GrapevineIS

SU

E

“Minimizing ungodly influences”does not mean minimizing it downto a button on your taskbar. Itmeans not running the program atall.

MARCH 1, 2001 CM/FM

Prayer RequestDear Family, please unite in prayer on

behalf of Simon, Natasha (Pearl haschanged her name), and Sam in the UK.As you well remember, a great victorywas won in the courts for Sam (nownearly nine years old) during the BI courtcase, but Natasha’s mother and theofficial appointed solicitor for Sam aremaking applications regarding hiseducation and other matters. Please prayfor the Lord’s perfect will in this, for thestrength and encouragement of Simon,Natasha, Sam and those involved, andthat the matters can be resolved posi-tively, and if possible without going tocourt.

A Dozen New CAT FeastsCheck out the MO Site, because we

have now posted a dozen CAT Bookstudies. That’s the CAT references ANDthe MO quotes compiled in handy RTFfiles. It’s like having new MOP booksections!

The files are named after theReference Categories in the CAT Book, forexample: Battles and Victories is calledBAT_MO.rtf. Faith is called FAI_MO.rtf,and so on. DV, we will add more CATstudies from time to time.

CAT Topics posted on the MO Sitetoday:

BAT: Battles and VictoriesFAI: Faith (General)FAIA: Rest; Resting in the LordFIR: First LoveHAP: Happiness; JoyLOVD: Need for Love, TheOBEE: Word, Obedience to thePRAYA: Answers to PrayerSELRA: Cures for Self-RighteousnessSTR: Strength and Power; WeaknessWIL: Will of God (General)WOR: Word (General)

Come on a hike,groom your innerman, avoid a collisioncourse, forge aheaddespite yourlimitations, defogyour vision, shout“Shondo!” enter theHouse of All Answers,taste the ultimatethirst quencher, andhold out for the realthing!—All in Blade17.

Table of contents

Leaving the frostylands of Siberia intothe searing heat ofEthiopia! Come andjoin DanielMountain, Lana,Jessica (17), Daniel(3½), and Marianna(1½) for an ongoingadventure in thefamed “Land ofSheba”... page 4.

“Activated” in Pakistan? .................... 2

Activated sponsorship news! ........... 2

CLE and CVC News ......................... 3

Siberia to Ethiopia .................................. 4

“Remember Our Teachers” Day ......... 6

Fruitful Fields ....................................... 10

Diary of an SGA ................................. 12

Forum .................................................. 14

Ratings and Reviews ....................... 15

March 12

By Stefan, IslamabadThe answer is yes,

obviously. But is it thatobvious? As anyone who hasor who is working in a Muslimfield knows, things can gopretty slow, and the lack ofobvious fruits that you read ofbeing reaped in other fieldscan easily discourage you.Well, over the last 14 years ofbeing here I’ve kind of gottenover that. I’ve learned tokeep plodding along, knowingwell and good that each fieldis different and in due timeall the seeds sown will bereaped. There are other kindof fruits and rewards here, butit is not exactly the same.

In any case, since readingthe “Action Series” GNs and allabout the Activated program,my desperation to seesomething happen wasgrowing fast, along with someof the lowest and discouragingmoments I have felt in a longtime. The Lord did somethingreally sweet for me this month.I want to share it with otherswho may be in a similarsituation or field to encouragethem to keep going.

We prayed and prayedand tried to implement theActivated program the bestwe know how; that is, not by

selling subscriptions to all wemeet (although we got ourfirst one this month withpotential for more—mainly inthe Christian community), butby doing the usual, ploddingand faithfully giving Reflec-tions, posters, and FARs to allwe meet, and praying withour friends during each visitfor their health, kids’ school-ing, business, etc. Then oneday, clear out of the blue,came back dear Ali (alias).

Ali is a 34-year-old M.D.and a psychiatrist who hasread a lot on all majorreligions, who also has a circleof very influential friends.While attending the weddingof his sister’s friend with him,the “Father of the A-Bomb”for Pakistan was present, withwhom he had some dealingwith in the past. We initiallymet him in 1997 whilesearching for a clinic for someof our expectant mothers. Hehad just opened his clinicnear our house. We quicklybecame good friends. Hecame over a number of timesfor what he called his“therapy.” It is interesting howthe Lord over the years keptgently leading him along. As ayouth he received a N.T. inUrdu; while in medical

college he met some Cana-dian missionaries and got abasic knowledge of Jesus andattended church with thembut then stopped due tocriticism and peer pressure.

Then he got busy and welost contact. We tried to meethim on occasions but withoutsuccess. So we committedhim to the Lord. Then lastmonth he came back withapologies for not meeting usand proceeded to tell us thatall his money and his car wasinvested in a land schemethat turned out to be a scam,and he has spent the last twoyears trying to get it back. Asa result he became a failure,his wife divorced him andkept his three-year-old son; hecouldn’t keep up with hisclinic, so had to close it down;after his divorce he had apotential new wife whoseparents persuaded her todump him after finding outhe was broke.

During that time he sawthe movie Jesus, given to himby a very sweet Christianyoung man whom we knowand who is a faithful witness.The Lord was trying toencourage him. Since then,he has been coming overalmost daily to read the Word.

He keeps asking if that isokay and if it is not botheringus too much if he comes overat odd hours and odd days(like our last W&R!). He said,“I am your lost lamb withnowhere to go and no one totalk to about the Lord!” Whatcould you say to such acomment? He acts, talks,prays and praises very muchlike an on-fire new babe whowants to tell everyone aboutthe Lord. Yet he can’t do soopenly due the possibleserious repercussions for himand for us as well. It is similarto Matthew’s testimony (theOrthodox Jew). His life has soradically changed that heplans to (when all his affairsare tied up) join the Family inanother country. Please dopray for him and wisdom inall his interaction.

So yes, we can getactivated in Pakistan! Thereare many more like him here.Although they may be a littlehard to find, when you do,you know it is worth it all!And maybe if we had morelaborers to help us, who arewilling to make the necessarysacrifices to live in such acountry, we would probablyfind more! Can you help usfind them all?!

Can we get “activated” in Pakistan?

Activated sponsorship news!FROM THE EUROPEAN ACTIVATED DESK

Thank you forsponsoringsubscriptions for Africa

God bless you, dearFamily! We love you andoften pray for your greatexploits in this “era of action.”We wanted to say a big thankyou to all the Homes whohave sent in donations tosponsor Activated subscrip-tions for those who cannotafford it in Africa. We praythat the Lord will bless you ahundredfold for your gener-ous giving. So far nearly 450subscriptions have beensponsored! It is inspiring tosee how many people otherthan the recipient of thesubscription get to read theActivated magazine. We have

received several letters frompeople who have seen themagazine in other people’shouses and want to get theirown mailing.

Here’s a letter of appre-ciation from Hamadi Rajebuin Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania,who receives a sponsoredsubscription:

Dear Friends,How are you? How is your

condition? How is Home? Ihope you are in good condi-tion. Back to my side, I’malright. The main purpose ofthis letter I’m very glad toinform you that I had receivedthe magazine of Activated. Ilike to send my thank you verymuch to my friend, dear

friend, who sponsored me.Thanks to the generosity ofdifferent business men andwomen, friends and co-workerswho have made donations toActivated who make me ableto get a chance of receivingissues to the Activated maga-zine.

Sir, God be with you andbless you through Jesus Christ.Amen. Have a very happy andinspired new year.

Your faithful friend,Hamadi Rajebu

If you wish to sponsorsubscriptions for Englishspeakers in other poorcountries, such as EasternEurope and the former SovietUnion, please let us know aswe have received somerequests from those coun-tries. If you would like yourdonation to sponsor asubscription in a particularcountry, please specify on theTRF. Thank you so much.

We love you. HappyActivating!

New CM disciples …Moselle (15, Italian) joined in Croatia.

Aaron (30, Czech) joined in Czech Republic.Stefani (21, Romanian) joined in Romania.

Mila (29, Ukrainian) and children Ilia and Bogdan joined in Ukraine.Julia (27, Ukrainian) joined in Ukraine.

tidbits

3March 1

By Phil, at TEAM FoundationDear Family,

Greetings and God blessyou! There have been somechanges with the CLE orderingthat we’d like to share withyou, but before we do, here’sa thought for all you faithfuland persevering teachers,caregivers and parents thatwe hope will encourage you:“Whatever you teach a child,through your words orthrough your actions, lives onforever in his or her heart”(Mottos: Nov. 15th).

An explanation wasrecently published in theGrapevine about how theFamily CLE desk and TEAMFoundation have merged, sothat now you can order yourCLE curriculum and materialsfrom TEAM, as well as orderany of the other educationalproducts that TEAM has. Wehope ordering your CLEmaterials via TEAM will beeasier and faster for you, sothat your educational needsare met even better thanbefore! For your reference, ourGrapevine article came out inGrapevine 101, Dec. 1, 2000.

Changes:

1To date the Family hasbeen receiving a 20%discount on all CLE Light

Units and Answer Keys, and a10% discount on all TeachersMaterials and SupplementaryItems. You can now receivethis discount for your ordersthroughout the entire year!

Over the past few yearsWS has been supporting theCLE desk and the cost forprocessing your orders, whichinvolves a myriad of detailsand constant communications(phone calls, letters, e-mails,etc), both with CLE and FamilyHomes all over the world.WS’s help has been instru-mental in keeping this rollingwithout snags and problems.Thank the Lord!

We were recently in-

formed that the CLE Desk isgoing to have to support itself,since the WS gift the CLE Deskhas been receiving will betapered off over the nextcouple months, due toreduced WS income. Thismeans we have had to startfiguring out ways to raise theextra funds needed to supportthe CLE Desk’s expenses sothat we can continue process-ing your orders. We need tokeep this special arrangementof having the orders gothrough the Family CLE Desk inorder for you to qualify for theabove-mentioned discounts. Soas of April 1, 2001, we willneed to add a 3% servicecharge to every order for CLEmaterials in order to helpoffset the costs of running theFamily CLE Desk.

This service charge willonly help cover the cost ofprocessing your orders andadministration, and would ineffect only reduce your CLEdiscount to 17%, rather thanthe 20% you get now. Inother words, if you place anorder for Light Units andAnswer Keys of $200, yourcost with a 17% discount willbe: $200 - $34 = $166, insteadof $160; a difference of $6from when you were receiv-ing the 20% discount. Oncethis goes into effect (April 1,2001), we will begin addingthe 3% to each CLE order. This“little bit” will go a long, longway. Thanks so much!

2We recently heard fromthe CLE office that anumber of folks who are

using the CLE Full Programhave written to CLE askingabout using certain CVCcourses as electives towards aCLE High School diploma. Weare presently in the process ofworking with CLE to get moreof these courses recognized bytheir office, so that those onthe CLE Full Program can use anumber of CVC electives forcredit towards a CLE High

School diploma. We appreciateyour prayers for the speedycompletion of this approvalprocess!

At present CLE hasrecognized some CVC courses,however they have not yetapproved every course.Because of this, we would liketo ask all those who areplanning to communicate withthe CLE office about gettingcredit for a particular CVCcourse, to please first contactus at the Family CLE Desk,rather than sending yourrequest directly to the CLEoffice. This will save both youand us the extra work and timecommunicating with the CLEoffice to work out yourapprovals, and allows us tohelp you directly with up-to-date answers to your CLEquestions. Thank you for yourhelp with this. As you canimagine, this will also avoidconfusion for the CLE company.

3The above-mentionedCLE gift was also used tocover all the different

CVC services you have beenreceiving at no extra cost.Some of these servicesinclude: paying for postagecosts for all materials likediploma requests, studentcard requests, etc.; providinga phone, e-mail and P.O. boxfor all communications andreference; the CVC Desk alsoprovides a place where yourquestions and requests forcounsel are answered.

With the CLE gift, whichhas been helping the CVC deskas well, now being wounddown, we would like to ask ifeach person could help with a$5 service fee for your CVCrequests. This means thatwhen you request diplomas,student cards, etc., we’d like toask that you also include a $5gift to cover the cost ofprocessing and postage. Tomake this easy for those ofyou who live overseas, youcould send in $5 cash (pack-

aged securely), or $10 withyour TRF ($10 is the minimumgift that can be sent via TRF).However, for those living inthe USA or Canada, you couldsend this via normal mailincluding a money order orpersonal check made payableto “TEAM Foundation”.(Anyone overseas with a USbank account can do thesame, by sending a personalcheck.) Thanks so much!

4We want to announce achange in the CLE e-mailaddress. As some of you

may have noticed, we havebeen experiencing somedifficulties with the presentCLE e-mail address, and sohave now changed it. Bothpresent “excel.com” and the“aol.com” e-mail addresses forCLE will be closed by the endof April. The new e-mailaddress for the CLE, effectiveimmediately for all CLE ordersand any CLE questions, iscle@cvcollege.com.

The CVC e-mail addressremains the same, atcvc@cvcollege.com. TEAMFoundation’s e-mail addressalso remains the same, atmail@teamfoundation.com.

If you want or need to calleither CLE or CVC, our phonenumber in the US at TEAMFoundation is (972) 953-0757.Our snail mail address for allcorrespondence with CLE, CVCor TEAM is:

Teaching, Educationand More

P.O Box 165119Irving, TX 75016

USA

Thanks so much for yourunderstanding and coopera-tion with all this. We arestriving to make our servicesas big a blessing to each andas low cost as possible.Thanks again for your help!

CLE and CVC ordering from TEAM Foundation

Check out MB2K (Memory Book 2000) on the MO site. The printed version is on the way, but you canstart using it now by downloading it from the MO site!

March 14

My Siberian wife Lana(then 7 months pregnant),my 17-year-o ld daughterJessica, Daniel (3½) andMarianna (1½) and I arrivedhere in Apr i l 2000 f romSiberia. Here are excerptsof our first two newsletters:

Laborers are fewOne point that stuck out

to me in our monumentalmove from Siberia (where I hadbeen for just over 8 years) toEthiopia is how indeed the la-borers worldwide are so few.—Otherwise why would the Lordcall us from vast Siberia, whichat the time had only threeHomes? We knew the Russianfield and language and love it,but He very unexpectedlyasked us to come to this coun-try of 60 million people (andno Family Home)!

Miraculous visasWe were informed by the

Consul of one Ethiopian Em-bassy that the longest visa wecould get was one month, thena three-month extension. How-ever, after much prayer andhearing from Him we all re-ceived one-year visas!

The Lord—our ever presentTeam Leader

In late April I arrived atAddis Ababa’s international air-port alone, at nine in theevening, with no one to greetme. (Jessica, Lana and kids ar-

rived about eight days later.They received permission fromthe airlines to freely bring nearly200 kilos of luggage, and thestewardesses moved them upto business class so they couldall sit together on this crowdedflight!)

Thank God I was not actu-ally alone. My Team Leader toldme to go to a certain bookshop.There, in one Western maga-zine, I found a two-page articleon Addis Ababa. It spoke of theoldest hotel in Ethiopia (re-cently privatized) and its “youngdynamic manager.” The Lordsaid He wanted me to go tothis hotel and meet this person.

The young manager (in hertwenties) was very surprised tohear of this article. She indeedhas proven to be very dynamicand in fact, our closest friendto date in the city. Although sheis not the owner, she was ableto give me (and then a weeklater, my family) a very reason-able hotel rate. She has alsogiven us good counsel. And bystaying at the hotel we havemet many people who have got-ten saved and who we will havethe opportunity to meet again.

Working with street kidsAfter just a few days in the

hotel I was invited by the edi-tor-in-chief of one of the city’smost popular English languagenewspaper to a special Easterprogram for street children.Little did I realize that I was partof the program! I was intro-

duced as a missionary who hadjust arrived from Siberia and Iwas asked to say whatever Iwould like to the street children.

I threw up a quick prayerand the Lord showed what todo: I had the street children(with the help of a translator)act out the Easter story. One wasJesus, others were angels, Ro-man soldiers, and so on. In thisway these kids could clearlyunderstand the miracle of Jesus’resurrection and all of themreceived the Lord!

Since then I have beenseeing these kids a couple dayseach week and they still remem-ber the parts they all played.—One I still call “Jesus,” another“angel,” and so on.

Chance invitation towedding of PrimeMinister’s brother

Weddings in Ethiopia areweeklong events! First thereis the main wedding party, andduring the week there arewedding parties for thegroom’s relatives and friends,then the bride’s relatives andfriends, then another onethrown by the friends of thebride and groom. At our hotelone evening we met an olderman who invited us to hisnephew’s wedding. After pray-ing about it, Jessica receivedthat we should go, as wewould meet some influentialpeople there.

After a short time there ourhotel manager friend told usthat the groom was the PrimeMinister’s brother and that theman who had invited us wasthe PrimeM i n i s t e r ’ suncle andthen shepointed outthe PrimeM i n i s t e r ’ smother andothers. Theuncle wasvery kind tous throughoutthe wedding.He gave ushis phone

number and said that he wouldlike to know us better and in-troduce us to some of his fam-ily (he only told us later abouttheir being the Prime Minister’srelatives).

As the only white peopleat the wedding party, we didnot go unnoticed. During atime of traditional dancing, Jes-sica impressed all with herquick learning skill, and thePrime Minister’s brother (up ona stage with his bride, both sit-ting and dressed in traditionalelaborate wedding outfits),seeing my awkward moves,gave a “thumbs up” sign to en-courage my efforts.

A little while later theuncle told me that I should in-troduce myself to the brideand groom. Going up to themon the stage I told them thatwe were missionaries recentlyarrived from Siberia. I showedhim a few photos of my kidsand then I asked if I could prayfor their marriage and say aspecial prayer with them. Hegot excited about this ideaand immediately asked thehall’s video man to film it. Iprayed for them and then I ledthem in a prayer to receivethe Lord. Just before leavingthe hall the Prime Minister’sbrother said that he hoped wewould meet again.

[LNF: The PM’s uncle wasso happy to meet with usagain. We met him at a hotelrestaurant where he told usmore about himself. He spokeof the street children’s workhe has been involved in andabout his faith in Jesus. Despite

By Daniel Mountain, Ethiopia

Interesting facts about Ethiopia:Ethiopia is referred to (including references to Queen Sheba) in at

least 18 different Books (15 O.T./3 N.T.) and 36 different chapters! Canyou find them? (For the first three people who can send us at least 75%of the books, chapters, and verses referring to Ethiopia, we will send asimple Ethiopian remembrance! (Please send us your P.O. box and/or e-mail address!)

The capital of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) at an altitude of 2,400 meters isthe 3rd highest capital city in the world, which unlike much of Africagives it a very moderate average temperature of 16 degrees C. (oftenvery pleasant at 20 to 25 degrees C.)! Due to the altitude of AddisAbaba, malaria is non-existent! Ethiopia has the second largestpopulation in sub-Saharan Africa! (Mat. 9:37)

It is said that Ethiopia is the original home of coffee—the name“coffee” itself being derived from Kaffa, one of Ethiopia’s principalcoffee growing regions.

Although several road and scouting teams have been to Ethiopia, thismarks the first Family Home in the country!

Daniel (3½) praying with two girls

5March 1

being the PM’s uncle he triesto lead a more humble styleof life and even told us at onepoint, “I do not say to othersthat I am the Prime Minister’suncle. The most importantthing is Jesus!” He said that hebelieves as is written on thesticker in his car, “I can makeit in Jesus’ name.”

Before parting, he thankedus for coming to encouragepeople’s faith in his countryand then offered to drive usto wherever we needed to gonext. In the car I gave him partof my testimony and when hepulled over I asked if he’d everasked Jesus personally into hisheart and life. He humblybowed his head and prayedwith me. With a big smile onhis face and putting his handon his heart he said, “To saysuch a prayer with you is sucha blessing for me. The wordsand the prayer are with me andI will not forget it. Thank you.”

Hitchhiking a keyBeing the only hitchhikers

in the city, we have beenpicked up by one precious per-son after another. Before leav-ing each car, we share that asmissionaries we like to leavethem with a little prayer. Thisresults in nearly every personpraying to receive the Lord.

Through hitchhiking sofar, we have met a govern-ment official, UN workers, aidagency persons, a factoryowner, a children’s doctor, anembassy official and worker,just to name a few. Most ofthem leave us with their namecards, hoping to meet again!Through both hitchhiking andpeople we have met at thehotel, nearly 150 persons havereceived the Lord during thefirst month!

Famine avertedOne week before arriving

here, the first major articles offamine in Ethiopia were com-ing out in international publi-

cations (the United Nationsdefines famine as when 50%or more of the population inan area of a country will diewithin 3 to 4 weeks withoutproper aid). It is the fifth timefamine has struck Ethiopia inthe last 30 years (the Ethiopianfamine of 1984-1985 claimednearly 800,000 lives). This yearit was estimated that 8 to 10million persons were at risk inEthiopia.

We joined in prayer withmany people of this countryand shortly afterwards the raincame steadily (and unexpect-edly) upon the main drought-affected areas (we read oneunconfirmed report of it actu-ally raining fish in one particu-lar drought-stricken area)! This,coupled with international do-nations of food aid, seems tobe averting what could havebeen a much more serious cri-sis.

Pray for peaceWar between Ethiopia and

Eritrea broke out just 3 weeksafter our arrival. Much com-mentary could be made herebut due to the sensitivity anysuch conflict brings, it will haveto suffice to say that the costof human life in this conflict isalready staggering, with esti-mates of over 100,000 soldierskilled. This is a war betweenbrethren, as the Eritreans andthe Tigray people of northernEthiopia are blood related andhave the same language andcustoms. (Ethiopia’s PM isTigran.) In fact, Prime Minis-ter Meles Zenawi of Ethiopiaand Eritrean President IsaiasAfewerki are cousins. Pleasepray along with us that the cur-rent peace will hold.

We came by faith andremain by faith

The Lord supplied a beau-tiful home for us. It has a biglawn for the children and is inone of the nicest residentialareas of the city. Compared to

the low Sibe-rian rentals it ise x p e n s i v e(nearly $600per month),but we under-stand that it isa reasonablerent comparedwith severalother coun-tries in Africa.

We cameto Ethiopia byfaith as the

Lord supplied the funds for ourtickets, this early stage at a ho-tel, and for the first six months(advance payment) rent … butnow the miracles of supply willhave to continue!

God’s supply by “sitting still”On June 28 we moved into

our beautiful new home! Wehave rented it for 7 months, asthat is when the owner will re-turn from the States. We hadto pay the full term of our con-tract in advance and after pay-ing this amount we had only$400 dollars left, but the Lordencouraged us to keep seek-ing first the Kingdom of Godby feeding and following up onHis sheep.

He also told us to have atwo-day period to fast and pray.By obeying His call to “ceasefrom our own works,” we be-gan to immediately witness theLord’s wonderful works. Duringthose two days, two friendscame over. One brought overa donation, new clothing, shoes,and household items, and an-other came with a donation anda sweet note. (We had notasked either person for help.)

Here is an excerpt of thatnote:

“I am sure and confidentthat God will provide more inthe future so that I can helpyou to achieve the missions andobjectives that God has set forththrough you.

“You taught me how towalk with God by having strongfaith in Him. I can see how Heworks through you. Our com-ing together, somehow I be-lieve, has all been arranged byHim and I am glad He did so.”

Fruitful follow-upThis month we held a birth-

day party for our hotel managerfriend and her cousin—a friendwho, despite being a Muslim,has been coming over to ourHome nearly nightly. We’vebeen invited over to the homesof several new friends, and thishas led to most of them andtheir families receiving the Lord.

In one of those homes thehusband told us that throughthe 17 years they suffered un-der communism (until 1991)they had learned a lesson tohave private Bible studies. Heasked us if we could give oneon the spot to him and his fam-ily. This may develop in the fu-ture to giving Bible studies tothem and their friends!

LNF: Our dear Muslimfriend has continued to come

over regularly. Despite beingvery successful and havingmany friends he chooses tocome often after his work tocome see us. This month (with-out our asking) he helped usto complete our children’sroom (buying a carpet and hir-ing a painter), bought somemonthly shopping, and just re-cently bought the newest ad-ditions to our Home—threeparrots! He also took us for afree day to a popular resort 115kilometers outside of AddisAbaba. The countryside on theway there was beautiful withrolling hills, beautiful trees,and it was so green every-where. At the resort we bathedin volcanic spring water (yes,it was hot!), and we got ourfirst views of some Africanwildlife with hyenas crossingthe road and monkeys andapes galore! But best of all onthis trip were the precioussouls who got saved at theresort—“instant in season, outof season!”

Four years ago this friendwas a big party goer and wasa bit on the wild side, but af-ter taking a trip to Pakistanwith a friend he became a lotmore serious about his Mus-lim faith. He feels that Allahbrought us together. He toldus that Muslims and Christiansdo not usually form such closefriendships here but that heknows it is Allah. We witnessprayerfully as it is a bit sensi-tive, but at the same time herespects our convictions.

Just recently he told us, “Ithank God I met you. Before Inever thought about Jesus. Aweek ago I bought a New Tes-tament and I’ve been compar-ing it with the Koran every dayafter work. Please pray for himalso, as recently the Enemyhas been fighting him in hisbusiness, family, and most re-cently through his health (kid-ney stones).

If the Lord lays it on yourheart and you have the oppor-tunity to help us with a dona-tion in this initial pioneeringof Ethiopia, we would greatlyappreciate it! Any donationscould be sent to DanielMountain and team, Ethio-pia via your TRF report, andany e-mail can be sent to usvia the East African ABM.

We’d appreciate yourprayers as well. One prayer re-quest we have is for the rightlaborers to join us. Do youhave the burden? WLY!Jessica (17) having a great time witnessing

March 16

We’d like to dedicate this Grapevine feature to all you hardworkingteachers and caretakers in the Family. (Thanks Jaz, for the idea!) The Lord alsogave the suggestion that you can decide on a day sometime in March thisyear to honor this special breed of people in your midst. Here’s what Hesaid:

Contribute to “Remember Our Teachers”We’d like to invite all, kids and young people and adults alike,to write us with any anecdotes or words or poems ofappreciation you might have up your sleeve in honor of ourFamily teachers and caretakers. If you send them to us, we’llpost them on the MO site, in a special “Remember OurTeachers” Day section. Thanks! Don’t delay, write today, sothat all our wonderful teachers and caretakers worldwidecan log on and have a taste of how much they mean to usall! WLY!

Jesus:Jesus:Jesus:Jesus:Jesus:I have a whole

army of children whoare growing up toserve Me, and theircare and education istop priority in Mybooks. Therefore letthe teachers andcaretakers be honored.

My Family canmake a special effortto make the teachersand caretakers feelloved and appreciated.The mothers andfathers have a specialday, on Mother’s Dayand Father’s Day, sothis day [whatever dayyour Home decides]

can be especially forthose others whodedicate most of theirtime to caring for thechildren—whether thechildren are babies,toddlers, YCs, MCs, OCsor JETTs. Make sure thatif JETTs in your Homehelp on childcare on aregular basis, that theyare duly appreciatedtoo!

Each Home can askMe for some speciallittle token of apprecia-tion you can give tothe teachers andcaretakers. It doesn’thave to be somethingmaterial. You can

prepare breakfast inbed for all of them, orarrange a candlelightdinner—without thelittle kids—or you couldgive them a littleallowance and theycould all go out for theafternoon somewhere.There are many ideas,and I want to give yourHome an idea espe-cially suited to yoursituation. You canmake it a surprise! Themain goal is to makethose special people inyour Home feel justthat—special! (End ofprophecy.)

TheHighest Praise

I had an interesting experience not toolong ago: I moved Homes. Now youmight wonder what on earth that has todo with appreciating our wonderful

teachers and caretakers, but let me follow thistrain of thought for a minute. And to do that,I’ll need to backtrack even further.

When my first daughter, Kimberly, was ayear and a half old, a very special person cameto our Home to help teach and take care ofher and baby-to-come, so that I could givemore time to my pubs work. Roxy was 19 yearsold and fresh from the world of outreach,pioneering and other zany and excitingadventures. But she fit right in with my littletwo-year-old, rooming with her while I went onto have a new baby—and all the joys that thatentails.

I won’t say that I didn’t appreciate Roxywhile I was there, because I very much did.But I think the full realization probably didn’tdawn on me until I left—just how much shereally did. Day in and day out, rain or shine,happy or sad, she was there for those two littlerascals, for the nearly two years until we left.She saw them through all their milestones, andshe loved them just like a mother.

We’ve been gone now for almost a year,but Roxy still lives on strong in Kimberly’s littlelife. She lives on in the teacher doll that wasgleefully named after her. She lives on in theletters that Kimby continues to write or dictateto her every couple of weeks, and in theendless drawings that are labeled “for Roxy.”She lives on in the little sighs that come everynow and then when Kimby will look at me andmournfully say, “Mommy, when are we goingto see Roxy again? I miss her!” And most of all,she lives on in everything that she has taughtand imparted to these little girls.

And isn’t that the true glory of it all,anyway?—Whether or not those children areour own, they have been entrusted to us—just

By Jaz

7March 1

us—right into our hands, and they will becomewhatever we make of them. It’s an awesomeresponsibility, and also a terrific challenge.Because being a teacher in the Family is notjust about knowing and being able to impartthe 3Rs and the 3Gs. No. It’s so very muchmore.

Being a teacher and childcare worker isabout those children becoming exactly whatyou are. It’s about shaping not only theirminds, but their hearts. It’s about molding notonly their intellect, but their character. It’sabout teaching them not just to learn, but tolive.

Every now and then I would look at Roxyand think to myself, “If Kimberly turned outexactly like her—the same cheerful spunk, thesame sweet and outgoing concern for others,the same deep dedication and love for theLord—I would be more than happy.” And that’sreally the highest praise that one can give anyteacher—don’t you think?

The History ofFamily Teachers By Kevin

Once upon a time, before us spring-chicken SGAs were even a revolution-ary sparkle in our revolutionarymother’s revolutionary eye (heck, she

may not have even read Revolutionary LoveMaking yet), the Lord called a certain revolu-tionary individual out of the world to be theFamily’s very first teacher. Can you guess whothat was? No, Uncle Jim came way later.Another guess? That’s right, it was none otherthan Dad—an experienced mentor, gifted withthe ability to hold the attention of even themost drugged, catatonic hippie, whose dietconsisted primarily of hemp leaves andrainwater.

From years of experience, Dad knew thekey to gaining the ear of the young, lonely,searching, counterculture children of flower-power fame: He would stand three inchesfrom their ears and yell, “IT’S A REVOLU-TION!!” and almost without exception hisyoung students’ uncombed hair would standon end and they would respond with aresounding “FOR JESUS!!” Not only was thisthe first coherent sentence some of them hadformulated for some time, but it also kindled afire in their hearts and caused them to funneltheir radical anti-System energies into showingthe world salvation and boldly proclaiming theend of the world while wearing large potatosacks, which during the seventies wereconsidered highly fashionable, especially inthe bell-bottom variety.

For the next several years Dad spent thebulk of his time teaching, educating andshepherding an ever-growing band of youngpeople, who as it turns out, found members ofthe opposite sex extremely attractive in bell-bottomed potato sacks. Suddenly, without

warning, and fasterthan anyone could say“heavy, man,” scruffy-haired little hippiechildren beganappearing every-where, crying duringUncle Ephron’s Bibleclasses, de-tuning theonly three strings lefton the guitar beforeinspiration, unravelingthe Colony’s last toiletpaper roll and manyother outstanding actsof the revolution.

This was anadjustment for theFamily of that day, butit had its advantages:Many formerly happy-go-lucky, foot-loose-and-fancy-free,rebuke-the-System-with-a-megaphoneyoung men andwomen suddenlycaught the vision thatsomeone needed tostay home and startteaching these littlemonkeys the “threeR’s”—Reading, wRiting

and Running circlesaround any churchySystemites by quotingthe book of Leviticusbackwards in theoriginal Hebrew.

Of course, it wasDad himself whoencouraged theeducating of ourchildren, as well asthe creation of somefar-out teaching aidsby the first membersof WS. One such aidwas the Mo LionReader series. It’s a

dear Hagarene I’m-a-Toilet, I can neverexpress how sorry Iam for stuffing yourbrand new Bible intothe exhaust pipe ofthe Colony bus, onepage at a time. Iguess I was justcurious.) You old-timeteachers made alasting mark on theworld, and we arenow some of the on-fire witnessers, fund-raisers, shepherds,

parents, chefs, sillycolumn writers and ofcourse, teachers inthe Family.—And thatleads me to the nexthistorical event in thehistory of Familyteachers.

As time pro-gressed, our popula-tion of childrenincreased and wegradually beganhearing commentsfrom parents such as,“Do we have 17 or 18kids now?” or “Who’s

that little kid, honey?He sure looks likeme.” It soon becameevident that anefficient way toeducate the childrenwas to group themtogether under thesame roof with someof the most proficientteachers and profes-sional doo-doo diaperwashers. Thus werestarted the firstschool Homes, whichwere eventuallynicknamed “Combos”

little hazy, but Ivaguely rememberthe text of one of thefirst readers:

“God is love. Loveis God. See the hippierun. See the hippiejump. See the hippieflail his arms and legsduring inspiration. Seethe hippie squat anabandoned school-house and turn it in toa spanking newColony...”

Or something

similar, anyway.In addition, the

Childcare Handbookwas, and to a certaindegree continues tobe, a milestoneteaching aid, provid-ing Family teacherswith a basic curricu-lum, as well as newparents with tips forhow to avoid endingup in a mentalinstitution. Frompaging through thesebooks I also learnedsome invaluable

parenting skills, suchas the right way topump breast milk.

Being countedamong the first one ortwo hundred Familychildren, I must saythat I am foreverindebted to the youngmen and women whopoured into me inspite of my behavior,which was in manyways similar to that ofa raving lunatic thatdrinks coffee. (And ifyou’re reading this,

(Jesus:) Teachers—those people who sacrifice their independence, their time, and theirenergy to pour into My little ones—are some of the most noble on the face of the earth.

(Jesus:) Being a teacher requires a sense of humor, kindness, patience, love,longsuffering, understanding and love for life. A teacher has all these things withoutbeing noticed on the world stage, which adds yet one more wonderful attribute to theircharacters.—Humility.

(Jesus:) Being a teacher requires having a vision for the future. Most of mankindstruggles to win victories for today, but a teacher struggles to win victories fortomorrow. It is to such people we owe our future.

March 18

because it was duringthe period of fadinghippie trends whenhair combing becamemore mainstream.

The interestingthing about Comboswas that a greatpercentage of theteachers happened tobe grown-up versionsof the toilet paperunraveling, guitar-detuning childrenwho had triggeredthe creation of theFamily’s now flourish-ing education system.Now between 10 and18 years old, somewere proficientlyteaching dozens ofchildren at a time,while also havingplenty of time tocontinue their ownstudies and getdemerits for knockingover the Home’s 200-gallon drinking watersupply while horsingaround with amember of theopposite sex.

Furthermore, theFamily’s educationprofessionals (read“teachers”) beganseeing the need fornew and updatedmaterial. Apparently itwas suggested thatthe Mo Lion Readersbe replaced whensome children beganwondering if Grandpawas indeed a manwith a large lionhead. Don’t laugh—Iactually thought thatwhen I was a kid, but

elevating of theeyebrows and theclapping of handswere most effective,particularly whenwearing a black wig.

For example, themost effective way toteach toddlers babyquotes was some-thing like this:

“God is LOOOOVE!”“Yeahhhhhh! [Clap,

clap.]”

“Jesus healsMEEEEEEE!”

“Yeahhhhhh! [Clap,clap.]”

“Say please andTHANK

YOOUUUUUU!”“Yeahhhhhh! [Clap,

clap.]”

“Use four wash basinsand six rinse basinswhen setting up aDISHLIIIIIIIIIIIIINE”

“Yeahhhhhhhh! That’sSO GOOOOOOOOD,

Johnny! [Clap, clap,adjust wig, clap, clap]”

As peculiar asthese methods mayseem, they worked;furthermore, I’venoticed manyteachers still usethem (though wigsare more rare thesedays).

Another notewor-thy and more recentaddition to theFamily’s library ofteaching material wasthe “CVC course,”

which stands for “Christian Vocational Coursecourse,” of course. This ingenious programwas conceived to provide teenagers andyoung adults, who had sometimes alreadybeen working for years as a competentteacher, artist, handyman, video editor, and soon, with the opportunity to hone theirvocational skills and receive accreditation. TheCVC course is comprehensive, but I wasdismayed to discover that the CVC had limits,and I won’t be receiving a diploma for severalof my outstanding skills, such as turning aclothespin into a rock hurling pistol or makingmy son’s favorite monkey sound.

And here we are at the dawn of a newmillennium, and from the smell coming fromthe changing table across the room, it doesn’tappear to me that our baby boom has subsided.Here’s where I would normally insert some kindof intriguing stat, such as how many red-headedchildren we have in proportion to teachers whoengage in nude skydiving, but suffice it to say,teachers are among the most importantvocations in the Family, and we can never haveenough of them.

So if you feel like you have a teachingitch to scratch, whether it be full time or foran hour or two a week, then what are youwaiting for? Reach over there and do somescratching—and you’ll find yourself oohing andaahing at the pleasure of seeing a child growin the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I’dbetter end this paragraph before it sounds anycornier, but I hope you get the point, catchthe vision, grasp the concept and scratch theitch (uh-oh, there I go again).

I think we all need to realize that every-one has something to give. Even if you findyourself periodically referring to the glossaryat the end of the Heaven’s Library color bookseries, you may be an expert musician whocan give weekly kettledrum or trianglelessons. Or even if your singing breaks glassand kills small insects, you may know an awfullot about planets and space travel, and canprovide little boys with subject matter forliterally hours of space-out time on the toilet.

And finally, let’s give a big hand for ourwonderful education professionals, who givetheir lives for our children on a daily basis. Younot only give them fish, but teach them tofish. You not only educate them, but some-times swing from chandeliers, speak in aGerman accent, and circle the room like a redIndian in order to help kids remember thelesson. You not only show them parental loveand affection, but do so even after watchingyour favorite pen descend the toilet bowl in acircular motion.

Great is your reward in Heaven, dearteachers. And I think it’s just terrific that weare dedicating a day this year to celebrateyour sacrifices of love. Let’s give our teachersthe credit and appreciation they deserve.Many of us wouldn’t be here if it weren’t forthem, and I’d still probably be wondering iflions really could talk and write MO Letters.

maybe I’m the onlyone.

Once again, WSwas there to fill theneed, producing anabundance ofmaterial for bothteachers and children.The Activity Bookseries was well usedby parents whodesperately neededart project ideas tokeep their kids busyin a constructivemanner. While parentswere working for theLord, children couldnow busy themselveswith highly engagingprojects, such ascreating dozens ofdelightful littlesinging angels out offreshly completedTRFs and pastingthem all over theneighbor’s Mercedeswith super glue.

Eventually, theGAP video series—asophisticated multi-media experience—was created for bothteachers and childrenalike. Fittingly, “GAP”stood for “GiddyAdults Productions,”which described thehigh levels of excite-ment and intensityused to get theattention of two-year-olds (who have anaverage attentionspan of three to fourseconds). Familyeducation profession-als discovered thathigh pitched shrillsaccompanied by the

(Jesus:) Teachers are some of the least thanked people. Children are often too young torealize the energy their teachers are expending on their behalf. Parents are often toobusy to realize the time and thought teachers pour into the care of their children.People with other ministries are often too absorbed in their own daily struggles to noticewhat hard work the teachers have on their plates. But I see. I know. I admire you, Mywonderful teachers, and I will reward you with great recognition one day. Theneveryone will know the price you paid.

(Jesus:) Teachers and caregivers: Love them, encourage them, lend a helping hand tothem, offer them a bit of time off, give them recognition in the Home, be a listening earand a shoulder to cry on when they need it, provision a special outing for them once ina while, and convince them that they are an important part of your work. You wouldn’tsurvive without them.

9March 1

Secrets of areport card By Chandra

I flipped through my old school recordsrecently and smiled. I noted the scrawlof each of my teachers. Some wereelegantly minute and required a magni-

fying glass, others were a random, illegiblescript because my report card was likely thetwentieth in the stack. I had kept steadygrades throughout school, but it wasn’t thatknowledge that brought a smile to my face.Rather I was remembering the imprint on mylife the authors of those fading credits andschool term assessments had made.

I was schooled at home, and I usuallyhad a different teacher every six months orless. The background din of my classroomwas that of a baby crying or the clatter ofpots in the kitchen. The home setting andthe constant change of teachers didn’t matterto me, though, because I loved learning.Exactly what I enjoyed about school? …Everything! And I owe that to my excellentteachers.

I wasn’t an outstandingly brilliant student,I was a plodder. When I excelled in somesubject it was because I studied hard. Yet itwas the enthusiasm of my teachers, and theway they managed to interest me in themost tedious subjects that compelled me tolearn. Teaching came more natural to somethan to others, but each of my teachers putforth a noble effort and I believe theysucceeded.

I don’t know where I would be today if itweren’t for my faithful teachers. Because oftheir belief that I could learn, a feeling ofconfidence and satisfaction was born in me,and it helped me to face the world andunderstand it better.

When I was thirteen, I had a teacherwhose enthusiasm lay in English and math. Idid well in English, but never felt compelledto learn more than the minimum in math.However, this teacher ignited in me a passionfor the subject. It wasn’t long before I foundmyself working through a stack of mathpages on Sundays of my own choice … Iwanted to be an accountant! He had broughtto life a whole interest in learning that Inever knew existed in me.

A couple years ago I helped school thechildren of one of my former teachers. Oneday she told me something: “I think manyyoung people fail to realize what an impactthey’ve had on the lives of the younger onesthey’ve cared for. The little things of teachingthem and helping them learn; they all makea difference. You’ll understand it one day.”

I do understand it now, but with a twist. Irealize that all my teachers have had animpact on my life whether they were fill-insor on the long haul. All I can say is thank you,dear teachers, for helping to place thefoundation stones of my life!

kidbitskidbitskidbitskidbitskidbitsAndrew Andrews, 3rd child, born to Paula and Michael on October 4.—USADasha, born to Vera and Daniel on October 25.—UkraineEthan Clive, born to Charity and Jace on October 29.—ZambiaPaolo David, born to Aura and Tim on November 5.—PhilippinesIsaac 16:15, born to Rebecca and Marcos on December 8.—MexicoAkita, born to Mary and Jeremiah on December 8.—JapanSharlene, born to Sarah and Samuel Attack on December 10.—IndiaShalimar Noelle, born to Angela Noelle and Jonathan Michael on December 25.—IndiaEnrique Sylvester, born to Kristina and Yan on December 25.—BelorusThomas, born to Sara and Jonathan on December 27.—FranceJazmin Journey, 3rd child, born to Paz and Alejandro on December 28.—MexicoLiam Anthony Newlove, born to Rose and Emanuele on January 5.—ItalyAlan Brian, born to Jenny and Jan on January 5.—SpainChristian Servant, born to Catrina and Michael on January 8.—LatviaRubina Joy, born to Natacha and Kenneth on January 10.—UgandaRicardo, born to Aurora and Timothy on January 11.—SpainArthur Caleb, born to Ina and David on January 14.—USAEmanuele Jordan, born to Elisa and Paolo on January 22.—ItalyNatalia Carmen, born to Faithy and Peter on January 25.—Hungary

It’s just the little things… By Kayla

I’m a scrawny, asthmatic eight-year-old living in India with my family in theearly eighties. An old family friend has visited, and she informs me with asmile that she took care of me when I was a baby. I feel a special link withher. As she reminisces with my parents, I kneel behind her and silently

braid her honey-colored hair. It’s my first braid ever, and it’s quite loose andimpractical, to say the least. But when I’m finished and I ask her how she likesit, she places a hand at the back of her head and then says, “It’s nice! It feelscomfortable.” An eight-year-old who’s not much good at anything gains a senseof being able to help others in little ways.

In another place and time, also in India, we go for an all-day outing up a local“mountain” with a thousand stone steps. (My asthma forces me to rest often!)When we reach the top, we explore an old and fascinating museum. Many yearsago it was a magnificient palace, and we observe some of the lifestyle of Indianroyalty in the carefully preserved, fully furnished rooms. The immaculate gardensgive a sense of the richness and splendor the palace once boasted.

The next day my teacher asks us children to write an essay about ourexcursion. I am completely absorbed in the project, thinking hard about it andthen writing painstakingly in clear print every event of the day, from thebeginning of our hike at the foot of the mountain, to the monkeys that ate ourproffered peanuts during the climb, to the massive fierce statue of a warrior atthe entrance of the palace, and of course, the palace itself.

I’m pleased with my essay, yet listen with great interest as my teacher gentlyexplains to me that it’s better when writing not to overuse the word “then.” I look overmy essay and only then realize that every single sentence begins with that word.

“What do we use instead of ‘then’?” I ask. She suggests some alternatives,and I like the way they sound. It’s a new concept to me, and one of the manylessons that eventually leads me into a writing and editing ministry.

Yes, just little things, so many little things—little approving smiles fromteachers or caretakers when I discovered something new, helping hands when Istruggled with something difficult, the little moments of time when I had aquestion I just had to ask. I always had so many questions! Thank you to everyteacher and caretaker who ever took the time to help me, as a little girl, in littleways. Those little bits of input all added up and affected me in a big way.

(Jesus:) When you plant a seed and a tiny green blade pushes through the soil, do youdecide “This plant is not worth my time and attention until it has grown strong and tall”?No. You are even more careful with the watering and tendering of this tiny creation whenit is so young and delicate.

Even so, I thank each one of you who care for the tiny creations—babies, toddlers,young children—that have been entrusted to your care. To many people, their care isunimportant. [Children] may not talk, walk, or seem to understand much. But I thankyou for caring so diligently for these, My priceless creations.

I promise that not one drop of your time, training, teaching and caring is wasted.Some day when that tiny shoot becomes a strong and graceful tree, and people marvel atit, you can know that you played a crucial part in the life of that creation.

March 110

We step into a taxi and startwitnessing to the taxi driver. His facelights up. He looks at us and says:“You know, it’s a privilege for me todrive missionaries in my car.” We layhands on him and pray for a saferide. He smiles and says: “Thank you,that’s really nice.”

While witnessing shop to shop,we witness to a worker behind ashop counter. He looks at the posterand marvels. We ask him: “Do youbelieve in Jesus?” He replies, “Actu-ally I am looking for a way to give mylife to Jesus Christ the Savior.” Wepray with him.

We do CTP for underpriviledgedchildren who have hardly enough toeat. They are rejoicing at our arrival.We sing, play games, teach Biblestories. The local preacher prays:“Lord, we thank You for havingbrought those missionaries to us. Weconsider it a very great privilege tohave them come and minister andteach us about the Word of God.”

We give a poster to the shopowner. He loves it and pastes it rightaway on his wall for all to see. A dayafter we give posters to a line ofstreet-vendors, their spokesmanapproaches us. “We all have decidedwe want to join your church.” Wereply that church is in our heart andthe true believers worship Christ inspirit and in truth. His face shines.“Thank you so much,“ he replies.

You wonder, what country is this?Yes, it’s Zambia!—A meek andpeaceful African nation that hungersand thirsts after righteousness andthe Word, the Word, the Word. It’s acommon sight to see people walkingdown the street with their Bible in hand,going or coming from a Bible study orto hear people talking about the Lord.

We are, it seems, the only whitepeople who use public transport intown. That means going by mini-buses. We pass the tracts to thepassengers, who eagerly acceptthem. Now you see a whole bus fullof people intensely reading untilevery word of that tract has beenread. A student approaches us:“Could you please give me a few moretracts so I can give them to my friends?”

A man approaches us who saw uswitnessing in a shop. “Could youplease come to our hospital [the mainhospital in town] and witness to thepatients? Could you please come andshow them the videos?“ We do.

We meet the head professor who

urges us to go see the children’sward. We are led through lines ofbeds of children who are sufferingfrom malnutrition, some at the pointof death. They were brought in fromthe compounds. We are shocked, aswe didn’t realize how serious thesituation really is in the compounds.(A compound, also called “township,”is a huge residential area of blackpeople who live under extremelypoor conditions. They mostly haveno electricity or water in theirhouses. They draw water fromdistant wells and even then the wateris not clean but murky.) The hospitalstaff urges us to pray for the patients.We go around laying hands on thesick children and their mothers andpray for them. We are making ar-rangements to come once a week.

Many of the middle- and upper-class people are not black, but arefrom Lebanese and Indian back-grounds. In comparison to thepopulation of Zambia they make upa small percentage. Besides a fewwhite people from Europe and SouthAfrica and a few upper-class blackZambians, they run most of thebusiness world in Zambia.

Pharmacies have frequentlygiven us free medication—some-times in small portions, sometimesin bulk—to help and treat the under-privileged children (as they are calledhere) at the medical programs we areestablishing in the compounds.

There are so many people in thiscountry who are Christians, yet knowvery little of the Word. We are in theprocess of organizing Bible studies.People are so sweet and simple andthey really appreciate any time yougive them to sit down and share theWord with them. Many are superturned on if we tell them about theEndtime and the soon coming ofJesus. If you go out witnessing thereis practically no person who rejectsyou or acts critical towards you.People here like to be approachedand witnessed to. It’s really wonder-ful. We are praying that the Lord willhelp us to find the right labor leaders.

The Lord has provided a simplebut beautiful house with a biggarden. We have running water, aphone and electricity. Although mostof the Zambians are very sweet andfriendly, there are also a few badpeople around. Many propertieshave high brick walls around them.Many of the upper-class residents

have night guards and electric fencesand all kinds of security devices.There are armed robberies. It’s realand it’s happening—thank God nottoo often. At night our house andgarden is illuminated with brightspotlights. We also have a high wallaround our property and a watchdog. Our home hasn’t been bothered byrobbers. The Lord has been protectingus and we pray daily for His protection.

Zambia is a very poor countrywith many people living at a stan-dard where they just have enough tofill their stomach with nshima (whitecorn meal) with a little onion sauce.There is only a thin crust of very richpeople and the rest are very poor.

There are many churches andregistered NGOs from all over theworld here. Once in a while youbump into a Jehovah’s Witness out intown who tries to win you. So far theycame once to our door. Besides them,we are pretty much the only mission-aries in this country who are out onthe streets actively witnessing,getting out the tools and visiting theshops, nursing homes, etc.

Do you feel you want to helpwitness to the dear Zambian peopleand help find the disciples and theneeded labor leaders? Do you like togive Bible classes? Do you like topersonal witness and can you getalong without a few western treats?Do you like to pioneer new minis-tries? Do you like... do you like... andthe list goes on and on! Zambia needsyou today. We love you!

Fruitful Fields Come to a country where…By Abner and Mary, Richard and Pat, Zambia

Cathy (15) and Anna (15) giving outfree meals to over 200underpriviledged children in a com-pound in Lusaka, Zambia. Malnutri-tion is a major problem among thechildren in the compounds.

11March 1

After years,

another baby from HeavenBy Free (of Dom), USA

Ever since I was little, I’ve always been one that’s “wanted15 children, but would settle for a dozen.” However, the Lordsaw fit to “stop the factory” after our fourth baby was born.Our youngest is now 20 years old.

When my last child was about 14, a dear friend spon-sored the funds for check-ups and medical expenses at afertility center to see why I wasn’t getting pregnant any more.It was determined that my tubes and ovaries had scar tissueon them, thus preventing pregnancy. The doctor suggestedin vitro fertilization. Knowing what a costly and iffy processthat can be, I (a bit sadly) put the whole matter in the Lord’shands, knowing that if He wanted to, He could give morechildren, but for now it just wasn’t His time.

Several years passed and, as always, whenever there’s ababy in our Homes, I enjoy being around ’em, helping, be-ing the extra “grandma/wet nurse” or whatever the need is.

In ’98 I went to Indonesia and was there for 10 months,while Dom (my husband) was still in the States. Then Dom’smother died and my dad had another stroke, and the Lordindicated for me to return to the States (in September ’99)for a short while to help out with the business, see my dad,and then for both of us to return to the field together.

With Dom’s mother going to be with the Lord we were toreceive a small financial dividend, but just as the funds wereat our fingertips, things fell through and were postponed.We committed it to the Lord to help us to continue raisingfunds for the field whether we received these monies or not.We’ve launched into our fund-raising and though we have aways to go, are excited at all the Lord is doing.

But Romans 8:28! On December 13th, we received themost amazing phone call! Pandita, now 21 (the daughter ofDom’s former wife and her second husband), had just hadher second baby. She’s not been in the Family for about 15years, but she loves the Lord, the Word and us, as we raisedand trained her for the first five years of her life. She calledand simply said, “I want to give you my baby. I can’t raisehim, and I want him to be raised in the Family, like I alwayswanted to be but couldn’t. There’s no one else that I wouldwant to give Joshua to.”

We were shocked and told her to pray about it, as it’s adecision of an entire life. She called back the next day andtold us she’d already been praying about it for quite sometime and was sure she wanted to do it. We asked some peopleto hear from the Lord for us, and we of course took sometime to get some specifics from the Lord. The Lord very spe-cifically said that it was His will for us to have this gift and thatit was an answer to our prayers. He likened it to Sarah havinga baby in her old age (as I’m 45 and Dom’s 57!). Within 3 dayswe had picked up our little “bundle” and brought him home.

He has already effected such a change in our lives, slow-ing us down, helping us to look more to the Lord, pray more,and listen to and praise Him more. We’ve been together 22years and already raised an entire set of children, so we areexcited to be given another chance with this little life, andare so thankful that we can do it this time with the new weap-ons, which has made it all the more exciting and fulfilling!

We’ve had little Joshua for six weeks now and he is alland more than we could have ever hoped for! Please keephis legal custody in your prayers, that we can take care ofthat without any hitches, so we can go to Indonesia soonwith our little knew disciple!

By Sarah (of David), formerly in Australia, now inPakistan

We arrived in Pakistan two weeks ago after havingleft the subcontinent (India) twelve years ago. We are sothankful for the Family here so warmly receiving us!

The Lord did SO MANY MIRACLES to get us here!First, I would like to thank the couple who wrote anarticle regarding getting back to the mission field whomade a simple but profound comment, the gist being:“Until we made getting to the mission field top priority,we just didn’t make any headway.” This quote echoedin my ears (and heart) for months until we finally de-cided to put the Lord to the test (ha!) and see if thesethings be true! Of course, you can see by this testimony,the Lord passed the test … HO, HO! So THANK YOU,even though I can’t remember who!

Another incentive was the very sweet note from ourCROs. (GBY, Jeff and Sweetie, and all. WRLY and TG forall your sweet and loving counsel over the years.) Thenote was asking the Australian brethren what our plansfor the future were.

Well, we’d just signed a 12-month lease on a newhouse with our projected plan of leaving Australia in 12months (around March or April 2001.) Oh my, I won-dered many times over the next months about the Lord’s“lack of foresight” in having us sign for this over-pricedwhite elephant which at the time was the ONLY opendoor for our rather large 14-member Home who neededa new house immediately.

The amazing thing was, by the time we got up enoughnerve to commit ourselves to a departure date then givenotice, the Lord laid on the landlord’s heart to take overour house almost the exact same day. Then just to showjust what a miracle it was, once we agreed to the date wewould officially close the house, the landlord changedhis mind and put the house up for rent again! We calledit a miracle! The real estate agent could only say: “Re-ally weird!”

The Lord did so much for us in the next five months.We were amazed at the Lord’s faithfulness to answer assoon as we prayed! We just had to get our boat into mo-tion for the Lord to have a vacuum to fill. One reason wehesitated was that our finances were still very limited,but we were just astounded how the Lord almostdoubled our money overnight. I believe one issue theLord really blessed was the Home working together toget everyone (15 people) overseas.

For the record, for anyone else struggling to get over-seas with a big family: Your conviction may only seemlike a flutter of the wings of an elusive butterfly, but asyou just step out and follow that little tiny twinge of con-viction, if the Lord’s in it at all, it will grow and grow andgrow.

The Lord told us: “Zero in on your goal, cut back onyour lifestyle.” In other words, don’t do anything thatisn’t for the purpose of leaving the country and gettingto the mission field! The goal just seemed impossible,but as we took one day at a time, the Lord would tell uswhat to do. As long as we obeyed, He did miracle aftermiracle!

20 15people to the

MISSION FIELD!

March 112

WEEK THREE

Day Fifteen. Thursday.10:10 AM: Just finished washing

a small mattress that Mama sawyesterday in the carport and wantedto use for something.

Colette was at devotions thismorning, and while we’re prayingshe wants to cross the room. Herlittle shoes are quite loud on ourdining room floor, so her motherinstructs her she must tiptoe across.This for Colette means bendingdown and carefully watching eachfoot as she walks across the floorquietly. When she gets to the otherside she bursts out in a high-pitchedvoice “I want to draw!” Ha!

Day Sixteen. Friday.Missed filling in this day, so

sorry!

Day Seventeen. Saturday.Missed filling in this day, so

sorry again!

Day Eighteen. Sunday.The young people went on a one-day outing together, which

was fun. (Stay tuned for “Now It Can Be Told” in ten years or so, ha.)

Day Nineteen. Monday.Missed filling in this day too, sorry!

Day Twenty. Tuesday.12:30: Rose came to my door and said Mama asked if I could

beep her. I go to Louise’s room and use her intercom. There’s abusy tone the first time I try. I retry a minute later and Mama picksup right away. She asked me if I’d written an account of our outingon Sunday yet (something she had asked me to do). I said I hadn’tbecause I made up a movie Monday night, but I’d do it today.

She mentioned that she and Peter were going Wednesday at6:30 pm, not on a vacation but just to get away with a bunch ofwork (they’ve always taken work on vacations anyway). She men-tioned Peter would take a bunch of GNs to look over and that wayhe’d get a break from the constant meetings he’s had here athome the last week or so.

Then she asked me how long it’d take for me to make muesli

crunch bars like I’d made be-fore. I told her I could probablydo it after I did dinner dishesin the evening, and asked herhow much I should make. Shesaid Peter would probably likesome too. Then she told me to

ask the Lord before I began, ifit was going to be too sweetfor Mama anyway, then if Hesaid yes, it’d save me time mak-ing it.

Just before hanging up shesaid to give her love to my boy-friend.

Day Twenty-one.Wednesday.

12:40 PM: Mama callswhile I’m working in thekitchen, and asks me if I could

ONE MONTH—DIARY OF A FEMALE SGA

IN MAMA AND PETER’S HOME

get a timely prophecy beforeshe and Peter leave (this hap-pens regularly, no matter whoyou are, when you stay in Mamaand Peter’s Home)! I tell herthat I’ve burnt my first attemptat muesli crunch, and rightaway she mentions that she andPeter both like to eat burntthings. (She’s serious! Rose ac-tually packs some of the burntslice for them to take on theirgetaway trip.) I tell her I’m go-ing to make the slice again,anyway. (It turned out great thesecond time, whew.)

5 PM: On his way out,Peter said “Hi,” and I thankedhim for the little mail note he’dsent me earlier in the day. Hesaid “Thank you for your sweetnote.” (Late last night I was read-ing the GN about his birthdaycelebration, which I just missedattending in person, and so Iwrote him a note that said Iwholeheartedly agreed with allthe compliments people gave,and was sorry I didn’t get achance to write a personal birth-day note. I told him I was happyto be here and that if I couldever do anything to make hisand Mama’s busy lives morecomfortable, to not hesitate toask. I gave the paper note toRose, their caretaker, and I waspleasantly surprised when I re-ceived a note from Peter in mycomputer mail. It said (I’m in-cluding it just as it appeared):

Thank you for yoursweet note. I reallyappreciate it. You’re avery precious girl andI love you lots.

Love, PeterIt was a touching acknow-

ledgement of my note—espe-cially as I wasn’t expecting a

(Part three of a four-part series)

13March 1

written reply.6:40 PM: I took some print-

outs to Mama’s room. Iknocked, then poked my headin and called out my name.Mama replied that she was inthe back room. I didn’t lookaround much in my last visit totheir room. Mama and Peter’sroom consists of a small livingroom with couches, then a nar-row hallway leads to the backroom, which is where their bedis. They have a very high bed.—It’s about chest level for meanyway. I think they have draw-ers or cupboards or somethingunderneath it, because theroom itself is not that big. Thetemperature was very warm.There are lots of dark green ar-tificial plants around the place.Mama was sitting on a chair inthe back room, with Rebeccadrying and combing her beau-tiful, long hair.

Poor Mama was squintingand asked me if I could turnoff the overhead light as it washurting her eyes. (We heard atdevotions that her eyes are verysore today and we prayed shewouldn’t get a headache.)

I gave her the printouts shehad asked for (they’re forPeter), and briefly explainedthem, and she thanked me andput out her arms to give me ahug. I said goodbye and left,

not wishing to make her keepopening her eyes more thanshe needed to.

7 PM: Peter walked by witha laptop and some other thingsin his arms, on his way out. Hesaid goodbye to me and gaveme a kiss. I asked if I could helpcarry anything and he said thateverything was loaded up al-ready.

7:25 PM: Mama walked by,and as always, she says goodbyeand a few personal words topeople who happen to be out-side. She says goodbye to metoo. She’s dressed in a deep redsweater. Her pretty hair is in ared scrunchy, and she’s wear-ing black slacks. She’s holdinga few last-minute tapes thatpeople have given her. Hereyes must be feeling a little bitbetter, as she’s not squinting atthe moment, thank the Lord.(She’s wearing her gray-tintedsunglasses.)

Peter has already startedthe vehicle they’re going in, soshe quickly walks to the frontof the house. It’s going to be abit more quiet for people withMama and Peter gone.—They’reexpecting to be gone for aweek or so, to get caught upon work and also rest up somemore before some upcomingmeetings.

North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth AmericaNorth AmericaNorth AmericaFrom Love, of Jasper (recov-

ering from a very serious car ac-cident, which took place two yearsago): I can’t begin to thank you foryour faithfulness to pray forJasper’s recovery and have verygood news to share with you. Af-ter almost two years Jasper hasbeen successfully weaned fromthe trach tube. The hole in his throatis beginning to close up and thesecretions that were producedfrom having that tube there will alsoeventually dry up. This is a tremen-dous, long-awaited victory, and thebest part is that Jasper is begin-ning to talk—usually when hewants to express something nega-tive like “Leave me alone” or “I don’twant it,” etc.

The therapists and doctors athis nursing home are so surprisedas he has come much further thanthey ever thought he would. TheLord is doing a real miracle in an-swer to your prayers. Thank youso much! We know the Lord is go-ing to continue to perform themiracle that He has begun. Thefollowing are specific prayer re-quests for Jasper’s continuedprogress:

1. For a meek and cooperativespirit; that Jasper’s anger and frus-tration will subside and that he willwork with those that are trying tohelp rehabilitate him.

2. For the muscles in his neckand throat to be strengthened sothat he will be able to eventuallyswallow well and efficiently—animportant first step to eventuallyeating normal food. He just hastaken his first two licks of icecream!

3. For his voice to becomestronger and for him to make theeffort to begin speaking more andexpressing himself more often andnot just when he’s upset.

4. Supply for the rest of thefunds we will need for the wheel-chair van and that the Lord will leadme to the perfect vehicle that willwork well for transporting Jasperto and fro.

6. That as we get Jasper outand about more, his spirit will belifted and also that the Lord willcomfort him and help him to acceptthis very big change in his life.

PacificPacificPacificPacificPacificFrom Sweetie (problem with

nervous system): Thank you somuch, dear Family, for keeping mein your prayers. I’m still fighting the

physical battles, but as a result ofyour prayers the Lord has helpedme to learn to cope with this sick-ness and fight discouragement towhere now I’m actually happy forthe opportunity to slow down,have more prayer time, praise timeand communion with the Lord. It’swonderful! Quiet Time — Your LifeSaver says it all! TYJ! I would ap-preciate your continued prayer thatI will recover, and that my bodywould go back to normal. Pleasepray specifically that I won’t feeldizzy, have headaches, chestpains, difficulty breathing or musclespasms, and that my eyes wouldfocus well so that I can read more.The problem is with my nervoussystem, so once that gets back tonormal everything else should fallinto place, so you could just gen-erally pray for my nervous sys-tem. Thank you so much for yourprayers! I love you very much!

Sue (of Steven): Fatigue andpains in various parts of body, aswell as bowel problems.

James (4, of Micaiah andGenty): Attending a school for thedeaf. That his new hearing aidswill be effective.

Celeste (of Jonathan) Gallstones.

Pietro: Large gall stone.Mark (of Mary): Has had mul-

tiple sclerosis for many years.Strength, and to be able to walklonger distances.

South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth AmericaSouth AmericaSouth AmericaFor the Argentine Court

case to end in our favor.Magdalena and Martin (her

son): Prolapsed mitral valve, a typeof disease or disorder of the heart.

Lucas Francesco (2months, of Claire): Congenitaltorticollis. He’s been doing neckexercises for a month, so he won’tlose movement in his neck, but theresults have been very minor. Thetreatment takes at least threemonths.

Sara Ruth: Advanced arthro-sis (a degenerative disease of thejoints) in the left hip, making it verypainful to walk.

Miguelito (4, of José andClara): Hernia in one of his tes-ticles, which is painful when heexerts himself too much. That hecan control his urination at nightwhile sleeping.

Blanca (of Andrés): Tumor inneck.

Juan (15, of Francisco andBeatriz): Unable to open his fin-gers due to a malformation.

March 114

[Bigger than our own circle][Bigger than our own circle][Bigger than our own circle][Bigger than our own circle][Bigger than our own circle]Female (18), USA: It is so true thatwhat goes on in our surroundingsand among our circle of friends isn’twhat’s “going on” in the worldwideFamily. To think that Mama is out oftouch with the Family is ridiculous!Every time an epidemic of a certainNWO is going around, out comes aLetter on the subject. I am actuallyamazed at how “in touch” WS is withthe Family, considering they areselah.

A couple years ago I used tothink that all Family teens broke theCharter consistently; it was just whatwas done. I thought even the so-called “spiritual” ones did it; they justput up a better front to appeartrustworthy. These attitudes, Igathered from my surroundings backthen. Funny thing, now pretty muchall those in that area have left the CMFamily. Since then, I have seenextraordinary examples of the trueFamily Spirit, and a whole new sideof the Family is becoming clear tome. A side which, of course, WS hasknown about all this time, and it wasI who was blind to it.

Which brings me to my nextpoint, about our young teens gettingthe right kind of Family sample.Because to them, the sample they seein their area is “The Family,” and ifthey don’t see the love and thestandard that should be shown, theybecome disillusioned with it. And theFamily without the Spirit is just deadworks! Our teens don’t want that! It’simportant that we ALL strive to beunited in our sample so that it will be“in” to follow the Charter and upholdthe standard; and it won’t be that theoccasional good samples they seeare deemed “spiritual freaks” andsuch. I know I haven’t been the bestof samples myself at times, but I’mpraying that with the S2K purge, wethat stay will all stand firm in ourconvictions for the Lord.—And thatour younger brothers and sisters willsee that it really is cool to serveJesus, and will jump on the band-wagon with us.

[During those tough times][During those tough times][During those tough times][During those tough times][During those tough times]Anonymous: I wanted to share alesson I’ve learned from being incontact with people who are goingthrough different breakings in their

lives, either with sickness, childrenleaving the Family, accidents orwhatever, besides the incident andall the emotional hurt that is causedby it. It seems to me that the Enemyuses it as a “double whammy” toattack and make people feel they areuseless, or will be soon. Then sad tosay, something I’ve heard frompeople is that they feel when theyare no more “use” to the Family, theFamily dumps them. In the cases Ihave been involved with, this hascertainly not been the truth, but ifthey had little contact with theirshepherds during those tough timesor soon thereafter, then the Enemywas able to really fuel the fire onthis.

It convicted me that, as shep-herds, when we know someone inour area who is going throughsomething very difficult, to check inonce in awhile just to take their“pulse.” It doesn’t take a lot to helpmake someone feel that we care—just a note saying you are praying forthem or asking how they are, a call,or a little something, so they willknow they have not been forgotten. Ibelieve it would help the dearFamily members who are battlingsomething very difficult in their livesto know that not only has Jesus notabandoned them, but we as theirFamily still love them, even if theyaren’t “producing” some great works.

[Home alone?[Home alone?[Home alone?[Home alone?[Home alone?—————Try this!]Try this!]Try this!]Try this!]Try this!]Joanne W.,Holland: Allright, Ithought,looking atmy cutenewbornsleeping inmy arms,Now I’mgrounded.The realityof the childcare day filled with diaperchanges, whines for milk and baby-bathing was finally setting in. While Iloved the idea of being a mommy(FINALLY!), in the back of my mind Iwasn’t sure if I would be all rightcaring for my newborn 24 hours aday. (Okay, let’s make it 20 since myhusband had him in the evenings.)

Being the only person at home

most of the day while others wereout fundraising, I had no one to helpme with the baby—that I didn’tmind, but having no one to talk towas something that my gabby naturecould not take (at least not for toolong.) A few times when someoneasked me if I still spoke Russian aftertwo years in Holland, my responsewas, “I am glad I still speak,” ha!

With Holland being not thesheepiest place on earth, I missedthe daily witnessing and posteringwe did in Russia and wondered ifthose days were over. Well, guesswhat?! I still don’t have a witnessingpartner, I still have a baby (who isgetting bigger and more demandingeach day!), but I finally found a wayto get out daily—for almost morethan 24 hours! Don’t get me wrong, Ido sleep, eat and do other humanthings. How do I manage then? Iwrite.

There are literally hundreds ofmagazines that love “people sto-ries”—what we call testimonies.They usually print them in their“human interest” section and don’tmind if you witness as long asyou’ve got a great story to tell. Iwrite about Family members, aboutour witnessing adventures, andbasically about anything that comesto mind—and slip a witness intothose stories. Some magazinesasked me to substitute the word“missionaries” for “volunteers” andasked not to give too much witness(all right, so I can’t put the salvationprayer there) but most didn’t mindif I told people that God changedmy life and He can change theirsand gave a few examples to prove it.Many mags have their own Websites, meaning that once my articleappears in print, it is also automati-cally posted on the Web for every-one to read. And here is the fun part:I get paid for it!

While sitting at home was not mypiece of cake before, now I love it! Ican spend my day with my baby, andwhen he is snoozing at night I gettwo or three hours to witness—andraise some funds! I won’t kid you, it’snot the easiest form of outreach, butif you love writing, you just mightlike it. Wanna try? Drop me a noteand I’ll share my secrets. Here’s myaddress:

RCalcatraz@zonnet.nl

forum

15March 1

Keep your receipts forimportant bills!

This is nothing new, but wewere recently saved two times fromhaving to either pay twice on twomonthly bills or go through themassive time-wasting trouble offighting to get the information backfrom the bank where we had paidour electric bill. There was a mix-upin the reporting of the paymentsand the electric company wasdemanding that we pay or have ourelectricity cut off, when of coursewe always have been paying.Fortunately, we did have thereceipts to prove our payment, butif not, it would have taken days tostraighten it out.

—SHARON AND JOHN, INDONESIA

African tipsMosquito-nets for beds are very

useful to bring to Africa. We got somein the West and we use them for theyounger children’s beds, as theelectricity doesn’t always work, whichmeans the ceiling-fans or mosquito-pellets don’t work. Nets are very goodprotection and also mosquito-lotionfor the skin is good—bring plenty of it.Either you can’t find it here, or it isvery, very expensive.

—MARIA (OF PAUL), NIGERIA

Specifics about youI’d like to suggest for the Grape-

vine and help wanted ads that peopleadd a name, not just a location orHome #. I feel better helping out aperson who I can attach a name to orknow a little about. For example, is ita couple with a lot of kids, a SGAcouple with kids, a single or what?And who? I’m not prejudiced, butsometimes you don’t even knowwhere the person is and since we’restruggling financially ourselves on thefield, we want to give to our Familybut especially to the most needy. Ofcourse, you never lose by giving inany way!

—COUPLE IN CHINA

Thru-the-month reportingI’ve recently been taking my

portable computer with me to workand working on the report throughoutthe month, little at a time. This hashelped me to put more into myreporting and not to feel so pressuredat the end of the month that I justbasically write the bare minimum so Ican get the report off on time.

—JONATHAN AND CLARE, JAPAN

ideas and tipsideas and tipsideas and tipsideas and tipsideas and tipsRatingsMovies Rated for SeniorTeens and Up

THE THIRD MIRACLE(1999)Ed Harris, Anne Heche

While investigatingwhether a laywomanshould be consideredas a candidate forsainthood, adisillusioned Catholicpriest finds himselfquestioning his ownfaith and seekinganswers.

Movies Rated for JuniorTeens and Up

THE FAMILY MAN(2000)Nicolas Cage, TeaLeoni, Don Cheadle

A single Wall Streetbusinessman andworkaholic wakes upon Christmas morningto find himself in analternate life.

THE KID (2000)Bruce Willis, EmilyMortimer

At 39 years old,Russel Duritz has a lifethat most men wouldenvy—he has a greatjob, is respected (andfeared), has a beautifulhouse and makesbuckets of money. Buteverything comes at acost, in this case nosocial life, noconscience and a fearof spending the rest ofhis life alone. He justneeds someone toshow him the way.

Movies Rated for YCsand Up

ZEBRA IN THEKITCHEN (1965)Jay North, MartinMilner When ChrisCarlyle’s family leavestheir farm for the city,Chris must give his petpuma up to the localzoo. When Chrisdiscovers the terribleconditions that theanimals are being keptin, he manages to finda way to set all of thecreatures free, muchto the dismay of thelocal residents.

ReviewsThe Third Miracle

(Jesus:) This movie ministers faith—not in thechurch system, but in Me and My simple spirit andthe purity of My love. It shows the crisis of faiththat this priest has, and how because of hissincerity and wanting to find Me, I showed Myselfto him. It shows clearly the struggles and doubtsthat some have, and also exposes the hypocrisy ofthe church. Movies that deal with matters of faithcan be delicate, and of course not everythingportrayed here is 100% the way it should be, buton the overall it gives a good message and isuplifting, as well as interesting.

The Family Man

(Jesus:) This movie shows how love, concern andunselfishness can change a person. It shows whatmight happen if someone was given another chanceto start his life again. Love, compassion and giving arealways the solutions for a happy life—not only for yourown benefit, but also for the happiness of thosearound you.

The man in this movie has to go through a lot ofhumiliation and breaking before he realizes that thesimple things of life are what are important, notmoney or wealth or authority. It’s a sweet story you’llenjoy watching, and it will touch your heart andinspire you to reach out to others.

The Kid

(Jesus:) This sweet movie really shows thefutility of the push, push, push for prestige and forpower. It illustrates that a fine house, a great job,an advanced education and a fancy car cannot buylove and happiness. It brings out that the simplethings in life—loving others, taking time to enjoyMy creation, and being kind—are the things thatmatter. Although the emphasis in the movie wason clearing up past events, reconciling with yourfamily, and being honest with yourself, the part Iliked best was how it showed that life can be fun,if you just don’t push for the wrong things. Keepon living for the good things, the happy things, theloving things, and you will have a wonderful, happylife in Me.

Zebra in the Kitchen

(Jesus:) Let your children enjoy the good cleanhumor of this movie, with antics of the animals,and the joy they have to bring to the children. Itwould be wise to explain to the children that manyof these animals would normally be more danger-ous than the ones shown in the movie, so thatthey don’t think it funny to try petting or spookingan animal in the zoo, which can be very danger-ous. But a word of explanation about the animalsand the little boy’s behavior should be sufficient,and then the kids can enjoy this movie and theexcitement of the chase and the funny antics ofthe humans and animals alike.

March 116

Personals

The news and views from Family members published in the Grapevine are not intended toreflect WS policy. Suggested reading age for this publication is 14 years and up. Selectedportions may be read by or with those younger at parents’ or shepherds’ discretion. TheGrapevine, P.O. Box 168751, Irving, Texas, USA 75016-8751 e-mail: gv@wsfamily.comCopyright © 2001 by The Family

Joy Australia, please contact Michelle atAaronissa@hotmail.com. Been trying to find you foryears. I’m Lekisha’s older sister.

Fidel and Fulness, please contact Lekisha from SanFrancisco at Spankyou17@yahoo.com.

This is Priscilla PI, looking for Solomon and Praise PI.Can you please write me at this e-mail ad:swm707@csi.com.ph or C.R. Jamero, P.O. Box 36221,Agora Village East Complex, 1900 Cainta, Rizal, Philip-pines. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Ex Jeremias Don Quixote, now Tiago, would like to getin touch with Josias musician and Sarah .Famsalvador@aol.com.Esther Maria, daughter of Spanish Meekness, usedto live in Brazil.Please write me at kullconanboy@aol.com.

Any FMers in South Texas, anywhere in the U.S. orLatin America please get in touch with me asap. I needyour fellowship! I also would like to work with you, DV.I’m a single male, 57. Please get in touch. 361-946-3969 or 852-1990. Albert l. Roach, P.O. Box 7655, Cor-pus Christi, TX. E-mail:peterlovebug@hotmail.com.

help wantedDear Family!

We are Aaron and Esther with two kids (6½ and 4½). We’ve known the Family formore than 10 years, and for the last three years we’ve been FM. During that time we

have done witnessing, litnessing, provisioning, helping in orphanages, hospitals and otherinstitutions. Also we did performances for Christmas or just dressed as clowns while givingballoons to kids.

The Lord has shown us through prophecy, revelations, dreams, etc., that He wants us tojoin the Family in full service, forsake our System jobs, leave this place and be 100% mission-aries for Him. We first thought to go to South America, but it seemed impossible to go so far fromPoland.—Impossible for man, but not for the Lord. We confirmed this with the Lord and Heassured us about it.

Step by step we’ve done what He was saying. We had to find a Home which would receiveus. It seemed it wouldn’t be so easy, since many Homes are “over personneled.” What a surprisewhen a Home from Ecuador invited us with open arms. We cried tears of joy, especially as it wasin answer to the first letter we wrote. Nothing is impossible with Jesus.

As of today we have all our documents with which we’ll go to ask for visas. The Lord is stilldoing many miracles, opening closed doors, giving us tons of promises, helping us to prepareall things—there is only one thing left. It is money which we need for tickets. Here in Polandmonthly wages are only enough for everyday life and bills, so we can’t save anything. Also wedon’t have opportunities to raise funds. We’ve asked some friends to help, and a few of themsaid they would give, but we don’t know how much. The whole amount we need is US$3,000.If somebody can help we’ll be very thankful, especially since it will help to change our wholelives completely. Our joining will be like being born again. If you can’t help, then please pray forus, because we believe very much in the power of prayer.

PS. Please send your gifts via your TRF to Aaron and Esther, PO 190. If somebody wantsto write us, here is our e-mail address: aroest@poczta.wp.pl. —With love Aaron, Esther, Davidand Karolina

I’d like to make a request for funds for the Home in Beira, Mozambique. [They had aserious accident involving most of the kids in the Home and in which their vehicle was written

off. One of the children has been in the hospital for three weeks now, and the hospital billcomes to $100 per day.] They could really use some serious financial help. Their CTP projectsinvolve: work at the local prison and hospital, postering and witnessing and Bible studies witha sweet church. Anything that you’d be able to help with, even on a regular basis would be areal blessing. Send your gifts via South African VS, to Beira Home! Thank you.—Carter

Dear Family,

We are Chris and Windy, Robin and Autumn and little Stuart. We have just cometo Kingston, Jamaica, to pioneer a work here. So far we’ve found a lovely little house to

make a home, and have started to go witnessing every day. But taking the bus, while a greatway to see the sights (as in druggies, bums, hawkers, etc.), is very exhausting and time-consuming. We could really use a vehicle. Things are rather expensive here, as everything isimported. But we know the Lord will supply, as we’re faithful to serve Him. Could you help witha donation towards getting a car? We need around US$2,000. If you’d like a newsletter, e-mailus your address at robinmolinski@netc.pt. Thank you! Much Love!! JM3000

We are Arthur and Thai Meekness and have worked in Thailand for the past 20years. In the last 13 years Arthur has helped with the NPC and Meekness with the Thai

Lit-Pic. This year Arthur’s aging parents have asked us to visit them in New Zealand. We areworking on raising funds for this trip, however, with limited means and time apart from ourministries to be able to raise funds, we would be very thankful for any financial help for thisvisit. TYSM! (Gifts can be sent to Art/Meekness c/o ASCRO via your TRFs.)

TEAMWORK Per Adult TotalSOUL SHINERS FOR FEBRUARY 2001Samuel/Rosita, Mexico 2,714 5,428Josue/Maria, Mexico 2,615 5,229Timothy/Windy, Colombia 1,000 2,000Micah/Charity/Tender, Thailand 502 4,019John/Maria/Rose/Vicky, India 464 1,856Promise/David, Costa Rica 375 750Erastus/Esperanza, Chile 370 1,112Elias/Sofia/Cristian, Peru 350 700Meek/Ana/Rebeca, Colombia 333 1,000Pablo/Hannah/Rut, Colombia 277 2,500

POSTER SHINERS FOR FEBRUARY 2001Joseph/Rosa, Chile 2,500 5,000Michael/Mike/Sylvia, Kenya 1,710 10,265Maria/Michael, Japan 1,025 3,076Marianne/Shine/Timothy, USA 843 9,268Samuel/Rosita, Mexico 618 1,236Sharif/Joanne/Rima, Nigeria 573 4,589Andrew/Mary/Martin/Michael, Kenya 571 4,000Charity/Daniel/Happy, India 530 2,120Martin/Mercy/Selah/Sylvia, Mozambique 518 4,669Felipe/Sara, Brazil 502 1,004

TAPE SHINERS FOR FEBRUARY 2001Tiago/Priscila, Brazil 396 1,587Willian, Chile 345 690Jessica/David, Russia 193 387Nina Newlife, Mexico 174 695Cristian/Victoria, Chile 160 320Emanuel/Angela/Sheri, Brazil 151 757Timothy/Windy, Colombia 150 300Christina/Dan/Dawn/James, USA 102 512Paul/Christian/Eden/Liz, Romania 98 987Kitty, USA 95 285

VIDEO SHINERS FOR FEBRUARY 2001Jessica/David, Russia 137 275Ben/Meekness/Sam/Ruth, Botswana 53 160Abel/Obed, Mexico 35 69Philip/Meekness/Magda, Namibia 18 56Gabriel/Sunshine, Mexico 17 69Marite/Alfredo/Carol, Brazil 13 157Angel/Esperanza, Colombia 12 25Patrick/Mark/Maria, Ghana 12 48Steven/Christina, South Africa 11 23Andrea/Andrew/Andy, USA 10 30

Shine On-February 2001

Robert G. (Nathaniel Ira) and Craig M. (EzekielFarmer), please get in touch with Amos Summers(Joseph Gatto) at: 1207 Union St. Schenectady, NY –12308. Thanks a lot!

Former member– SEEKING CONTACT

AARON, ESTHER AND TEAM, POLAND