023 september 1998 - xfamily.org

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023 September 1998

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The testimony of this Rus-sian brother (or sister?) wassooooooo renewing to me. I re-read it a few times ... knowwhy? Whoever wrote it reallyhad the Family spirit, talkingabout mistakes and all (thatregularly happens with all ofus), but expressed with zeroself-righteous criticism. Theyjust explained about the pecu-liar people we all really are andthat we need to have a goodlaugh at things that happen, un-derstand and uplift our breth-ren and know that we’re all thesame (uh ... not perfect, thatis, and even make mistakes)

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and therefore we just need tohelp and encourage each other.They really had the Holy Spirit—lots of love, joy, peace, etc.!

Well, for me that’s thepart of the “original” Revolu-tion that I’d like to NOT leavebehind; to ALWAYS encourageand look up to and help ourbrothers and sisters and justknow that we need each otherto climb His mountain to-gether. To me this testimonywas such an illustration of “BeSo Happy” (ML #159)! Again,this was a renewal for me, tocheck my heart and to makesure that I’m not taking thingstoo seriously (in the arm of theflesh!) but just show “His holylaughter, to rejoice and be ex-ceeding glad” regularly. There-

fore, GBY brethren in Russia—Indonesia really does appreci-ate you and keep you in ourprayers!

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me float quite up to the ceil-ing with joy! Keep ‘em flowing!

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Dear Spiro, We couldn’tstop cracking up as we read “ADay in the Distant Past.” Wedefinitely were in the sameplace. We just felt sorry forpoor Amy waiting at 1:30 AMin “the usual place” for James—who never showed up. Hopeto keep reading stuff fromyou.

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A big hand for Nikki (16)from the Philippines, for all thepoems and funnies! It’s reallyamazing how you can think ‘emall up! You have a real far-outMan up There helping you!Keep it going! XXX!

PS to the Ziners: Keepthe photos flowing too, I can’tget enough of those either.Especially seeing some of myfriends from India again makes

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KENNY G.(From Rosa Amado, 18, Brazil:) A friend of ours met Kenny G. a few years ago in the

Caribbean Islands, while she was on vacation. She gave him one of our posters andwitnessed to him. She even has a picture with him while giving him the poster!

RICCHI E POVERI(From Peter, Praise and Davide, Ukraine:) Last month someone in the Home had a

burden to pray for “Ricchi e Poveri,” a famous Italian music group. A few days later wefound out that they were going to hold a concert in Karkov! We prepared an envelopethat included a Christmas poster and a note. Davide, Chiara, Praise Irene (a friend) andCaterina (7) were able to meet them and spend the whole day with them. We were ableto witness to them all, including their band and managers. They were very impressed byCaterina’s good behavior. We talked about our work here and the fact that we homeschool the kids. They said it was very special to meet people like us, and that there arestill people like us in the world. They thanked us for being such a help to them, andadmired our way of life which they said was “unbelievable.”

THE HOUSTON ROCKETS(From Angela, USA:) One day we stopped by a shelter to drop off some of our extra

produce, and our friend told us that the Rockets basketball team were coming there thatday! The supervisor invited us to come along if we wanted. They were so heavily guardedand protected, we could hardly get near them! The Lord did it, though, and we were ableto take a few snapshots with a few of the players as well as the coach, Rudy Tomjonavich,and give them tracts too! They were sweet and really looked at the tracts.

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MOTHER TERESA(From Gideon and Heidi, Asia:) We have been ministering to

the head of a local school. She used to be a Catholic worker inone of the Mother Teresa outreaches for lepers, so whenMother Teresa was here, our friend personally gave her the giftof a four-pack of tapes. She told Mother Teresa that it was themost wonderful children’s music she’d ever heard (she’s beenteaching for 30 years!) and that she knew that Mother Teresawould really appreciate them. Mother Teresa thanked her andsaid she’d be sure to listen to them, TYJ!

RICHARD CLAYDERMAN(From Etoile, Japan:) I was given a letter that was sent to the

wrong address. It was from one of Richard Clayderman’smusicians, saying that they would be playing in Tokyo at thistime. I was able to meet them and give a good witness toRichard Clayderman and also to all of his musicians.

When I gave “The Magic of Music” poster to Richard, I asked him if he had had a chanceto read the ones which he had been given a year earlier. He said yes and that he liked themvery much, adding that the tapes were also very good and that he had given them to hisson who plays them often. I told him that Father David likes him very much, saying that, “Aman who plays such beautiful music must have a beautiful heart,” and that he prays for himand hopes for him to know Jesus. Richard was very thankful and asked me to say thank youto Father David from him.

PIERRE TRUDEAU(From Jeremiah and Pandita New Morning, North America:) One day while out I was

having some car trouble and the car stopped right in a gas station. I looked up and saw theformer Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, standing right next to me. I quickly

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Angela and family with coach RudyTomjonavich of the Houston Rockets.

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went and got a Poster out of my bag, which was “The New Heaven and theNew Earth.” I asked him, “Is it Pierre?” and he replied, “Yes!”

I offered him the Poster and said it was something I wanted to give him. Heasked what it was and I replied it was a Christian message, to which he replied,

“Oh! How nice! What group is this?” Since I knew he had met the Familybefore, I wanted to be open. I replied, “We used to be called the Children of

God,” which is the name he knew us by, and he seemed to remember us.I told him we felt he was God’s leader at the time he was Prime Minister,

and seemed to really have the anointing for the job. He replied that he hadhad help, and that the Spirit is always with us, giving glory to God. He is a

Catholic Christian and told me he goes to church every Sunday and reads hisBible as well as asking God every night, with his two sons, to bless them. We

continued with other small talk, and then as I was about to leave, I felt the tugof the Holy Spirit to ask him to pray to receive Jesus into his heart. He replied

“Sure! Why not?” He then repeated the prayer with me on the spot, TYJ!

KATANINA TONG LAN HWAFrom Christina of Marcus, Taiwan:) Tabitha (a sister from a nearby Home)

and I met Katanina Tong Lan Hwa, and her business partner Kayo. Katanina wasa famous actress and singer in Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong years ago. Later

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she married a HK businessman, had a son and retired from her publicministry. For a while, she was into Buddhism and other religions, and strayed

away from the Lord (she was originally Catholic).Later, it turned out her husband used her name to borrow a colossal sum of money and left

the debt to her, then divorced her for another woman! This whole ordeal was reallydevastating to her, to say the least. Some wealthy men offered to pay off her debt if she’d be

their mistress. She declined their offer and preferred to pay back the debt herself, and sobecame an actress and singer again.

During her hard and trying time, her mother stayed with her and daily prayed for her, readverses to her and encouraged her. Slowly, the Word took effect in her heart again. And, slowly,

she was able to pay back all her debt. Six years ago, she joined a cosmeticand health food business started by the Mormons. Daily as she prayed for

guidance, the Lord kept giving her the verse “they that sow in tears shallreap in joy.”

After six years of hard work, now she is one of the top executives in thiscompany, which has branch offices in over 15 countries. Recently her

company held a ceremony to honor her. When it came to her turn to givea speech, all she could do was cry as she exclaimed, “Thanks be to God!

Thank God!”Her eyes welled up with tears as she was recounting these experiences

to us. She thanks God for helping her through her hardest time in life, andcan see that the Lord has a reason in allowing her to go through all these

breakings. She is writing a book to testify to what the Lord has done in herlife, and is saving up money to found a hospital in Ali Mountain in Taiwan. I

gave Katanina a copy of the GP Daily Might, and she was really touched. Iasked her to call us whenever she needs prayer and support, and we promised to visit each other again.

JOHNNY CASH(From Annick, Norway:) I met Johnny Cash [famous American country singer from the 50s and 60s] last April here in

Norway, and gave him some Family music tapes and posters. After recently hearing through the media of his sickness,which seemed very serious, we prayed a lot for him and his family. I wrote him a long letter, that I sent to him alongwith some CDs (“Fear Not,” “Coloring the World,” “The Lion, the Dragon and the Beast” and “You Can Be Healed”). I

just got a phone call from his family and they told me, “Our prayers have been heard! Right now Johnny is sitting up inhis hospital bed and is smiling! It works! It works!” PTL!

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BBBRRRRRING!Jolted from sleep, a hand groggily fumbles towards the small nearby

table in search of the sonorous alarm clock, desperately attempting tosilence the strident ringing. Groping a little further, it manages to nudgethe occupant of an adjacent bed.

“Cherish!” says a drowsy voice. “It’s past 7:30 AM!”“Uhhh,” comes the muffled response.In half-comatose mode, the beds are slowly vacated and daybreak is

rapidly turned into a bustling highway, as the habitual morning opera-tions are put into effect.

“Ten minutes till we leave,” shouts Marie, rushing to organize thelast-minute details.

“Is David up?” Tuchi calls, as she sits inscribing the weekly Bible versefor the class ahead.

Meanwhile, David A. and Cherish, in an accelerated state, tune theguitars and pack them into the car. Finally, after an eternity of prepa-rations, the slam of the car door is followed closely by a concise, ear-nest prayer, and the vehicle rolls out the driveway and onto the road.The drive is quiet, as everyone catches their breath while still trying toshake off the last bits of sleep.

Rolling to a halt at the Leeuwkop prison entrance, the driver’s win-dow is soon shaded by the face of a guard on duty, who with a low,gruff voice inquires, “Can I help you?”

“We are holding a Sunday School service at Medium B,” replies David.

welcome from a warden.The register book is signed and the team of five is swiftly moved

on down the hall and into the hospital courtyard, where Sunday schoolis to be held. Time seems to fly as the area fills up with attendingmembers. The air is teeming with tangible excitement and mirthover the upcoming stories, songs and skits from the Bible.

Class is assembled and songs ring through the atmosphere. Clap-ping follows the beat of the music and smiles mark the face of allthose present. A hush falls over the group as prayer rules preva-lent for a few moments, the weekly topic then being announced.The details of events are quickly related. Volunteers come forwardto participate in the impromptu skit that is to be performed.

“I need a Pharaoh!” exclaims Marie, but before she can choose,three inmates queue to be listed in.

Soon Joseph, Pharaoh, guards and other leading figures havenew representations. The act is underway, the narrator introducesthe scene and the “actors” assume their positions. Seconds soonturn to minutes, and when the hour perks up, we’ve come toknow a Bible story in a completely innovative and awesome way,that assuredly no one will ever forget.

Class wouldn’t be complete if it ended without songs and unitedprayer. But neither does our job end with the closing of the week’ssession! Smaller groups of inmates gather around each of us indi-vidually for a few hours, where the topics range and questions fly.Many come for prayer, or even just a word of reassurance, en-couragement, comfort, or perhaps out of interest to get a closerlook into what our lives really entail.

introducing...

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we hop to leeuwkop we hop to leeuwkop we hopto leeuwkop we hop to leeuwkop we hop toleeuwkop we hop to leeuwkop

FFFFFrrrrrom Marie Som Marie Som Marie Som Marie Som Marie SGGGGGA andA andA andA andA andteam, South Africateam, South Africateam, South Africateam, South Africateam, South Africa




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After a few sec-onds the car is againon the move, pass-ing the groundscontaining housesand other facilities.Rounding the bend,it starts up a dirtroad and quickly ap-proaches the en-trance of the juve-nile section.

A short walkleads them to thefront door, where aloud knock is soonfollowed by thesound of clangingkeys as the dooropens.

“Good morning!”comes the cheerful

Everyone knows that goodbye is the hardestthing to say, and this is the case every Sundaymorning … well, afternoon, by the time we leave.But our mission is only partially complete, as in-mates write consistently to share with us theirheartcries, personal life stories, thankfulness forour concern, etc. They affirm the differences thatthey recognize in themselves—changes that havecome about in their lives which are not only no-ticeable to us, but to the wardens and their ownimmediate families as well, who are grateful andextremely appreciative of our efforts.

* * *Since the above testimony was written, the

team involved in the juvenile prison ministry atLeeuwkop prison has changed, with Tuchi, Cher-ish, and David moving on to new horizons, andKerenina (16), Megan (15), James (15), Gabriel (Ital-ian), Stephen (South African), and Praise (Danish)being added to the only one left of the originalteam: Marie.

Here are some portions of some of the letterswe’ve received from those attending our weeklyclasses:

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* “I want everybody to know how good life can be with Jesus. All Ineed is faith, because sometimes I feel trapped in my own body. I don’tknow if it’s just me or others too. Well, I think that’s how I’m made. Butby going to class I don’t even feel it. You don’t have to worry, becauseI’m reading my Bible—or shall I say, the map that’s going to take me toHeaven ... ”

* “Friends, I will always keep you in my memory and heart. You havebeen a light on my ways, you shared with me in my distress, and youhave helped develop my faith. I will always owe you a debt of thanks inmy life!”

* “So tell me, the day I repented, all the angels of God rejoiced inHeaven? Well, it’s harder to do right than to do wrong, but I know I willstep Satan low in the ground, and I will lift Jesus higher, so high thatSatan won’t be able to get there. What a wonderful group of peopleJesus sent us! And to tell my feelings—if you ever leave, I think I will cry!I have to thank the Lord that He sent you to us!”

During the last 1-1/2 years, we have been able to actively participate inthe rehabilitation program instituted by the South African Department ofCorrectional Services in Leeuwkop Prison at Medium B, a juvenile section ofthe prison hosting up to 750 inmates. Working with the juveniles is a dreamcome true for all of us privileged to be a part of this wonderful ministry to

ecy, as we can honestly say that only following theLord in prophecy helped us to accomplish what wehave.

Love from Marie (22), James (15), Megan(15), Kerenina (16), Stephen (26), Praise (43),

and Italian Gabriel (44).

gang, and explained that normally, he would have taken the prison laws intohis own hands, since he has many men to execute his slightest wishes, eventhough he’s in solitary. Our friend continued: “Instead, he said he’s not get-ting involved! He wants to go home and doesn’t want to be in trouble any-more! He never would have done that normally!”

This inmate then persuaded us to go and personally witness to the guy in his

solitary cell. So after a brief prayer, off we wentinto the confinement area and ended up meet-ing this skinny scrawny, short dude. He was thetype of kid that looked barely able to defend him-self, much less command the respect of over 300men, and the fear of many others besides! Godbless Gabriel who went on the attack and startedwitnessing to him, and got him saved! What a tes-timony of the Lord’s power of prayer!! Under nor-mal circumstances we wouldn’t have been allowedinto those areas, as they are to remain unseen tothe “public eye,” but due largely to prayer, andhaving connections in the right places due to be-ing part-time chaplains, things turned out okay!The warder that was leading us around even gaveus some personal prayer requests! Hal!!

We want to give the Lord all the honor for whathas been accomplished here, and to Mama and Pe-ter, as we couldn’t have made it without the beau-tiful vision imparted to us via the latest Letters, es-pecially those on hearing from the Lord in proph-

the poor in spirit! It’sbeen beautiful towatch the boysslowly change fromhardened criminalsinto caring youngmen.—To see themcome to a betterunderstanding ofthe Scripturesthrough the manyBible classes thathave been offered,and watch themgrasp the basic lead-ership skills that havebeen promotedtherein, therebymaking Jesus para-mount in their lives!We now have about50 students in ourSunday schoolclasses, and have found deep fulfillment in this unique highlight of our week!

The Lord inspired us with the story on page 605 of GT1 (the story of thelittle prayer group who decided to pray for the worst guy in town, who thengot saved within a week, etc.). We presented it as a challenge to our 50students who come on a weekly basis, so they picked the worst guy in theirjuvenile section. All of us, both inmates and outmates (ha!) decided to centerour prayers on this guy for a week and see what would happen. This guy was insolitary confinement at that time, for having instigated fights (including stab-bings, etc.) the week before.

He is the leader of one of the most popular prison gangs here, and has 300other inmates under his command! This means others do the dirty work forhim at his command, while he just sits back and watches. This young man wasnot one to be trifled with, and many live in fear and trembling of his wishes.

A week and a half later, we went to the prison to bid farewell to one of thepillars of our work who was to be released the following day, only to find outthat he was not due to be released till later on. Since we were there, wefigured we might as well redeem the time! We got some of our main guystogether for a surprise informal meeting, and started talking about this guywe were all praying for, everyone checking to see that the others were re-membering to pray for him as well.

One of the guys related to us some details regarding this guy’s particular

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In light of Mama’s counsel on martial arts in “Mama’s Memos No.5” (ML#3148, GN 753), I wanted to tell how the Lord helped me once ….

While out witnessing, I had met a very sweet girl. She got saved and herwhole life was changing. She was having Bible classes and was considering join-ing the Family. One day she invited me to a concert, and said she would alsoinvite a boy, a friend of hers. During the concert I kept witnessing to this girl andalso to her friend. After the concert, the friend got very angry and upset at me.It turned out that he was this girl’s boyfriend, and he said that all the things hehad been working on for years in trying to win this girl, I had ruined in just a fewdays.—It was really the Lord who had changed her, but of course he couldn’t

The very firsttime I sat alone infront of Family Fun16-17, where itshows the AuroraBorealis at CampLaurentide, I suddenlyfelt a presence andmy eyes were gluedto the beautiful lightshow I was watching.The Lord remindedme that several yearsago, while living outin the countryside,He had showed usanother astonishinglight show of the Au-rora Borealis, onebalmy summerevening in late July.That summer therewas a lunar eclipsealso, and the moonhad turned “red likesackcloth.” There wasa huge circle of lightdirectly hoveringover only our cot-tage. The light showwe watched was fullof amazing lights,colors, flowersblooming and cur-tains opening andclosing. It was truly anincredible sight tobehold!

Remember the old MO Letter “Pat Price” (ML #387)? I don’t know if it’srelated, since the “Pat Price” in Dad’s dream was a woman, but there was aninteresting British documentary on TV that presented how sometimes differentintelligence services have used people with ESP powers. The program dealt mainlywith the US organizations—the SRI, DIA and CIA—using people that are so called“remote viewers,” who can see objects, landscapes, etc., at far distances in theirminds—even on the other side of the world. One of the main pioneers of thisproject was a man called Pat Price! He was employed by the three above-men-tioned organizations, but died in 1975. The project was then continued by acolleague called Ingo Swan, another “remote viewer” with strong powers. It wasquite an interesting program.

see that.He got so mad that he

started hitting and beating mequite hard. I had never reallybeen into fighting, and espe-cially since I had my young son,Thomas, with me, I didn’t wantto get into a fight. So I just triedto get away from him and ap-pease him. He called me names,said I was a coward and tried allhe could to get me to fight, sohe would have more reason tohurt me. After a while he left,but then returned and startedhitting me again, and this timeeven ripped my shirt off me.When he finally left I was a bitbruised, but thank the Lord Ididn’t really get hurt too bad,and got safely home.

About a week later, whileout litnessing, I heard someonebehind me, so I turned aroundto offer them a MO Letter. It wasthe same boy who had been

fighting me the week before! Now he hadone arm in a cast. As soon as he saw me,he quickly walked away. A few days later Iwas able to contact the girl again, and heardthat his arm had been broken in his fightwith me! Though I had never hit him once,somehow, either by the way he hit me orby the Lord’s intervention, he broke his ownarm!—Maybe the Lord even sent one of hisbeasts as described in “Victory ’97" (ML#3151, GN 758) to help me in the battle.Whatever it was, this has always been areminder to me that the Lord is always withme, and is able to help in a very real andtangible way. I’m sure the boy himself willnever forget that fight, and hopefully havemore of a fear of the Lord for the rest ofhis life.

“The Lord shall fight for you, and yeshall hold your peace.” (Exo.14:14)

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StuffI had an experience that goes along withwhat the Lord told us in the prophecy warningthe young people against imitating homosexualbehavior. (See ML #3156; GN 761.) When I wasa preteen I had a sweet classmate who had asevere problem with stammering. She was veryshy and introverted, and everybody made funof her. I also started imitating her, but to myhorror, I suddenly started stammering real bad!I got really scared and snapped out of it. Butthat was a lesson the Lord taught me that so-bered me up. Also my cousin used to cross hereyes for fun, imitating people that had that prob-lem, and she became cross-eyed and had to usecorrectional glasses.

I was in my early twenties when I metthe Family, which was changing from theChildren of God to the Family of Love in thosedays. I come from a traditional Catholic Por-tuguese family. My father made my sister andme go to mass every Sunday. When my fa-ther died I was 18, and I just went wild, tryingall the things I thought I had missed whileunder his control.—My mother didn’t havemuch control over me. To make a long story

Recently on a hot summer day,The JETTs and teens of Hyderabad went to the park to play;To play some football and get in the know:The Word and Jesus are cool, man. Yo!We had lots of fun playin’ in the heat,And after that, of course, we took time to drink and eat.But the most important thing I learned that dayWas that hearing from the Lord is so important, hey!

short, after traveling, experimenting and getting disappointed with humanity for different reasons, Iended up with a nervous breakdown and in need of psychiatric treatment.

As the quote goes: “It takes an impossible situation for God to do a miracle.” And there it was—theperfect setup for me to meet the Family. And that’s exactly what happened! One day, after alreadyhaving been introduced to the Home in my town, I went with them to a disco (very popular in thosedays—part of the witnessing ministries). We were sitting down having a drink and talking when I lookedup to see a sparkling, gorgeous smile that just made me melt. Alas, she was on her way to witness to mybest friend, who was sitting close by. But I had my connections—the fisherman was an old friend ofmine. We had been close friends before he had joined the Family. I told him that it would really help mydeepening of convictions (Ihad already gotten saved) ifI could be assisted by theawesome woman I had seengoing past me to talk with afriend of mine. Since he wasaiming to please, my requestwas granted.

Did I say I was going tomake a long story short?!Well, about 20 years passed,and she is the mommy of mynine wonderful children. Sheis still gorgeous and Iwouldn’t trade anything thathappened to me for theworld!!!

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One prayer day we decided to listen to our spirit helpers. We were curious as to who theyare and what they have to tell us. Honestly speaking, it was difficult for me to have faith thatI’d hear something and that I’d get the name also.—I’m just learning to prophesy more.

Right after the prayer I got the name: KING RICHARD! “Oh no!” I thought. “What king didyou say?” Once again I heard the name: “RICHARD THE LIONHEARTED!” I saw a picture of a manon a white horse with a big sword in his hand. He looked like a majestic and strong knight.Then I saw his face. He had dark blond wavy hair, a beard and blue eyes. He smiled. At first Ihonestly thought it was only my imagination. I didn’t believe that Richard the Lionheartedcould be our spirit helper. Number one, it was the first time that I was going to hear from aspirit helper and I expected to hear from somebody kind of “unknown.” Instead, here wassome kind of a king I’d hardly heard about! I wasn’t even sure if he was a good king, I just knewthat he had lived a long time ago in England. How could I give a prophecy from somebody like

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When John Denvergraduated to the OtherSide, he came to visit me anumber of times. At firsthe was in transition, stilldown here watching theinvestigation of his crash,etc., and said he felt un-easy. George Burns andBing Crosby came to greethim and helphim adjust,reas su r inghim that hecould stillwrite andsing from be-yond the veil.

Acouple days later, he camemeekly asking if I wouldcatch a song from him. I

said yes. He didn’t want to disturb me that night,so we made a deal that he would wake me in themorning with the tune for the song. We agreed,and the next morning I woke up to this beautifullittle tune! He sang about a special place in Heavencalled “Memory Fountain,” where lovers go to gazeat loved ones—those here on Earth that they hadto leave behind. You can reach into the fountainand see and feel their presence, and it’s a comfortand soothes away the pain of missing them. This

helps keep you until you get toactually see them later. I’ll beputting this song on tape andsending it in. TYL!

Also, Bing Crosby sent meanother song about all thesefamous composers and actorsup in Heaven, gathered around

the grand piano and they all sing different partsto the song. “Ba ba ba boo—a Holy Ghost song toyou!” I’ll send this song in too.

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this? Wouldn’t it be “safer” to hear from some-body else? It would be so much easier to be-lieve! And number two, whatin the world would an ENGLISHKING be doing in such a teenyweeny Home in the middle ofSIBERIA, with little nobodies likeus?

So I prayed to Jesus thatif this message was really from

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Him, that He would encourage me somehow. And He gaveme a beautiful prophecy where He encouraged me to not be faithless but believe, and tolisten to the whispers in my heart.

And here is the little message that Richard the Lionhearted gave us:(Richard the Lionhearted speaking:) Hallo, my dear ones! I’m Richard the Lionhearted.

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You may wonder what a knight of England is doing in Russia, but Jesus has a special mission for me.Jesus sent me to you, the children of David, to teach you to fight. For I tell you, each and every one ofDavid’s children is very special to Jesus. He wants you to learn to fight. I’m here to tell you how tofight. I’m here to encourage you to fight, to fight with the lion’s heart, to fight with courage, to teachyou how to hit the Devil where it hurts.

As the days go evil, as the days go dark, you have to learn to fight. You have to learn how to wieldthe weapons of the Spirit. I’m here to give you strength. I was in many battles, I fought countless

When we had the “Releasing of our Spirit Helpers” prayer, a Middle-Easternman, Mr. S. (founder of the Arab Bank, and numerous other libraries, founda-tions, and cultural centers) spoke to us. He said, “He (Jesus)has come to me and asked me to help you, to teach you, toeducate you in the ways of the world, the ways of raising themoney that you need to do the good job that you are doing inmy land.” We were all so inspired to know that the Lord hadsent this successful businessman to help us with ourfundraising. The very next day, I received a call from a top sec-retary saying she wanted to do more to help us. We didn’t

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enemies. And even though my work was the work of the flesh,the Lord gave me the “lion’s heart,” and He gave me the heart ofa king, and the heart of love and compassion to fight for thosewho were in need.

And so Jesus gives you the hearts of kings, the heart of theQueen of Heaven, the Holy Ghost, to help you to fight the spiri-tual battles that are before you. When you are in the battle andthe foe is all about, don’t relax and sit down, because you’ll getkilled! When you are in the battle and you see your brothers be-ing killed, you won’t care to sit! And behold I tell you: you are inthe battle! And there are brothers and sisters dying on both ofyour sides.

I’m here to teach you how to fight. I’m here to teach youhow to persevere. I’m here to teach you how to be the childrenof David with lions’ hearts! For behold, Jesus looked at you andin this He found you weak. That’s why He sent me to you: toteach you. (End of prophecy.)

I checked in the Letters to find out who Richard the Li-onhearted was and what Dad thought about him but I didn’tfind much. Later we saw a documentary about him. I didn’tunderstand much of it since it’s in proper British English, butwhat stood out the most to me and what they emphasizedmost in that documentary was that Richard was a greatfighter.—He knew how to fight and he loved to fight! Howabout that?! Isn’t it wonderful to hear from our spirit help-ers? I love you!

realize it then,but this secre-tary works forthe directorof a founda-tion by thesame nameas this manwho came tous in thespirit! PTL!—Itlooks like Mr.S. is alreadyinf luencingpeople on ourbehalf. �

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��2The year is Ano Domini nineteen-hundred and ninety-eight. The place:

South Africa. The situation is critical. With over 60 young people scatteredacross the country—many of whom have never met—it is imperative that

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(Note from the Authors:) Inlate February the Africancontinent’s first youth camp washeld! (As described in Grapevine#33.) Not much more has beenheard about Africa and the sur-rounding areas as far as individu-als, Homes, etc., but with moreand more Family coming downhere, there sure is a lot to tell!

The Lord has been speak-ing to many about this being a“year for Africa,” and we wantedto share a little of the action, in-troduce ourselves and what wedo, etc.!—As well as, of course,convince as many as are calledto come join us here.

Lots of love,Danni and Tuchi for the

young people in Africa.

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most pressing problem wasfinding the venue for theCamp. Ideas and prayers flewback and forth, and finally itwas settled. The destinationof choice: the mother cityof Cape Town, southern-

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�the preparations for the very first youth camp to be held on the continent getunderway immediately! The reaction: Baie Lekker, man*!(*Translation: Afrikaans for “Totally Awesome!”—Or something to that effect.)

The preparations went unnoticed by most of the future attendees, but forthe VSs and members of, well, we call them the “Cape Town One” Home (where theVS’s and Lisa CRO were staying), things were hectic. The first and strangely enough

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most city in Africa. This decision didn’t keep some ad-venturers from trekking the continent from as far afieldas Kenya and Mauritius (this is not a dream), sweepingover the harsh African terrain, ferocious predators andblistering weather from the comforts of modern air-craft.

Meet the Camp’s Hosts and Organizers:(Ages withheld for personal security reasons.)· Lisa CRO· Andrew (of Phoebe, VS)· Phoebe (of Andrew, VS)· Ben (of Tirzah, VS)· Tirzah (of Ben, VS) — Our highest respect for thishard-working soul, who ran around non-stop both be-fore and throughout the camp, masterminded the sched-uling and saw to it that we all did our jobs. Tirzah gavebirth to her second daughter a week after the campended.· Eva (main provisioner, who almost single-handedlykept the camp running food-wise, all the while makingtrips back and forth bringing the needed items, GBH!)

Ben (of Tirzah), bravely going where angels fear totread, headed up responsibility for finding the spot, and

had some memorable sight-seeing escapades besides,when on occasion his quest for the perfect camp ledhim to some less-than-friendly neighborhoods. Run-ning on a bit of a tight schedule with busloads of teensdue to arrive on Sunday Feb. 22nd, the situation wasdesperate. Unwilling to give up and subject the en-tire youth population to one of several campsiteswhich were best described as replicas of dishev-eled, dilapidated and unhygienic, fenced-in, small,cockroach-infested concentration camps (minus thegas chambers, except for maybe a boys’ room or two),Ben claimed a miracle. And that was what he got.

The end result was a very nice, well-set-upcamp situated in a nature reserve at the verysouthwestern tip of Africa, Cape Point. Thisnature reserve is quite large, taking in hills(though I still think they were mountains!),cliffs, hiking trails, beaches and the very fa-mous Cape of Good Hope. The camp sat on a

steep hill overlooking a breathtaking scenic view of theocean and the jagged rocks lining Cape Town’s mean-dering coastline stretching into the distance in a mazeof wide bays and jutting peninsulas.

By nightfall, even the twinkling lights of CapeTown’s suburbs set against the dark shadows of its moun-tainous landscape were far surpassed by the beauty ofthe Southern skies. The camp offered a full-scale pan-oramic view of stars unseen by 80% of the world’s popu-lation. If people think that nothing compares to Afri-can sunrises and sunsets (both of which we had tre-mendous view of—the former if you were up that early)then the size and brightness of the stars we saw must’vebeen unparalleled. It was as if you could reach out andpluck them from the sky. This romantic setting was thescene for more than groups of eager star-gazers, asthere was frequently to be heard (it was way too darkto see, fortunately) loud rustling in the bushes surround-ing the camp after lights out, which the rangers reas-sured us could not be caused by baboons, who usuallytook to their dens for the night.

There were some stipulations laid down by the Na-ture Park as conditions for making use of this camp,which was generally reserved solely for scout groups or

real nature freaks vis-iting from places likeGermany and the USwith the sole objec-tive of analyzing themating habits of ag-ing coelacanths andtaking urine samplesfrom sea slugs. Ben,who successfully ne-gotiated the rentingof the campsite, ex-plained that theyneed not worry, heand Tirzah wouldwrite a compulsoryreport on what wehad studied whilethere and how wehad “appreciated na-ture.” Consideringthe great amount ofinteraction between

the genders, I would say the goal of “appreciatingnature” was accomplished without much difficulty.

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Also: How to survive a baboon raid!Also: How to survive a baboon raid!Also: How to survive a baboon raid!Also: How to survive a baboon raid!Also: How to survive a baboon raid!“Is everyone here yet?” “Who’s still missing?” Such

lingo was rampant among the bustle of exhaustedly im-patient attendees. For over two-thirds of the partici-

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with them both, it certainly was “A Birthday to Remem-ber.”

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—And other substitutes for sex!—And other substitutes for sex!—And other substitutes for sex!—And other substitutes for sex!—And other substitutes for sex!Bittersweet memories. The first day of the camp

(the morning after the “great black-out”) we set outon a zealous expedition down the hill (mountain) insearch of a distant beach visible from our camp by bin-oculars only. Everybody seemed to have boundless en-ergy, despite the fact that everyone had stayed up late

chatting. With the boys in the lead, the greatexodus began.

It took several hours before all couldbe accounted for at the beach. The sightwhich greeted me upon my arrival there wastruly amusing. Perhaps it was the oversightof the fact that this beach is situated on theAtlantic side that was responsible for the sce-nario. (This should be interpreted as freez-ing.) Despite winds strong enough to blowaway small cars (this is an impression), thebraver souls of this expedition, riskinggoose-bumps and cramped muscles, took tothe tidal pool for a rather short-lived gameof boys-against-girls ball tackle.

One by one the die-hard swimmers leftthe icy water to the comfort of warm tow-els. Shortly thereafter an impromptu ses-sion of touchdown began. Some peoplestayed away from this game as it was heavilypopulated by competitive members of themale species. Just when things were start-ing to warm up, someone remembered thatwe needed to get back at camp for classand, glad for the excuse to abandon thechilly beach, the entire assembly scurriedoff with the all the enthusiasm of lemmings.

As far as I can remember, our get-outswere equally as fun and challenging through-out the camp’s duration. There was one es-pecially long excursion led by Ben who had

organized a guided tour of the Cape of Good Hope withone of the rangers. We were to meet this ranger atthe Cape of Good Hope where we would climb a fewdifferent pinnacles, which apparently gave some fan-tastic views of various famous spots.

When we had finally made the walk to the Capeof Good Hope, weunderstood whythe ranger hadused his car. Butbeing youngpeople with re-puted limitlessenergy to dis-pose of, weforged aheadin a long pro-cession, allthe while try-ing to makeout thevoice ofour guidewho ex-pounded

loudly on lengthy chapters memorized from Portugueseand South African history books, in apparent competi-tion with the wind.* For those who managed to retainsome of what he said, his store of knowledge on thearea and its background was fascinating.

(*NOTE: This place is recognized as the second windiestspot in the world.)

pants, the drive down was more than just long: it in-volved sardine-like seating in heated vehicles, and forsome there were days of such excruciating conditions.(We DO NOT recommend usage of vehicles in this man-ner.) We can all agree, however, that it was well worththe unpleasant smells, aching bums, bumpy roads andbody friction caused by the closeness.

Finally … van doors flung open, causing a dominoeffect of people tumbling out of the heavily populatedvehicles. Bags were strewn far and wide while peoplelooked for their belongings. Arms and hands flew in afrenzy to get the hug quota in; intertwined with the

greetingswas thewarning tow a t c hyourself —b a b o o nraids werenot to bet a k e nl i g h t l y .Upon ourarrival, thek i t c h e nhad juste x p e r i -enced the extent to which baboons will go to quell theirinsatiable desire for food, their stomach being their solemotivator. Believe me, being confronted by a baboon isnot a delightful initiation to any camp—unless of courseyou plan to study such creatures.

The first day at any event should be one to re-member; well, when you are constricted to thethree hours of remaining daylight to find yourway through the unfamiliar surroundings, thatwould leave a mark on anyone’s mind. Unawareof the fuel used by the generator (so alienatedwere we that electricity lines did not reach thisisolated post), we were obliged to rest the firstnight without such lush commodities as elec-tricity. Toilet and bathroom usage was advisedto take place before the darkness around youcaused a universal blindness lasting until thedawning of the next day. We were warned bythe ranger to forgo adventuring while night wasupon us — previous attempts (not our own) hadmet with tragedy. The unwillingness to becounted a man down kept us all close to home.

On the line of the first day it would betragic to let the celebration of a “sweet 16”pass unnoticed. The nightmare of every birth-day person, since pre-Charter days, is to have a chorusof exuberant, cake-seeking, inharmonious singers ea-ger for the chance to engage in the ceremonial proce-dures and initiation of all those “coming of age.” Cher-ish was subjected to this unwelcome festivity, but weagree she enjoyed it, no matter what she’d say other-wise. James also met a similar “fate” when his birthdayfell on another camp day. Our wishes and prayers are

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2. Or being blown awayin my pajamas by gale-force winds.3. Or taking a wrongturn and walking off themountain.4. Or—as one night ac-tually happened to me—using the bathroom justbefore the security mancame to lock up, leavingme helplessly resignedto spending the night inthe showers, before Iwas rescued by whatmust’ve been an angelwho heard my door-bat-tering 10 minutes later.Whew! That was close!

Of course, therewas always the option oftraipsing across the

camp to the boys’ dorms [during which time three ofthe previous four things could happen] and wake upthe security man and employ him and his flashlight asan escort. [And face his wrath?]

I decided to stay in bed.)

(Note: Our dear security men stayed up way past theirbed time for other than personal reasons throughoutthe camps duration, making just such escorting trips.Thanks, boys!)

As the camp days drew to a close and the length-ened unofficial evening activities worked their way intothe night, the security guys found the job more taxingthen before. The last evening, in their attempt to com-plete their job to the full they saw the starry sky

unfold into a glorious dawn. It was certainly aloooonnnnggg night. Thanks guys for your care!

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Great tips for all …Great tips for all …Great tips for all …Great tips for all …Great tips for all …Overall, I’d say that the camp’s schedule ran quite

smoothly and things were well organized. Therewas a huge industrial kitchen with large industrial

pots and pans, industrial mops and brooms, indus-trial oven, and industrious kitchen deacons. Angel,Cassandra, Katie, Claire and Sharmini went above andbeyond the call of duty with fantastic meals and evensnacks for every odd hour of the day and night. Theysaw to it that even the teen and YA boys had adequateintake. (This is more significant than you think. Sci-ence has proven that it would be a great deal easier tofeed an army of ravenous baboons.) This was practi-cally a full-time job, and on behalf of the other youngpeople at the camp, I think this would be a good timeto express our appreciation for all their hard work.

“We’d recommend you as the finest kitchen work-ers to any camp that needed grub, any hotel thatneeded a chef, any boys’ school that was looking for acook, any homeless-feeding project requesting sacri-ficial volunteers, any army seeking to recruit profes-sional meal-makers, any ... “

Actually, no, just come to our Home! Ha! In allseriousness, though, thank you girls for all that youdid to make the camp a success! We love you!

An honorable mention of the host of varied ideasthat people came up with for PRAISE TIME. For eachday of the camp there was somebody scheduled foreach of the three praise times, and it was up to theirown inventiveness to come up with something wildand wonderful/new and different for everybody to do.Some of the most memorable were:(PEOPLE, FEEL FREE TO TRY THESE AT HOME!)

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shall neither slumber nor sleep …shall neither slumber nor sleep …shall neither slumber nor sleep …shall neither slumber nor sleep …shall neither slumber nor sleep …In your life in the Family, have you

ever taken the security fellow forgranted? At this camp, we learned hisfull potential. First let’s give credit tothe souls who put their lives in “danger”for our safety. Placed in the Hall of Fameare Daniel and Kevin. These brave, dar-ing young men, I’m sure, could fill youin on some of their encounters, but sincethey are not reachable momentarily, wewill settle for recollections.

Because of the baboons’ curiosityfor our living quarters, we were forcedto bolt the doors behind us. Who eversaid that monkeys aren’t intelligent?(Darwin needed some mental backing forhis doctrines, and it’s quite possible thattheir mental capacity far surpassed hisown.) The baboons would reach up andpull the door handles down.

The bathrooms held a great amount of interestfor these beasts, and in an attempt to quell their intru-sions, the doors were constantly being locked. Whendark set in and the lights were out, any late night troop-ers groping in the starlight towards the bathroom un-beknownst to the security men’s keen eyes were introuble. Sharif and Danni were among a few who, be-fore being heroically rescued, heard the bolts clang

shut and drearily anticipated a cold night inthe bleak stone bathrooms.

With all hope rapidly di-minishing, help

c a m e —whetherin theform ofthe secu-

rity troopor a wan-

d e r i n gloafer—and for-

tunately no one didend up spending a night in the bathroom.*

(* I remember nights when I’d hoist myself up onto mytop bunk-bed and sit there for 45 min. or so weighingup my options before I decided that I’d rather endurea full bladder than take the 200 meter walk in the pitchdark [the generator was switched off punctually at 11:00by our dear security men] to the toilet, at the risk of:1. Being paid a surprise visit in the small cubicle by anuninvited primate while trying to find the toilet paper,look as fierce as possible brandishing the toilet-plunger,yell loudly to alert the security man on the other sideof the camp and shoot up a prayer for the opportunityto live to tell the tale and make a hasty exit, forgettingto flush the toilet.

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· “Be a missionary” Praise Time. This involved some-one from each table (this Praise Time took place at lunch)being assigned to praise the Lord for something in adifferent language. We were whisked around the worldwith praises in Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian,Afrikaans, Hindi, Chinese and the predictable, “Ameri-can” and “Australian,” etc.· “These Famous Characters” Praise Time. On ourDress-Up night, everyone showed up as various strangepeople and thingsat dinner, and allpresent had toguess who theywere. The plannerof Praise Time thatnight asked every-body to stand up oneat a time and praisethe Lord in a mannersynonymous with thecharacter they weredressed up as. Someof them were hilari-ous!· “Make a joyfulnoise” Praise Time. Forthis one, each tablesang a praise song oftheir choice and thetable voted as havingsung with the least gusto had to do another one “onthe spot.”· “Somebody Guess!” Praise Time. This was a bottle-breaker! Four brave and unsuspecting volunteers hadto act out what they were thankful for. The funny thingwas the amount of time some of them spent up therewhile people fired guesses, ranging from baboons (whowas that?!) to submarines. Then it would turn out to besomething like, “No, you guys, I’m thankful for fellow-ship here at the camp.” Oh!

��<�#��(From Lisa:) During the keynote, prophecies from

Jesus, Dad and David Livingstone were read that hadbeen received specifically for this particular camp. Theseprophecies helped set the stage for what our Heavenly

counselors and shepherds wanted to have happen dur-ing the camp, and gave us some good tips on how tounderstand each other and lovingly interact during thedays to come.

There was also a convicting and fun class aboutthe Goals of ’98 and practical steps we could take toimplement these goals, helping to give a clearer pic-ture of where we stand and what we need to aim for.When we came to the point of loving one another and

the field wehave beencalled towork in, weread someeye-openingprophec ieson prejudiceand how weare to look atthe people ofAfrica—or anynat ional i t ies,for that matter,different fromours. I alsoshared some ofmy experiencesabout respectingthe individual andlooking to their

hearts rather than the outward appearance and cir-cumstances, and what a difference this can make in aperson’s life. Would you want to hear a few excerptsof what Jesus said?

“As I, Prince of a glorious Kingdom, came fromHeaven down to Earth to learn the ways of Man, to wintheir hearts and bring them up to My glorious King-dom, so must you learn through the things you sufferand experience, to have respect unto the lowly, as Ido.

“Please know that it will not come natu-“Please know that it will not come natu-“Please know that it will not come natu-“Please know that it will not come natu-“Please know that it will not come natu-ral ly . I t is something you wi l l have to f ightral ly . I t is something you wi l l have to f ightral ly . I t is something you wi l l have to f ightral ly . I t is something you wi l l have to f ightral ly . I t is something you wi l l have to f ightfor, and I don’t expect for you to be perfectfor, and I don’t expect for you to be perfectfor, and I don’t expect for you to be perfectfor, and I don’t expect for you to be perfectfor, and I don’t expect for you to be perfector to know or understand it all. This is a deepor to know or understand it all. This is a deepor to know or understand it all. This is a deepor to know or understand it all. This is a deepor to know or understand it all. This is a deepmatter, because it is not just something youmatter, because it is not just something youmatter, because it is not just something youmatter, because it is not just something youmatter, because it is not just something youcan change on the surface by new guidelines,can change on the surface by new guidelines,can change on the surface by new guidelines,can change on the surface by new guidelines,can change on the surface by new guidelines,or rules, or even the ideals in the Word beingor rules, or even the ideals in the Word beingor rules, or even the ideals in the Word beingor rules, or even the ideals in the Word beingor rules, or even the ideals in the Word beingput forth to My children. It is something thatput forth to My children. It is something thatput forth to My children. It is something thatput forth to My children. It is something thatput forth to My children. It is something thateach and every one wil l have to pray abouteach and every one wil l have to pray abouteach and every one wil l have to pray abouteach and every one wil l have to pray abouteach and every one wil l have to pray aboutand try to implement in their own hearts forand try to implement in their own hearts forand try to implement in their own hearts forand try to implement in their own hearts forand try to implement in their own hearts forit to really take effect. It’s a matter of theit to really take effect. It’s a matter of theit to really take effect. It’s a matter of theit to really take effect. It’s a matter of theit to really take effect. It’s a matter of theheart .heart .heart .heart .heart .

“If you could only see how I see these people,you would have no questions in your minds or heartson how to treat them. It is because you see them asyou see them. If you could only ask Me for the key ofMy sight. Ask Me to show you how I see these people.

“One of the keys is to ask Me for spiritual helpfrom My spirit helpers who have been through somuch and see things in a different light and in a dif-ferent way. They see things through mature eyes.Many times, you have not experienced the events thatwould make you mature, but you can call upon Myhelpers to give you insight and a different viewpointon people who are sick, people that are downtrod-den, or people that are poor and have very little. Youmay have very little pity, and very little patience forpeople like that. But when you are weak, then I canbe strong, if you seek My strength through My spirithelpers.”

The attendees were excited to learn that althoughthey are young and new to this very different field,they can avail themselves of the wisdom of the spirithelpers to reach and understand and relate to thelocal people and their different cultures and ways of

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doing things. Through the gift of prophecy we canlearn from them and find the right keys to reach thesenations, and mature very fast to do the job better.

We also had a class on vision and goals, abouthow to set personal goals and go about reaching themone step at a time, and not to look to circumstancesand people to make things happen. In many respectsour lives can be what we make them. At the end ofthe class each person took 20 minutes to individu-ally pray about and make commitments to reachpersonal goals.

The class “Be a Missionary” also stirred us upto see all we can do and gave us itchy feet to getout and do the job.

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What the boys won’t tell you!What the boys won’t tell you!What the boys won’t tell you!What the boys won’t tell you!What the boys won’t tell you!What camp memoir would be complete

without a listing of the evening events? How-ever, due to space and length, as authors wedecided to keep this to the “scheduled eveningactivities.” We hope this is not inconvenientor a douse on inspiration levels.

Camps always entail a great deal of fun,and this is more than evident when the eveningactivities come ‘round. The inspirations,games, dance nights, talent night and dress-up proved to have substantial participatingparties, of both genders that is. (Comment:Pity was expressed for the exhausted malespecies who were booked for dances days inadvance, not to mention the queue thatformed if a booking fell through. Clear exer-tion of all energy was written on their facesas they cheerfully greeted the next girl, welldisguised by the sometimes faltering smiles.Boys, you were our heroes those nights!)

Talent night presented us with many

All in all it was an evening to remember, notonly for the humorous breaks in acting, dancing, writ-ing and performing but the wild enthusiasm with whicheveryone participated, reaching the climax of overallFUN.

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— The Y— The Y— The Y— The Y— The Year for AAFFRRIICCAA!ear for AAFFRRIICCAA!ear for AAFFRRIICCAA!ear for AAFFRRIICCAA!ear for AAFFRRIICCAA!According to the Chinese

zodiac, this is not the year of thebaboon. According to the Lord,however, it is the YEAR FOR AFRI-CAN SHEEP. This year the SouthAfrican Homes enjoyed theirfirst CRO visitation since thework was reestablished in late1994. Lisa was able to do therounds of most of theHomes in South Africa as wellas the many other Africannations the Family has pio-neered.One of the most exciting

classes of the camp was the“Be a Missionary” class.

Andrew and Phoebe ledthe meeting which wasneedless to say verychallenging! It was a

time to think about our call-ing as missionaries to Africaand hear some of the fantas-tic testimonies of things theLord is doing for our Familyhere. Then out came the map!Andrew had a collection oflittle red dot stickers, which

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budding pros. Although many of the contestants’ nameshave faded from recollection, the acts themselves re-main indelible. This does not in any way detract fromthe excellence with which they performed, and a bighand of applause is rightly bestowed on all present.

The diaper changing episode is one always present,however; Super Dad Sharif gave it an authentic flavor,opting for an entire bath and diaper change, complet-ing the task in under 5 minutes. Tristan was an easy childto please, but Dad equally fulfilled his part.

would represent a Family Home on the continent. Withthe help of the gathered assembly, these were pastedonto the map on the correct site (country, city, town).Each team represented by our gathering had its repre-sentative go up and put their Home on the map. Natu-rally there were some brethren from farther-flung Af-rican destinations who were not present at the camp,but we didn’t forget about them, and pumping peoplepower, we managed to come up with a lot of dots.Africa had “Family measles” by the looks of it.

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this.ja (pronounced: yaw): Afrikaans for yes. Everybody usesthis.lank::::: Some strange S.A. English slang word used byyoung people meaning really, like as in “lank strange, ifyou ask me.”mielie::::: Don’t ask for corn on the cob. They won’tunderstand what it is, even though this is eaten through-out South Africa.shosholoza: : : : : A Zulu mining song which became some-thing of a national anthem (unofficially). This was sungoff-key by Rugby fans of every color of the rainbowduring the Rugby World Cup 1994 held in South Africa.(The S.A. “Springbok” team also won, by the way.)Nkosi sikeleli Afrika: : : : : Zulu. It means “God bless Af-rica” and is the national anthem.Shayawena: : : : : Also Zulu. This means you’re gonna get aspanking. Or a “hiding” as the English speakers like tosay.Eina!: : : : : This is what you yell when it happens. (Afrikaansfor Ouch!)

bro (pronounced: brew): Bro, you know! The Afrikaanswill say “boet” or “boetie”.

china: : : : : “Hey, China, howzit goin’?” People calleach other this, though it is not known why.

jol: : : : : This means a real party. As in“going out for a Saturday night jol.”

Biltong::::: A favorite snack (Driedmeat, often wild game—ac-

tually quite good!)Remember the “BoerWar”? Well, “boer”“boer”“boer”“boer”“boer”actually just means“farmer” in Afrikaans,

it’s what most of themwere, though.

So, how well did youlisten? Uh-huh. Herethen, for the purpose ofdetermining just that, isa very South Africanparagraph. This time youtranslate, I’ve got a head-ache!

“My boetie growsmielies. (He’s a boer.) He

even makes his own biltong,real lekker stuff! The other day

I went hunting with him in thebakkie and the china drives through

a red robot and barely missed hitting intothis other oke! Eina! Anyway, we shot down alank nice buck. To celebrate we went jol-ing

that night—met some of the guys for abraai and beer. Then we sang ‘Shosholoza’

while watching the rugby match on TV.”Did you get it? Oh, you got

stuck on the “bakkie”? Hold on toyour “tekkie’s” china, I’ve writ-ten a lank long section already,

just get yourselves down here, y’all,‘cuz Africa’s a real jol!

� �� 2To all those who had a hand in planning and organizingthe camp. Thanks, EURCRO and our wonderful VSs formaking it happen. And thanks to all you great guys &gals who came! It wouldn’t have been the CAPE OF GOODHOPE YOUTH CAMP 1998 without YOU! See y’all at thenext one?!!

“... Roger that, command. This is S.A. Ziner ‘1’, stand-ing by. Over and out.” �

We also had some good P&P to hear from the “ManUpstairs” on His will for us personally, as well as for theAfrican work. The Lord has clearly shown us all that this isthe year for Africa, and we’re all planning on taking fulladvantage of it. Already there’s talk of some wild adven-turous faith trips into “virgin” Africa from here and thevolunteers signing up are many. There’s an overall feel-ing of excitement for all of us here as we prepare forwhat the Lord has promised is going to be a real ride—ofthe African kind! (This does not always mean travel byelephant, camel, wildebeest, zebra, springbok, ostrich,crocodile or hippo, but just leave yourself open to what-ever the Lord has for you in this exotic mission field!)

One of many stats quoted at this meeting that Ihappen to remember is the population of Africa. Any-body wanna take a guess? We tried, but it took a littlewhile before we got it. Know what? There are approxi-mately 700 million people inhabiting this conti-nent, which is the second largest con-tinent population-wise on the global ex-panse—and only a handful of people toreach them. Africa has endless CTP oppor-tunities, openings for show groups, “in-vading” churches, reaching the top, faithtrips, prison ministries, and the list isendless.—Plus the means to supportthese worthy causes! We could go on allday, and further try the patience of theZine team, solely describing this fascinat-ing place and the great need there is, butwe’re staking our claim here and invitingany of you crazy (but wise) pioneers tocome and see for yourselves: AFRICA IS AWE-SOME! And we can use YOU (especially ifyou’re a guy—no offense girls, you’re wel-come too)!

Who could’ve thought of a bet-ter way to conclude such acollage of extravagantly fer-vid journalistic fever than in(an adaptation of) the wordsof one of the Bible’s mostfamous passages:

“And what more shall I say?For the time shall fail me to tellof inspirations, and of African pio-neers, and of hearing from the Lord,and of prayer, of prophecy also, and ofunity, and of all the classes:

“Who, through the enthusiasm of their or-ganizers, subdued boredom, wrought ‘righ-teousness,’ obtained participation, stoppedthe sounds of snores,

“Quenched the violence of spiritualhunger, escaped the wiles of the Enemy,out of Word were made strong, waxedvaliant in fight, turned to flight thearmies of baboons.

... “And all these having obtaineda good report (from the hosts) throughfaith, received not the continuation ofthe camp: God having provided somebetter thing for us ... (Another youth camp?)

— Adapted from Hebrews 11:32-34, 39-40

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South African lingo in two minutes!South African lingo in two minutes!South African lingo in two minutes!South African lingo in two minutes!South African lingo in two minutes!

Yebo::::: Zulu for “Yeah!”braai: : : : : Afrikaans (but used across the board) for Barbe-cue.baie: : : : : Very; really (Afrikaans)lekker::::: Cool, awesome, tasty (lit.) baie lekker!robots: : : : : S. Africans mean “traffic lights” when they say

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Top Row (L-R): Johannes, Joanna, me (Kate, 16), Michael(19), Julie (14), Philip (18), Stephan (12).Bottom row: Angela (9), Anna (6), Larissa (4).

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“Million Voices.” We also help with theband arrangement songs for FTTs like“Give a Little,” “Sometimes Lord,” “HeartBeat,” “Million Voices,” etc., that will becoming out soon, and hopefully more inthe future.

Q: Did you teach yourself or were youtaught by someone?

A: My dad, Kenny,taught me the basics on the acousticguitar, then when I first started to playthe electric guitar I would listen to a lotof music with solos, and I’d try to figureout what they were playing and what thenotes were. At first it took a long timeto figure the simplest solos, and I even

had this funky four-track toslow the speed downso I could hear it bet-ter. Then after lis-tening to it 100times I’d get it.(Sometimes!)

I also learned alot fromw a t c h i n gP h i l i p(BrotherS u n )play. Hem a d ea few cassette tape record-ings of him playing differ-ent licks, and he encour-aged me to keep prac-ticing.—That meant alot to me.

Lately I’ve beenlearning throughvarious instruc-tional videos, CDsand books. Ifind that I onlyretain what I

use right awayin a live situation

or for a record-ing, so I try to

learn things that Ican apply right

away. I’ve got a badmusical memory,

and I’m always forget-ting things I learn, so

I’ve gotta use what I dolearn right away. (Talk

about a redundant sentence!)

Q: Any thoughts on music?A: I’m really

thankful that the Lord has let mebe involved in music, and for thesituation I’m in now where I’mable to use it to reach others inmy witnessing ministries. My per-sonal goal right now is to writeand produce more songs specifi-cally for the Japanese youth here.Our new CD is in Japanese and En-glish, and DV will be in musicstores for the public and also usedas a GP tool for us to distribute.

PS to Steven, Lily, Kristy, Sara, Jer-emy, Joyful, John M., John B.,Angelique T., Pandita, Angela,Angelina, Topaz, Michelle, Mary,Tim Indo, Jono, Mike P., Daniella,Anne, Cephas, Joan, Benny, Zack,Emmy, Florence, Laura, M. Daniel,Tim A. and Vas: It was great work-ing with you all! Luv U all! KGFG!Take care. And to all the Family Igot to meet in India: GBAKY! Seeyou all again someday!

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Age: 20Birthday: March 8, 1978 (Pisces)Q: When did you start playing electric gui-tar?

A: I started playing electricguitar when I was 15, because my dad gaveme one for my birthday. (It was all his fault,ha!) It was an old beat-up thing, but that’swhat got me started. Before that I startedon a ukelele when I was three or four, thenI got a mini acoustic guitar when I was sixyears old.

My dad taught me all thebasics like chords, strumming, picking, etc.I still remember him making mestrum on beat and me falling asleepand then waking up still playing. Ha!God bless him for having the patienceto teach me at that age, as it prob-ably wasn’t easy. As I got older I triedkeyboards, and then I was into drumsfor a while. I thought for sure that Iwanted to be a drummer until thatfateful day I got my first electric gui-tar!—And that’s how it all began forme!

Soon I joinedThaddeus, and his sons Jeff and Chris,and their band. I think we were called“Hearts Aflame.” We did a lot ofstreet performing (busking), andplaying at shows, festivals and basi-cally anywhere we could play. Then Iwas with the “SOS” band. (That waswhen we played on a four-lanestreet in Tokyo that on Sundays wasclosed off to cars and open to pe-destrians and bands.) We played,sang and witnessed to hundreds ofyoung people from around theworld. We did this every week forabout two years.

Then there was the“Heart Beat” band, that evolved intothe band that we have now called“Strange Truth.” Currently we’re in-volved in a youth ministry club calledthe “Spice Club,” where we play livemusic in a bar/live-house down town.We get to use this place once amonth for witnessing and live mu-sic, which has been very exciting andfun. Our studio is also in the finalstages of producing a GP CD called

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My first contact with theFamily was in 1986, during mystudies as a defense student inVishakapatnam, a small coastalcity on the south-eastern partof India. I had been sent thereto study by the Nigerian military.At this time I was already fed upwith life in the military. The onlything that kept me there was thetwelve-year contract I had signed

with them, starting in 1985.Before this time, I had

given my life to Jesus and wasgetting my constant doses ofchurchianity. It didn’t take longto realize that something waswrong with the church system,as it left me with many unan-swered questions, but I had con-tinued very devoutly thereinsince I didn’t know better. Afterseveral fruitless attempts tomeet a minister or a denomina-tion that really taught and be-lieved the truths of the Bible bypractice, I sadly concluded thatit was impossible for anyone tolive like Jesus and His early fol-lowers. Although I had Jesus andwished I could live for Him, I got

blessings. It was the Lord through them that made itall possible. Through the lonely years that followed, Ineeded the fellowship of the Family but since theywere so far away, the few MO Letters I had becamemore alive and personal than ever before.—You cannever fully appreciate how spiritual and alive Dad’s writ-ings are until you find yourself all alone on some lonelyisland!

When I first returned to Nigeria in 1989, thecountry had gone through many major changes and Ifelt it was all a big mistake that I had to return at all.Yet I continued the long agonizing years of my con-tract with the navy. However, I continued personalwitnessing, litnessing and distributing posters, tractsand audio tapes which I had brought with me to Nige-ria. God bless Simon and Joan, who kept sending anyliterature they could afford to mail, to help me duringthis period. During my witnessing, I soon realized thatthe people needed a sample much more than the ser-mons which they were already having enough of in thechurches. The fact that I could not live the sermon tothe full because of my military bondage was anothersource of worry and almost broke my heart, but withconstant encouragement from Simon and Joan I wasable to survive.

Despite every stumble, failing and failure, theLord brought along my way a real sweet sheep whoflipped out on the Words. Poised with the motivationto also serve the Lord full-time and disillusioned by theineffectiveness of the church system, we became sobonded together through the Words and our goals,and it was not long before we were also bonded to-gether physically. Janet and I got married first to theWords and secondly to each other, in total disregardto all the traditions and conventions of the church sys-tem. That was in 1993, four years after we had beentogether in the Word. In 1995, the Lord blessed uswith a baby girl, Mariangela. Today, the three of us arein the Family, serving the Lord full-time, and will con-tinue to do so for the rest of our lives, despite theEnemy’s trials.

Slowly but steadily, at last the time came for mylegal discharge from the military, but the Enemy cameup with both barrels to stop it: The naval authoritiesrefused to give me my discharge papers. Thank theLord, this time around the Family was in Nigeria. I askedfor prayer and did all the wenting I could, and afterdelaying me for another nine months, I was fully dis-charged from the “lower Army” so I could continue mymilitary career in the “higher Army!” So the Lord keptme through 14-odd years in the Nigerian Navy, “with-out even the smell of a smoke.” TYJ! �

From Samson, Nigeria

near to dumping my Bible and com-pletely letting go of Christianity andanything religious. It was at this pointin my life that I met the Family.

Right away, the message in theaudio tapes and Letters began to an-swer my many long-standing ques-tions. Added to this was the Family’ssample, which altogether returned thereality of the Bible and Christianity tome. I saw that it was possible to livelike Jesus and His early followers, even

today! Theset r u t h s ,taught andlived by theFamily, soturned meon that Iwanted todrop out im-mediately tofollow Jesus,

serving Him full-time.—But there wasone mighty hurdle: my military bond-age.

The thought of returning to Ni-geria and continuing in the military foranother eight years nearly drove meinsane. Thank the Lord for the love ofFamily members who had the trust andfaith to really feed me the Words andgive me the preparation I needed tokeep me inspired and my mind revo-lutionary enough for the length oftime I was compelled to remain in theSystem, with oceans between me andthe nearest Family Home. God blessSimon and Joan, John and Praise, andother faithful members too numerousto mention here and now, whose fer-vent prayers and regular communica-tions were added and very necessary

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023 september 1998 - xfamily.org

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