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JETT/TEEN DISCIPLESHIP REVOLUTION NEEDED NOW! Maria #136 DO 2658 10/90
--By Maria
(Editor's note: Dear Family Adults, This GN is for 18-year-olds & over. However, excerpts may be prayerfully shared & pow-wowed with mature & responsible Teens who are younger than 18, as you feel led. GBY! WLY!)
1. We recently sent a series of detailed questions to the Shepherds of our JETT/Teen Victor Program at the Heavenly City School. Their response was not only the reactions & information we requested regarding their program, & how they felt about this new "Techi Series," but they gave us something that was far more important & far more urgent as well!
2. They vividly portrayed to us the very serious & urgent JETT problem that the Family is now facing. I expected that their answers would help show the Family how to set up Victor Programs for JETTs with special needs, & this they did beautifully, but the Lord also used their answers to confirm something that He had already been showing us: That if we're going to save our kids, we've got to institute a new kind of intensified JETT Training Program not in every major Area, but in each individual Home throughout the Family!
3. I believe that we are now facing such a serious need with our JETTs, such an urgent problem, that it demands an immediate solution! And I believe that this problem isn't going to go away unless all of you, all of our Family adults, realise that you must personally do something about it! We are pubbing these answers & reactions from the HCS Overseers & JETT Victor Shepherds--Josiah, Mary Mom, Elaine (Morningstar), Ricky, Faithy, John PI & Ginny--& I'm sure that reading their answers will help convince you that if we are going to salvage our JETTs for the Lord's service, you are going to have to be part of the solution!
4. You also need to realise & be convinced of the fact that the Techi GNs are not merely for the purpose of helping one or two children here or there, but the answers & principles found in them on how to help our children & pull them through their battles to victory, must be used with all of our JETTs & Teens! I now see more clearly than ever before how the Lord allowed & even ordained our own child, Techi, to go through these serious battles in order to get me personally involved in her problems.--To virtually force me to see firsthand what a life-&-death spiritual warfare is being waged over our kids, & to stir us all up to find the Lord's solutions to their problems so we can save them for His service!
5. We've known all along that our JETTs & Teens have problems, & that there was a great need for us to relate more to them, to understand them more & to somehow be more of a help to them when they go through major spiritual battles & testings. But I believe the Victor Shepherds have now spelled out that need & put it into words, & have very vividly portrayed the problem & just how major it is!
6. Instead of merely giving us the details of how they set up their own particular local Victor Program, they have highlighted the fact that we have a big worldwide emergency with all of our JETTs, & that there is no way that one little Victor Home in each Area is going to be able to cope with that need!--We've got to somehow institute a Victor Program in all of our Homes if we're going to truly reach & win our JETTs & Teens, & turn them into the dedicated disciples the Lord wants them to be!
THE NEED TO CLOSELY COMMUNICATE WITH OUR KIDS!
7. The Victor Shepherds raved about these Techi GNs, saying that they felt this series was a clear signal to all of our parents & Shepherds & singles--all of our adults--that, "Look, this is what you've got to do with your kids!--Start communicating with them now!--You've got to realise that they may soon develop--or may have already developed--serious problems that you are going to have to do something about!"
8. I believe that most of our parents & childcare helpers & Shepherds have tried to do their best. I think the problem is that they just haven't fully realised their spiritual responsibility for their children. Most of our folks have probably felt that they were doing the right things, or at least trying to do the best they could. They haven't really been aware of the special needs--the spiritual needs--that their kids have.
9. Even here in our Home, we've had to come to this realisation. We've seen firsthand how easily things can slip by & how quickly problems can develop with the kids. With both David & Techi we've discovered that there were things hidden deep inside their hearts that just never really came out until a crisis was reached.--And then when something triggered it, it almost looked like it was too late. We simply hadn't really realised all that was going on inside of them beforehand, we weren't keeping close enough tabs on them spiritually, on what they were really thinking & feeling.
10. Of course, there were always little symptoms of their problems cropping up, of the trouble brewing within, & Amy & Gabe were faithfully shepherding them & keeping us informed about their problems. But when we'd hear about their NWOs, our normal reaction was to pray for the kids, perhaps counsel a bit with Amy & Gabe, & trust that everything would work out fine.--And of course, things usually did work out, at least to a certain extent.
11. But when things suddenly got worse & worse with Techi, & her helpers informed us, "Look!--These seem like pretty serious problems to us, & we don't quite know what to do about them!"--That's when I was jolted into the realisation that I had to get personally involved with her & start closely shepherding & working to pull her through these heavy battles she was struggling with.
12. I had been very confident in Amy & Gabe's ability & in their shepherding of both her & David. I knew that they really loved & cared for the kids, & that they were right in there with them all of the time. So prior to this fairly recent crisis with Techi, I hadn't really been overly concerned.--And like I said, I prayed for the kids & frequently counselled with their helpers when any problems would come up. But when it became obvious that Techi's battles were becoming very serious & beyond what we'd encountered before, I knew I just had to somehow change my schedule or readjust my priorities in order to personally help her make it through this very difficult period.
13. And I feel like the whole Family is now in a very similar stage with their JETTs & Teens. You may have been able to commit the care of your children to other teachers, helpers & overseers, & in many cases, you've virtually had to do that in order to fulfil the different ministries to which the Lord has called you.--And in some cases you're still not going to be able to spend very much time with your children, because for the Lord's Work's sake you have to either be apart from them or devote most of your time & energies to other responsibilities & ministries.
14. But what we're now realising more than ever before is that each of our JETTs & Teens desperately needs some personal time & attention from a loving & caring adult. They need someone that they can go to, & who can go to them, whenever they need help. Even with those who think that they don't need to pour out to anyone, even if they don't think that they have anything to say, I'm becoming more & more convinced that everyone--children, Teens & adults alike--needs someone to share their heart with!
15. Our David has always been somewhat independent, soft-spoken, & one who finds it easy to keep to himself. Therefore, he doesn't usually feel any great need to go to others & talk. But we've found out that when he doesn't have a channel of open communication with an adult, he winds up keeping a lot of things inside his mind & heart. Because he's a bright & observant teen, he thinks a lot about things, & we've discovered that when he just analyses everything & files it all away in his own mind without checking things out with any adults for their Godly counsel, he can often draw the wrong conclusions.
16. When our Teens & JETTs don't have someone that they regularly go to to ask questions & get things clarified, to bounce things back & forth with, they easily get a lot of wrong ideas. Because they don't know the whole story, they don't know the background or reasons for a given situation, why things are done certain ways, or why things happen as they do, they can reach a lot of wrong conclusions in their minds.--And even if they're not real worriers & their misconceptions may not seem to be causing them any serious problems, if you're out of touch with them & allowing a lot of things to build up inside of their minds & hearts, they can quickly develop wrong attitudes & very wrong ways of looking at things.--Which, of course, can easily develop into very serious problems later on.
17. In cases where you parents are unable to be with your Teens & JETTs due to your ministry or leadership responsibilities, you've got to pray & do what you can to see that they have somebody special that they can go to when they have problems, questions, doubts, fears, worries etc. The Victor Shepherds are convinced that all of our children need this kind of close personal communication with adults whom they can really trust & share their hearts with. You will see in the Techi Series that it's my frequent "report times" & counsel sessions with Techi that have helped greatly in pulling her through the confused, condemned & muddled state in which she was frequently finding herself.
WE NEED A REVOLUTION!
18. Of course, the dilemma we're faced with now is that if our kids all definitely need that kind of close communication with their helpers, parents or Shepherds, how are we ever going to meet this pressing need when our very busy schedules & multitude of other ministries & business keep us as busy as we can be? What can we do about it?
19. Well, it's obvious that "something's gotta give," & something has got to change! If we want to avoid having all of our JETTs & Teens becoming dissatisfied, confused & rebellious "problem cases," I think we're going to have to re-evaluate our entire structure, & consider revamping & overhauling our entire present method of handling them! In fact, it might be time to have a big revolution in all of our Homes & Schools!
20. I know that where there is a need, there is the Lord's solution, & where we have questions, the Lord has answers.--We just have to seek out those answers & implement those solutions, no matter what it takes! If we know we have to do something, that it's essential we make some changes, then we can do it with conviction, knowing that the Lord will help us to find ways of doing it no matter what!--Even if we have to upset & overturn our entire set-up & schedule, & radically redefine our priorities throughout the whole Family!
TREATING OUR JETTs AS NEW DISCIPLES!
21. Another major point that the Victor Shepherds brought up that I'm very much in agreement with is that we need to start treating our JETTs like new disciples, like babes that we've won to the Family. We need to do everything we possibly can to not only win them to the Family but keep them as well! We need to somehow get them so sold on the Family that they're absolutely convinced & "fully persuaded in their own minds" (Rom.14:5) that the Family is the only place to be!
22. Think of the emphasis we used to place on really grounding our new babes in the Word & in the doctrine & the beliefs & practices of our Revolution.--The countless hours we spent praying with them & encouraging their faith & continually pouring the Word into them! Of course, most of those new babes were so thankful & appreciative of the Family, they made a very deep commitment in their hearts to the Lord & to the Family, that this was where they wanted to be.
23. They were willing to forsake all to join us, & were determined to give their lives for what we stand for. But most of our JETT "babes" have not volunteered to join the Family, & have not made that commitment. So in that respect they are very different from the babes we've won off the streets.
24. Sad to say, most of our kids today are much weaker in many ways than our new babes of yesterday were. Sure, they can quote a lot of Scriptures, & they know almost all of the right answers, but knowledge is not what makes revolutionary & dedicated disciples of the Lord!
25. Most of our early babes were like little orphans who were adopted into a wonderful Family that gave them everything they needed, all that their hearts longed for. They realised this, that spiritually they were like little beggars who had been starving & naked, & they were so thankful to be taken in & fed & clothed & given a place in a wonderful Family where they knew they were really loved.--And to those little orphans, it was like Heaven to join this Family regardless of any problems.--Besides, they didn't even see any problems because compared to where they were at before, this Family was Heaven!
26. But most of our children have nothing to compare the Family to. They have grown up in the Family all of their lives. For most of them, their parents have been their leaders, & they've become very familiar with them. And sad to say, in quite a few cases they've seen some pretty poor examples in some of their parents. Most of them have grown so used to hearing the "same old thing," & they therefore wish they could see something else, have some variety & see for themselves if we're really right about the things we've taught them.
27. Our kids have had it up to here, & a lot of them are just tired of it! They're sort of like a lot of our folks were when they were in the System, living with their parents. Many of our people grew up in very comfortable & well-to-do System homes, middle-class & upper-class families, & they had what most people in the World would be terribly envious to have. But they were sick & tired of it, & were happy to give it all up in order to join our Family.
28. I know that's a rather negative comparison, but it illustrates the point that even though ours is a wonderful Family, because our children have had it all their life, most of them simply don't realise just how wonderful it really is! They not only lack appreciation & gratefulness for the Family, but many of them lack a fear of the Lord, they lack respect for their leadership, & they have an awful lot of familiarity to overcome! So in all these respects they're much weaker than even our new babes were.
29. Let's face it, there's a lot more to discipleship than merely knowing the Word!--Unless you really use the Word & apply it personally in your own life, what good is it going to do you? We've had some people with us like Joel & Samson Warner who knew the Word so well they could almost quote you the entire Bible, they knew how to cross reference every verse that they had memorised.--But it didn't do them a damned bit of good! It was just a bunch of facts & figures & head knowledge, & it wasn't in their hearts enough to motivate them to live & die for Jesus, & a whole bunch of them wound up backsliding!
30. Unless our children have been taught to apply the Word, unless they've learned to really practice it & really do something with it, all that Word isn't going to do them any good!--Or at least not much good. Some of our most serious problem Teens & problem JETTs have known tons of Word.--It's in their heads, but apparently not in their hearts. They might as well be speaking Greek, they don't know what it means, they don't know how to apply it.
31. So in some ways, they're really very weak.--And to truly convince them that the Family is where it's at, is a really big job, a formidable task, a real challenge! Our new babes won to the Lord fresh off the streets really appreciated the Family because they knew that it was so much better than anything they'd ever had before. But our kids who have been in the Family all their lives, they've never seen anything else, they've never been out in the Hell-hole of the System so they can't really appreciate the Heaven we have as much as they should! They don't know the contrast.
32. Of course, they can't help it that they've been in the Family all of their lives. I'm not saying that that's their fault. I'm just stating the fact that because they haven't experienced Hell, they can't really appreciate Heaven, as can the babes who we win out of the System.
33. But please don't misunderstand me; neither am I saying that our kids have some kind of huge handicap that they'll never overcome. The fact that they've been born & raised in the Family gives them a tremendous head start & advantage over those who have spent a good portion of their lives in the System! The foundation of faith & the Word that our kids have is invaluable!
34. And though the foundation is just about the most important part of any building, to make the structure complete, it needs a lot more. You've got to build on that foundation if it's ever going to become a building that's useful. What good is a bare foundation without any floors, walls, doors, windows, a roof etc.?
35. It's wonderful that most of our kids have such a good foundation, thank God for that! But that doesn't mean that they're by any means complete. And if we use cheap materials or don't spend the time that's needed to construct a good, safe & solid structure on top of that foundation, then what good is it? But if we invest enough time & use the best building materials that we can, then our kids will become the best & strongest disciples we've ever had!--And they should! After all, they've started out miles ahead of the converts we win off the streets! We've just got to do our best as "wise masterbuilders" (1Cor.3:10) to add to that foundation the rest of the materials that they need to become what God wants them to be!--Strong Endtime soldiers for Jesus who will be able to withstand & oppose the flood of Antichrist evil that is now sweeping the World!
THE KEY TO CHALLENGING & WINNING OUR JETTs & TEENS!
36. What I'm beginning to realise is that to win our own JETTs & Teens to the Lord's Cause, to get them really sold on the Family & on fire for the Lord, we've got to go overboard!--Even more so than we did with the new babes we won straight out of the World! I agree with the Victor Shepherds that we've got to do as much--if not more--with our own JETTs & Teens to get them sold on the Family, as we ever did with the new babes we won out of the World!--And it's going to take some real work!
37. We need to somehow reach our kids & really get through to their hearts! So many of them are so passive, they're sort of bored & unchallenged. They really need to be moved! They need to be touched, really emotionally stirred somehow!
38. They've got to be given the challenge, "Look, this is the Family!--And it's not necessarily what you've been seeing all your life. Perhaps you've never really participated in it & realised what it's all about!--But we're now going to give you a new challenge & show you what the Family is really like, or what it should be like!" Sad to say, a lot of our kids haven't really been given such a good sample of the Family & what it's all about.
39. That's why they've had such success in the Victors Program; they bring those JETTs & Teens in & they show them what the Revolution for Jesus really is. They have on-fire Word classes & Bible studies, they have moving inspirations where they sing & cry out to the Lord with all their hearts, praying in tongues & weeping & prophesying & really being moved & ignited by the Spirit of God! The kids really see & experience the moving of the Spirit, & they go through the same sort of things that our new babes used to go through.--They see the reality of the Lord & of His Spirit, & that really turns them on to the Family!
40. But for our kids to be moved, we adults have got to be moved! For the kids to catch on fire, we've got to be on fire! Just giving them Scriptures to memorise is never going to do it. They've got to be challenged & thrilled & realise that, "Wow!--Look, this is what the Revolution is all about! You can have the same fire & joy & conviction & purpose & commitment, fulfilment & dedication that we've got, if you'll just give your all to Jesus & join in with us!"--But to turn them on like that, we've got to be turned on!
41. So this is the challenge before us! Unless we touch them & reach them emotionally, & really win their hearts to the Lord & to the Family & get them turned on & on-fire about it, we are not going to save them! And it's going to take a genuine effort on our part, to really get down to their level & personally communicate with them, see what they have to say, see what their feelings are, what their thoughts are, & do all we can to understand & help them.
42. We've got to really work at establishing a real link or connection with them in the Spirit so that they know that they are loved & that they don't need to be afraid to tell us anything that may be on their hearts or minds. Actually, they should even look forward to telling you things, look forward to that time of fellowship & companionship with their Shepherds who they know love & understand them!
43. In our own WS Units, we've found that even our adult members require a lot of time & personal attention in order to prevent serious problems from cropping up.--Or to solve serious problems that may come up. If such personal contact & close shepherding & counselling & understanding is that necessary for adults, how much more necessary is it for our kids who have so many unanswered questions & who haven't had anywhere near the spiritual input that our adults have had?
44. So I really believe that this is the challenge before us!--To make whatever changes, revolutions, revamps, revisions etc. in our schedules, our Homes, ourselves, that are necessary in order to ensure that our JETTs & Teens get the personal attention, counselling, inspiration, challenge, guidance, & revolutionary discipleship training that they need!
45. Are you willing to make the sacrifices that will be required to meet this challenge to save our own JETTs & Teens? It's going to cost something to win & train & turn our kids into the revolutionary disciples for Jesus that He wants them to be! "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends!--The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep!"--Jn.15:13; 10:11. Will you? If you won't, who will?
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
