picture flash cards for the past several weeks. She said they work just fine and she really liked them. Of course, she preferred the DK cards, as they have real photos instead of just pictures, and they were more colorful and fun for the kids, but she did say these simpler cards work just as well. We liked the fact that the word is written on both sides of the card. It says on the box “for 6 and up,” but both of us thought they were fine for younger kids as well. I don't think they would be so good for babies or really young toddlers. They are probably mo st suited for about two years and up.
       Another good thing about them being small is that they fit the missionary lifestyle of not having a lot of bulky stuff! (End of comment from Ginny.)

       These are not available in Spanish; we could send you a sample of one or two of these cards if you write us (or better yet if you e-mail us) with your address. Our e-mail address is: mail@teamfoundation.com

Our address is:       TEAM Foundation
                     P.O. Box 165119
                     Irving, TX 75016

Phone/Fax: (972) 871- 8898
Toll Free: 1-888-871-8388 (in the USA)

       Once again, thank you for your encouraging responses to our survey sent out in August 2000. And, God bless you with a wonderful new year of witnessing and activating your friends and sheep!

       P.S. We are also offering the “Sonday Phonics System,” and we can now offer it to you at almost half off the regular retail price. So, get your order in today!

Time to make the e-mail switch!

       The IBM e-mail addresses [mpg@ibm.net, grape@ibm.net, home mail@ibm.net] are closing! If you're still using them, please switch over to the new listing of e-mail addresses below today. And please also try to make the switch to PGP from CPY! Thanks!

Department       E-mail address
Mama        mama@wsfamily.com
Peter       peter@wsfamily.com
To write BOTH Mama and Peter, write “To Mama and Peter” in your file.

Activated        activated@wsfamily.com
Art contributions        art@wsfamily.com
Blade       blade@wsfamily.com
END       end@wsfamily.com
Eve       eve@wsfamily.com
FAR       far@wsfam ily.com
Family Care       familycare@wsfamily.com
FED/CVC       fed@wsfamily.com
FSM       fsm@wsfamily.com
GP       gp@wsfamily.com
Grapevine        gv@wsfamily.com
Heaven's Library        hl@wsfamily.com
Kidland       kidland@wsfamily.com
KidzBiz       kidzbiz@wsfamily.com
Prayer List       pl@wsfamily.com
TeleTRF questions       teletrf@wsfamily.com
Web team       web@wsfamily.com
WS business       ws@wsfamily.com
Zine       zine@wsfamily.com
Any other pubs       pubs@wsfamily.com
Any questions?       question@wsfamily.com

Personal mail to anyone in WS       wsmail@wsf amily.com

personals

       Pandita (Dita), Marcelo (Martin) is looking for you. Here is my e-mail: sbs_guinea@eti.net.gn.

       From Gideon and Claire (Thai nationals): We would like to get in contact with Thaddeus and Sarah (Iceland). Please write us at garden@ksc.th.com.

       I would like to reopen contact with Maria Renacer in Chile. This is David Vessel in Hungary. You knew me by the name of Psalms when in Chile. Por favor conectate conmigo. E-mail: candle@mail.datanet.hu or snailmail: J.Klas inski, PF.43, 1511 Budapest - Hungary.

       Jewell, Christina B. is looking for you. If you're still around, please
       drop me a note. My email is: tiahogan@aport2000.ru.

       Victoria and David (recently married), your friend Christina B. is hoping to get in touch with you. Write me at: tiahogan@aport2000.ru.

       Mig, an old friend of yours (Christina B.) is wondering if you still remember her. If you do, write her at: tiahogan@aport2000.ru.

       Seth is looking for English Mimi. I've got your watc h fixed that was given you on your birthday last year. I'd like to give it back to you. Please contact me at: to_kostya@usa.net.

       German Christina (AF1507) would like to get in touch with German Nat Palmtree. I met you in Switzerland 11 years ago. Please contact me ASAP at: johnpaul@shisas.com or via the ABM.

       Ericka is looking for Dawn (of Sam and Ma Paz) and Rachel (Primavera, of Pedro and Aurora). My email is: joscla@baydenet.com.br.

       Patrick and Christina (Paul and Felicia) are look ing for Antoine and Gisele Manz (Cephas and Victoria). Where are you? Also French Marie and Heidi. Any other friends also. Please e-mail us at Plumbroso@aol.com.

       Dear Ahlai, I heard you are in Mexico. Do you remember me, Joy, of Noe? Maybe the last time I saw you was c. 1975 in Mexico. I want to contact you for a very important and very special reason. Please write me at pcdesk@attglobal.net as soon as possible.

       This is Clara Cordero looking for Claire and Debbie, I lived with you girls in The Farm in Sao Paulo and miss you lots. Please get in touch as soon as possible! My email is: joscla@baydenet.com.br.

       Shully, thanks a million 4 writing me, girl. Unfortunately, your letter was erased and I didn't get your new email. Please send it 2 me again! Thanks, love Nat.

HomeARC on Windows 2000! In 4 easy steps!
By Dan, Hungary
       You will need the following in order to get the HomeARC running on Windows 2000:

       1. A copy of the installed HomeARC directory (i.e., C:\homearc ).
       2. A text editor of some sort, like Notepad.

The Process:

       1. Copy the HomeARC directory in its entirety to a directory of your choosing.

       2. Go to the drive with your Windows 2000 directory (i.e., C:\WinNT) and go to (Windows 2000 Directory)\system32.

       3. Open the file autoexec.nt (located under [Windows 2000 directory\system32]) in your text editor and add the following line to the bottom of the file:

       (Path to HomeARC directory)\memctrl.com /i

       Please note t he above (Path to HomeARC directory) is where you copied the HomeARC directory to (i.e., C:\homearc).

       4. Now reboot your computer and run the HomeARC! NOTE: If you do not have your yourname.INF file saved, you will need to create a new one. In order to do this you will need your original HomeARC CD! &&& &&&LNF: You can skip this entire process by downloading the installer for W2K - it does it for you! - at http://www.techxcellence.net/downloads … Check it out!

       P.S. From WS Computer Te am:GBY, Dan, for figuring this out and sharing this wonderful tip with us all! This is just great and will be a big blessing to anyone that is interested in using Windows 2000.
       We have still not found any way to get the HomeARC to work in Windows ME (Windows Millennium Edition), and it does not seem that this procedure can be duplicated there. Microsoft removed support for “real-mode device drivers” in Windows ME, and that is basically what Memctrl.com is. So, since Memctrl.com can not be load ed from Autoexec.bat in Windows ME, the HomeARC will not work on that system. If anyone discovers a way to run Memctrl.com and the HomeARC in Windows ME please pass the tip on to us and we will share it with all.

Insult to your intelligence?

       Have you ever been absorbed in a Blade mag, and come across a definition for a word that you already know? Well, please don't take offense. Remember, we are an international movement, present in many foreign lands, and we try to define unfamiliar word s for people-including new disciples or close outside friends-whose mother tongue is something other than English. It's not to insult anyone's intelligence; it's just to make the meaning of the Lord's wonderful and deep Words even clearer. Of course, you can look up words too, when you come across a word that needs defining. There's always something new to learn, even if your mother tongue is English. Lots of love to you!-Your Blade editor.

in My arms

       From Stephen and Lisa, Liberia: Our s on, David (13), fell sick with typhoid and malaria on December 12th. On Christmas Eve he was admitted to the hospital. David had been taking medication ever since he fell sick, but the medicine didn't work, and instead of improving as everyone was expecting, he just got weaker and weaker. The medical system here in Liberia is appalling; it is very difficult to get correct diagnosis and treatment and no one really seems to know what signs to watch for, which only compounded the problem of treatin g David. It wasn't till the day of his death that the doctor discovered that David had cerebral malaria (the malaria had gone to his brain) and that he was bleeding internally from typhoid fever. On December 28th, David went to be with the Lord. It all happened so fast; we are in shock and heartbroken as well. Please pray for us. David's departure has left not only a lot of heartbreak but also a gap in our work that will be very difficult to fill.
       The funeral was short but very touching. When we arrived at the funeral parlor, some of our closest friends as well as Family Liberia were there. At the service we played two songs-”The Butterfly” and “White Sails.” Stephen gave a short, inspired talk about the lessons we'd learned from David's death. To begin with, Stephen shared how the Lord had spoken to our team before we arrived in Liberia-at that time over three years ago-and how He had told us that we would lose one child in Liberia. Stephen went on to tell everyone that David was ou r missionary gift to the Liberian people. The Lord in His mercy had been preparing us for this event for quite some time.

       (Jesus:) Your precious son is safe with Me. He's Home now and forever, and will soon be able to devote much of his time to helping you and the work in Liberia. He has a missionary's heart, and has given that which is most precious-his life-to intercede for you in prayer, and to be a personal help to you from the spirit world. He will always be close by your side, and will help you to remember the better Place that he is in, giving you inspiration and incentive to continue to reach the lost and finish your job before I reunite all of you together.
       Do not weep for David, for he is happy. He loves you dearly, and though he misses you too and longs to comfort you, he can see the potential of what he can accomplish Here, and what he can help you to accomplish. He's happy, rejoicing, and eager to begin his new life. He will always be by you-your son-now perfect and whole, and able to do so much more from this side to aid you. (End of message from Jesus.)

entertainment

Movies Rated for YAs and Up

PASSION OF MIND (2000)
Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgard, William Fichtner
       Drama about a woman who feels she is living two lives, her day in each one beginning when she goes to sleep in the other one. After a while she is unsure which world is the real one.

Movies Rated for Junior Teens and Up

RED PLANET (2000)
Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss
       A small team of astronauts runs into various problems and difficulties after arriving at Mars on a mission designed to help save Earth from ecological disaster.

WHAT WOMEN WANT (2000)
Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt
       After he survives a serious accident, a self-centered and egotistical Chicago businessman learns that he has the power to read women's minds. For the first time in his life, he understands women.

PROOF OF LIFE (2000)
Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan
       The wife of a kidnapped American engineer retain s the services of a freelance professional hostage negotiator to arrange his release. Set in Latin America.

Movies Rated for MCs and Up

RING OF BRIGHT WATER (1969)
Bill Travers
       Film adaptation of Gavin Maxwell's novel-the tale of a man who gives up the rat race of life in the city and moves to a quiet cottage in Scotland to write and interact with his new pet, an otter named Mij.
       (Note to parents: There is an unexpected scene towards the end of the movie where a local workman kills Mi j with a shovel-off-screen-not realizing he was a pet.)

reviews

Passion of Mind
       (Dad:) It's got a good message about love, about the power of thought, and about facing your fears and overcoming them. It's an unusual and unique plot which keeps your interest. The woman's openness and honesty about her situation helps her to get the help she needs, to find a solution to her problem.
       Real love is a key ingredient that helps the woman overcome the state she had gotten into, and in a way th at glorifies the Lord, for He is love. Of course, if the woman had had a strong relationship with the Lord she wouldn't have gotten into the predicament she found herself in, and this should reinforce what the Family already knows: that there are many tormented souls in the world that need the Lord and His truth in their lives.
       Thank you, dear Family, for being a great spiritual help to so many lost souls in a world with so many in need of the Lord's spiritual help.

Red Planet
       (Jesus:) Ma n is coming to his limits and is trying to find a new home. While this movie may contain unlikely scenarios, it is a good exposé of man's neglect and lack of care for the world I created for him. This movie could be looked at in two ways: Through his efforts to clean up his act, man has made for himself a bigger mess, showing man's need for Me. The second way this movie can be looked at is through the eyes of the men involved-bravery vs. villainy; the selfish and the sacrificial. It shows good l essons on perseverance and not giving up in a difficult situation.
       One thing this movie also brings out is the failure of science to answer the questions of the heart of man. In spite of their discoveries, they still cannot answer certain fundamental questions, which have led some of them to turn to Me. Any honest scientist will tell you that the more they discover in the world of My creation, the more they find that proves that there is a greater power at work than they can explain, and this movie helps to bring out this message.

What Women Want
       (Dad:) This movie was a lot of fun, with some interesting and humorous insights on women and the differences between male and female. It's not chock-full of deep lessons, though there are some. And though it was somewhat exaggerated in parts, I nevertheless found it to be quite entertaining, enjoyable and insightful-and I think you will too. If you're looking for a fun romantic comedy to watch when you want to have a little time away fr om it all, to sit back and relax a bit and have some laughs, this might be a good one.

Proof of Life
       (Dad:) This is an “entertainment only”-type movie in that while it's exciting, it doesn't necessarily have big lessons. It is, however, a good reminder to take the time to pray for our Family brethren in difficult and dangerous countries-for the Lord's protection and safekeeping in all that He calls them to do.

Ring of Bright Water
       (Jesus:) Here's a sweet story that introduces you to a way of life in Scotland, shows you how the friendship of a man and woman can be a support to each other, and is very enjoyable as you watch the little friend I gave them with his funny antics. Pet animals are My gift to show man My love. This little fellow was just that, a token of My love. He changed this man's life, taking him from the frustration of his everyday city existence, to a fishing village of Scotland where he learned more of life's true values. Enjoy this sweet, loving tale.

feat ure: Christmas witnessing!

Singing in Bethlehem
By Tina (VS), Mideast
       We sent our singing team to Bethlehem again this year for Christmas. Things were very different this year compared to previous years due to the political situation and unrest; many of the festivities were cancelled and there were no decorations or lights up at all. Many people have lost loved ones in the recent Intifada, as it's known here, and many are mourning, so we had to tone down our program a lot and couldn't incl ude dancing; instead the team did mild motions and backup vocals to the songs.
       Altogether it was quite beautiful, and though it rained heavily on Christmas Eve, quite a few people still came. We distributed the [Arabic translation of the] new tract called One More Breath, which was sent to us from the Folks' Home, along with a song that we sang for the first time, “Christmas in Bethlehem.” We believe lots of hearts were touched and encouraged.
       We spent Christmas Day together, and even had so me local friends join with us. It was a sweet time. We sang carols and the Lord provided a nice turkey Christmas dinner from a hotel in the area. Despite the problems and troubles, people are still so giving and helpful. God bless them!

The power of a tract
By Ben, Angela and Gyongyi, Uganda
       As we were on the bus our 2-year-old was, as usual, making contact with people around us so we could easily give out tracts. A 25-year-old girl with beautiful long hair sat next to us. She took a speci al liking to Gyongyi and we gave her a Christmas Children's tract (which was all we had with us at that time). She started to read it right away and we could see tears welling up in her eyes. As she had finished reading it she looked at us and said, “This is my most beautiful Christmas gift ever!”

Christmas in Mexico
By Seek, Mexico
       Our wonderful Christmas included … an Activated Christmas party for our friends and sheep, a children's Christmas show in orphanages, Christmas CTP for 3,000, Christmas CDs going out like hotcakes, new contacts, and thousands of tracts distributed, PTL! The best way to describe Christmas this year would be to say that the Lord answered every prayer!

       Activated: At our first Activated seminar, we had distributed questionnaires, and from the answers we found that many who attended would like to attend events with their families. So when we prayed about a Christmas party for our contacts, the Lord led us to make it into an Activated Christmas party wh ere there would be activities for both adults and children. To our amazement, our house was packed in spite of the fact that the party was held in the afternoon of the national soccer finals where Morelia was playing in the finals. This only enhanced the party and we began the party watching the sudden-death playoff where Morelia beat Toluca to win the national championship!
       Downstairs the children had their own party with games, while the adults fellowshipped upstairs. Then we had music, read ing of a touching Reflections about Christmas, the children's show, lots of food, and a very funny skit called “The Christmas Carol” taken from the classic by Charles Dickens. Then the adults watched as the children took turns trying to break a traditional piñata.

       Children's Show: This is the second year that the singing and dancing and manger scene was done by the children. Renee coached the team of 12 children who performed regularly throughout December for orphanages. God bless Manantial, who provisioned cakes and milk to share with the children at each orphanage.

       Christmas CTP: This was our fourth year to host a Christmas dinner for 3,000 poor people. This was the best year ever, and we had an abundance of food and toys, and it was a wonderful example to the community of what the Lord can do through His children. We had a Christmas picnic in a beautiful park on a rolling hill. The families were served and then sat with their children on the grass while beautiful Christmas m usic was playing and later gathered round for the Children's Christmas show.
       At the end there was a truckload of food and drinks left over to pass out as people left. They also received animal balloons which the young people made the night before and had ready to pass out. We were able to give out posters, toys, and clothes as the people left the park. We wanted to thank the brethren in Monterrey who helped by donating 2,000 “Nurf” balls and helped to make the arrangements for us to receive th em in time for the dinner. After this event, we returned home to find that we still had more food to distribute, and we packed out the van and one car and took the remaining food to a poor area near our Home.

       Tracting: Each year a friend donates 10,000 Christmas tracts for us to pass out. We had fun the last day before Christmas trying to get the rest out by going to the long checkout lines in a department store.
       Christmas CDs: Christmas tool distribution was really fun this year, as the n ew Christmas CDs were such a hit! We hadn't been doing a lot of tool distribution, but it renewed our vision for what can be done throughout the year. In the process of going to office buildings and shops, we met so many precious people to add to our follow-up. Some of these folks helped with our Christmas dinner for the poor.

       Radio Jingle: The most popular radio station created a “jingle” for us, which they played regularly to advertise the Christmas dinner for the poor, along with “Jingle Bells” from our Christmas CD.

       Homes Working Together: One reason for the success of our Christmas projects is that the Homes in the city work together. This helps us combine a lot of talent in different areas and we find that we can do so much more, PTL!

Christmas in Bali, Indonesia
By Steven, for the Bali Home
       It was a very busy month of witnessing! The Lord provided many opportunities for our children's show to perform at 5-star hotels, schools, restaurants, homes, and friends and co ntacts' Christmas parties, sharing the Christmas message of the birth of Jesus in song and dance. Dancers: Paul (15), Flame (13), Danny (12), and Karen (9).
       Our “Band Group” also got to perform at schools, two restaurants and at an open-air shopping center; playing Christmas songs and the salvation message sung by nine-year-old Karen, “You can become God's Child.” The Band: Shem (lead guitar), Danny (bass guitar), Jesse and Flame (keyboard), Paul (drums), Suzy (vocals).
       Many souls were saved and many heard the Christmas message, including the many tourists who came to Bali for Christmas holidays! TYJ!

Getting the message out in Russia
By Ruth, Russia
       The Christmas push is really inspiring here! PTL! We've been meeting lots of people receptive to the message and friendly to us. Last spring we met a sweet man who got to know the Family several years ago via mail ministry. He is a pastor of one of the Pentecostal churches here. He introduced us to other pastors of the churches i n the area, and since then they've been happy to work with us.
       Every week they hold pastors' meetings in their central church. Recently we came to see these people again, as we offered them a newly translated Memory Song tape New Life and the older Fear Not, and we also promised them some Christmas tracts for distribution.
       When we came in they were having a service and invited us to join. It was sweet, but we couldn't help thinking what a difference the Spirit makes, as it felt like “the let ter that killeth,” ha! We listened to the preachers and sang several hymns together; they all were impressed and glad to see us young people actively participating in the classes, so at the end everybody was smiling at us very favorably.
       Then the “business” part of the meeting began. We were given the floor to present our audios, and right at once all the four tapes we had with us were sold. A sweet woman (their equivalent of a CRO) leading their whole work here took two, and this was a good s ample to others. She also asked us to come in a week, bring a tape player and present our other tapes, because not all the pastors know them yet. We also could sell the Countdown to Armageddon, as she introduced us to the other lady responsible for their funds. They've just collected donations and she wanted to buy the video for the church!
       Christmas tracts were a great hit! We brought only 1,000 with us, which they joyfully distributed among themselves to take for distribution in their areas, and the lady in charge meekly asked us for more. How much more, we wondered, and she asked for 15,000! Now lots of people in the city, the area and outside (as they have many churches in other areas of Russia) are going to get the message!

Bangkok Christmas Concert 2000
By Silas, Thailand
       The Family Christmas Concert this year was again held at the beautiful grand ballroom of one of the best 5-star hotels in the country. The Lord supplied the use of this place free of charge, including fo od and refreshments, courtesy of one of the Homes who ministers to the management throughout the year.
       The hotel management had asked us to try to keep the number of people attending down to about 900, as that was the maximum number of seats the ballroom fit comfortably. Nonetheless, well over 1,000 people came and there was only standing room towards the second half of the program. As a matter of fact, the hotel opened up a whole new section compared to last year, and set up a third giant scr een so that the people sitting on that side of the room were also able to partake of the Lord's Spirit shining through the dancers and singers.
       The program was MC'd by Jonas, Christy and Angelina almost completely in Thai and was a beautiful culmination of different aspects of Family life-our little children, the young people, our CTP ministries, etc. (Before the program officially started, we had a video playing with different clips of CTPs from all over the country, which Benny put together. GBH!)
       Something that was quite beautiful to see every time you came through one of the side doors near the front of the stage (you could see the entire audience from there) was that everyone in the audience was smiling and totally captivated and mesmerized by what was happening on stage. It was so beautiful to see the Lord's Spirit reaching out to the hearts of all present.
       We've received no end of phone calls and comments from our friends thanking us for the program. We give all the glory to Jesus, as we know it was only Him and a miracle of His love at Christmas!
       We would also like to give credit where credit is due to the Thai SC for provisioning the use of the grand ballroom, the snacks, refreshments, lighting, etc., and their further help with coordinating details and supplying personnel; to the DF Home for their help on the organizational side of things and all that went into the children's portion of the program; to the TC and Ivy Home for making it possible for the singi ng team to perform, not to mention the different dear ones you sent to help with greeting and ushering friends; to the Thai VS Home for your help with hosting the pre-concert meetings and for your help with greeting, ushering, and setting things up, and to all the other Homes who sent greeters and ushers, and of course, invited your friends. We couldn't have done it without you!

help wanted

       Help wanted for moving missionaries! Zeb Geppetto and Kristy (and seven of our kids-soon to be eigh t!) are on our way to open a new Home in Mexico! Any help would be greatly appreciated and help us reach our goal faster! No minimum! Our present Home number is BR048. Please designate your gifts for Zeb and Kristy. Thanks so much for your help and prayers!

WS Portfolios, Pastimes and Peeves, Part 2
By Kevin

Childcare workers

       Portfolio: These are the talented and experienced teachers and caregivers that spend sometimes 27 hours a day raising our little ones to be great and mighty king s and queens we know they will be once they stop giggling every time they hear a toot. A skilled childcare worker is also sure to rave to the parents about the incredibly intelligent things their kids seem to be doing all day, every day (except for that one little episode where a potty was used as a hat). This makes parents' hearts swell, and helps soothe fears all parents probably occasionally face that at the age of 34 their children will still be tucking their shirt into their underwear and p retending the bubbles in the toilet bowl are dangerous alien invaders.

       Pastime: Scouring every magazine, newspaper and catalog for pictures to cut out and paste on picture fact cards. The volume and diversity of picture facts is staggering, with the typical set taking several months to show to children and requiring a helicopter to transport from Home to Home. “What's this, Johnny? That's right! It's a hemlock woolly adelgid. Isn't it cute?” “And this is a brand new one I just cut out this m orning. can you say 'antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity'?” Oh, and here's one of your favorites, Goooood, Johnny! It's a Sandinista rebel eating a taco.”

       Peeves: Parents who simply cannot see the advantages of math dots. The secret truth, however, is that parents such as myself are in fact terrified of their children learning to count using these spotted cards. Imagine serving your child a bowl of granola and having him immediately complain that he got 26 less oats and 3 less rais ins than his sibling.

       How we can help them: It's simple. Thank them for taking care of the children and show them your appreciation in tangible ways. Words are nice and needed, but there's nothing like a thank you card with a night off, occasionally accompanied by a nice big stack of photo-filled magazines and a pair of scissors.

Secretaries

       Portfolio: As the name implies, a secretary is a “keeper of secrets,” and she finds herself doing so almost continuously. For example, she will n ever reveal to you the exact amount of time she spends finding just the right sticker to place on her monitor and deciding where and how to place it. Casual surveys show that a heart and a butterfly are among the most popular stickers.
       A secretary appears so cheerful, rarely letting on to the fact that she has so much work to do that for the next week she will most likely not be leaving her desk for anything other than a cup of coffee. Even then some have come up with ingenious inventions, suc h as a 20-foot straw attached to the coffee machine or an additional keyboard under her desk so she can type a second phone message with her toes. Some have even developed a device that allows them to move their computer mouse by hip rotation. This is a sacrifice for secretaries, since utilizing all of these contraptions simultaneously tends to make them look like something like an orangutan sitting on an anthill. But every secretary I know is more than willing to make the sacrifice necessary to get the job done. It's awesome.

       Pastime: Pictures, stickers, colorful pens, color-coordinated post-its and more pictures of Jesus in their desk area than can be found in the Vatican.

       Peeves: A broken computer, which is also sometimes referred to as “a computer.” Don't ask me why, but in the 72 or so years I've been fixing and troubleshooting computers, I have never seen a vocation that has more computer problems. I've seen computer error messages that range from the perplexing (“Error: Keyboard malfunction, press any key to continue.”) to the downright bizarre (“Error: All files have been gobbled up by a big, green, scaly monster straight out of a '50s horror movie. Raise your hands, run around the room and scream to continue.”)

       How we can help them: Make life easy for them by being considerate of what we ask them to do. We must realize that underneath that pretty little smile may lie tight deadlines, piles of messages to write, databases to update and low pitched sobbing noises to make when the computer munches it all up at the end.

Web designers

       Portfolio: Collecting plenty of interesting information, pictures, sounds and videos and placing it on the World Wide Web in a presentable format. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it's not. The Web is a wonderful way to share information with the world, but behind all those pretty (and sometimes not so pretty) sites out there, is often a quagmire of technical difficulties. For example, cnn.com will not run without a rubber band and a piece of chewing gum positioned between the server's hard drive and the power adapter.

       Pastime: Figuring out how to use the Internet in amazing ways, for the betterment of our lives. For example, it may someday be possible to create a site such as www.LazyWriter.com that will automatically send letters to your relatives using randomly generated paragraphs, or www.WillPower.com that will send you a mild electric shock over the Internet just before you're about to go over y our alcohol quota.

       Peeves:

Message to the Web team from John

Dear Web team,
       My name is John, and just so you don't get me mixed up with the thousands of other Johns, I'm the one who lives in a Home and has two arms, two ears and a head. My Home number is either BE003, US1234 or JA933, but I'm not really sure.
       Thank you for working so hard on your Web site. I'm sure it's really inspiring, but I haven't been able to visit it yet because I lost my password. Again.
       Also, what do you think I should do about the situation with my landlord? Can you tell me who the Antichrist is? Why do young people wear pants that are too big for them?
Love,
John

       How we can help them: In spite of its best efforts, WS has yet to find a qualified psychic to join the Web team; so until then we can help them immensely by giving them as much info as possible about who we are and what we want. Also, keep in mind that although the Web site contains a huge variety of material on many topics, the primary responsibility of the Web team is, well, Web sites, and they are more than happy to do all they possibly can to help you get connected and online. However, questions regarding prophetic interpretation, relationships, recommended cat food brands and columnists who won't stop making up ancient proverbs, should be directed to the appropriate party.
       Which reminds me of an ancient Indian proverb (rough translation from the original Sanskrit): “He who swats the stubborn elephant with a bamb oo stick probably needs to access the MO site.”

Cooks

       Portfolio: Contrary to what some may think, WS members are not required to fast six times a week and get a prophecy before taking each bite of food. We are in actuality perfectly normal “human beans,” as my two-year-old sister used to pronounce it. And as you know, we humans need plenty of beans to give us the energy to live, work, play and break things. Thankfully, our dear cooks are there when we need them, ready to provide us with p lenty of delicious, wholesome food. We simply would not survive without them, or if we did we would be reduced to creating a cooking schedule that would include me, which is slightly worse than starvation.

       Pastime: Scrubbing garlic out of their fingernails, washing smoke out of their clothing, cleaning flour out of their hair; generally just having a really great time. They also tend to enjoy experimenting with ingredients that you would expect to find in the manual for assembling an interco ntinental ballistic missile, but coming out with exquisite dishes that make our mouths water and increase our waist lines exponentially.

       Peeves: Anonymous: “What's for dinner?”

       Cook: “Black beans and rice. Just like it says on the white board at the kitchen entrance, written in 14-foot lettering.”

       Anonymous: “White board?”

       Anonymous No. 2: “When will dinner be ready?”

       Cook: “At 7:00, just like we decided back in 1975.”

       Anonymous No. 2: “Really? I guess I was kind of young back then.”

       Anonymous No. 3: “Hey, what's that?” (Slurp, Slurp.) “Hey, that looks good.” (Lick, lick.) “Oh, wow, I wonder what that tastes like.” (Glug, glug, glug.)

       Cook: “Be careful, the dish soap container broke this morning, so I had to put it in a coffee cup temporarily.”

       Anonymous No. 3: “Argh.”

       How we can help them:

       Anonymous No. 4: “Wow, that smells wonderful! Thanks for not only preparing the food but taking extra time to make it particularly enjoyable. What would w e do without you?”

       Cook: “I just made this fresh batch of cookies. Would you like some? Aw, you might as well just go ahead and take them all.”

       Anonymous No. 4: “Munch, munch.”

       Time would fail me to tell of the many ministries within WS that have all been set in place to make your life and work as a missionary more effective and enjoyable. I find life in WS to be both satisfying and enjoyable. Since making the decision to join, the Lord has blessed me with a fulfilling ministry, a lo vely wife, a beautiful bouncing baby boy, the opportunity to share with you a wealth of ancient proverbs and the realization that I am indeed a very happy human bean.

ads

       Check out the MO site to download our new Family “Song of Victory” in Spanish!!

       Interested in seeing how to get Activated an active part of your Home? Take a trip to India in the upcoming Free Zine #51 and look into the life of young people in the Bangalore Service Home. See how they're helping making Activated their Home's feature in “Sweet Taste of India.”
       Don't miss the interview! Worth a read for all-old and young. Catch the Activated vision!

mama's mailbox

Dearest Mama,
       My brother's testimony is remarkable. He's six years younger than I, recently came back to the Family, and is in an FM Home. I spent a lot of time with him during my recent visit with my relatives, and we did lots of witnessing together.
       When I last saw him 18 years ago, he had just dropped out. He was temporarily in the sam e Home as I, but when I left, there were lots of changes going on, with most people going to South America or other fields. In those post-RNR days, there wasn't much organization, and many people did their own thing or had their own plans, and somehow my brother never found a Home that took him in. In fact, some people even treated him without much love and were not a good Christian sample to him. However, he took it very graciously, and amazingly enough is not bitter about it.
       For a while he had to go back and live with my parents, and later on, he started living on his own. He was never able to fit into the System; he knew the Family was where he was meant to be. He had gotten hooked on the Word that I shared with him in my catacomb days, and he always knew Dad was God's Endtime prophet.
       He told me during my recent visit that I had instilled in him the concept that he had to keep his eyes on the Word, and not on the people in the Family, since we are human and can fail. I had for gotten about that, but that explains why he stuck for so many years. And then, when he was living on his own and there were no more Family members around, he would go to an old contact and print Family GP pubs and get them out, and even make faith trips. He lost touch with me through a series of circumstances, until the Lord by a miracle put us in contact again about five years ago.
       More recently, he's had the blessing of having Homes nearby and coming back to the Family he always considered h imself a part of. He's read plenty of Word and uses prophecy, and even practices Loving Jesus, even though it breaks his bottle somewhat.
       The Lord has delivered him from the chronic stammering that he used to have. But the biggest miracle is that some time ago he developed a tumor and the Lord delivered him in just one day, which he spent in prayer and fasting, and he's been whole since then. This happened when he was still by himself and didn't have Family brethren around that could give him support and prayer.
       To me, my brother's case is a proof of how far the Word can go and the fruit it can have in people's lives. Only in Heaven will we know all that was accomplished because of the Word that we give out.
-FGA man

ideas and tips

Praise Time Tip
       To save time, get more get-out and be faithful to not cut my Praise Time too short, I like to do 5 minutes (or more) of exercise during Praise Time! It's also a good and healthy break from sitting too long at a typewriter, refres hes the mind, gives new vigor and a fresh outlook, and most of all the Lord's input on your work!
-John W., Guinea

Encouraging contacts
       We tried something new when going on the road. We made a diploma [appreciation certificate] for everyone who had given towards our work and bought a CD last time we visited that city. The people that received it were so thankful and they all gave again. It showed us that many of these people need encouragement and need to know we really appreciate their gi fts.
-Chris, Sela and Julia, Sweden
Witness via birthday
       An idea one of our live-outs had was that for his birthday he had each guest bring a new friend to his party as his birthday present! They did, and everyone was witnessed to, signed up for the Activated program, and were invited for our weekly Bible classes!
-Faith, Daniel and Flor, Brazil

Winepress reactions, from Europe
By Celeste, EURCRO Media Desk

       Jeremiah, England: Thanks for all the latest mailings. I'm so happy and grat eful to be virtually back in the fold. I've read through nearly everything and as usual it was exactly what I needed. I am very comfortable with Maria. I am reassured by her warmth, gentleness, her humility. She is so precious, and she has done a great deal to expel my doubts and fears, and to encourage and strengthen my faith. The love of the Lord through her is irresistible and the Word of God so pure, direct, relevant-and just bang on.

       Michele, Italy: Many thanks for your fidelity in givi ng to me the precious Word. I'm nothing without it!

       Matt F., Norway: Just a little note to say thanks for the mailing received today. It is always such an encouragement when the white envelope arrives. “I'm not forgotten!” When one has messed up one's life as I have, one feels not deserving of anything. So, the arrival of the mailings is always a happy, encouraging occasion.

       Peter, Holland: I'm very glad that I can receive the New Wine from the Winepress publications. I believe every sin gle word of it because I know it comes from the Spirit of God. It's been such a blessing to get back in contact with you again. Lately the Lord has started using me more and more again-just last month or so He has used me to lead seven people to the Lord.

       Lydia, England: Thank you for the Family mailings you send me each month. I am grateful, God bless you all in Jesus' name. I am so eternally thankful for all I learned in the Family in 1972 in San Diego. The witnessing, provisioning and lea rning so much, have stayed with me all the years.

       Denise, Switzerland: Dear Family, thank you so much for your recent communications. I was particularly interested in Tamar's testimony. I have rest and peace in the Beloved arms. Every need is met and there's every consideration.

       Angela, France: Dear Family, thank you for your last Winepress Mailings. You are and you'll stay the only true family I've ever known.

From the Sheep Online
By the US Activated desk

From Juliet, Mombasa, A frica
       Thanks for your e-mail. First thing on Monday morning, I am blessed by your Words. You've made my day and also reminded me that I had not had a word this morning with our dear Lord (I didn't pray). Your e-mail has made me talk to God.

From Erika Kvistad, Norway
       My name is Erika, and I'm a 10th grade student in Trondheim, Norway. I got to know about the Family through a school project about religious organizations in Norway. I visited the Web site to learn more about your organizatio n, and from what I have seen, it seems like an active and involved fellowship with a positive influence on many parts of the world.

From J. and J. Stone, San Mateo, California
       Dear Family, We are a married couple fed up with the materialism and “rat race” lifestyle that we see all around us. We are seeking a better, cleaner life. Your Web site looks very promising ... please send us information about how to join you and further your efforts to spread the Word.

From Jennifer Morgan, New H ampshire, USA
       I really want very much to be a part of the Family. I met you when I was surfing online and knew right away that to serve Jesus was what I wanted. You all sounded so happy and ready to give me information on Him so abundantly without thinking twice. I want to be able to do this too as enthusiastically as you do. If I did that here I would be made fun of. I want to be around people who want to spread His message as you do. I so look forward to hearing from you soon.

From Mark
       Could you send me info on how to join please. I am very interested about your organization. My name's Mark and I feel very alone. I'm 17 and I was just wondering if you could help me because I feel so alone.

Also included with this file:
Cute kids.
       Courtesy of Agnes, Brazil, during the Feast
       Caption 1 While reading with the children, the new Feast Letter “Nothing Is Impossible!”
       Caption 2 The word says, “Nothing shall be impossible to God!”
       Caption 3 “But wait a minute,” pops up a l ittle hand from the grand assembly.
       Caption 4 “There is actually just one thing that is impossible for God to do!”
       Caption 5 “No, I don't believe that is the case my dear. Look, as the Word states again here…”
       Caption 6 The sincere child responds with, “It's impossible for Him to fail!”