HomeARC ML 3068
BRIDGING THE GAP!--Between DO and TS Family Members! Maria #345 DFO 3068 8/96
--By Mama and Peter
(This GN is classified DFO so that you can share all or parts of it with former Family members at your discretion, particularly Mama's Letter to the former members, paragraphs 100-116.)
Introduction from Peter
1. ({\ul \i Peter:) }In early July, Gary and I, Peter, attended a large three-day TRF Supporter fellowship organized by Barney and Joanna's TRF Supporter Home in Maryland, USA. It was a very inspiring event, during which Gary and I were able to spend time getting personally acquainted with many of our precious TRF Supporter brethren. We were able to encourage them in their service for the Lord, as well as listen to their heartcries and become more aware of the difficulties they face. Therefore we are now better able to understand their situations and know more what WS can do to help them in their service for the Lord.
2. One of the highlights of our visit was being able to read a Letter from Mama to those attending the fellowship, along with an additional note from her to a number of our former Family members who were also in attendance. Although at the time her Letter could only be read to a few--those actually attending the meeting--she is now, via this GN, addressing it to all of you around the world, both DO and TRF Supporter members.
3. Mama and I hope that this Letter will help break down any walls of partition separating our DO and TRF Supporter members, be they spiritual, conceptual or whatever! We hope you will take to heart what Mama has said and will open your arms, your Homes, and your lives to one another; that this milestone Letter will usher in greater love, unity and cooperation between our DO and TRF Supporter Family members. We pray that from this point on we'll all unite as one Family--whether DO or TS--working together to win the world for Jesus!
4. As you know, I have spent most of my time in the Family behind the scenes, working with Dad and Mama. Gary, likewise, has been working with us, and as such has also visited the field very little in recent years. But in this new day the Lord is leading us to do a number of things we haven't done before, and we're determined to do His will, no matter what it is. When He tells us to go, we'll go. When He says to stay, we'll stay. So when He told us that He wanted us to attend this fellowship we said, "Amen, Lord," and we did it.
5. A few days before the fellowship was to start, we received a message from Dust (one of the North American CROs), explaining about this TRF Supporter fellowship, and mentioning that he was planning on attending himself. Mama and I normally wouldn't have read his message until later in the day, as we generally avoid reading messages or doing any business until after we've had Word time, prayer and prophecy. However, on this day we were waiting for an urgent message, so I checked my messages before our prayer time.
6. After reading Dust's message about the fellowship, Mama and I felt burdened to ask the Lord if He had any specific instruction or direction regarding this TRF Supporter fellowship, and He did. To our surprise, the Lord clearly indicated that Gary and I should both attend, giving some very good reasons for our going! Following are some excerpts of the prophecy we received:
A Mission of Love and Mercy!
7. ({\ul \i Prophecy, Jesus speaking:) }Go forth, My king, that I may let you hear the bleats of these sheep. For you have gone forth and heard the bleats of our young ones and our old ones, of our leaders [EDITED: "referring to the recent Summit"], but these [EDITED: "the TRF Supporter Family"] are special sheep. They too need to be represented. You need to touch them and have them touch you, that you may feel for them and understand, that you may thus minister unto them.
8. The message given to these sheep will be clear. The message will be that I love them, and that their queen and their king love them.--That they are an important part of the Family, that they are important to your work, that they are important to you and that they are important to Me. For if it were not so, you, My queen, would not send the king to represent you and to speak to them, to love them, to warm them. This will be more than a message of love--it will be a token of love.
9. Pour it on! Pour it on! Pour it on! Feed them! Mingle with them! Touch them! Weep with them! Kiss them! Pray for them! Lift them up! Encourage them, and you will flood their hearts and their minds and their lives with positive force, with My Spirit and My Love, and it will take away from them the doubts, the fears, and the clouds.
10. I send you forth on this mission--a mission of mercy and a mission of love--to care for your sheep. These things cost. You must lay down your life for the sheep. It is inconvenient, and it is a strain, and it requires strength and determination, but I will bless you for laying down your life in this way to care for your sheep. You will see that it was worth it. You will see the effect that it will have and the strengthening that it will bring. For news of this, and of your love and of your care for these, will reverberate around the world and it will send a message to all.
11. To the TRF Supporter Family it will show that you love and care for them, and that you lay down your life for them. To the DO Family it will show that you love and care for the TRF Supporter brethren, and that they should do the same. It's all part of the love and the reconciliation, the growing together, the strengthening. It is all part of the new day--the new day of love, the new day of choices, the new day of strengthening. It is all part of the preparation--the preparation for the days ahead, the preparation for the changes ahead, the preparation for the End. (End of prophecy.)
12. ({\ul \i Peter:) }Within 12 hours, Gary and I were on our way! The Lord not only provided seats on a flight to the U.S., but even discounted ticketing, all a confirmation of us leaving on such short notice! We didn't know exactly what we were going to do at the fellowship, or how things were going to work out, but we knew that the Lord had said we should go, and that as we went He was going to lead and guide us--which is exactly what happened. PTL!
13. Last year, Barney and Joanna's Home coordinated a similar, though smaller, fellowship, but this year it burgeoned to around 300 people, so it was quite a major undertaking. God bless this dear Home who did a great job in pulling it all together, including hosting the event on their own property.
14. Attendees came from about 20 states, as well as from Canada. A number of DO members were also there, including Simon Black, Seek and Servant, and other members of DO Homes from the local area. Faithy and Happy (ex-Joab, who Faithy is living with), Mother Eve, and a number of former members also attended. There was quite a cross-section of people. This turned out to be a blessing as it gave Gary, Dust and me a chance to talk with many people from all walks of the Family.
15. We arrived the day before the fellowship and were able to meet with Barney to pray about and discuss what our role at the meetings might be. There weren't many group meetings scheduled, as the main purpose of the fellowship was for people to be able to gather together and enjoy the company of other Family members. Many of those who were attending do not normally have much fellowship with other Family members, due to their circumstances, so they wanted to make the most of the fellowship time with others.
Instructions from Dad!
16. Prior to attending the first day of the fellowship, Gary, Dust and I asked the Lord if He had any further specific instruction for us. This time through Dad, He again showed us that the most important thing was to be a sample of love and humility, to strengthen and encourage. Here is an excerpt from what Dad said:
17. ({\ul \i Prophecy, Dad speaking:)} God bless you, my dear sons, for being such faithful ambassadors of the Kingdom, and representing your dear, loving queen who has such a kind and loving and thoughtful heart. Please impart to all the brethren there just how much Mama loves them, how important she considers them in these Last Days, and how much they're needed to help carry the load. It's a big load, and there's a lot to do. So encourage these to do all they can, and to partake of as much of the vision, the New Wine, the new revelations, and the new revolutions as they can, and to join hands with the DO Family so that we can accomplish so much more in these Last Days. God bless you! I'm of course there with you, to help you all the way! So don't forget to call on us in every little situation. Praise the Lord! I love you! Your Dad. (End of prophecy.)
Hearts Melted Together!
18. ({\ul \i Peter:) }The Lord's commission to us was to mingle, to touch, to weep, to kiss, to pray, to lift, and to encourage. So we spent nearly all of our time talking with people individually, hearing from them, praying for them, encouraging them, answering their questions, listening to their heartcries, and conveying to them how important they are to the Lord and us and the Family.--Sharing how much we love and need them, and how sorry we are for any mistreatment they may have received, either when being moved to TRF Supporter status or any time before or after.
19. It was a very precious experience for Gary, Dust and me to be able to meet with so many of our dear TRF Supporter brethren and former members. For each of the three days of the fellowship, from the minute we arrived in the morning until we left late at night, we were non-stop greeting, hugging, listening, talking and praying with those there. The Lord used the fellowship not only to unite the hearts of all those who attended, but also to melt our hearts together with our brothers and sisters, as we listened to them tell their testimonies, share their victories and difficulties, and ask questions that were on their hearts.
20. Since many people had questions related to returning to DO status or communication with their reporting office, etc., Gary and Dust also held a couple of question-and-answer sessions to address these more practical matters with everyone. Out of these dialogues came much food for thought for both a review of policies and organization of certain services that WS needs to make available to our TS Family worldwide.
21. Before the fellowship began, the Lord in prophecy indicated that we should encourage people to ask whatever questions were on their hearts, and to the best of our ability try to answer them, or at least to hear them out, pray with them, and commit it to the Lord together in faith. So a lot of our time when talking personally with the folks at the fellowship was spent doing this. People seemed to truly appreciate being able to unburden their hearts or ask things that had been on their minds for some time. As we were able to talk and pray together, the Lord poured down His healing balm on some of their hurts, just as He had promised. Praise the Lord!
Foot-washing Ceremony
22. On the last day of the fellowship, Gary and I led the final meeting and communion. After a short introduction, I read Mama's Letter to our TRF Supporter Family along with her P.S. to the former members. It was beautiful to see everyone's reaction, as they were touched by Mama's love, humility and sincerity--apologizing for our mistakes, expressing her love and commendation for their service to the Lord, and encouraging them to continue on for the Lord.
23. The Lord showed us that we should have a foot-washing ceremony to honor our TRF Supporter members, to show that we are their servants, and to ask their forgiveness for the hurts that many of them have suffered. Since there were so many people, I couldn't wash everyone's feet, so we asked one TRF Supporter adult and one young person if they would represent all of our TRF Supporter Family, allowing me to wash their feet, symbolic of Mama and me washing the feet of every TRF Supporter member.
24. When seeking the Lord for a confirmation on whether to have a foot-washing ceremony, the Lord gave the following message for us to read during the ceremony. It applies not only to those actually at the fellowship, but to all of our TRF Supporter members.
25.' ({\ul \i Prophecy, Jesus speaking:)} This is a day of warmth where there was coldness, a day of renewal where there was disappointment, a day of forgiveness where there was division, a day of love where there was lack of love. This day represents a new beginning, a new awareness, a new fellowship.
26. As King Peter humbles himself and kneels before you, so is it representative of reconciliation, of forgetting those things which are behind to begin anew, to serve one another in love.
27. As King Peter kneels before you to wash your feet, so is it representative of the washing of My Spirit--washing away the darkness, the hurt, the grievances, the pain and all that has weighed heavily upon your heart.
28. As King Peter lays his hand upon your head in prayer, so does it signify the anointing of My Spirit in greater abundance, according to your desire.
29. As you take each other in your arms, to hug and love and rejoice in a great feast of love, so does it signify the reunion of heart and spirit and mind of the children of David. All are fitly joined together as one body, each one recognizing its need for the other, each one being thankful and appreciative of the contribution of the other, each one praying for and desiring the success and happiness of the other. This can be a turning point, a day of new beginnings if you wish, if you choose to embrace it.
30. I place before each one of you now a choice. According to your own free will I say unto you: Take up your cross and follow Me. If the one standing beside you follows not, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me. Hear My still small voice speaking in your heart. It will lead and guide you to My perfect will.
31. You have but to be ready and willing, and I will make a way for you. I will grant you the desires of your heart, and I will prosper you and shower you with My blessing. According to your faith and your vacuum and your desire, I will pour forth upon you a new anointing and great power, that you might serve Me and be a voice for the Truth!
32. You are called and chosen of Me; you are My children. I know your every thought and desire. I know even the secret desires of your heart that nobody else knows. I know all your longings and hopes and aspirations. I know your secret dreams and I hear your every prayer. My heart is moved to bless you and use you and anoint you in accordance with your desperation and yieldedness and faithfulness to Me.
33. As you open your heart to Me, so will I open My heart to you. As you lift up your hands in prayer to Me, in desperation, so will I open My hands and pour forth unto you in abundance. As you kneel before Me in humility, admitting your need for Me and crying out to Me for help, so will I lift you up and raise you up and give you strength that you know not of.
34. I long to love you and please you and bless you. I desire to manifest My Love to you as never before. I wish to draw you closer to My bosom as My bride and lover and wife, if you will only desire Me and reach out to Me and call on Me. I am ready and eager to run to your assistance, to lift you up, to embrace you, to make love to you as your Husband and King and Savior. But I await the call.
35. I am limited by your availability, by your spiritual hunger, by your need for Me. But I wait patiently, because I love you with an everlasting love. My Love for you is unconditional, it is without limit. Nothing you can do or say will change the fact that I love you, just you. You are My Bride, and I need you and want you and love you. I am yours forever. I died for you. I gave My life for you.
36. As you gather to take bread and wine, partaking of My body and blood, it is a constant reminder to you that I love you, just you, and I gave My life for you, just you, and I am waiting with open arms for you, just you. (End of prophecy.)
37. ({\ul \i Peter:) }After washing the feet of our TRF Supporter Family representatives, I then washed Mother Eve's feet in honor of the important role she played in helping to start the Family. God bless her, she has continued to stand up for and defend Dad and the Family all these years. While I was washing her feet she gave a short sermon on love and forgiveness, ending with her stated burden to wash my feet, asking former members Happy (Joab) and Kenaz to help her.
38. This foot-washing was followed by communion, led by Gary and Faithy. An informal gathering of DO, TS and former members sang from the stage while the rest of the Family were singing and praising the Lord together. During the communion, I washed Happy's feet, symbolic of washing the feet of all former members, asking forgiveness for any hurt we may have caused them, and forgiving them for any hurt they may have caused us.
39. Following the communion there was a long and very heartfelt love feast, with everyone hugging, praying, crying and uniting together. It was a sweet and touching time, which we believe went a long way in healing many wounds, as well as in bridging the gap between our DO, TRF Supporter and former members.
Let's Break Down the Walls of Division!
40. The foot-washing ceremony and reading of Mama's Letter was captured on film, and the North American CROs are now showing the video at DO/TS meetings they are hosting. Copies will be sent to the other CROs to show at similar meetings in their areas too, D.V. It is our fervent prayer that this fellowship, along with Mama's Letter and the foot-washing ceremony, will be a catalyst for further uniting the TRF Supporter and DO brethren, drawing us all closer together with more love, unity, understanding, and communication.
41. We also hope it will be a major step towards removing any stigma attached to being a TRF Supporter. Many TRF Supporters have the feeling that they are looked down on by the Lord, Mama and me, and their DO brethren, that they are "second class citizens." Knowing that this stigma exists deeply saddens us, and we'd like to do everything we can to completely and immediately eradicate it.
42. Mama and I certainly don't look down on any Family member, whether DO or TRF Supporter. Not only do we love and care for our DO Family, but we also have a great love and respect for you, our precious TRF Supporter members. We admire you for your continued faith and trust in the Lord, your perseverance through hard times, and your continuing service for the Lord. You have stuck through thick and thin, doing all you could for Him, even sometime back when you weren't receiving much in the way of new pubs, let alone fellowship or communications. After personally hearing your stories, Gary and I were amazed at the great faith many of you have, and how in some ways life as a TRF Supporter member has strengthened your faith and trust in the Lord. God bless you!
43. Please understand that we don't look at your being a TRF Supporter as being synonymous with your being a "problem." We don't view TRF Supporter members as second class members. TRF Supporter membership is simply a means of being part of the Family but without needing to abide by the more stringent DO requirements of the Charter, and where you can better operate at your chosen level of faith.
44. We also know the Lord doesn't look down on you, as clearly expressed in the prophecies which Mama shares in her Letter to you. We hope and pray that our DO brethren will not look down on you either, but rather love and respect you as brothers and sisters working together for the same purpose--to reach the world for Jesus!
45. It is time for all of us to stop focusing on people's "status" within the Family, or even automatically assuming one status signifies greater dedication than the other. We all need to understand that the Lord loves each of us unconditionally, regardless of our place of service, and therefore we need to love and respect one another. Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one for another" (John 13:35).
46. All Family members are disciples and deserving of our love. Can't we bridge this gap between DO and TS, and even former members, for that matter? Can't we focus on all being brothers and sisters, serving the Lord, and trying to reach the world together with the message? Can't we work hand in hand to fulfill the Lord's commission of preaching the Gospel to every creature? Will you help us break down the walls of division between the DO and TRF Supporter members?
47. You could start by fellowshipping together, by working more together, by praying together. First of all, you DO members could ask the Lord to help you not to look down on our TRF Supporter members, to overcome any mindset that allows you to feel they are failures or problem cases, or that they have left the Family. Our TRF Supporter members are Family members! They are brides of Christ! They are loved by the Lord, just like you are, and they deserve to be treated with love and respect. Please, let's all pray and work together to unite as one Family, dedicated to doing the job the Lord has given us to do. Amen?
Fellowship with Former Members
48. Besides having three days to talk with Family members attending the fellowship, Gary and I also had the opportunity to have fruitful discussions with a number of former members. It was a precious and valuable experience for us. While there were many differences of opinion or doctrine between us, and there are certain Family beliefs or policies that they don't believe in or agree with, we found there is a lot that we can agree on. We're still brothers and sisters in the Lord, and the things we have in common are much greater than our differences. Having shared many of the same experiences serving the Lord in the Family, known and loved the same people and worked together toward common goals, we have formed a certain bond that is very precious indeed.
49. So we can all better serve the Lord and accomplish His goal if we "agree to disagree" on some points and respect one another as fellow Christians, and not as adversaries. Bridges can be built between us when there is a will to do so on both sides. As Mama's Letter to our former members explains, it is time to forgive, set aside our differences and move beyond them. Lord help us to do our part to make that happen.
50. Now that's not to say that you can expect that every former member wants to be associated with us, but if you know any that desire fellowship, then please interact and fellowship with them if you can. Show them love. Remember that even though they may not be reporting Family members at present, they were at one time very much a part of the Family, and often they have an interest in what the Family, or their friends in the Family, are doing today. So if you have an opportunity to talk, fellowship and pray with them, please do so. Let's continue to reconcile our differences, to seek and give forgiveness. "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Eph.4:32).
51. It's very likely that the first one or two times you meet with former members they will pour out their hearts about some things that they consider negative from their experiences in the Family. They may also tell you all of the things they don't agree with, both with our lifestyle and our doctrine. This is understandable, so please listen with love and compassion. We would suggest that you don't allow yourself to become upset or too stridently defend the faith. Instead, listen to them and let them share what's on their hearts, as sometimes these things have been bottled up inside of them for years. Please show compassion.
52. However, after they have poured these things out, if in your further contact with them they continue to speak disparagingly about the Family, our faith and doctrines, then you will need to point out to them that it would be better to spend the time discussing things you have in common or that you agree on. Otherwise these exchanges just become "doubtful disputations" which are unedifying and unprofitable for everyone involved (Rom.14:1). If they continue to insist on such discussions, you will probably want to explain that you don't feel that such conversations are beneficial, and that perhaps they would prefer not to fellowship with you any longer. Also remember that any of the doubts that you have had to be subjected to need to be washed from your mind by the cleansing water of the Word.
53. We pray the following Letter from Mama to the TRF Supporters, which was read at the fellowship meeting, will help us all to understand how the Lord looks at the relationship between the DO and TS members and how He wants us to be united and work as one to reach the world. God bless and keep you united for Him and loving each other with His Love! Love, Peter
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Mama's Letter to Our TRF Supporter Family
6/7/96
To my dear, precious Family,
54. God bless you! I love you! I'm so thankful that you have the opportunity to spend a few days together in unity, fellowshipping, hearing from the Lord, reading His Word and enjoying His creation. Thank you, Barnabus and team, for all the time and effort you invested in organizing this fellowship. I'm sure the Lord will repay. Whenever you sacrifice your time, strength, finances or love for the Lord, He repays in much greater ways! I'm sure you have seen that to be true in your lives many times, as have I.
55. When Peter and I heard of your fellowship meeting a few days ago in a message that Dust sent us, we were immediately moved to pray for you. The message arrived right before our morning prayer time when we usually take time to hear from the Lord in prophecy. It was one of God's little miracles that Peter checked his phone messages that morning before we had prayer time, which is very unusual. And when we heard of your upcoming fellowship, the Lord laid it on our hearts that it was a very important event.
56. So we took time that morning to pray for you, that the Lord would bless your time together and strengthen you. We also asked Him if there was any way we could contribute to your fellowship to make it more fruitful and a bigger blessing to you. By now you have seen that the Lord certainly did want us to be involved in a much greater way than we had ever expected!
57. Peter and Gary are my love gift to you! They are a token of the Lord's Love for you. Your King Peter and your Prime Minister Gary dropped everything at almost a moment's notice--their important work on the Words and the worldwide administration of the Family--in order to come and be with you and show you the Lord's and our love. Of course, it is a sacrifice for me to let them both go when I need their help so much, and I know how busy they are and how taxing it is on their strength to travel and to pour out to so many people. But I'm happy to make that sacrifice, because I love you!
58. I wish I could go and attend your fellowship myself, to see your faces, to be able to look into your eyes. I wish I could hug you and kiss you myself. I wish I could hold you in my arms and comfort you. I wish I could answer your questions, listen to your heartcries, stroke your hair and your face, kiss away your tears and pray for you and let you know that everything is going to be all right, that Jesus loves you and I love you, and that you're so important to us and the rest of the Family! I'd like to be there myself to do all those things. But since I'm not able to do that because I'm a semi-invalid--plus someone needs to stay in the "City of Buried Treasure" to keep mining the gold--instead I have sent those who are most precious to me, my dear Peter and Gary. They are bearers of my love, Dad's love and the Lord's Love for you!
59. Did you know that this is the first time that Peter has attended a big Family gathering, except for the Summit meetings? He has not met nor shown his face to so many Family members at once in many years! This is very unusual, and certainly contrary to our normal policies. But the Lord made it very clear when speaking to us in prophecy that that is what He wants us to do. That's how important you are to Him! He and we know that you're worth the sacrifice, that you deserve it and that you need it.
60. The Lord wants to shower His Love and encouragement and comfort on you! He wants to lift up your hands if they hang down. He wants to strengthen you where you are weak. He wants to cleanse and deliver you where you are heavy laden with fears or worries or any bitterness from the past. He wants this time to be a new beginning, a renewal. He wants the dawn of His Love to shine on you in this new day!
61. When Peter and I were praying about his attending your fellowship, the Lord said, "Pour it on, pour it on, pour it on! Feed them! Mingle with them! Touch them! Weep with them! Kiss them! Pray for them! Lift them up! Encourage them, and you will flood their hearts and their minds and their lives with positive force, with My Spirit and My Love, and it will take away from them the doubts, the fears, and the clouds." Oh, how the Lord wants to love you!--And how Peter and Gary and I want to love you too!
62. We admire you, and we're so thankful for your service to the Lord and us and the Family! We know that it's cost you a lot, and you've had to endure, in some cases, severe breakings and humiliation and great tests of your faith. I'm so grateful that you were willing to hang on through those difficult times and that you have let the Lord strengthen you, and that He has continued to use you for His glory.
63. Sometimes I feel so weak, and I look at what some of our Family members have experienced and endured in giving of yourselves daily to serve the Lord at any cost, and I wonder if I would have been able to do the same! I pray that I would have had the faith and perseverance and courage to continue fighting, hoping and trusting.
64. So you can be sure, my dear ones, that I don't look down on you! I don't judge you, I don't condemn you, I don't criticize you. I don't wonder why you are a TS member instead of a DO member. When I think of you, my thoughts are thoughts of admiration, thanksgiving, and praise to the Lord for your diligent service and your continued love, support and faithfulness.
65. I listen to many of the comments and suggestions that you send in on your TRFs, and I also listen to the personal letters you send me. When you speak to me about your experiences and your thoughts and feelings and needs, when I hear your heartcries, I'm not thinking in the back of my mind, "Well, they're a TRF Supporter, they're something 'lesser.'"
66. To me, there is no difference! I don't love you any less or respect you any less because you are a TRF Supporter member instead of a DO member. I wish there was some way I could make that clear to you, so that you could understand and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that my love for you remains steady, regardless of whether you are TS or DO. You are still a part of our Family, you are still my children. I love you and appreciate you and admire you! I'm thankful that you want to live for Jesus.
67. I understand the great sacrifices involved with being a member of our Family. Each one of you is called and chosen. Each one of you is one in a million! And the Lord loves each of you!--He loves you, yes, He loves just you! His Love for you is unconditional, no matter how weak or disheartened you may feel right now, or dirty with sin, or disappointed in yourself or others. Even when you feel confused and discouraged and like you're not accomplishing much for Him, He still loves you. His great, perfect, marvelous, unconditional Love is not lessened, no matter what the circumstances or conditions. He keeps pouring it on and pouring it on without measure and without limit. His Love is so beautiful, so precious!
68. He's such a wonderful Husband and Lover to us all, and we can feel and experience His Love in our lives as we yield and give ourselves to Him and let Him have full sway in our lives. Haven't you experienced that? Haven't you seen that to be true?--That the more you yield to Him and open your life to Him and follow Him closely step by step, the more He is able to manifest that wonderful unconditional Love in your life?
69. His Love is always there for us, pouring forth in full measure, gushing forth in such abundance! And we can experience that love, we can have it manifested in our lives as much as we desire, according to our obedience and yieldedness to Him. He's always looking for ways to show His Love if we'll just let Him, if we'll make a way and open a door--an avenue for His Love to pour forth--by staying close to Him and doing the things that He wants us to do.
70. It's my hope and prayer that during these days of fellowship, you will feel the Lord's unconditional Love through Peter, Gary and Dust. They are your servants. They are your shepherds. They are humble guides to show the way. They long to lighten your load, answer your questions, and give you whatever you need, by God's grace.
71. You are so precious to the Lord! He's heard your prayers and He's seen your tears, and now He wants to give you a special time with each other and Him, days of Heaven on Earth, days of feasting on His Love and Word, days of hearing from Him, drawing nigh to Him, loving Him and loving each other. This is His reward to you for your faithfulness and your continued service to Him. Isn't it amazing how sometimes when you least expect it, the Lord pours forth His blessings in such a way that it is astonishing?
72. It's humbling, it's overwhelming, but it bears such good fruit, because it causes a desire to be born within you to please Him and serve Him and give more of yourself to Him. When you see how much He's willing to give you, how much He longs to grant you the desires of your heart and answer your prayers, doesn't it make you want to do all you can for Him, to please Him, serve Him and honor Him in return? That's the effect it has on me, and I'm sure you feel the same way.
73. When the Lord looks upon you and wants to bless you and prosper you, when He hears your prayers and He sees you cry out to Him desperately, when He sees your desire to please Him and to serve Him and to get out His Word and raise your children for His glory, He's not thinking about whether you're a TRF Supporter or a DO member. His Love for you did not diminish when you became a TRF Supporter member. He doesn't judge you by classifications, by titles, or by which one of the concentric circles of service you are in. He judges you by your heart, by your faithfulness, by your love and loyalty to Him. The Lord looks on the heart. He's not disappointed in you, and neither am I! He's thankful for you, and so am I! He needs you, and so do we!
74. We are one Family in heart, mind and spirit! We are all fighting for the same goals. We're pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We're forgetting those things which are behind and we're pressing forward. We're fighting on! We're living each day for Jesus and our brethren and the lost.
75. Come, my dear precious ones, let's join hand in hand! Let's walk arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder, as we fight together for the Lord and against the Enemy! Let there be no divisions among us. Instead of bickering or discontent or murmuring, let there be the bond of love, peace and unity. The Lord's Love and the waters of His Word and the power of His forgiveness can wash away the hurts and pains of the past, and we can begin anew! With this new beginning will be power, strength and a greater anointing, which will result in greater fruitfulness and greater happiness!
76. There's so much to do, so many places to go, people to win, lives to be changed, that we can't waste time worrying about the past! We can't waste our strength carrying burdens placed upon us by the Enemy--burdens of condemnation or distrust or bitterness or lack of love. We need to cast them aside, throw them aside, resist them and rebuke them. We need to let them go, so that in their place we can receive the garment that the Lord has for us in this new day, which is one of love and faith, prosperity and peace.
77. The Lord has so much for us! The future is so bright! His promises are real! All we have to do is grab ahold of those promises and believe, have appropriating faith to believe that those promises are for us today. My dear ones, the time is so short! There is so much to do and to learn! There is so much the Lord wants to show us and teach us! The dark days of the End are approaching and we need to be ready! We need to be strong, fit, well-prepared soldiers, ready to go, ready to stay, ready to live or die for the Kingdom!
78. You have given years of your life in faithful service to the Lord. You have sacrificed and proven yourself worthy to be called the children of David. You have borne many children and have raised them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You have been fruitful, faithful missionaries on many foreign fields. You have studied and memorized and grown strong in the Word. You are His shepherds, His soldiers, His missionaries. You are His samples, His vessels, the bearers of His Love and of His Word!
79. I challenge you, my precious ones, to take up the torch, to unite together in love, to forget the past, to step forth bravely and to cross the Jordan and receive His anointing and power from on high for this new day! Continue to be witnesses for Him! Shine His light on the paths of those you meet! Give them the Words of David and the message for the Endtime! Work together with your brothers and sisters--TS or DO--to give God's Love to the lost! Feed daily on the Word to give you the strength and counsel you need! Keep pouring into your children, loving, teaching, feeding them the Word and training them to be witnesses too! Praise the Lord!
80. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your service and support. Thank you for your faith and for your prayers. Thank you for believing and following and loving. Thank you for continuing on in the folds of David, for carrying the Words of David to the needy. Thank you for having faith in the New Wine that the Lord is pouring forth today. Thank you for the faith you had in Dad, and the faith you have in today's appointed leadership--those of us that Dad said he would be helping from the spirit world after he was gone--and he is, thank the Lord!
81. Peter and I love and appreciate you, and we will do our best, by God's grace, to serve you in love as your servant king and servant queen!
Love, Mama
82. P.S: So often my words are inadequate to express what I feel and what the Lord feels, so after writing the above letter, I asked the Lord to speak, to see if He or Dad had anything that they wanted to say to you directly. As usual, the Lord and Dad poured forth words of love and encouragement beautifully and abundantly. Hallelujah!
Messages from the Lord and Dad to Our TRF Supporter Brethren!
83. ({\ul \i Prophecy, Jesus speaking:)} Come unto Me, My little children, My faithful ones, and I will show you great and mighty things that you know not! Call unto Me and I will open doors! Call unto Me and I will supply your needs! I will make the crooked paths straight and I will lead you along a beautiful path to green pastures and still waters, for you are faithful children who have given much! You have laid down your life, lo, these many years. You have sacrificed at great cost to take the Water of Life to the lost.
84. Do not think that I have forgotten your sacrifices! Do not think that I have distanced Myself from you because of some title, because of some earthly designation or classification, for this is not true! My Love for you and My faithfulness to hear your prayers and answer according to your faith is unchanging! My Love for you is unconditional, and I long to show it to you as much as you will let Me.
85. The more closely you follow Me, and the more diligently you keep your heart close to Me, loving Me and heeding My Words, the more I am able to manifest My Love in your life. I have great desire to manifest My Love! I long to pour it forth abundantly, that you might revel in it and marvel at it and drink it in and fill yourselves to overflowing! So great is My Love toward you!
86. You are still David's mighty men! And as the dark days approach, the days of the Evil One, the days of the Antichrist, the days of the End, so shall your anointing as David's mighty men grow, because your desperation with Me will grow. You will shed the weights and sins which now so easily beset you. You will cry out to Me with greater desperation. You will lift your arms to Me and look to Me wholeheartedly. So will I be able to pour forth My power and anointing in full force, in full strength! It will not be impeded nor hindered nor weakened because of sin or the distractions of this life.
87. In time, you will draw away from the pleasures and delicacies of the System. You will become more dropped out--My ecclesia, My called-out ones. You will become as the woman in the wilderness giving forth My message of warning, My message of judgment, and My message of salvation!
88. Take heed that you care diligently for that which is in your hand, your children. Guard them from the attacks of the Evil One! Protect them from the sirens of the System, which will call them and entice them and lure them astray. Raise a standard against the Enemy through your love and prayers and faithful Word time. Do not become busy with a little here and a little there so that before you know it, that which is most precious to you and to Me is lost! Pour forth unto your little ones diligently and faithfully, redeeming the time, for the Devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
89. Protect your little ones from the attacks of the Enemy--from the doubts and pollution and contamination of the System. What may look like a small thing to you now, something unimportant and insignificant, can grow and grow until it becomes a defeat, a great loss, and a great heartache to you. Therefore stand as good shepherds with rod in hand, protecting your little lambs, for you are all as sheep in the midst of wolves, and there is a great warfare being waged for the hearts and minds of your children!
90. Therefore take heed to this warning and guard your children! Protect your children. Love them. Pray for them. Listen to them. Be there for them. Give them your time and attention. Make them your top priority. Fight for them. Lift them up. Rebuke the Enemy's attacks on them! And most of all, love them with My unconditional Love.
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91. ({\ul \i Dad speaking:)} Wow! Praise the Lord! What a fellowship! What a gathering! Hallelujah! I just want to tell you how much I love you and appreciate you, and how thankful I am for your faithful service to the Lord and me, and now to Mama and Peter! You may not feel like your life for the Lord makes much difference. You may not feel like you're doing much for Him, and maybe it seems to you that nobody really notices, nobody really cares. But believe you me, we notice, we care, and so does the Lord!
92. Every little bit of love you sow is rewarded! Every time you witness, every time you lend a helping hand, every time you care about somebody in need, every time you pray for others, the Lord notices! He pays attention and He rewards you! Don't think that just because you're TRF Supporters the Lord doesn't listen to you as attentively, or that He's not as eager to answer your prayers or to bless you, to show you His Love and His supply of all your needs, because that's not true! It makes no difference to the Lord what your classification or your earthly designation is. What matters to Him is your love for Him and others, your faithfulness, your loyalty, where your heart is at.
93. I want to tell you that I appreciate you and I'm thankful for you. Thank you for continuing to read the GNs and the Family pubs, and for having faith in Mama and Peter's leadership. Thank you for doing what you can to witness and to be a blessing to others, and for raising your children to be Christians and missionaries and testimonies for the Lord.
94. Time is short, beloved, and we've got a lot to do! Each one of you is very needed! All your talents are needed, and all your training! All the experience you've had in the past, the Lord wants to use it all! This is a new day, it's a new beginning! It's the dawn of a new era for you--for each one of you!
95. The Lord and Mama have challenged you to forget the past. Let it all go and just begin anew! Let the Lord give you a fresh start! He can renew your vision and strengthen your convictions and give you a fighting spirit! He can supply your needs to go wherever you want to go and do whatever you want to do for Him, whether it's to pioneer a foreign field, or start a new "consider the poor" ministry or an "open the door for the children" ministry! If you will just believe and have faith and look to the Lord and do your best to obey Him, He will supply your needs. He'll use you as much as you let Him. Let's go, kids! Let's fight! Let's attack! Let's get busy for Jesus!
96. Just think, Mama sent King Peter and your Prime Minister Gary to see you and love you and answer your questions! Doesn't that show you how much she loves you? Isn't that a sign to you of how much the Lord loves you? Doesn't that make you want to do your best for Him? I sure hope so, because I think it's terrific that Mama let the boys be there with you to love you and strengthen you and bring you in closer.
97. When I was with Mama, there were many times I wanted to visit the Family, that I wanted to participate in meetings, but she always convinced me not to, because it wasn't the Lord's will. We always had to watch out for security. But that just shows you, this is a new day! And the Lord is giving tremendous protection to Peter and Gary so that they can travel and meet the Family and strengthen the brethren. The Lord knew that the needs of the Family were greater and more timely and more urgent than the need for security as we used to know it. So this visitation by Peter and Gary is a token of His Love and grace!
98. Just think! Peter hasn't even visited any large group of DO Family members yet. That alone must certainly make you feel loved and needed and important! What a special gift from the Lord and Mama, what a token of His Love! I think it's marvelous, terrific! Praise the Lord!
99. I love you, kids! And I'm praying for you, that you'll be all you can be for Jesus, that you'll follow Him closely and let Him lead and guide your steps. If you do, He'll prosper you and give you the desires of your hearts! God bless and keep you close to the Lord and fighting for Him and His Kingdom! We need you and love you and appreciate you! Love, Dad. (End of prophecies.)
Mama's Letter to the Family's Former Members
100. ({\ul \i Mama:) }Since writing the above Letter, I have heard from Peter that not only is this a gathering of our TRF Supporter brethren, but that also in attendance are some of you former members. And of course I knew that I couldn't write a letter just to the TRF Supporter members and ignore you, the former members. Well, it's not that I couldn't, but I didn't want to! It's not very often, after all, that I have a chance to talk to you, to share my heart with you and to love you via my Letters.
101. I'm so thankful that Peter and Gary and Dust have had the opportunity to talk with you. Peter has spoken with me on the phone and briefly told me about some of the conversations that he has had with you and some of the others there, how his heart has broken for you, and how he has wept for you and with you.
102. I'm so sorry, my dear ones, for how you have suffered and for the difficult things you have experienced, both during the time you were in the Family and in recent years. I'm so sorry for how you have felt hurt and abandoned. It hurts me to think about how you hurt. It breaks my heart to see how your hearts have been broken. It pains me and I'm crying now to think how you have cried. I know there are times that you have felt alone and in despair and without hope. Questions, doubts, feelings of bitterness and resentment have overwhelmed you. You have questioned the love of the Lord, and the love of Dad, and me, and the Family.
103. I understand your feelings, and I don't condemn you. I don't think I can honestly say that I can completely fathom all that you have been through and experienced to bring you to the point where you are today. But I can honestly say that I'm so thankful you're there now with our Family and with Peter and Gary and Dust. I can honestly say that I love you, and they love you, and especially that the Lord loves you.
104. I'm not going to pretend that these three days that you have spent together with Peter and Gary and the brethren have healed all the hurts of the past, or completely renewed our fellowship and reconciled all our differences. But it is my prayer that it is at least a start, and that through this time of fellowship and communication and loving the Lord and each other, we will be on the road to greater unity and love and fruitfulness.
105. I know you love the Lord, and I believe you have some desire for fellowship with the Family, or you wouldn't be there at the TRF Supporter meeting. I only hope that in the days to come you will find what you need, and that we will be able to continue walking this road together toward greater communication, greater understanding, and forgiveness.
106. I've said this before to our TRF Supporters, and I'd like to say it to you former members as well, and that is that I am sorry for the way the Family has failed some of you in the past. I'm so sorry for the unloving behavior some of you experienced from some of our leaders and Family members. There are certainly many ways we could have done better. We could have been more tolerant, more accepting of other people's opinions. We could have practiced more teamworking in our earlier years. We could have listened to people's feelings with greater openness and been more human and willing to show ourselves weak. We could have been more ready to admit that we didn't have all the answers, that we were still learning. We could have been more gentle with some members who were weaker.
107. We could have done all these things, and we should have. I'm sorry--very sorry--for our past failures and mistakes and shortcomings, of which I know there are many that affected both you and our dear TRF Supporter members. Please accept my humble apology. I ask your forgiveness in the name of David and myself and the Family.
108. I was telling some of the Family the other day how the Lord has used our failings and shortcomings to teach the Family humility, to teach us brokenness and greater dependence upon Him. Yes, the Family has been blessed with some marvelous accomplishments. We've preached the Gospel around the world and won millions to His Heavenly Kingdom. But when you see all that could have been done, all that we had hoped would be done, and you read past MO Letters of all that Dad spoke of, you realize that we have fallen short in many ways.
109. But when praying about this, the Lord showed me that the most important thing, the greatest benefit or fruit that has come from these failures and shortcomings, is that the Family is now more humble and broken and dependent on the Lord. We now realize how weak we are and how much we need Jesus. We can't pat ourselves on the back and feel proud and strong because of our great accomplishments. We've made some good progress on many fronts, but in some cases it's not the progress nor success nor accomplishments that we had hoped for, or the fulfillment of all the ideals which Dad had written about in the Letters.
110. So, yes, I know the Family is not perfect, and we as a whole have gone through a lot of breakings and lessons and a time of training. In many ways we were children. But now, by God's grace, we have learned and matured and we have put away childish things. And the Lord has used it all to prepare us for what He has for us in the future. We who remain in the Family have had to put away our disappointments, our regrets, and the sadness we have felt because of our shortcomings and because we have not been all that we could have been or done all that we could have done.
111. We have had to forget the past in order to be what the Lord wants us to be today and tomorrow, and in the years to come. We've had to keep learning and growing. It's been a cycle, year after year, learning and then growing. And I'm thankful that the Lord has seen fit, in His mercy, to continue to speak to us and lead and guide us in the way that we should go. We are weak and humbled and in desperate need of Him. We have learned the meaning of that old song--probably many of you know it--"Lord, I Can't Even Walk Without You Holding My Hand."
112. We are weak people with many faults and idiosyncrasies, personality quirks, and bad habits--just like you. We don't always do everything right. Even when we try our best, sometimes we goof up--just like you. We may not be very smart or wise in the ways of the world, but we have a desire to love and serve the Lord--just like many of you. We depend wholly on the Lord's mercy and grace, and pray desperately that He will continue to use us for His glory, to bring forth fruit for His Kingdom--just like many of you.
113. We, the Family, will be generous in our forgiveness towards you, and we ask that you do the same. The Lord is showing you a token of His Love by allowing you to have this time with Peter and Gary and Dust. As you already heard in the letter that I wrote to the TRF Supporter members, having Peter and Gary attend this meeting has been a great personal sacrifice. It is very difficult for me to have them be away, especially both of them at the same time, and it is a great test of our faith for them to risk their security by attending a meeting in such unusual circumstances.
114. But the Lord encouraged Peter and Gary to go to meet with the TRF Supporter brethren, and although we didn't know you former members would be attending, He did, and He wanted to bless you and love you and encourage you through Peter and Gary. That's how important this is to Him. That's how valuable you are to Him. And now, after having talked with Peter on the phone, hearing how thankful he is to have spent this time with you, talking with you, hearing you out and answering some of your questions, it makes me so thankful that the Lord worked it out this way. He loves us all so much and it amazes me how He uses us in spite of ourselves, as is evidenced by how He worked out His plan in your lives and in our lives in order to give us this precious time together with Him and each other.
115. I pray that as you leave this fellowship you will feel strengthened and renewed and that you will feel closer to the Lord and also to us.--That as you continue in your different ministries and walks of life, you will see His Love manifested more clearly, and you will have a renewed desire to serve Him to the best of your ability. I pray that your fellowship with the Family will be sweeter, and that through it you will find strength and encouragement. I pray that our bonds together as Christians will grow stronger, that the Love of Christ will constrain us in our interactions one with another, and that with time we will gain a greater appreciation one for another.
116. There is so much to do to win the world for Jesus, and we are not kidding ourselves by thinking that someone has to be in the Family, either as a DO member or a TRF Supporter, in order to serve the Lord and bring forth fruit for Him. If you haven't found it yet, I pray that each of you will find a place of service and a ministry that will bring you great satisfaction and joy and fulfillment in your lives. I pray that your children will be happy, healthy and strong in their love for you and the Lord. It must be very difficult being on your own without the immediate strength of brethren close at hand, but I know the Lord will lead and guide you and supply your needs, as you follow Him. I love you! I hug and kiss each one of you. God bless and keep you.
Love, Mama
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
