David Berg
—From M&M Personally9/6/81DO No.1021
1. WELCOME HOME PRODIGIOUS PRODIGALS!
PRAISE THE LORD FOR THE RETURN OF SOME OF OUR ORIGINAL FAMOUS MUSICIANS RECENTLY at the Prodigal Musicians' Reunion held in Nuevo Laredo‚ Mexico by Faith & Juan‚ thru which Singin' Sam (Amminadab), Watchman, Chronicles, Micah Teddy Bear & others are returning to the fold to serve the Lord with their talented music! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
THEY HAVE ALREADY RECORDED SOME OF THEIR LATEST NUMBERS as well as a few Oldie Goldies which will be included in the Spanish music tapes of "Musica Con Vida", Music With Life, as well as our new Family Songbook. Many will also be used on Music With Meaning International in English & in Spanish. So, look forward to some wonderful new–old musical talent & numbers from our dearly beloved old favourites who are returning to the fold to use their wonderful talents for the Lord! PTL!
WELCOME HOME, SONS! God bless you! We love you, & the Father's House is your house! Mi casa es su casa! And I'm sure all the Family welcome you gladly! We're so glad you came back to bless us & all the world with your beautiful music. We love you & have prayed for you for years that you might return again to serve Jesus.
"ONLY ONE LIFE WILL SOON BE PAST, ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR JESUS WILL LAST!"—Amen? God bless you all every one & make you a great blessing now & in days to come. Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus for answering prayer! We have truly grieved & prayed for some of you for years, & this is surely an answer to all of our prayers. TYJ! PTL! Hallelujah! GBY all & keep you in His service!
P.S. THIS MAY SEEM TO GO FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, but it is very important for our quality of broadcast music: Please, musicians, don't use tinpan-alley cheap tinny steel guitar strings! Please, only use the best catgut &/or nylon & not steel strings which have a tinny sound & a cheap sound on radio as well as on audio tapes. If you can't afford to buy good catgut & nylon strings, we'll be happy to help you. I know they're more expensive, but they're certainly far superior in their quality of mellow, beautiful sound.
TO CHEAPEN YOUR GORGEOUS MUSIC & YOUR SUPERB PRICELESS TALENT WITH CHEAP STRINGS IS BEING PENNYWISE & POUND-FOOLISH! Come on, please, buy some good strings! Buy the best there are! You play the best music in the world; you ought to have the best instruments & the best strings.—Amen? GBY! WLY!
WE ARE CRAZY ABOUT YOUR MUSIC, & the whole world is listening to it now & they love it! Praise God! At last you have found your calling & your audience for the Lord! Only God can make you & your music great in His eyes & in the ears of the world. PTL! So keep praying & asking Him to give you the best & to do your best for Jesus & for others & for all of us.—Amen? PTL! GBY! WLAPFY! Keep'm rollin'!
2. THE BRAND NEW "KOMIX TWO" IS ON ITS WAY NOW TO YOU! PG!
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED YOURS, but if not, they will soon be there, D.V., sent Registered Airmail for their safekeeping with the help of the Lord & the Postal System‚ with this fast secure postage costing more than the book itself in some cases! But we feel it is so urgently needed by you & your children, friends & family that we felt it necessary to rush it to you in the fastest & most secure method possible.
IT'S ANOTHER GREAT BOOK OF TRUE KOMIX OF NEARLY 800 PAGES & 145 Komix from No.69 to No.180, drawn by 40 artists with not as many duplicates as before‚ but a few are there so you can take your choice of what you like best for reprinting & distribution to your public.
THESE FIRST TWO VOLUMES ARE OF LETTERS INTENDED ORIGINALLY PRIMARILY FOR THE FAMILY & are therefore mostly DO or DFO, but there are still many good GPs amongst them for distribution. As we go on to later Letters & volumes, they will contain more & more up-to-date GPs for you to read & distribute.
THESE LARGE THICK HEAVY COPIES WILL BE SENT ABSOLUTELY FREE to each of our tithing families according to the size & composition of your Home & in the same quantity as you are now receiving Magazines. They'll be beautifully leatherette-bound & gold-lettered just like Volume One & should last you for years with proper care & use, so please take good care of them & don't be afraid to sign for them & use them prayerfully.
IN MOST OF OUR LARGER FAMILIES there will not be enough copies to have a private one for each individual‚ so please do your best to share them with each other & take turns in reading them. Perhaps you could let your children read them during the daytime & you parents could read them at night after the kiddies are in bed. They're vividly illustrated enough that perhaps even two of you can read a Komic Book at the same time, read it together. An older child who is a good reader could even read them aloud to the younger children who can look at the pictures as they go.—Amen? GBY! Have fun!
3. COMING SPECIALS!
PLEASE BE SURE TO PRAY THAT THE LORD WILL STAVE OFF THE WAR UNTIL WE HAVE FINISHED AS MANY OF THESE MAJOR PRINTING PROJECTS AS POSSIBLE & can move all our World Service Units out of the war zones. We still have a number of these to go, including more Komix Volumes of nearly all the Letters, plus an extra special strictly DFO Komix Book for friends, fish, catacombers‚ relatives & so on—a Basic Course in Family Faith!
WE HAVE ALSO JUST COMPLETED A NEW STUDY & REFERENCE HELPS BOOK which includes a catalogue of stamp-size picturesque front covers of all the Letters from A-1000, including many which had no front covers before. It will also contain both numerical & alphabetical lists of all these Letters, plus complete summaries of all the Letters & a brand new feature we have never had before, a complete categorisation of all the Letters by general subjects. And a complete Index will follow as a separate booklet, D.V.
A COMPLETE SET OF CHILDCARE VOLUMES FROM "PREGNANCY THRU SCHOOL DAYS" is another outstanding project already partially completed! The First Volume of over 400 pages of these Childcare Books is already in for printing. In addition to all of this, we have in the works the entire Dito Series in one volume, which will include a complete 54-page alphabetically arranged Dito Index of all the 100's of subjects in all 84 chapters contained in the book!—And we're working on a Book of Techi Stories too!
ALSO NEARING COMPLETION IS OUR NEW FAMILY SONGBOOK‚ including not only the best of Aaron & the oldtimers, but all the newtimers of MWM Shows 1-40‚ along with the words & guitar chords! The brand new Flannelgraph Mag 2 of over 200 pages has also been completed & is awaiting its slot in the printing schedule. A very special book of Family devotional poetry's also nearing completion.
AND FOR THE FUTURE WE'RE WORKING ON A ONE-VOLUME FAMILY REFERENCE BOOK, a general reference encyclopedia all in one big volume for our particular Family use. Also, please pray for Apollos & our Education Dept. as they work on a new basic condensed & illustrated pocket-size Quotebook!
VOLUME 7 OF THE MO LETTER BOOKS OF NUMBERS 800-900 is already being sent to you, & we hope that you receive your beautiful new book safely to add to your complete set of all the Mo Letters—DO, DFO‚ GP etc. Volume 8 containing the 900s thru 1000 is almost completed also & will be sent to you as soon as it is ready, D.V.
WHILE ALL THESE MAJOR PRINTING PROJECTS & NEW VOLUMES ARE BEING SENT TO YOU, it will be impossible for us to print & mail to you more than one large Magazine per month‚ plus 32 pages of Kidz' Magazine & a 16-page LIN each month, D.V., but this is over 200 pages more than you originally bargained for in the first place when we originally promised you 32 pages when we first began publishing the original little 32-page Magazine!
SO YOU SHOULD BE THRILLED WITH THIS TREMENDOUS VOLUME OF PRODUCTION OF THE WWWs that we're pouring out for you as fast as we can!—Amen?—We are! PTL! So please keep faithful in your diligent tithing & support which makes all this spiritual food possible for your instruction, encouragement & inspiration.—GBY!
INCIDENTALLY, LIMs, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THESE MONUMENTAL BOOK PROJECTS without approval, as we do not think they are all necessary to be completely translated & fully published in every language. We'll let you know which of these Volumes we think are important to translate for everyone, such as the Komix Volumes, the Childcare Volumes, the small new Quotebook, the Study Helps & perhaps a few others which possibly should be translated & reprinted in some of the major languages according to the need & demand & your faith & ability.—OK?—Tks!
4. "THE TROUBLE WITH THE TROPICS!"
THIS WILL BE A NEW LETTER as soon as possible describing some of the problems you may face in tropical climes & countries which are not always quite as pleasant as our dreams of south sea paradise islands. For the benefit of you dear folks from the cold frozen far North who are looking forward to a tropical paradise in the South, you may find it full of bugs, diseases & vipers & heat & humidity that you never even nightmared of, as well as almost as cold as where you came from if you go far enough South!
SO PLEASE BE PREPARED FOR WHATEVER COMES!—If you are going to the extreme southern tip of the three Southern Hemispheric Continents‚ prepare for a Winter during the Summer, including cold & snow in far southern South America‚ South Africa & southern Australia! Be sure you take a good look at your map before you go & be well briefed on the kind of climate to which you're going before you leave all your Winter clothes behind!
ONLY THOSE AREAS WITHIN THE GENUINE TROPICAL ZONE between the Tropics of Cancer & Capricorn (about 23 degrees N. to 23 degrees S.) can be guaranteed to have a tropical climate, or in some cases warm sub-tropical climes just beyond those zones. "Look Before You Leap!" & come prepared, or you may discover if you go far enough South that you are winding up in the Antarctic rather than the Arctic, where it is just as cold as where you came from! Don't give away those Winter clothes until you know!
5. PASSPORTS & TRAVELLERS CHEQUES
DEAR TRAVELLERS, BE SURE YOU NOT ONLY HAVE THESE WITH YOU, BUT YOU KEEP THEIR NUMBERS FAITHFULLY IN A SEPARATE PLACE from where you carry Passports & Travellers Cheques themselves in case of loss. It is much easier to get them replaced if you know their numbers. And of course, if you are very prayerful & careful how you carry them, you probably won't lose them.
REMEMBER ALSO THAT YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO USE YOUR PRECIOUS PASSPORT ITSELF FOR IDENTIFICATION! Sometimes just a Driver's License or Registration Card or some other personal I.D. will do when checking into a hotel, trailer parks or picking up mail etc. Also‚ even only a xerox copy of the identification pages of the passport including your picture will often suffice to send along with any official papers or applications‚ car or vehicle or title transfers or so on, without having to risk your almost priceless passport! They just want to make sure that they have the right party & some kind of proof of your mug & moniker.
SO BE SURE YOU HANG ON TO THOSE PASSPORTS & TRAVELLERS CHEQUES & don't let anybody grab them from you if you can help it! A better safe place for important papers & cash & other valuables are money belts or money pouches—some of which can be worn beneath your clothing, & carry your most valuable possessions safely out of sight & directly on your person to prevent theft when you're not looking or separated from your other baggage.
ABOVE ALL, TRY TO FIND SAFER PLACES TO KEEP YOUR PASSPORTS & YOUR MONEY THAN IN YOUR PURSE OR ROCKET, as purses are too easily snatched & pockets easily picked. Either sew secret pockets inside your clothing or get a money belt or a valuables pouch which can be worn beneath your clothing completely out of sight, hidden & unknown.—And whatever you do, don't get into it out in public to show a thief or robber exactly where it is at! (Try a locked booth in the toilet if necessary.)
ABOVE ALL, PRAY specifically at all times in all places for the Lord's protection for both you & your valuables, because most countries to which you are going are largely very poor & figure you are very rich & ought to share some of it with them‚ even if they have to take if from you by stealth or force!—So watch your wallets, clutch your purses & guard your gains!—But "except the Lord keep the house‚ the watchman watcheth but in vain!" (Ps.127:1)
6. FAMILY VIDEOS
THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE SENT US BEAUTIFUL FAMILY VIDEOS of you & yours & your area with your inspiring scenes & ministries as well as some lovely dances & sexy sequences! We really love them & appreciate your trouble in making them for us, & we enjoy everyone to the full.
HOWEVER, WE CANNOT ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM PERSONALLY in detail or personal commentary. But you can be assured that we will look at every one of them & appreciate them, & pray for you & thank you for them & pass them on to others to enjoy as well. So thanks a lot, & keep them coming! We love'm!—And we love you!—And we love to see you & hear you personally on video!
PLEASE TELL US, BY THE WAY‚ ON YOUR NEXT HOME REPORT AS TO WHETHER YOU HAVE VIDEO EQUIPMENT or not, or at least if you have any video equipment available at a friend‚ family or neighbour, or as soon as you get some & whether you would like to receive some of our Family Videos if possible. We are trying to find out how many have videos available either in your own possession or the possession of a friend or another family with whom you can share it or whose video you can share tapes on, as we try to figure out how to circulate some of our best tapes with as much of the Family as possible.
AND PLEASE REMEMBER THAT NONE OF OUR AUDIO, RADIO, VIDEO OR TELEVISION TAPES ARE FOR SALE AT ANY PRICE! In fact, this is strictly illegal in some cases. Please DO NOT offer our tapes for sale to anyone lest you get yourself in trouble, as it is strictly illegal in some cases & might seriously hinder our work & follow-up. Everything we are doing & publishing we are now publishing on a strictly free, voluntary basis with nothing for sale, including Wild Wind products which will now be sent to you free of charge, a few each month as they are made available.
THE EXPENSE OF THE PRODUCTION & THE MAILING IS PAID STRICTLY & COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS, TITHES, GIFTS & OFFERINGS & NOT FOR SALE OR A PRICE OF ANY KIND!—THEY ARE PRICELESS! If you want extra copies for friends or relatives, either make them yourself or send a contribution or donation which you feel should cover the cost of making you the copy & mailing it to you.—They are not for sale! Sorry, but we just give everything away, including our love for you! PTL!—And it's really lots of fun! We enjoy it! I always wanted to give everything away‚ & now at last the Lord has made that dream possible!—Thanks to your help & faithful giving & tithing.—GBYACTMYAB to millions free of charge! (P.S.—If the tape is your own production, you may sell it if you wish, or if it is one of ours you may give it as a token of appreciation to those who give you a donation for your work sufficient to more than cover the cost. But beware of selling for prices which can involve a hassle with laws, taxes, licenses, etc.!—OK?—GBY!)
7. TESTIMONIES
PLEASE REMEMBER TO SEND IN YOUR TESTIMONIES of victories, miracles, exciting & thrilling experiences in your new ministries in new places & of what a wonder it is that you managed to get there at all & how you did it & how the Lord did it etc.! Mail them directly to our Family News Editors at: Maria Campos, Apdo. 46131, Madrid, Spain (with an inside envelope labelled Family News).
THANKS & GBY FOR ALL YOUR HELP & COOPERATION & FAITHFUL, LOVING SERVICE FOR HIM & OTHERS! The Lord bless & keep you & continue to make you a blessing forever! Bye for now until next time!—But we're always with you in our prayers.—And Jesus never leaves nor forsakes you! Hallelujah! See you on video or in the FN or we'll hear you on tape or in your letters! GBY! WLY! Thank you!—In Jesus' Name Amen!
8. WE'VE MOVED SOUTH!—HAVE YOU?
PRAISE GOD, MARIA & I & OUR PERSONAL FAMILY & STAFF HAVE AT LAST MOVED OUT OF THE NORTHERN WAR ZONE INTO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE & are finding it extremely pleasant with friendly people & considerable freedom & in some ways more economical. We may have to move about a bit before we finally settle down permanently temporarily, but it's been fun exploring new territory & getting acquainted with new people & new customs & a new climate & different languages. The Lord has given us a lovely big house by the sea with a beautiful view of God's wonderful creation to inspire us, PTL!
THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS FOR OUR SAFE JOURNEY‚ & although it was a long one of thousands of miles it was very comfortable & pleasant on the ship on which we rode with absolutely no immigrations or customs problems whatsoever despite the fact we were carrying such rather unusual equipment unaccustomed to tourists, including most of our office & even some office equipment.
FRANKLY WE ALMOST CHICKENED OUT AT THE LAST MINUTE as we really didn't want to go since it seemed like such a monumental task, but we finally disposed of most of our non-essential burdens, distributing them to the families we left behind & came ahead on pure naked faith in the Word of God & His warnings & leadings & are now thrilled that we did as things are much better than we expected. PTL! Have you? If not, you'd better soon, as things are hopping up there, hotter than down here & it won't be long now. For God's sake, follow God. GBAKY Busy for Him in Jesus' name! Love, M&M.