HomeARC ML 0063
"MOUNTAIN ISLAND VILLA FOUND"--MO April 19, 1971 NO.63--DO
MOVING--WHAT MO CARRIES WHEN HE TRAVELS!
1. My Precious Children: Greetings in Jesus' Dear name! I'm sorry it's been so long since last we wrote--nearly two weeks now, but WE WORLD-WANDERERS HAVE BEEN MOVING AGAIN! PACKING, MOVING, IN JOURNEYINGS OFT, five days and nights in the deep, and a long stretch by locomotive-drawn coach through the Alps and another boat across the Channel to our present destination, together with room hunting, getting settled, and setting up our office again, as well as all the business details involved, is quite a procedure. It's like moving the mobile, clandestine headquarters of a vast army from underground, and the amount of equipment we have to transport is rather remarkable, considering our small staff, with typewriter, files, office equipment and supplies, as well as our kitchen with its pots and pans, hot plate, utensils, groceries, etc. (all the latter commissary in one shopping bag!), as well as our personal equipment, including small electric heater for these ice-cold rooms, clock radio for the news to get us up in time for breakfast--a thoughtful gift from one of you--plus our portable tape recorder and a whole library of tapes you've sent us on various occasions, plus a library of books and Bibles and references works, plus a library of maps and travel books and information, plus our scrapbooks of pictures of you and all the various articles about you, plus all of our literature ammunition for distribution to interested prospects (we desperately need more, including a generally descriptive brochure explaining the Children of God and our colonies, beliefs, work, background, etc.), not to speak of sufficient personal clothing and necessities for not just a brief trip, but actual living abroad! And not only living, but working, and carrying with us all that a mobile office headquarters requires, even our communication system, consisting, of course, mostly of paper, envelopes, and stamps. Thank God for the postal service. Use it--and we are.
NECESSITY OF COMMUNICATION--BY PAPER
2. However, I DON'T THINK THE AUTONOMY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL COLONY IS GOING TO ELIMINATE THE VITAL NECESSITY OF COMMUNICATION AND FELLOWSHIP AND UNIFICATION AND COORDINATION OF OPERATION BY MEANS OF OUR FAR-FLUNG NETWORK OF "PAPER EMPIRE", as you call it! However, I'm glad you agree it does have to be trimmed to the basic absolute necessities, closely approaching "Flannigan's" to prevent us all from being totally inundated, swamped, and buried in paperwork! Thank God some of you are already getting the hint and doing an excellent job of abbreviating your reports, trimming down your logs to important news, and making excellent summaries of some of these to keep us all abreast of major developments, without absorbing our entire time just reading about what the other guy is doing, while having to neglect our own job to take time to read it!
3. That is, everybody but me. My letters are as long and involved and confusing and as complicated and as wandering and a disorganised conglomeration, and as big a mess as ever. But that's just the way I am, I'm sorry. I just pray and start rolling and never know where I'm gonna end up, much less know what scenery I'm gonna pass on the way; and sometimes I don't even know where I'm gonna start. But I always did like to explore the unknown, the surprising, the shocking, and the unexpected, so I guess you'll just have to trust that the Holy Spirit is leading. Because every time I carefully plan what I'm gonna say, and have it all nicely figured out in advance, with all my carefully prepared notes and notations, I go wandering off up some entirely unplanned route that I hadn't even dreamed of, but which apparently the Holy Spirit had in store for me.
4. So I guess as far as I'm concerned, it's come to that! I'm a hopeless case, and you'll just have to trust the Lord! I'M GLAD TO HEAR, HOWEVER, THAT SOME OF YOU ARE MANAGING TO BRING SOME ORDER OUT OF MY CHAOS BY ANALYSING SOME OF THESE LETTERS, NOTING AND OUTLINING THE IMPORTANT POINTS, LISTING THE SUGGESTIONS, GLEANING A FEW BITS OF WISDOM, AND CLARIFYING SOME OF THE DETAILS. We've been trying to help you a little by doing some underlining, at least except as far as I can see from here, my little secretary hasn't had any time to underline anything on this page thus far. Sometimes I just move too fast for her to double back for the underlining, and the time it takes, although I know it would save you a lot of time if she could; but we'll try to do better. Amen! (Secretary: Amen!).
SUGGESTIONS ON UNDERLINING AND HEADLINING
5. While I'm at it, maybe I oughtta give her a few suggestions on UNDERLINING that would also be helpful to you in your writing: FIRST OF ALL SOME OF YOU JOURNALIST KNOW, EVERY PARAGRAPH IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE SOME KIND OF A TOPIC SENTENCE WHICH IS MORE OR LESS THE SUBJECT OF THE ENTIRE PARAGRAPH, on which the rest of the paragraph merely enlarges and give the details. Usually this sentence is in the first line or two, although it could even be in the middle, or even summing it up in the end. But WHEREVER IT IS, IT'S GOT THE MAIN THOUGHT OF THE PARAGRAPH, AND SHOULD CONTAIN A KEY WORD, OR TWO OR THREE which are really the theme of the entire paragraph--its headline, so to speak, and THESE FEW WORDS SHOULD BE UNDERLINED, SO YOU CAN CATCH THE TOPIC OF THE PARAGRAPH AT A GLANCE, without having to comb through the entire maze of words to find it; especially when having re-scan to review, remind, sum up, or answer. HEADLINING, or TITLING, is an art in itself, but I'd certainly hate to think I'd written a whole paragraph with nothing worth underlining. God help us!
THE SEARCH FOR THE MOUNTAIN ISLAND VILLA!
6. But before I go further, we must tell you of the very thrilling experience we had just before leaving Cyprus! You remember the dream we had about Mountain Island Villa, the last two installments of which we had just before leaving Israel, along with the flash that we had after deciding to stop over in Cyprus that we might find it there. Well, we did! Believe it or not! And our discovery was so amazing, that it was even hard for us to believe! I have to give all due credit to my dear faithful little secretary and her confidence in the Lord's revelations to me. And may I suggest to encourage her, that we may not have to underline any more unless we change the subject, because she works so hard.
7. ANYHOW, IT WAS HER FAITH IN THOSE DREAMS THAT DROVE HER TO KEEP ASKING EVERYBODY ABOUT DIFFERENT PLACES IN THE ISLAND, what they looked like, and if they had mountains coming down to the sea, beaches, coves, and villas, along with a small resort town nearby. Finally we heard of a small port resort on the North shore which seemed to fit the description, and everyone urged us to go there, saying it was the most beautiful part of all Cyprus. Personally, we'd been too busy to go anywhere, except on a wild goose chase to Larnaca to look for a villa which was not it; but it was there that we heard of this elusive goose, as possibly being in the vicinity of Kyrenia, and also had that unforgettable and profitable visit with the Gypsies. So far everything the Lord promised us in those prophecies has come true, and we're looking forward to the fulfillment of the rest of them in our soon reunion with some of you, God willing. Praise the Lord! God bless and keep us all till then!
8. Anyhow, WE WERE SO BUSY PACKING, WRITING, AND WINDING UP OUR AFFAIRS in preparation for our major move to our new headquarters clear across Europe that I didn't see how we could possibly have time to run around chasing rainbows at the last minute, but MARIA INSISTED, and I'm glad she did, 'CAUSE I KNOW WHEN SHE GETS THAT DETERMINED, IT'S USUALLY THE LORD, AND MUCH OF WHAT WE ACCOMPLISH IS IT'S RESULT. She's my little pusher who makes me move when I'm too lazy or too busy, especially when she knows it's the Lord, and my own faith is wavering. WHEN I'M WEAK, SHE'S STRONG, AND HER STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN MY WEAKNESS, THANKS TO THE LORD. (MARIA: MANY TIMES IT'S VICE VERSA.)
9. Well, Praise the Lord! So despite my reluctance, I grumblingly dragged my poor tired feet to the nearest bus to Kyrenia early on a Sunday morning only two or three days before we were to leave--and am I glad we did. God bless her for her faith! We rolled quietly through the beautiful countryside with its peaceful, pastoral scenes and gorgeous colours and ancient villages, finally winding over the lofty mountains to catch our first breath-taking glimpse of the beauties of the North shore, where the mountains meet the sea.
10. It was a beautiful golden sunny day, thank the Lord. For miles we wound along the mountain sides above the bright blue Mediterranean, our eyes eagerly darting in every direction, hopefully looking for the villa in the vision-- but no such villa.
11. Finally we crawled through the narrow streets of an old fishing village, the small resort town and port of Kyrenia. I've always loved the sea, so as we walked toward the water looking for some view spot in which to eat our lunch, our eyes caught sight of the ancient castle of Kyrenia, an old Crusader fortress towering out of the water built many hundreds of years ago.
12. Since these OLD CASTLES, MONASTERIES, ETC. ARE SUCH FASCINATING EXAMPLES OF THE COMMUNAL LIFE of by-gone days, whole colonies living within one building or a compound of buildings, with such similar aims and problems to ours, such as a unification of purpose, a desire for fellowship and mutual protection, as well as a sharing of water, food, and supplies, and presenting a united front to their enemies to help preserve their land, these old castle societies have always interested me; and we were soon fascinated with its network of passageways, meeting rooms, dining halls, dormitories, soldiers barracks, chapels, and security towers and turrets, gates and fortifications, till hunger drove us out of the top of the wall, seeking a way back down to the waterfront.
RECOGNISING THE TOWN IN THE DREAM!
13. Suddenly I looked across to the little enclosed circular marina a few yards from the walls, the town's small enclosed port, and I was startled back to reality, and the reason for which we had come! THERE, BEFORE MY WIDENED EYES, LAY THE VERY SCENE FROM THE DREAM OF THE NEARBY SMALL TOWN HARBOR WHICH WAS CLOSE TO MOUNTAIN VILLA!
14. Excitedly we climbed down from the wall, after taking many pictures, and took our last exposure on the very side- walk which circled the harbor in my dream, at the very spot, where in the dream I had come running down the walk looking for the boat that was to take me to the villa, but was already gone. I remembered well the stores, shops and cafes along the sidewalk on my left and landward side circling this little anchorage, and all the small boats tied up along the sidewalk on the right. As we came down from the castle and approached this harbor scene, we were coming from the very same direction that I had been running in the dream. I don't remember if I told you this part of it, but I BELIEVE I MENTIONED THAT THERE WAS A SMALL RESORT PORT TOWN NEAR THE VILLA FROM WHICH YOU HAD TO CATCH BOATS TO THE MAINLAND. But our arrival there in person brought it all back vividly in shocking reality! Hallelujah!
15. THERE WAS THIS UNUSUAL LITTLE PORT, THE LIKE OF WHICH I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYWHERE else in the whole world, nor pictures of anything like it--only in the dream!--So small and round, half circled by this broad sidewalk and surrounded by buildings, with boats tied up right to the sidewalk. Even the chairs and tables and umbrellas of the little sidewalk cafes scattered along the way, as well as the milling tourists and the men with little blue hats that I had thought were sailors in my dream, hats the like of which I had seen nowhere else in the world, but which turned out to be an identifying part of the uniform of the distinguished U.N. troops keeping the peace between the Greeks and Turks of Cyprus.
16. I REMEMBER HOW, IN THE DREAM, they had turned toward me curiously as I ran breathlessly along the waterfront looking for the boat to the villa, being very upset for having missed it; but BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS TIME THE BOAT WAS THERE--THE VERY BOAT THAT HAD BELONGED TO THE VILLA, now sold to a handsome blond young American hippie and his family only recently. I was strangely drawn toward this young man as I saw him standing on the dock talking with some friends on the shore, although at the time I didn't know why, but I made a mental note of the name of the boat, a beautiful two-masted sailing vessel, "The Licole" so we could be sure to talk to him later. This was the very boat that had belonged to the owner of the villa only the week before!
ALMOST GIVING UP THE SEARCH
17. WE WERE, OF COURSE, THRILLED WITH THE EXCITEMENT OF OUR DISCOVERY, AND I KNEW EXACTLY WHICH DIRECTION THE VILLA LAY FROM THE HARBOUR, and its approximate distance of a mile or two, as this was all very clear to me in the dream, but we were too hungry to go on, having gone all day without eating, and it was already late afternoon and by the time we had finished our lunch in the rustic old sidewalk cafe, staring constantly in amazement at this wondrous scene before us--the fulfillment of the dream--it was already dusk, and too late, I thought, to go searching for the villa, because of its remote and isolated location; and the fact that there was no transportation in that direction but private taxi, and I surely didn't think we could find it in the growing darkness. However, MARIA HAD SUCH FAITH THAT WE WERE GOING TO FIND IT even if we had to stay over night, that she went out and secretly bought me a razor to shave with, in case we did.
18. BUT IT WAS SO LATE AND THE TIME SO SHORT, AND OUR DEPARTURE SO NEAR AT HAND, that I didn't see how we could possibly afford to spend the night to wander around looking for it in the morning, which could prove to be a very time-taking, if not futile search. So I thought, to prevent our having to stay overnight, since we were so near the possible fulfillment of the dream, and dear little Maria had such faith to find it, that I would at least try to satisfy her by taking a taxi in the growing dusk for at least a little way out along the shore, to either prove that the villa did or did not exist, so she would be satisfied and content to go home, and we'd be done with the whole matter. Despite the fact that I had seen the very town and harbour in the dream, IT STILL SEEMED NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE THAT IT COULD ALL BE A REALITY AND I THINK I FEARED DISAPPOINTMENT AS MUCH AS ANYTHING, SO WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO LOOK. Anyhow, I figured a quick trip would either prove or disprove it, and settle it forever. In fact, I was almost afraid to find it, because I still didn't know what it was all about, and what a crazy exploit to go chasing a dream!
SEARCHING BY FAITH IN A TAXI
19. Anyhow, as we rode along, I kept asking the taxi driver, as we drove in the direction that it had to be, if there was not some large villa set on a high bluff or hill above a sandy cove and overlooking the sea, between the road and the shore. He kept saying no, and seemed impatient to take us wherever we wanted to go, since we hadn't specified any destination, but had just told him to drive in that direction, and we would show him where we were going when we found it, that we were looking for this large villa of a friend of ours which had to be situated to the left between us and the sea; but he persistently insisted very impatiently that there just was no such place, in fact, no villas at all along this shore, on this side of the town; but all back in the other direction, on the other side of Kyrenia. But we were just as determined, so we kept driving. Finally, I felt that we had gone too far, as we arrived at 6-Mile Beach, and he said there was a cafe out there on a point which might be the place I was looking for.
20. I knew it was not, but I thought we might at least enquire! and now comes the strangest part of the whole story!-- 'CAUSE NOW I FELT THAT I MUST HAVE MORE FAITH, HAVING COME THIS FAR, AND MUST BE EVEN MORE SPECIFIC IN MY DESCRIPTION OF THE PLACE.
21. HOW DO YOU TELL PEOPLE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A PLACE THAT YOU SAW IN A DREAM, that belongs to someone you met in a dream? Well, I didn't exactly know, but I took the plunge, and began describing the place in detail to the manager of the cafe, an old-time resident of the area, along with his waiter and taxi driver, and they discussed it at length, suggesting it might be the large villa of an Englishman and his Dutch wife, or another Englishman and his Polish wife, both of whom had villas in a village two miles away in another direction half way up the mountain slope to our right. But I said no, these could not be the ones, that it had to be between the road and the sea on a bluff over-looking the sea, and with a sandy cove below.
22. THEN I REALLY TOOK THE PLUNGE, AND BEGAN DESCRIBING THE OWNER OF THE HOUSE IN DETAIL: a fairly short woman in her fifties with short blond hair, speaking English with an accent, and living alone. They said both of these other women spoke English with an accent, but both had husbands, and didn't we know the lady's name? And I embarrassedly explained that, no, I was sorry, that we had met some time ago and I only remembered where she lived, and that I had bee there before! I didn't dare tell them, of course, that it was all in a dream and that my first sight of the house, after missing the boat in the harbour had been strangely enough, from the water, clinging to a log, and being swept along by the current toward the sandy beach of this little cove. But finally the description rang a bell, because I insisted that it had to be in the other direction, and pinpointed almost the exact location by telling them it could not be more than a mile or two from the harbour, since you could see it from the villa, and it was only a short boat trip back and forth.
23. Perhaps the mention of the boat triggered his memory, for suddenly he said, "Oh, yes! That would have to be Mrs. Goldstein's! Oh, I forgot about her place, because it's the only place on that side of the road, and you can't even see it from the highway."
24. I ANXIOUSLY ENQUIRED IF SHE WERE ABOUT IN HER FIFTIES, SHORT WITH SHORT BLOND HAIR, AN ACCENT AND LIVING ALONE. HE SAID, "WHY YES! In fact, her husband died just three years ago, a well-to-do poultry raiser." This also jogged our driver's memory, and he said, "Oh, yes, I forgot about her place; that sounds like it", so excitedly we clambered back into the cab and were on our way back toward Kyrenia.
FINDING THE HOUSE AND THE WOMAN!
25. Only a mile or two from town, he turned right on a small dirt road which would through the hills, and IMMEDIATELY I RECOGNISED IT AS THE VERY ROAD ON WHICH WE HAD APPROACHED THE VILLA FROM THE REAR IN MY LAST DREAM before coming to Cyprus, and sure enough, soon there was the villa, and we were driving right up to the rear of it just like in the dream!
26. There was a light in the window, and hardly knowing what to expect, even if anybody were home, we told our driver to wait, as we knocked, holding our breath in expectation. The door opened--and there stood a lady with blond hair, greeting us cheerfully--but she was not the one! So I said rather questioningly, "Mrs. Goldstein?" and she said, "No, I'm just a friend. This is Mrs. Goldstein," and SURE ENOUGH BEHIND HER MRS. GOLDSTEIN ROSE FROM HER CHAIR AND GREETING US RATHER QUESTIONINGLY--AND SHE WAS THE ONE, THE VERY ONE WE'D MET IN THE DREAM, about in her upper fifties, maybe even sixty, with short blond hair, and a definite accent, which we learned later was Jewish, as well as Russian, since she'd been born in Russia, but reared in Israel since she was seven, and had only lived in Cyprus for the past twenty years.
27. Of course, she didn't tell us all this upon meeting us at the door! IN FACT, HOW TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES IN A SURPRISE CALL AT 9:00 AT NIGHT AS PERFECT STRANGERS WAS SOMEWHAT OF A PROBLEM, as you can imagine, as we knew it was not exactly the hour of the night to make a social call on someone who didn't even know us, and didn't know that we knew them; but again, by faith, we took the plunge, as I hesitatingly and embarrassedly tried to explain. Well, you see, it was this way. I know you probably don't remember me, but we met some time ago, and though I couldn't remember your name, I knew where you lived and didn't want to leave Cyprus without seeing you--And we went on from there. I said, you'll have a hard time believing how we happened to come, and I'm almost wondering myself, but I know that we must see you. And then we began to introduce ourselves, describe our work, the purpose of our visit to the Mid-East and to Israel, etc., trying to inspire the confidence of these two cultured ladies in the fact that we were not exactly entirely crazy, as we beat around the bush, trying to delay as long as possible the very weird explanation of the real reason for our coming. We rambled all around Robinhood's Barn, talking about everything else but why we came, and keeping them in suspense, with such statements as, "You're not gonna believe this" or "You may think we're crazy" or "I don't really know why we're here; maybe you can explain it" etc., until they were getting more mystified by the moment!
TAKING THE PLUNGE BY FAITH!
28. FINALLY WE TOOK THE PLUNGE OF FAITH AGAIN! THERE'S THAT ALMOST FRIGHTENING MOMENT when you stand teetering on your toes on the tip of the diving board 25 feet above the water below and wonder if you're gonna hit it just right, how it's gonna receive you, and if you'll survive the dive, then slowly you lean forward and gravity takes over, and you hit the water with a splash! THERE'S THAT MOMENT OF THRILLING SUSPENSE AS YOU FLY THROUGH THE AIR WITH THE GREATEST OF EASE, KNOWING NOT EXACTLY WHAT AWAITS YOU WHEN YOU LAND; BUT THEN TO YOUR RELIEF, HAVING MADE THAT FINAL DECISION AND TAKEN THE PLUNGE, SUDDENLY YOU'RE IN THE WATER gliding deep below the surface and curving beautifully upward, bursting out again into the air and sunshine with a sense of great achievement and satisfaction, finding it wasn't really as bad as you thought it was gonna be! You made it! IT TOOK FAITH, SKILL, COURAGE, AND DARING--BUT YOU'VE HAD THE SATISFACTION OF A NEW ACCOMPLISHMENT, A NEW THRILL-- AND YOU'VE MADE IT, and come through safe and sound, whole and hardy and unscathed, to live and try again!
29. BUT THAT MOMENT ON THE BRINK, and that second you're hurting through the air with your hands outstretched before your head, as though to defend yourself from the water rushing up to meet you, can be very breathtaking, and make your pulse skip a beast, just before the splashdown! It's a sense of tremendous freedom, but terrifying danger, a feeling of complete liberty from the bonds of the earthbound, but an almost frightening awareness that it's soon to end with a terrific impact, which you may or may not survive in one piece! You diving enthusiasts know what I'm talking about! This is also true of the flips, twists, Gaynors, cannonballs, backdives, etc.--but especially it is true of that long slow-motion high-dive, with its bone-shattering impact, which can be back-breaking or neck-breaking, and even fatal, if you don't strike the water just right! I know, because I've done it many times, and only God spared me! Because it's almost like a death dive, with every dive, especially the first ones! You know it could be the last one, and the end of all your diving, if not your life! It takes real faith, real courage, genuine skill, and a final total abandonment to that outer space, between the board and the water! You don't exactly know how you're gonna land, but you pray God it'll be right, and the crowd will cheer! It's an unforgettable thrill--and only those who've done it know what I'm talking about! There's nothing else like it, perhaps, except sky diving, or ski jumping, or maybe trapeze tricks, which I used to do a lot of too, when I was a kid! I risked my life so many times for a thrill that I'm ashamed to confess it, and only the Lord has spared me--but maybe it had to take someone with that kind of daring, that kind of recklessness and ignoring of the possible consequences, that total abandonment to the cause, regardless of the outcome, because you know it's right and the greatest thrill in the world, even if it kills you! Maybe it took that kind of daredevil to plunge us all into the deep waters we're now swimming in, when most of the church is only touching its toes, or wading along the shore! You and I have launched out into the deep and are trusting God to see us through, because we know we're doing His will!
30. AND HE WILL, AS HE DID THAT NIGHT, AS WE FINALLY BROKE DOWN AND TOLD Mrs. Goldstein simply, not knowing what her reaction would be, as the impact hit her, that we had first seen her home in a dream, had been swept ashore on the sandy beach of that little cove below, and had many times tried to struggled up the hill to the house above, but had never made it, like trying to move in a nightmare, never quite making it; until in the last dream, we had driven down the little winding dirt road from the highway to the rear of the house, as we did in reality that night; that we had met her then in that dream for the first time, and she was exactly as she was now in reality! Take it or leave it: that was it! Believe it or not, that was my story!
31. AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SHE BELIEVED IT, accepted it, and received us with the warmest of hospitality! In fact, the conversation grew to exciting accounts of other supernatural experiences, which all of us had had, including Nicole, her friend, the charming, attractive, sexy, blond bomb, who was visiting her--a doctor of French philosophy, who called our experience "deja vu" or something like that in French, meaning a glimpse of the future through some kind of a time overlap in the spirit!
THE REASON FOR COMING--THE TESTIMONY AND WITNESS!
32. WELL, IT CERTAINLY WAS THAT, AND IT CERTAINLY WAS TRUE, AND IT SURELY WAS REAL AND COMPLETELY FULFILLED, because here we were talking to the lady in the very house I'd first seen from the sea in a dream, and we had just eaten lunch, or rather, more like supper, in the very town, at the very harbour side I had also seen in the dream! God is faithful and He had rewarded even our little faith. Hallelujah! We talked on into the night in a warm kindred spirit until we had missed the last bus, and she insisted on taking us to the local hotel to put us up for the night, so we could come back in the morning and take pictures and meet some of her friends, and hear more. Which we did! I still felt like I was moving around in the same dream; and that night I told Maria to pinch me to see if I'd wake up--but I didn't. I kept on dreaming, and it had all become a definite reality! We were actually there! We had met the very lady! And the next morning she drove down herself to pick us up at the boat to introduce us to the boy she had sold it to just a few days before, who immediately took a tremendous interest in our story, which we had to tell all over again to him and her other friends, all of whom were quite excited about it; and I'm sure, if we'd had time, we would have been royally entertained by the socially elite of the area, as her new and interesting friends with such a strange experience. "THE PEOPLE SEEK A NEW THING".- and we were giving it to them, along with the good old Gospel of His Love. We stayed on and on, visited Nicole's also, finally had to have a late lunch with Mrs. Goldstein, as we waited to talk to her alone about the real purpose of our visit. Finally, as the golden rays of the sun were setting on that beautiful water, and we sat in growing darkness, alone at last, knowing we must leave, I at last got up the courage to ask her the big question: "Mrs. Goldstein, why did we come here? I don't really know; maybe you can tell us". I said, "It must be very important to the Lord, or to you, or to us, as I've been having this dream for several years now, long before I even knew I would cross the ocean, much less the Mediterranean, and visit the Middle East. Why did we come? Why are we here? Maybe you can tell us," and she broke down and wept! "I lost my husband three years ago," she said, "and I have been very lonely ever since. I think maybe God did it for my sake, that He put you on my spiritual plane or channel, that maybe in some way you could help me." I knew she meant to pray for her, and we did, PTL!
33. WE TOLD HER HOW THE LORD MUST LOVE HER to have gone to so much trouble to bring us so far to see her--how that she must be very important to the Lord, and that He was concerned about her. She as good as confessed that she had considered suicide, but was afraid of death. We told her of the Love of Jesus--how God sent us His Son to show us what He Himself is like; that it was the love of Jesus that had brought us here, the love of Jesus that had done such miracles in your lives at home, and the love of Jesus that we had wanted to bring to the youth of Israel--but Israel would have none of us.
34. She had been a teacher of toddlers there for years and speak Hebrew fluently, as well as Russian, English, and several other languages. She said, "I would like to do something like you're doing, for the young people of Israel," but she said, "Why can't you leave Jesus out of it? Why do you have to use that Name? Why does He have to be the symbol! Why can't you just say God, and speak of God's Love, and do it in His Name?" She said, "then they would accept you, if you would not insist on using the Name of Jesus!"
35. I ASKED HER, WHY NOT; THAT IF HE WAS GOD'S SON, AND GOD HAD CHOSEN JESUS TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO THE WORLD, and to show His Love, that God Himself had insisted on it! And that we cannot love Him without loving His Son. Love Me, Love My Son. He that receiveth the Son, receiveth the Father, but he that knoweth not the Son, knoweth not the Father also. These are God's conditions, not our. God insisted that we recognise and love His Son, and Jesus Himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me!"--And she fell silent. She had no answer. I said, if this is true, we have to recognise Jesus. We have to believe on Him, receive Him, love, and honour Him, if we love the Father. And why not? And she had no answer. She knew it was true.
36. Then she said a strange thing, which reminded me of the Scripture, "NOW I PERCEIVE THAT THOU ART A PROPHET".--She said, "I don't know why I didn't see it before, but suddenly for the first time, I see you as a priest--a man of God. You have disquieted me! You have disturbed my peace, and yet I know there's something strange about it all! My cove has the only sand beach anywhere along this north shore--the one you saw in your dream; and I only returned from Israel yesterday morning, just before you came; and I left my gate unlocked yesterday, the day you came for the first time since I have lived here!" Nicole, her friend, had also remarked about the significance of this--the open gate, leading from the beach to the house, saying, "Shulemith (Israeli for Shulamite), I've never known you leave that gate open before--do you want me to close it?"--and Shulemith had replied, "No, just leave it open", and Nicole had said, "But you never leave it open". And Shulemith again replied, "Well, I'm gonna leave it open today."--And that was the day we came! They both thought that was very significant, like a sign that they had left the gate open for me.
37. In the dream I was always struggling toward this gate, trying to climb the hill toward the house, but could never quite make it, until we drove in from the rear, which is the way that we actually came!
38. I had been asking the Lord that morning, after discovering the villa, why I had been in the water when I first saw it, swept along by this strong current and clinging to this log, and IT CAME TO ME THAT THE CURRENT WAS THE WILL OF GOD, THE LOG WAS HIS WORD, LIKE THE DREAM ITSELF, TO WHICH I WAS CLINGING BY FAITH, so that parts of the dream were actually symbolic. I was even swept through a narrow opening in the rocks, and up onto the beach, and this was significant of the miraculous power of God to hit the bull's eye, and bring us through to exactly the right spot miraculously. THE FACT THAT I NEVER REACHED THE HOUSE FROM THE BEACH SHOWED THAT I WOULD NOT FIND IT UNTIL GOD'S TIME, OR IN MY OWN STRENGTH, BUT WOULD ARRIVE IN HIS WAY, IN DUE SEASON WHICH WAS EXACTLY WHAT WE DID, just after she had returned home from Israel. We could never have found it by sight that night; God brought us there purely by faith; and the night we arrived was her first night home! What a miracle!
39. I said, "Shulemith, you know GOD BROUGHT US HERE FOR SOME REASON." And she said, "I know...I know." She said, "I've been feeling very useless and lonely. I've put the place up for sale, and I've been planning to go back to Israel, but there really seems no place for me there, either, and I miss the companionship of my husband very much." We said, "Come with us; work with us; teach our toddlers; we need you." And she said, "You know, Grandmothers are going to be the next hippies. We feel like dropouts. We outlive our husbands, and we sit alone with our time and talents going to waste, and nobody seems to want us. YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING FOR GRANDMOTHERS!"
40. I said, "That's exactly what I told the young folks before I left. WE HAVE MORE IN COMMON WITH GRANDPARENTS THAN PARENTS. IF WE COULD MAKE A PLACE FOR THEM, THEY COULD BE VERY HELPFUL, AND THEY COULD SERVE THE LORD AND OTHERS WITH THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND TALENTS IN HAPPINESS AND FELLOWSHIP IN THEIR CLOSING DAYS." And she said, "Yes, this would be good, but I'll have to think about it." I told her how Aura had become one of our teachers in the West Indies in her seventies, and wrote a book called New Life for Grandmother. Nicole said, "You're a saint!" And SHULEMITH SANG US A SONG, A JEWISH LEGEND THAT DAVID WILL RETURN TO HELP HIS PEOPLE WHEN THEY NEED HIM, when he'd awaken from sleep in his cave, by his harp. "There is something special about Cyprus," she said!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family}
