KEYWORDS: world, god, news, family, letters

Latest News, The

David Berg

—By Father DavidDFO833October 1979

Dear Family:

1. WELL, PTL! GREETINGS IN JESUS' PRECIOUS NAME: —And welcome to all you new timers who have joined us for the first time, & you old timers who have rejoined us once again through the Worldwide Mail Ministry—& welcome to all of you, our great Family of IRFers & TRFers around the world! PTL! Well, I guess you have heard all the latest news already in the latest Family News Magazines, but just in case you have missed any, I'll try to sum it up for you:

2. SINCE THE IRF-TRF REVOLUTION OF THIS YEAR OUR HOMES HAVE SKYROCKETED for the first time in our history to about 1700 worldwide in 82 countries! And this new spurt of growth seems to show no signs of slowing down yet. This is the greatest growth in the number of our Homes since the days of the New Revolution of 1975 when the number of our Homes jumped from a little over 200 to nearly 700 within that one year! The number of our Homes continued to climb during the following two years of '76 & '77 to over 800.

3. WHEN THE RNR HIT US, the first of 1978 the number of Homes dropped back around 700 for a month or two, no doubt because of more honest reporting by some of the new leaders who replaced some of the Chain, & our new more specific reporting methods. By the end of 1978 we were back up to nearly 900 Homes again, as everyone began to get settled down in their new field & new Homes after the great RNR shake-up & upsetting the fruit basket by changing the Chain! Many went home on furlough at that time‚ some to stay permanently & help us from afar, while others returned later to their fields.

4. THEN AT THE BEGINNING OF 1979 WE OPENED THE DOOR WIDE WITH THE "FRIEND OR FOE" LETTER to all who wished to receive our literature & return to Family fellowship at least by mail, & this offer received a tremendous response from both new & old friends & many former members. So we are now well on our way to having gained about 1000 or more new Homes this year in just the first half of 1979! And that skyrocket on your Stat Chart still seems skyward bound with no hint of stopping! PTL! Hallelujah! So we're so happy to have you new folks with us & to welcome you old timers back into the fold again. TYJ!

5. IT'S ANOTHER REVOLUTION!—A WORLDWIDE MAIL MINISTRY REVOLUTION! This has also caused our population to rise again to nearly 7000one-third of whom are children‚ & most of whom are young couples with the kids. Our average Home size is also down to its smallest in our whole history about 4 1/2 persons per Home usually about two or three adults &/or two or three children.

6. WE'VE ALSO IN THE PAST 9 YEARS DISTRIBUTED OVER A THIRD OF A BILLION PIECES OF LITERATURE & WITNESSED TO ABOUT 22 BILLION, showing that some have heard our message many times. Over 3 1/2 million converts have been won to Christ, & we are now winning them at an average of over 20,000 new souls won per month! PTL! Hallelujah! Thank You‚ Jesus! So we're getting the job done, thank the Lord! We're doing what He told us to do: We're going into all the world & preaching the Gospel to every creature! TYJ!—And thanks to you & your help!

7. SOUTHERN EUROPE & LATIN AMERICA SEEM TO HAVE BEEN OUR MOST FRUITFUL FIELDS of late, with Asia, Africa & the Pacific not far behind, & North America & Northern Europe still in the running but trailing somewhat—no doubt because they are our older couples with more children & family to care for & not quite as much time to be in full-time active service.

8. WE HAVE DONE A TERRIFIC JOB ON NATIONALISATION & we are now 109 Nationalities in 82 different countries around the world on every Continent & many Islands of the Seas! Less than 1/3 of our total number are still U.S. Americans—God bless'm-but over 2/3 of us are now of 108 other nationalities, thank the Lord! Japan, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Mexico, U.K., Germany & Italy are in the Top Ten most nationalised. Together with the Netherlands, France, Venezuela & Denmark, these countries are now all nearly 2/3 or–over nationalised! Hallelujah! The RNR has been working away, thank the Lord, to make us far more international in both our leadership & our constituency. We are now truly citizens of the World by birth, but citizens of Heaven by rebirth thank God!

9. OUR DEAR FFers ARE STILL GOING STRONG, GOD BLESS'M, having now witnessed to over a quarter-of-a–million souls, loved over 25,000 of them & won nearly 19,000 to the Lord, along with about 35,000 new friends! You've written nearly 45,000 Letters to your fish‚ & received over 20,000 answers! TYJ! That's what I call "Feeding the Fish"!

10. LATIN AMERICA & SOUTHERN EUROPE ARE AGAIN LEADING THE WORLD IN FFING with Asia, Africa & the Pacific not far behind. But North America & Northern Europe are pretty busy with their families, I guess, but still in there loving, God bless you all! So you dear loving FFers are winning at least 2/3 of the fish that you love! PTL! GBY! It's really a fruitful ministry, TYJ! That's really FFing—Flirty-Fish-Fruitbearing, God bless you!—And you just wouldn't believe how much they have now received in material help as well, so I just won't tell you!

11. OUR LIT DISTRIBUTION SINCE THE RNR HAS BEEN OUR SADDEST STAT, & during '78 & '79 it plummeted from 8 million copies a month to only 1 1/2 million, because of the removal of the tyrannical Chain & the chains of quotas, as well as persecution by the stepped-up attacks of our enemies against the smaller cults or religious groups‚ together with many changes & shifting around of personnel & resettling in new fields, etc. ...

12. HOWEVER, SOME OF YOU ARE BEGINNING TO COME OUT OF YOUR HOLES & realise that you can still litness, & perhaps a few of my scoldings have helped you realise that that is still your main job: Getting the Words that Work to the World! Some of you also seem to think that because you found other means of support you don't have to litness anymore, forgetting what your real job is as Christians, particularly the members of our Family.

13. SO THANK GOD THAT DECLINE HAS NOW STOPPED & we're gradually increasing our litnessing once again, & I hope to see this improvement grow greatly in the coming months as you get back on the job for the Lord. Although lit income has been down, Family income in general has greatly improved since the financial crisis early this year‚ & we seem back on the road to Family financial recovery, thank the Lord‚ & thanks to you! GBY for your faithful help & giving to make all of this ministry possible.

14. OUR NEW GREAT WORLDWIDE MAIL MINISTRY has helped to make most of this growth & financial recovery possible, thanks to you & the Lord, & has increased our ministry of the Word to hundreds upon hundreds more families throughout the world‚ plus the many thousands more with whom they are in contact daily.

15. YOUR PRINTING OF THE WORD, OF COURSE, DECLINED WITH YOUR DISTRIBUTION, but we're now expecting to see an improvement in this as you get back in the streets again & need more ammunition. The Komix are still leading the world in GP lit followed by the LIN & the Letters. Frankly, we don't see why you don't reprint more of the new Family News which have been DFO‚ but many of which are now extremely suitable for PR with the GP. You'll have to pick & choose a bit, but we believe that some of the new Family News are extremely suitable for the general public & your friends & contacts. So we hope to see an increase in the re-publication of the FNs for the general public. Although at present they are classed DFO & DO, much of the material you could put together yourself for excellent GP distribution.

16. SOUTHERN EUROPE STILL LEADS THE WORLD IN PUBS, averaging 1/2 million copies a month; with Latin America next with a 1/4 million copies a month; North America, Northern Europe & the Pacific next; but with Asia & Africa still needing help because of the difficulties of translation & publication in so many different languages.

17. WE AT WORLD SERVICES HAVE BEEN DOING OUR SHARE BY PRINTING FOR YOU ABOUT 100‚000 COPIES PER MONTH in our tiny little backroom print shop! If we can do that much in our closet, how much more you ought to be able to do in some of your big rich countries where you have freedom to print & distribute almost anything you desire, & the money to pay for it!

18. AT THE TOP OF THE POPS IN THE TOP 20 are beginning to appear a few new titles, such as "Jesus' Babies" Number 1, "Euro-units" Number 3, "Daniel's Image" Number 4, "The Endtime" Number 15‚ & the Guru Letter, or the "Open Letter to the Media", Number 20. Whereas the rest are still old timers like "Change the World"‚ "All Things Change", "Squeeze Don't Jerk"‚ "Sight-Seer", "Stop, ... Look, ... Listen"‚ "Diamonds of Dust," etc., which the public are certainly surely tired of by this time!

19. IF YOU WOULD PRINT SOMETHING NEW & UP-TO–DATE & RECENT‚ particularly some of the new Komix on world events, the new Kid's Komix‚ etc., I'm sure that it would help your litnessing. How far would a news boy get if he'd stand out there on the corner & still try to sell the same old newspaper everyday?—Or last week's or last month's or last year's! You're still trying to distribute the last Decade's lit! You must be awfully afraid to try new titles on the public, to still be publishing & trying to litness those same old worn-out titles that are 10 years old!

20. WHY NOT GIVE THE PUBLIC SOMETHING NEW & A LITTLE VARIETY? They must be terribly bored with those same old goldies! Besides, you're failing to get out the whole Message‚ & particularly the new Message on up-to-date subjects, & the latest warnings to the whole world! Remember, if you fail to deliver your soul & give them these Messages & latest warnings from the Lord, their blood will be upon your hands! God's Word says so!: Eze.3:18–19.—Read it!

21. YOU SEEM TO BE SCARED TO DEATH TO PUT ANYTHING CONTROVERSIAL ON THE STREETS AGAIN just because of a little persecution! Well, let me tell you, you can't be prophets of God without persecution! And you won't have the blessings of God without being His prophets & giving out the whole Message to the whole world! Come on, let's get out something new! I'm sick & tired of seeing those old timers on the Publications Stats!

22. THAT'S WHAT KILLED THE CHURCH & STARVED THE WORD, the churches failure to ever preach anything new or controversial or different for fear of offending! The Church became such man-pleasers & so fearful of offending, that they finally got to where they had nothing new to say that the world was even interested in—just the same old stuff that the world has heard thousands of times before!—Just like you're doing now with these 10-year-old Letters!

23. NO WONDER THE PUBLIC IS SICK & FED-UP WITH YOU, just like they've gotten sick & fed–up with the Church! You have nothing new to say! Well, God has given me plenty new to say to them, but you're not publishing it, so God is going to blame you for it & hold you responsible for your failure to get His latest words to the world! I've done my part in giving it to you to give to them, but if you don't get it out to them, then it's your fault, & God's going to spank you for it!

24. WHEN JESUS COMES SOON‚ SOME OF YOU ARE GOING TO BE RAISED TO "EVERLASTING SHAME & CONTEMPT" (Dan.12:2.) & have to face millions in the Millennium to whom you failed to give the Message, & who are going to hold you to blame for their plight, because you failed to warn them by failing to publish God's Message that God has given to His prophet for them!

25. I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY MORE OF THOSE OLD TIMERS ON THE TOP 20 OF THE PUB STATS! We've now produced hundreds of new Komix much more appropriate, up-to-date & far better & more needed for the whole World than those old Letters! Let's get'm out! Also, I'm wondering why we have so many Letters translated into so many languages, when so few of them are being published in those languages? We've got 21 Letters translated into Russian, but only 2 of them have been published!—16 in Hungarian with only 9 published; 28 in Serbian with only 9 published; 97 in Arabic with only 23 published; 37 in Turkish with only 19 published; 96 in Korean with only 30 published & 76 in Chinese with only 39 published! The Polish only translated 5, but at least they published all 5.

26. THE SPANISH STILL LEAD THE WORLD WITH 800 TRANSLATIONS & 754 PUBLISHED & THE FRENCH WITH 786 TRANSLATIONS‚ & 761 PUBLISHED! So that those who lead the world in language publications outside of English are the French, Spanish, Italian‚ Dutch, German‚ Japanese, Portuguese, Greek, Danish & Swedish—the Top Ten who actually get them published, not just translated! I don't see much point in these Translators Stats if you don't get them published!

27. I REALISE THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE FAULT OF THE TRANSLATORS, BUT THE LITTLE FAITH OF SOME OF THEIR LEADERS. Some of you translators have done a tremendous job of translation, but your leadership apparently has not had the faith to get them published. They either lack faith for the funds or are afraid to take them on the streets. Some of you have done a great job & the best you could, but many are really failing God, & God is going to hold you responsible, both now & hereafter! Let's get'm out on the streets where they'll do some good! They are doing no good in your files! World Service is getting them out in English at the rate of about 100,000 copies a month! How are you doing in your language?

28. HOW DO YOU LIKE THE NEW FAMILY NEWS MAGAZINE?: 30-to-40 pages of fascinating Family News, World News‚ Childcare News, Komix—& News from God! We've already written ten Letters on Camping & 14 on Trailering, which are either already published or ready for publication.—Have you gotten your copies?

29. DON'T JUMP THE GUN & HIT THE ROAD TOO SOON BEFORE YOU'VE READ'M ALL! You need to know exactly what you'll need & what to expect & how to do it, & we've written it all in great detail, highly illustrated, & I think you'll enjoy them! They'll be lots of fun to read even if you're not a camper—Ha! And there're some other interesting Letters & fascinating news on the way!

30. DON'T MISS YOUR COPIES: KEEP US POSTED AS TO YOUR ADDRESS. Give us at least a month's notice of your change of address. How have you been receiving them in their new jackets? Any problems, or is everything OK?—Please let us know. And how do you like the new improved print size? During the NRS-SRS persecution scare, we almost went to the opposite extreme to where you had to have a magnifying glass to read'm! But now we've brought'm up to standard newsprint size like some of the best newspapers.

31. IN FACT, WE THINK OUR LITTLE FAMILY NEWS MAGAZINE IS THE BEST NEWSPAPER THERE IS! In fact, it is the world's only newspaper‚ because the others aren't really newspapers: They only tell you what has happened. We tell you what's going to happen, & that's news!!

32. HAVE YOU NOTICED THE DOLLAR'S STILL DECLINING WHILE GOLD IS SKYROCKETING?—Just like we told you ten years ago? If you'd believed us then—when gold was only $35 an ounce instead of $350—some of you could have been millionaires by now! Of course that doesn't really show what gold is actually worth, as it's worth exactly what God made it worth in the first place.—It just shows that the Dollar is only worth one-tenth as much as it was back then!

33. SO YOU AMERICANS HAD BETTER GET ON THE STICK—THE ROD OF GOD'S WORD—or you're going to be sunk for sure, with lotsa paper money to burn, but no gasoline! Maybe you'll have to revive the old Stanley Steamer car & burn that worthless paper money in its engine! That's about all it's going to be good for soon! Maybe some of those Arabs finally got ahold of some copies of my Letters & saw what was happening, because now they're buying gold like mad!

34. IF GODAHFI HAD INSISTED ON GOLD FOR HIS OIL when I told him to 5 years ago, Libya would be many times richer by now! But some are "slow of heart to believe," & are getting left behind in the mess! Where has the present world situation found you? Are you makin' it?—Or flunkin' it!—Because you failed to heed God's Word!—Or did you just miss it, because you didn't get your copies of the Letters?

35. WELL, SO YOU'LL KNOW JUST HOW MUCH YOU MISSED, WE'RE GETTING OUT A NEW MO LETTER BOOK very soon, God willing, Volume V!—Letters Nos.601-700!—Hot off the press! Have you ordered yours? We've been giving away free Volumes I,II & III, & selling Volume IV—the hot sex Letters—for $10 a copy‚ surface post-paid, or plus $10 airmail—& Volume V will be out soon! Put your reservation in now! This will be a very limited edition, only enough for the Family, so you had better order yours now if you want to be sure to get your copy! Remember, it's $10 surface post-paid, or plus $10 more for airmail if you want yours in a hurry!—That's what it costs us.

36. —AND VERY SOON YOU'RE GOING TO RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF THE LATEST MO LETTERS LIST of all the numbers & titles from 600 to about 850, so you'll know exactly what you missed, & you will be able to order your missing Letters by checking over this List!—And you'd better order those missing Numbers now or they'll soon be out of print! We've only been printing a few hundred extras of each, & we've already got 1000 extra Homes, so somebody is going to miss out if you don't hurry fast & send in your order now! Don't forget to send a good gift to cover the cost of these extra copies mailed to you.

37. YOU MAY BE AMAZED AT WHAT YOU'VE MISSED! We've listed them all!—GPs, DFOs & DOs too! Of course‚ if you're only an IRFer, you can't have the DOs.—Sorry! DOs are strictly for TRFers, those who deserve'm by tithing 10% of all their income to help our worldwide ministry. So if you want DOs too, you'd better up your ante, so you don't miss any!

38. FILL OUT THE NEW SHORT TRF REPORT FORM—TITHERS REPORT FORM—the T-R-F—& send it in with your tithe to your KQL or World Services, & you will receive the DOs too!—And you'll also be qualified to receive back issues as well, for an extra gift to cover the extra cost of mailing you back issues.

39. YOU IRFERS WILL HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH NO DO for not enough dough!—Sorry! But we just can't afford to send you more for only $10 a month! If you want'm all‚ you gotta tithe! God bless you! I hope you can. When you see what you've been missin', I know you'll want to listen! Remember, you're not just paying for Letters, you're giving to God's work & to help cover the costs.

40. IT ACTUALLY COSTS US AN OVERALL AVERAGE OF ABOUT $35 PER HOME to get all our lit to you, including all of our costs of World Service's production, administration, personnel, creations, publications costs & worldwide airmail postage‚ etc. So you IRF-ten'ers are getting a bargain, while the TRF tithers are helping to pay for it!

41. SO, THAT'S THE WAY IT GOES!: "From him that hath, according to his abilityunto him that hath not, according to his need".—That's the sharing principle of Love—& the loving principle of sharing! We're all doing the best we can to send you the best we can, while you're giving the best you can to make it all possible. God bless you! Keep it up‚ & we'll win together, thank the Lord!

42. AND DON'T BUY YOUR 1980 CALENDAR YET! WE'RE SENDING YOU ONE SOON FREE with 12 of the prettiest Praymates in the world! So hang on tight until yours comes as our free Christmas gift to all of you!—1980—Here we come! God willing!—And we're sure He is. He's already blessed us so much this past year & made us such a blessing, we don't see how much more He could bless us, or how much more we could do‚ but He always does, & we always do. Thank the Lord! Praise His Name forever!—Amen?

43. THANK GOD FOR HIS WORD WHICH KEEPS US ALL ON THE RIGHT TRACK! Don't miss yours & get off the track! Don't let God's Express leave you behind.—Get on board & stay on board!—We're bound for Heaven! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus! God bless & keep you all, & make you everyone a great blessing to many! In Jesus' name, amen. Yours in His Love, M&M. World Services & all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR—Ha!—I got it in in time this time! PTL! WLY!—D.

44. P.S. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR EXTRA GIFTS for each of us & the little Prince & Princess!—All those pretty pictures you send I keep by my bed! Some of them are so hot I have to keep them in my closet!—And thanks for your faithful news & reports from everywhere, including poems, news clippings, song tapes, magazines, pamphlets, books, artwork‚ etc., etc.

45. WE APPRECIATE EVERY ONE, even though we don't always get to acknowledge them all specifically. They are all interesting, helpful, read & appreciated, & you'll be seeing some of them again in your new MagThe Family News! PTL! So keep'm comin'!—And we'll keep ours comin' to you! There are lots of new exciting Letters, Komix & Dito & Techi stories, Family & World News & so on, on the way!—Don't miss yours! God bless you, & may He make them all a blessing!—In Jesus' name, amen!—Love,—David.