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"OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN!"--A Dream!--MO May 31, 1977 DFO NO.588
Copyrighted July 1977 by the Children of God
1. THEY WERE HAVING SUNDAY SCHOOL for the neighbourhood kids. (Maria: The Catacombers with all those little ones.)--And they were making all kinds of projects and things. They were like camping out and had them all organised into tribes. Each tribe had a little flag or symbol above their camp that they had chosen.--And they were doing such good work!
2. AND I KEPT SINGING THAT SONG, "OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN". It must be something the Lord wants them to do, huh? (Maria: And you were singing it to them?) Beautiful! Yes, we were all singing it. (Sings:) "Open the door for the children,
3. "TENDERLY GATHER THEM IN. Open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." I don't know the words. "Open the door, gather them in, open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." How about that, Honey! I used to sing that in Sunday School!--And we sang it in Daily Vacation Bible School.
4. IT WAS LIKE THEIR BIBLE SCHOOL. Thank You Lord! It was beautiful! Well, I tried to take a couple of pictures of it so I wouldn't forget it, but the camera got jammed. (Maria: Besides, you were dreaming.) Did you hear me? (Maria: Yes.) Was I singing? (Maria: Well, you were--no, you were sort of humming it and whistling it.) Isn't that something? It was so beautiful!
5. THE CATACOMBERS WERE ALL HAVING LIKE DAILY VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL FOR ALL THESE LITTLE NEIGHBOURHOOD KIDS!--And I had these three cameras and I was talking to the Catacombers and I did like this: I said, "Look, my generation is like this first camera here. Your generation is like this next camera on top of me like this, and the little children's generation is like the third camera on top of you.....I reached you, and now you've got to reach them."
6. DID YOU HEAR ME SINGING? (Maria: No, just now I heard you singing.) It was beautiful! (Maria: Umm...you know how you were doing? You were sort of humming or whistling through your teeth.) I kept thinking, "I must sing this song over and over so I'll remember it to tell Maria about it." (Maria: I heard it.)
7. "AND I MUST TAKE A PICTURE of this so I'll be sure to remember to tell Maria about it." And I was trying and trying to take a picture, but the camera got jammed. That must be what woke me up. (Maria: Isn't that funny how I heard you whistling the song in your sleep!)
8. I WAS WRESTLING WITH THAT CAMERA. It must be because the Lord wanted me to remember the dream, so I kept thinking, "I've got to take a picture of this now, this is so good! It's so beautiful I've got to take a picture of it!
9. "AND I'VE GOT TO REMEMBER THIS SONG!--IT'S OUR THEME SONG FOR THE LITTLE CHILDREN!" Isn't that funny? I thought I just had to remember it, so I kept singing it over and over again: "Open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." Do you know the rest of the words? (Maria: "In from the highways and hedges, in from the field of sin.") Yes!--
10. "OPEN THE DOOR, GATHER THEM IN, open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." I think I haven't sung that song since I was a little kid in Sunday School! (Maria: We have several times recently. The Lord gave it to you.) That one? (Maria: Yes.) No, no, it was that other one:
11. "LITTLE CHILDREN, LITTLE CHILDREN, His bright crown adorning."--That's the other one I think, "Like the stars of the morning,...(--"His bright crown adorning like the stars of the morning, His loved and His own. We shall shine in His beauty like gems for His crown.") Yes!
12. ("LITTLE CHILDREN, LITTLE CHILDREN WHO LOVE THEIR REDEEMER are the pure ones, are the bright ones, His loved and His own.") Oh, Honey, you're wonderful!--You've got a marvelous memory! (Maria: "Like the stars of the morning, His bright crown adorning, they shall shine in their beauty, bright gems for His crown.") Hallelujah! That's beautiful!
13. THE LORD MUST WANT THEM TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE LITTLE CHILDREN in their neighbourhood. (Maria: Was that in Tenerife?) Yes, it was in La Laguna, the house was in La Laguna! It was Miguel's Catacombers! And they had all these little kids from the neighbourhood in their house, and they had them all divided up into little tribes of Israel--you know: Zebulon, Gad, Asher, Judah, Issacar, etc.
14. AND EACH LITTLE GROUP HAD A LITTLE TEACHER in different parts of the room and the house, and each little group had a sign stuck up over their little Sunday School Class with the name of their tribe on it and some kind of symbol representing their tribe, like a little stand with a little flag, like those Sunday School banners we used to have in Sunday School, remember?
15. AND EACH ONE OF THEM HAD A LITTLE FLAG or sign or banner sticking up over their little class, and they were pretending they were camping out like the children of Israel in the wilderness. (Maria: How were they doing that?)
16. THEY HAD ALL KINDS OF MODELS ON THE FLOOR, cut-outs pictures and all kinds of stuff representing all the different things that they had, like tents and cows and sheep and goats and horses--all in miniature! They had it all over the floor playing like they were camping out like the children of Israel.
17. THAT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEAL! Isn't that terrific? How about that, Honey? And it was just as clear as anything!--And we were singing this song, and I thought, "I must sing this song again, I must sing it over and over so I won't forget it! I've got to tell Maria about this old song that came back to me, and that it's important, it's like the Lord telling us a message." It reminds me of that other children's dream, like the Lord telling us we've got to go out and gather the children in.
18. "OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN, tenderly gather them in, in from the highways and hedges, in from the fields of sin. Open the door, gather them in. Open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." Isn't that good? (Maria: I heard you whistling it and I thought you must be dreaming.)
19. I KEPT SINGING AND SINGING IT! I thought, "I've got to sing it over again so I don't forget it for Maria. I've got to tell Maria about this dream! It's so beautiful how good the Catacombers are doing such a good job with the neighbourhood and teaching them!"
20. THEY HAD ALL THESE CUT OUTS and drawings and little models and they were doing all kinds of stuff like you do in Vacation Bible School, you know.--And the little kids were just eating it up! Now what a great thing that would be for the children, huh?--And for those young people to do! That would really give them something to do! Wouldn't that be wonderful?
21. THINK OF ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN in the neighbourhood, think of how receptive little children are! My, oh my! If we could start a little Sunday School there! If people weren't afraid to--you know you couldn't when Spain was still not free but now they're going to be free they could do it.
22. I'M SURE SOME OF THE CHURCH WOULD FIGHT like mad, but so what, let them fight! Get the children! I mean if they don't give religious freedom, they're not free! If they're going to have themselves all bound by the church so you can't proselyte and all that stuff, of all the ridiculous things, they're certainly not free!
23. I JUST KEPT THINKING, "I MUST SING THIS OVER AND OVER so I won't forget it and I will remember to tell Maria about this!" It was almost like I knew I was dreaming, and I was getting this message, this picture from the Lord and, "I've got to remember now, I've got to remember it!I'd better take a picture of it or Maria will never believe how beautiful this is!
24. "WHAT A GOOD WORK THE CATACOMBERS ARE DOING WITH ALL THE CHILDREN! I've got to sing this song because it's like their theme song, it's the message the Lord wants us to get. We're supposed to open the door for the children and tenderly gather the in!" Isn't that beautiful?
25. THERE WERE ONLY A FEW TEENAGERS, CATACOMBERS, and they were busy helping around as teachers and taking care of the little kids and the babies, But they were mostly little kids from about four or five years on up.--And they just seemed to be really enjoying it, really loving it, showing the younger generation genuine love!
26. EACH LITTLE CLASS WAS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE, like there was a class over in this corner, and there was a class over in that corner, and a class over in that corner, and a class out in the middle of the room. Maybe that was just to show you that you can do almost anything if you try.
27. IT WOULD BE KIND OF BEDLAM, and it sort of was with all those little kids, but they were having a good time. They were cutting things, paper, and all these little things made out of paper, and setting them up, little miniature models and things showing how the children of Israel camped out in the wilderness. How about that?
28. THE KIDS THEMSELVES CAN MAKE THINGS to illustrate the Bible stories and it really helps them to remember. They used to let us take home things we made from Bible School. (Maria: I wonder how they'd get materials and things to know what to do?) Oh, they could dream it up! Read the Bible and just dream up things to illustrate things out of the Bible, out of the Bible stories.
29. "OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN, tenderly gather them in, in from the highways and by-ways, in from the fields of sin. Open the door, gather them in, open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." Oh that's such a wonderful work for Catacombers to reach the children of their neighbourhoods!
30. I THINK THAT'S THE BEST WORK THAT THE CHURCHES DO--to have Sunday School, child evangelism classes, Vacation Bible School and stuff like that. Some of our kids were saved that way. Many of our kids testify to this day that they were saved in their Vacation Bible School or Sunday School, even though their parents didn't know the Lord and didn't serve the Lord, and didn't go to church or anything. But they knew they were saved in the Vacation Bible School, isn't that beautiful?
31. IT WAS SUCH A PRETTY PICTURE, so sweet! The Catacombers were all busy bustling around taking care of the little kids. (Maria: You think they had it for like a week for Vacation Bible School, or during the summer when they're out of school? It usually starts in June.--Or was it Sunday School, like on a Sunday?) I don't know.
32. I GUESS THE LORD JUST WANTED THEM TO KNOW THEY COULD DO IT no matter what time they did it or how often. Remember how in summertime the teachers would go out in the afternoons to the neighbourhood and do a little Bible School in somebody's house, a little child evangelism class in somebody's home with their little children. (Maria:
33. YOU KNOW IN JUNE THE KIDS ARE OUT OF SCHOOL FOR VACATION.) How about that! (Maria: For a couple of months, or three.)
34. THAT WAS SO PRETTY!--Miguel was directing all these pretty little teenage girls taking care of the little kids. That would be such a good work! And then I was trying to illustrate it to them. The teachers were all at this long table sitting around after the children were gone and I was still showing them, "See, my generation is like this camera, and your generation is like this camera on top of it, and their generation is like this third camera on top of you.
35. "WE EACH HAVE TO REACH THE NEXT GENERATION: I reached you, now you've got to reach them. It's all so simple!" I kept singing that song, thinking, "We must sing that so I won't forget to tell Maria."
36. THIS IS THE LORD'S MESSAGE: "OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN, tenderly gather them in, in from the highways and byways, in from the fields of sin. Open the door, gather them in, open the door for the children, and tenderly gather then in." Thank the Lord! Praise the Lord!
37. "OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN, tenderly gather them in, in from the highways and byways, in from the fields of sin." I think that's it. Funny that's come back to me. We haven't sung that lately, have we? I don't remember if we've sung that lately, did we?(Maria: Well, yes, we did. At first it came back to you when you were with Marina. Then later, since then, you sang it another time.)
38. WELL, THE LORD MUST WANT US TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE LITTLE KIDS, Honey. He's trying to get that message through. I didn't get it then, so He gave me a dream. (Maria: And then you mentioned it and we sang it with the kids.) Maybe Marina'd be a good Sunday School teacher.
39. "OPEN THE DOOR!" It's like the Lord tried to give the message the first time but I didn't understand, so this time the Lord gave it to me in a dream! Is that the song I got for Marina? (Maria: Yes, and I think you got it again once when you were singing it for the kids at the supper table at dinner.)
40. THE LORD'S SURE TRYING TO GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS! He's given us that song several times. This time it was just as clear as a picture! I kept thinking, "I've got to remember to tell Maria about all this. This is beautiful!"
41. --HOW THE CATACOMBERS COULD HAVE SUNDAY SCHOOLS FOR THE LITTLE KIDS, or Child Evangelism classes or Vacation Bible School or something." They had all these little projects and cut-outs, colouring, clay models and stuff, little miniatures. Each little class was a little camp of that tribe, and had all those little things made of modeling clay and paper cut-outs--miniature tents and all kinds of stuff.
42. IT LOOKED LIKE FUN! Amen, thank You Jesus! Praise the Lord! Lord give us wisdom. Help the young people, Lord. Help our young people to get the vision to reach the children in their neighbourhoods with child evangelism.
43. YOU KNOW THOSE FLANNELGRAPH BOARDS, flannelgrams? I remember that, 'cause that's what they were called when they first came out. They were first called flannelgrams.
44. THEY MUST HAVE GOTTEN SOME IDEAS FROM OLD UNCLE CHARLIE the children's Evangelist, because he used to use those things when we were little kids. I can remember it when I was 9 years old! He had all kinds of illustrated stuff. Sort of like a magician he'd do tricks and stuff.--And he had all these other things made out of wood etc.--To illustrate your heart you'd open a door and inside was Jesus, and all that sort of thing.--And us kids just loved it!
45. HE CAME AND HAD AFTERNOON EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS EVERYDAY FOR KIDS, and there were just hundreds of kids that came! He really, really had a lot of equipment. Just think, he was just an elderly old man and wanted to reach the children! Isn't that something?--
46. AND HE HAD MADE ALL THESE THINGS HIMSELF OUT OF WOOD.--He had a little model of the tabernacle and a model of the temple, and he had all these little model that were so interesting to kids, a models of all the different parts of the tabernacle, the alter, the table of showbread and all those things--it was so interesting! The kids would gather around and look and look at all those little things, and he'd tell us all about them.
47. IT WAS THE CUTEST THING IN MY DREAM how all these little kids were camped out in each corner and they each had their little standard there with their name of their tribe on it, their little symbol of their tribe and they had all these little models and stuff on the floor, of tents and donkeys and sheep, just like they were a real little tribe of Israel camping out in the wilderness.
48. AND THE KIDS REALLY ENJOYED IT! You know I bet they were feeling like they were really doing something and belonged to something! And the teachers were our young people, the Catacombers--it was definitely Catacombers!--It must be some ministry the Lord wants the Catacombers to have, because it was definitely up in La Laguna.
49. MIGUEL WAS THERE DIRECTING THE GIRLS, the teachers, and they had it right in their house. (Maria: Well, you know during vacation when the kids are off from the school they are really going to need something to do. If they still can't be in our Colonies they need something to occupy their time.) Amen!
50. MAYBE THEY CAN COME TO OUR COLONIES NOW, come visit our Colonies now--now that our cover is blown! (Maria: Some, yes. But I'm thinking about all over the world!)
51. WELL THIS WAS DEFINITELY IN TENERIFE IN LA LAGUNA AND MIGUEL was bringing me in to show me, because I was coming in the door of this room, like right over here I was coming in the door, and I was looking all around to see all the little kids playing on the floor with their little models and stuff, and their pretty little girl Catacomb teachers were taking care of them.--And they all looked up at me so bright and cheery and smiling like everybody was so happy, and they were singing this song!
52. ISN'T THAT SOMETHING! It's like the Lord wanted to give us the message: "Open the door, gather them in, open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." Praise the Lord!
53. "OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN,
Tenderly gather them in,
In from the highways and byways,
In from the field of sin.
Open the door, gather them in,
Open in door for the children,
Tenderly gather them in."
54. I WAS TRYING HARD TO TAKE A PICTURE of them--I gathered them all outside on the front lawn and was trying to take a picture when the camera jammed.
55. WELL, I GOT THE PICTURE OF IT!--And after the little children were gone, I sat down at the table with all the Catacombers sitting around this big table and I was showing them how I reached you, your generation, and now you've gotta reach them, this generation, using these cameras stacked one on top of each other to show them how to do it. Isn't that funny?
56. FUNNY HOW I USED CAMERAS!--I guess just because I grabbed the first thing that was there. I set the first one down and I said, "Now this is my generation, see?" Then I took another camera and set it on top of that camera and I said, "Now that's your generation--I reached you." Then I took the third camera and set it on top of the other cameras and I said, "Now this is their generation, the little children, and you've got to reach them."
57. THEN WE SANG THE SONG AGAIN! I kept singing that song so I'd remember it for sure and wouldn't forget to tell you. That whole song was sort of like God's message, "Now this is what you're supposed to do: Open the door, gather them in, open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in." Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! Amen, amen, amen!
58. MAYBE ALL THAT SUNDAY SCHOOL METHOD WASN'T LOST AFTER ALL! We really can use it now! I mean not only just for our own children--that's pretty selfish just teaching our own children. We ought to give them to the neighbourhood children now, give them the advantage of it too. I mean it was just as loud and clear as could be, that we were supposed to do this, and that was the message, the song.
59. SO THAT'S THE MESSAGE, THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO! Just like that theme song of the "Children's Dream" you know about, "Children, children!" It was just like that was the message, it was God's message. (Maria: Whew! What a ministry for the Catacombers! The kids in some of our Colonies may be too busy to do things like that, but they could give such burdens to the Catacombers.)
60. THE CATACOMBERS ARE NATIONALS, so the authorities can't stop them from doing things like that. Well, they might try it. Just think, they've got a law in Israel that you can't talk to any young person under 16 years of age about another religion! Isn't that something?
61. ISRAEL!--WHAT AN ANTI-GOD, ANTI-CHRIST SYSTEM! (Maria: Is that for foreigners, that you can't talk to them, or anyone?) No one of a different religion! No one can talk to a young person under 16 about some other religion! The whole thing is to prevent evangelism. Think of it!
62. WITNESSING IN ISRAEL TO YOUTH IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY LAW! That would definitely prevent evangelism of the youth, see? They are the ones that are the most receptive, they're the ones that are open and hungry and teachable, I guess they figured after they get to be over 16 they're a hopeless case!
63. BUT YOU CAN'T TALK TO ANY JEWISH CHILDREN ABOUT JESUS! This made all the other religions very happy except the Christian Evangelicals, because the Muslims and Catholics weren't exactly trying to convert the Jews...It sort of stalemated the status quo.
64. I WONDER WHAT KIND OF LAWS SPAIN IS GOING TO HAVE NOW ABOUT RELIGION. They have had all these laws regulating religion, registration, literature, meetings, proselyting and all that stuff. I hope they throw them all out! They've got to throw all those old laws out so that they can be free--and we can be free to teach them! Amen? Thank You Lord!
65. WHAT A MINISTRY FOR THE CATACOMBERS!--All those pretty young teenage girls and boys! I remember that used to be one of the attractions of going to Sunday School--to see all those pretty girls!--At least it was for me when I was a little kid! Oh, how I loved those pretty Sunday School teachers! (And still do!--God bless you!)
66. LET'S ROLL 'EM! START NOW!--Who'll be the first to reach the kids in your neighbourhood?--You, or those ridiculous churches?--For God's sake, let's save the poor little kids from that deadly churchianity! Start today!--Amen? God bless you! We love you!--And we'll be praying for you!
67. LET'S SEE THOSE SUNDAY SCHOOL STATS!--Or DVBS/CEC stats! (Daily Vacation Bible School or Child Evangelism Classes.) "Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Mat.19:14.)--Amen? Praise the Lord for His guidance and direction! It's His commandment!:
"OPEN THE DOOR FOR THE CHILDREN!"
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family}
