David Berg
—MO November 23‚ 1970 NO.13
Haifa‚ Israel
DREAM OF THE BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH COUNTRY ESTATE
Dearest Family:
1. Months ago, when I was sick IN LAURENTIDE, I HAD A DREAM which woke me up in the middle of the night out of a sound sleep. It was a picture of a beautiful country road upon which I seemed to be standing, lined with these beautiful trees, as it rose gently over a low hill from where I stood, and going slightly to the left—and, on the right-hand side of the road where I stood, there was a low rock wall built of natural stone‚ partly over grown with vines of weeds, and with a lovely green field beyond it to the right, beyond which I either saw or knew that there was a large, old, rustic English mansion, home, or farmhouse.
2. IT WAS LIKE AN OLD ENGLISH COUNTRY ESTATE WITH ALL THE TYPICAL BEAUTY OF THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE—so beautiful, that at the time I had the dream, I was afraid that it was of Heaven, and that it meant I was going to go to be with the Lord, because it seemed like I was standing there alone in the road, although I can't really remember. There may have been people with me or behind me that I couldn't see, but THE IMPRESSIVE THING ABOUT IT WAS THAT BEAUTIFUL SCENE—and we were never able to figure out what it meant.
DREAM OF THE OLD CHURCH BUILDING IN ENGLAND
3. About the same time, possibly the same night, WE HAD ANOTHER DREAM which also deeply impressed me, in which someone was leading me—I think it was my Mother, but she was so young and beautiful, like an angel!—like A GUIDE LEADING ME UP A FLAGSTONE WALKWAY TO THE ENTRANCE OF THIS OLD RUSTIC STONE CHURCH with a rather ornate Gothic type arched doorway‚ all dark and silent and deadly inside. So cold and dark and evil that I was actually frightened—like the depths of a tomb full of evil spirits—the gateway to Hell!
4. It was as though THE GUIDE WAS SHOWING ME A CONTRAST, for then my guide turned and pointed with a reassuring smile TO THE RIGHT OF THE BUILDING AT A BEAUTIFUL FIELD OF HEAVENLY GREEN GRASS AND LOVELY LITTLE FLOWERS AND LARGE OLD TREES, and all was beautiful and sunny and bright and so happy that even the flowers were singing and the trees were clapping their hands and the grass was dancing, waving to and fro—SO BEAUTIFUL AND GORGEOUS AND HAPPY AND HEAVENLY BY CONTRAST with the deep, dark, dank old dead church building, that I was immensely relieved and so thankful that I didn't have to go into the building! IT SEEMED LIKE THE FLOWERS AND THE GRASS AND THE TREES WERE ALIVE LIKE HUMAN BEINGS—LIKE OUR OWN HAPPY YOUNG PEOPLE—SINGING, AND DANCING AND CLAPPING THEIR HANDS AND PRAISING THE LORD and basking in the brilliance of the sunshine of His Love‚ and I knew it was all extremely symbolic! MY DEFINITE IMPRESSION WAS THAT THE FLOWERS AND GRASS WERE OUR HAPPY YOUNG PEOPLE and the few old trees standing about clapping their hands were a few older folk who were glad for them. I was so deeply impressed I immediately described it! At the time it seemed so beautiful that I thought maybe this was Heaven too, except, for that horrible church building! The only thing I could think of on this earth that the scene resembled at all was pictures I have seen or heard about the English countryside, but I remember my definite impression at the time was either that it was England or Heaven‚ I didn't know which.
REVELATION ABOUT AND THE MANY ADVANTAGES OF ESTABLISHING OUR FIRST EUROPEAN BASE IN ENGLAND—SPIRIT QUENCHED BY MURMURING
5. But as I lay here on the bed in Haifa while reading the description of the vision given at the Bahai Temple, I was reminded of one of these dreams we had so long ago. I shot bolt upright out of the bed and shouted‚ "ENGLAND! ENGLAND!—THAT DREAM I HAD ABOUT THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE AND THOUGHT IT WAS HEAVEN! BUT IT WAS ENGLAND!"—And I began to praise and pray loudly in tongues as I recalled it, and I FELT I WAS ABOUT TO HAVE ANOTHER REVELATION OR A MESSAGE ABOUT IT, WHEN I SUDDENLY WAS TEMPTED BY THE ENEMY TO MURMUR AS I THOUGHT HOW FAR BEHIND IN OUR WORK WE WERE, AND FOR A SPLIT SECOND THE THOUGHT WENT THROUGH MY MIND, "BUT LORD, WE HAVEN'T GOT TIME FOR MORE," AND IMMEDIATELY THE INSPIRATION LEFT ME AND THE SPIRIT LIFTED. BUT AS I CRIED TO THE LORD TO FORGIVE ME‚ AND CONTINUED TO SPEAK A LITTLE IN TONGUES AND PRAY AND THANK THE LORD, AND TOLD HIM I WOULDN'T COMPLAIN IF HE GAVE US MORE, SUDDENLY I CAUGHT A BRIEF, FLEETING GLIMPSE of the other vision I'd had of the old dark church and the happy flowers, and I exclaimed that they had something to do with each other! I was just thrilled beyond measure to the point that we were startled, that way I sat up so suddenly and shouted out in tongues about England‚ because we'd been discussing this very day how WE WERE SURE THAT THE LORD WAS LEADING US TO ESTABLISH A BASE IN ENGLAND FROM WHICH TO REACH EUROPE AND OTHER LANDS OF THIS AREA!—Yet we hadn't thought of those dreams and visions, for lo‚ these many months! In fact, I don't think we ever even recorded them, so I am sure it was only the Holy Spirit that brought them back to mind, but I can see them again now, just as clearly as I saw them that night—beautiful‚ meaningful, and exciting—now that I have a positive witness of the Spirit in this experience tonight that IT DEFINITELY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH ENGLAND ABOUT WHICH THE LORD WAS GOING TO TELL ME, UNTIL I MURMURED THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME FOR ANY MORE REVELATIONS, BECAUSE WE WERE ALREADY SO FAR BEHIND IN THE TRANSCRIBING OF THOSE WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED—BUT BECAUSE I ASKED THE LORD TO FORGIVE ME AND HAVE MERCY, HE GAVE ME THAT ONE LITTLE EXTRA GLIMPSE and reminded us of the happy flowers which went along with the other, to encourage our faith—a definite feeling in the Spirit that it has to do with England—the little church building was typical of an English country church from the pictures I've seen and the stories I've read—in this case, a deserted old church overgrown with weeds! I KNOW THE LORD WOULD HAVE GIVEN US MORE IF I HADN'T COMPLAINED, BUT IT'S AS THOUGH HE TURNED AWAY SILENTLY, SOMEWHAT HURT, AND REFUSED TO GO ON TONIGHT AS A PENALTY FOR MY MURMUR. It was as though He said, "Later!"
6. Could it be possible—of course, it is!—That the Lord that long ago was giving us a glimpse that far in the future, of the very thing that we're now contemplating doing in order to further His Work around the world! I'm sure of it, because of the witness of the Spirit we had tonight! THE LORD WAS ENCOURAGING US AND WITNESSING BY THIS SIGN THAT THE DECISION WE WERE MAKING THIS VERY DAY WAS LED BY HIS SPIRIT!—the feeling I had was that this may have something to do with our location there—a farm or rural area somewhere out in the country—that we may be going to have some kind of country place or a rural estate or an old farm—maybe even use an old deserted church building!
7. IT'S SO WONDERFUL HOW THE LORD CONFIRMS BY THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT, WITH SUPERNATURAL SIGNS, WHAT HE'S ALREADY SHOWN YOU IN YOUR HEART, confirming it by the mouths of two or three witnesses. Ever since we were in London—to which we had not even planned to go on this trip, but were led there by His Spirit—EVER SINCE WE WERE IN LONDON AND EVEN WHILE THERE, WE HAVE DISCUSSED AND CONCLUDED THAT IT WAS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE FOR US TO HAVE A BASE THERE, NOT ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF REACHING THE YOUTH OF ENGLAND, BUT AS A STEPPING STONE IN THE DIRECTION OF OTHER COUNTRIES—AN ENGLISH SPEAKING BASE ON THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC WHICH COULD BE USED LIKE ANTIOCH, AS A BASE FROM WHICH TO SEND MISSIONARIES TO OTHER LANDS—A PREPARATION AND TRAINING CENTRE FOR TEAMS BOTH FROM THE STATES AND EUROPE, in the most liberal, long–haired, hippie haven we have found in this part of the world!—ENGLISH SPEAKING—WHICH IS A MORE TREMENDOUS ASSET THAN YOU REALISE, having had to struggle with these various languages as we have through the past weeks—as well as a ripe and ready harvest of needy, drug ridden, discontented, spiritually hungry youth! Even while in London, despite all of our previous plans‚ we kept having the feeling that we would be soon returning to England, and kept saying, "when we get back...", etc. We even left a suitcase there full of surplus clothing to be picked up later—we knew not when—and kept having the definite impression that we would be returning before long—we knew not why! Now we know!
8. THIS COULD BE THE BASE WHERE TEAMS COULD BE RECEIVED, TRAINED‚ PREPARED‚ AND SENT OUT TO OTHER FIELDS! ENGLAND HAS LONG BEEN A CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY BASE FOR THE WORLD, and they are accustomed to such endeavours. It is not an officially anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible, anti-Prayer nation like America has become‚ but is at least officially Christian, recognises God‚ teaches the Bible in its schools—even though most of them are far from the reality of knowing Him! Officially the Queen is even the head of the Church of England, which is actually tax supported by the government—(Even though very few are hypocritical church attenders, they still consider themselves Christians!)—and therefore, England is charitable toward Christian endeavours, and, I'M SURE‚ GOD IS ABLE TO CAUSE THEM TO RECEIVE US, IF THIS IS HIS WILL, AND FROM THE INDICATIONS WE'VE HAD THUS FAR, WE BELIEVE IT IS!
ISRAEL AS A RESTRICTED CLOSED SOCIETY IS NOT OPEN TO ANY RELIGIOUS MISSIONARY MOVEMENTS
9. JUST AS ENGLAND IS OFFICIALLY CHRISTIAN, SO ISRAEL IS OFFICIALLY JEWISH, EVEN MORE SO‚ AND PROUD OF IT!—AND ANTAGONISTIC TOWARD ANY OTHER RELIGIONS, SO MUCH SO THAT IT HAS PASSED LAWS AGAINST MISSIONARY ENDEAVOURS HERE OF ANY OTHER FAITHS! It is illegal to promote, proselytise, propagandise, or otherwise advance, any other religious causes in the State of Israel! As far back as 1953, Israel passed a law against admitting any further missionaries of any other faiths to the State of Israel, and to only allow the existing religious missions and churches and temples to continue their practices here, provided they do not increase their personnel or staffs. The only new missionaries allowed to enter Israel are solely for the purpose of replacement of existing staff members! In other words, other type of CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY WORK IN ISRAEL HAS BEEN FROZEN TO ITS 1953 LEVEL AND CANNOT BE INCREASED, EXTENDED OR ADVANCED BEYOND THOSE BOUNDARIES in personnel or otherwise! In spite of this, a number of missionaries have managed to enter as tourists and carry on clandestine witnessing at the risk of getting into trouble with the law and being deported, if not worse! Our very dear personal friends, the Kopps, had already established a mission in Jerusalem at the time this ruling was made, and therefore, are permitted to carry on their services, etc., here, but are not permitted to increase their staff or personnel, and officially or technically, not supposed to endeavour to proselytise or win additional converts to their faith. AS WE FOUND OUT THE OTHER DAY, EVEN THE WEALTHY AND POWERFUL BAHAIS, WITH THEIR GORGEOUS WORLD HEADQUARTERS TEMPLE HERE, ARE SECRETLY IN GREAT "FEAR OF THE JEWS", AND CONDUCT NO WORSHIP SERVICES, LECTURES, MEETINGS, OR DISSEMINATION OF LITERATURE OF ANY KIND IN ISRAEL, FOR FEAR OF BEING ACCUSED OF MISSIONARY WORK OR PROSELYTISING! THERE IS NO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN ISRAEL SUCH AS THERE IS IN THE UNITED STATES NOR EVEN IN ENGLAND! The State is officially Jewish in religion, and therefore, technically anti-Christian. The only Constitution, they claim, is the Old Testament, and they consider the New Testament contrary to it. If these principles were carried out and enforced to the nth degree‚ A CHRISTIAN COULD POSSIBLY BE CONSTRUED AS AN ACTUAL ENEMY OF THE STATE, and this may be the point toward which they are working. It is certainly the point toward which THE FANATICAL RELIGIOUS JEWISH SECTS ARE AIMING: THE ABOLITION OF ALL OTHER RELIGIONS IN ISRAEL, AND THE SETTING UP OF A TOTALLY RELIGIOUS JEWISH STATE, similar to that which existed in Bible times, in which the temples and altars of other faiths were destroyed and their prophets slain; as Jesus said, they are still the children of their fathers, who not only slew the false prophets, but also the true prophets of God, so that the position of other religions in Israel today is extremely precarious and uncertain, and it would take a stupendous miracle of God for any sizable religious group to conduct any serious invasion of the country. I expect that miracle, but from what I can see, not in the immediate future, but in some soon–coming time of great distress, catastrophe, or war, which would make them thankful for anyone's help! I know it's coming‚ but the time is not yet! Who knows, it may come with the end of the present cease-fire, only a few weeks away, as their enemies have threatened, but AT PRESENT ISRAEL IS COCKY, SELF-CONFIDENT, FAIRLY SURE OF ITSELF, SOMEWHAT RELAXED FROM ITS FORMER TENSIONS AND FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT A SOLUTION IS BEING FOUND‚ OR WILL BE FOUND, TO THE MID–EAST PROBLEM, PARTICULARLY WITH THE HELP OF AMERICA AS ITS BIG BROTHER AND BACKER IN THE FACE OF THE RUSSIA-ARAB THREAT. HOWEVER, IT SEEMS THAT RUSSIA IS DETERMINED TO DOMINATE THIS AREA IN THE VACUUM CREATED BY THE DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH‚ AND THE SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES. I BELIEVE THE NEXT TIME RUSSIA WILL NOT LEAVE THE JOB ENTIRELY UP TO THE ARABS WITH RUSSIAN ARMS‚ BUT WILL TAKE A DIRECT HAND IN ANY FUTURE CONFLICT TO ENSURE AN ARAB-RUSSIAN BACKED VICTORY! She has too much invested here, too much prestige to retain, and too much oil to gain, which she desperately needs in order to dominate the world.
10. THE ONLY THING WHICH COULD POSSIBLY PREVENT SUCH A COMPLETE TAKE OVER IN THE FUTURE WOULD BE SOME TYPE OF BRILLIANT AGREEMENT DESIGNED BY SOME GENIUS TO ENSURE THE STATUS QUO UNTIL SHE CAN TAKE OVER—or after she has taken over—which could be the famous Biblical Seven-Year Covenant described in Daniel; but remember, that this Covenant is made by the Antichrist; therefore, he must be in considerable power or influence at the time, if not in actual control of the Mid–East situation!—so the Russian conquest may come first!—and I doubt if America would do little more than verbally object, as she did in the United Nations during the Six-Day War—like the opposing powers merely questioned the invasion of the Antichrist in Ezek.38,39, but apparently did nothing to stop it!
11. All these facts are very clear in the scripture, but their exact chronological order is not always quite as plain.
12. MEANWHILE, ISRAEL SEEMS TO BE PERVADED WITH A SENSE OF SEMI-COMPLACENCY AND SECURITY, behind the arm of flesh, to which most of them give credit for saving them in the last war, as SOME HAVE TOLD US TO OUR FACE, "IT WASN'T GOD, BUT OUR GUNS THAT WON THE WAR!"
13. But as one high-ranking Israeli officer recently told us—a man of sincere faith on God—"I believe it will take a national catastrophe to truly unite Israel, some great calamity to cause it to cry out to God to save it from its enemies!" At present, it is busy, prosperous, and protected, and seems fairly certain of its contained secure existence behind its guns and planes and American backing.
14. It would certainly take a gigantic miracle of God to cause them to welcome any serious invasion of the Gospel by any sizable Christian group such as ours! As another important woman official here plainly told us, "I can see you are doing a truly great and good work in your country, but I am convinced it would not work here in Israel and would not be well received by the Israelis! It is not what we want, but the sort of thing we have found does not work, and we are trying to avoid in our country." She said, "Maybe later, but not now! We are too busy working to establish ourselves as a new country. Although we may not show it, our religion is with us a very personal thing and very deep, and we are loyal to it—even those of us who do not claim to be religious!"
15. So God is going to have to do as mighty a miracle to bring the Truth to modern Israel as He did in parting the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan to bring the Children of God to the Promised Land in the first place!—For there are many giants in the Land!—But He is able!—And will, when the time comes! I know He will—because it is in His Word‚ and He has shown it to us personally in many revelations, with some of which you are familiar!
ENGLAND AS OUR FIRST BEACHHEAD AND BRIDGE TO EVANGLISE EUROPE, THE MID–EAST AND AFRICA
16. It could not be too far away‚ as He seemed in great haste to get us here to size up the situation—perhaps so we would become familiar with it, understand it‚ and know how to prepare for the future‚ as well as to push us more rapidly than we had dreamed in getting a missionary base established somewhere in this part of the world—and apparently first it is going to have to be England‚ God willing!
17. LONDON COULD BE OUR EUROPEAN BEACHHEAD AND A BRIDGEHEAD FROM WHICH TO REACH THE OTHER NATIONS OF EUROPE, THE MID–EAST, AFRICA, AND EVEN OTHER CONTINENTS, God willing, and I'm sure He is, or He would not have said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature!" This, we know, is the Will of God!
18. But in the absence of such a miracle, under the present conditions described above‚ we cannot see any immediate major Christian invasion (as I'm sure they would count it!) of this Jewish land, barring a national catastrophe of such proportions and distress that they would be pressed to beg for help of any kind from any source in any numbers to assist them in an actual struggle for survival, as they did during the Six-Day War, when they were frantically recruiting young people in the States, and even paying their way over here to work in the kibbutzim and industries, to free their own men for the front lines. This could, and probably will, bring them to such a desperate step, when it will have come to that they will have to trust the Lord! God has shown it to us, and I know He is preparing us for it, and we must be ready when the time comes! We must be ready, willing, able, available, and nearby, such as England—not half way around the world—if possible! I believe that England is going to be our first step in this direction—and a giant stride that will be indeed!—And really the most difficult and expensive of all, since more having arrived in Europe, one can even hitchhike across the continent to the Mid-East for almost nothing. But the great silver birds are going to have to fly us across that big ocean first—maybe a few Noah's Arks, as well—freighters, tramp steamers, or what not—God only knows!—But get here we must, and I BELIEVE THAT ENGLAND WOULD MAKE AN IDEAL BASE; AND THIS SEEMS TO BE WHAT GOD IS INDICATING!
19. This is what the Soul Clinic found out in its early days of its missionary invasion of Europe, England was the jumping-off place, the reception centre, training base, and logical launching pad of their witnessing invasion of the other countries over here—and they were highly successful at it! In fact, they still have a remnant here near London still hanging on under "Christians in Action", which, however, seems now to be considerably inactive, from what we could observe; at least, we never saw any of them around the two weeks we were in London! Can you imagine our kids two weeks in any city in any force‚ and people not knowing we were there!
20. So this is the way it looks from here! We are continuing to "spy out the land" in our survey of the nation and its people here in Israel, so that we will find out whatever God wants to show us, for which we are here and available‚ in fact, searching, so that when the time comes, we will be familiar with the areas, conditions, problems‚ logistics‚ etc., and prepared to make knowledgeable decisions on any future moves when the Lord is ready‚ and the time is come.
21. IT WAS OBVIOUSLY HIS WILL FOR US TO SURVEY EUROPE AND THIS AREA TO OBTAIN FIRSTHAND INFORMATION FROM PERSONAL OBSERVATION, SO THAT WE COULD UNDERSTAND THE CONDITIONS FOR WHICH WE WILL BE PREPARING TEAMS AT OUR BRITISH BASE, AND SO THAT WE COULD GET A BURDEN AND A VISION THROUGH OUR PERSONAL CONFRONTATION WITH THE DESPERATE NEED OF THE YOUTH OF EUROPE AND HERE.
22. WE HAD INTENDED TO CONTINUE OUR SURVEY THROUGH THE ARAB COUNTRIES AND NORTH AFRICA, BUT LEARNED TOO LATE THAT NO ARAB COUNTRY WILL PERMIT ENTRY OF A VISITOR WHO HAS FIRST BEEN TO ISRAEL! For some reason this must have been of God, perhaps to hasten our return to England to prepare a landing base there for you—our London Team coming soon from Africa. There are other circumstances with which some of you are familiar which also require haste in the establishment of such a reception centre in Britain‚ and the soon departure of some of you for that centre—and I think you may know who you are—SO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE THE BURDEN, FEEL THE CALL, AND OBTAIN THE APPROVAL OF YOUR ELDERS SHOULD START WORKING IMMEDIATELY ON GETTING YOUR PASSPORTS AND RAISING YOUR PASSAGE TO LONDON BY FAITH, UNTIL IT'S GOD'S TIME! Only a very few will be able to come at first, as we now can foresee it, until we find the location which the Lord has shown us in vision‚ if that is it, and the Lord opens the door. Meanwhile, a very small nucleus will probably reside in some tiny apartment in the city itself until more commodious accommodations are revealed and made possible!
TIPS TO PIONEER TEAMS OF EUROPE
23. It will take you perhaps several weeks to get your birth certificates, photos, I.D.s, and passports, plus the over $200 plane fare from New York to London. If you can obtain an international student card from one of the youth agencies in New York City, you can not only get youth rates, but student rates, which are as little as half or even one third the normal fare, during either Christmas vacation, Easter vacation, or next summer (applies at least to transportation within Europe, possibly intercontinental as well), so begin to pray earnestly about it, and work diligently on it! If you are the one to come, God will make a way—He has promised! WHERE HE GUIDES‚ HE ALWAYS PROVIDES!
24. SO MERELY TRUST AND OBEY, in fact, there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, as the old song says, but to trust and obey!—And you'll certainly not become a member of the London Team any other way! That's for sure! Praise the Lord! We'll be praying for you that God will have His Way in your life, and we know He will, if you let Him,—for He needs you—everyone of you!
25. IT'S A BIG JOB, and we haven't much time left, so get busy! There are lots of things to be done to prepare us for and facilitate this task! It may even be necessary to establish a small base or sending unit nearer to New York in order to accomplish it, unless you think you can handle it from Cincinnati. "According to your faith be it done unto you!" "With God nothing shall be impossible, and all things are possible to him that believeth!"
26. AND REMEMBER, BEHIND EVERY SOLDIER IN THE FRONT LINES IN ANY BATTLE, THERE ARE USUALLY TEN WHO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE THERE! So most of you will have to be willing to stay—at least pending some future mass exodus.
27. I know that some of us are going to have to be there when the Trouble comes, like Jeremiah in Jerusalem, as the Lord has shown us a number of times in the past few years, so, in the words of another old song‚ BE "READY TO GO‚ READY TO STAY—READY MY PLACE TO FILL; READY FOR SERVICE‚ LOWLY OR GREAT—READY TO DO HIS WILL!"
28. We will be praying for you, and please continue to pray for us; as we go to "prepare a place for you, that where we are, there ye may be also!"
29. GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU AND CONTINUE TO MAKE YOU A BLESSING!
Sincerely‚
Your Missionary in His Service.
P.S. We know you are praying! God is working so wonderfully, and has so faithfully kept us, provided‚ protected‚ strengthened, and used us‚ helping us to accomplish our mission. Thank you for your wonderful reports! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! GOD IS MOVING BY HIS SPIRIT! PRAISE THE LORD!