Peter
News and Notices, Part 2 [Notices 14-20]
GN 1178 FD/MM/FM
By Peter 3601 6/06
For age 16 and up. Parents and shepherds can share portions of this counsel or information with their JETTs and junior teens as the Lord leads.
Note: This GN is compiled from Peter's notices posted on the MO site, numbers 14 through 20. Previous notices may be found in GNs 1119 and 1138. All notices in this GN are from Peter unless otherwise indicated.
Subjects:
The importance of the Home managers
Training
Appointment of coaches
Update on the Home review
Explanation about the RDs/RO/SD/FPC
Media update
Activated Incentive Program
Letter to the editor of Rolling Stone
July 14, 2005
Dear Family,
1. Mama and I love you and are extremely proud of you—each of you. No matter what age you are, no matter what category of membership you hold, you are very precious to us. We constantly praise our wonderful Husband for you, for the wonderful love you have for Jesus, for the lost‚ for the Family. You're just terrific!
2. Thank you so much for praying for Mama and me so faithfully. Your prayers work miracles in our lives; we don't see how we could keep up with the work, or stay healthy, without them. We feel your prayers daily. We see the miracles your prayers bring about. We receive the Lord's healing in response to your prayers. Thank you for being such wonderful prayer warriors on our behalf.
3. I'd like to especially thank you for praying for me lately. Mama sent out a worldwide prayer request for me some weeks back at a time when I was physically exhausted and quite sick, yet had a great deal of timely and important work that needed to get done. Your prayers pulled me through. I was able to get the work done, as well as get some very needed rest and recuperation. Thank you for going to bat for me in the spirit.
4. Mama and I are so impressed by how resilient you are. You have faced the challenges of this year with such fortitude. You've exhibited such courage, faith, initiative‚ and stick–to-itiveness. We admire you for your willingness to change, to progress, to stretch in the spirit.—And stretching you are! You've done your first Home review, you've recognized areas in which you need to improve, and you are working to make those improvements. It's been a challenge, we know, but you're meeting that challenge with faith.
5. We recently asked the RSs and others for input on how things were progressing with all of the various changes of the restructuring, and in the course of their comments we learned a bit about how it's going with the new structure of the Home Steering Council. It was very interesting to hear quite a number of comments about how some Homes are unorganized now. We are not surprised that the organization of the Homes is a little wobbly right now; that's perfectly natural and to be expected, since little time has passed since you elected your new Home managers and Home shepherds and criteria monitors. Many of you are also either new Homes or a new combination of people in your Home as you begin to build your "winning team."
6. It will take time for things to fall into place and to start running as smoothly as they did before on the practical side. So that's not a problem, nor is it anything to get upset about or particularly worried about. If you remind yourselves that your Home was very comfortable with the previous "teamwork" structure, which had been in place for more than 10 years, you will see that it's par for the course that there will be some "hiccups" with the new Steering Council structure and your getting used to it. If you understand that this is a pretty big change, then you'll feel a lot more at peace when things seem a little unorganized.
7. What I wanted to mention, however, is that it seems that in some Homes the lack of organization has gone beyond the normal to-be-expected adjustment‚ and some Homes are pretty ineffective and not getting much done because the managerial side of the Steering Council is too weak. I don't say "too weak" in a derogatory way. I don't mean weak spiritually‚ but weak in experience or suitable manpower.
8. It seems what has happened in some Homes, particularly larger Homes‚ is that everyone who was previously on the Home teamwork has simply moved over to the Home shepherding body, and new members have taken the positions of Home managers. That wasn't what we had in mind with the Steering Council, as we anticipated that those on the Home teamwork who were strong in practical organization, such as the outreach and/or business teamworkers, would most likely end up being Home managers. And likely the personnel teamworker, and one or two other Home members (depending on the size of the Home), would be the Home shepherds.
9. There seems to be a new trend, however, for the shepherding side of the Steering Council to be quite strong due to being made up of experienced Home teamworkers, while the managerial side is lacking. The result of this is that some Homes are not running as well as they should be. They're not being as productive as they previously were. The schedule is not efficient. Things are generally disorganized, and important matters are not being attended to, which results in a lack of finances‚ not enough outreach, etc.
10. This imbalance is of course detrimental to the Home. If this is the case in your Home, you may want to consider rearranging your Steering Council.
11. We have heard that some Homes have recently seen the need to vote to rearrange their Steering Council members so that one of the more organizationally gifted people on the shepherding body moved to the managers' body, and that has been a help. This has made it possible for those gifted in organization to work together with less experienced Home managers, thus imparting training while at the same time ensuring that the Home is functioning as it should.
12. In "Getting Stronger!—Part 4" Mama and I and the Lord emphasized how important both the Home managers and the Home shepherds are to your winning team. There might be an old mindset still fairly deeply rooted in the Family that promotes that the shepherds are "the most important." But the Lord spoke very clearly on the equality of the managers and the shepherds in the above-mentioned GN, and Mama and I definitely believe that. The managers and shepherds aren't equal as far as having the exact same gifts and talents, but they are equals on the Steering Council and they're equally important to the success of your Home.
13. If you have weak shepherding‚ you'll not move forward spiritually, you'll not stay free of compromise, and you could easily become divided and not be able to continue as an FD Home. But by the same token, if your Home is not well organized, if you don't have good management, then your Home will not be well financed, your schedules will not run well, and you'll not be able to take care of the multifaceted needs of your members and missionary work. So a lack on that side could just as easily weaken your Home.
14. Mama and I have emphasized the spiritual shepherding of the Homes during the restructuring and throughout this year of strengthening so far, but that has been because the spiritual shepherding had become so weak. We had to reinforce that side, and we did so on the premise that the Homes were already fairly strong in the practical and organizational side of things, as you've been used to putting quite an emphasis on that side of life. But in reaction to the emphasis on the need for more spiritual shepherding, if those who are gifted and experienced in the practical and managerial side feel they need to be involved in the spiritual shepherding of the Home‚ then that won't be very effective.—And that seems to have happened in some Homes.
15. I suggest that you take some time as a Steering Council, and as a Home if needed, to pray about and review this aspect of your Home. If you feel that your Home is beginning to flounder due to a lack of practical organization, and it doesn't seem to be getting better, then you might want to consider the possibility of rearranging your Steering Council members at your upcoming vote of confirmation (which needs to be held by the time you turn in your August TRF‚ but can be held earlier in the month if needed) so that you have a better balance between the practical and spiritual. To be a fruitful Home, both the Home shepherds and the Home managers need to do their jobs well. Each job is equally important to the building of a winning team. So if your Home is experiencing an imbalance in your Steering Council, please take some time to think and pray about this.
16. Of course, if you are having organizational problems, the cause might not be the inexperience of your Home managers. It could be that they just don't have enough time to devote to praying about and organizing things efficiently, due to other ministries that are preventing them from having the time they need to do the job properly. If that's the case, then you should pray about arranging things so that the Home managers have the time to do the job properly.
17. In any case‚ if the organizational side of your Home isn't doing well, we suggest you take action to strengthen it. If the Home managers need more training, try to get it for them. If they don't have enough time to do the job, try to make the time for them. If they are new at the job and need more time to grow into it, then have patience and do all you can to make it work.
18. The Home management is a very important part of Family life. We have had a number of discussions about the need for training for Home managers‚ and we've even considered creating a new board pillar to cover this important aspect of the Family. We're not in a position to finance and staff another board worldwide, and we're not sure we'll be able to do so in the future. However, we are looking for ways to impart more training to you on the practical/business/managerial side. You may have noticed that we just posted a Home Manager's Checklist on the MO site (FSM 417) [link here: http://www.familymembers.com/pubs/pub.fsm.417], which outlines the most important areas of the Home manager's responsibilities. This is not an A to Z handbook for Home managers, but we believe it will be a help to you.
19. The Home Manager's Checklist is more of a temporary stopgap than a training course. However, it has a lot of good information and will lead you to various pubs on subjects related to Home management. Our hope is to develop a more thorough training course for managers. But with all there is to do at present, we don't believe we will be able to move ahead on this until sometime next year.
20. In the meantime, however, if you feel that your Home needs some help on the practical, business, or organizational side, I suggest you try to get some input from other brethren who you know are gifted in those things. You probably know of some people in your area who are pretty good in those ministries, and possibly you could give them a call, or invite them to your Home for a visit, or travel to see them to have a little chat and get some input. Or read the How to Get Things Done and How to Love books, which have some very good basic advice on organization, time management, personnel management, etc.
21. Please do pray about this, discuss it in your Home and Steering Councils, and if necessary, try to make whatever changes are needed before you lose precious time and momentum in your Home. We know the Lord will lead you, and we'll be praying for you to reach a good balance.
22. Throughout April, May, and June the Home Shepherd Training Program was worked on. It's been a huge job, but it's now in the final stages. The Home Shepherd Training section on the MO site is up and running—and with coaches now coming into play, the Home shepherds will begin to get coaching along with that training. Our prayer is that this help will in time result in every Home shepherd becoming a loving, wise‚ caring shepherd. We pray that better trained and coached Home shepherds will be able to do the job of helping the Homes to be happy, loving‚ and spiritually strong Homes.
23. We know that some of you are feeling bad that the Home shepherds are getting training and you're not. We're sorry if you're feeling that way, but the fact of the matter is that everyone is getting training of some kind. Each board has published their criteria and "how-to aids," and some boards have published their handbook (PR and CGO are on the MOv3 site, with others to follow soon. You can find them here: http://www.familymembers.com/pubs/pub.board.hb.) This training material is available to every Home member. Each of you should study this material and be trained by it. And you who are criteria monitors should take that training seriously by studying the criteria so that you will become familiar with it‚ and as such can help your Home to hit the mark.
24. While the Home shepherds have access to the complete Home Shepherd Training Program (HSTP), portions of it are available to all on the CS section of the MO site (http://www.familymembers.com/cs/). So if you are interested in shepherding and want to learn‚ read through the material that's available to you. And other parts of the HSTP are available to you Home managers as well. So if you haven't availed yourself of that training, please do.
25. You'll all also be receiving training via a new GN series, "Training Winning Teams," which is training for every Home and Home member. Mama and the GN team are working very hard to get this series to you, so that together you can become the winning teams we know you want to be. You should be receiving the introduction to this series, along with "Training Winning Teams, Part 1," very shortly. These two GNs will probably be on the MO site for downloading this month, and you'll be getting the printed versions shortly thereafter.
26. This is in addition to all of the tremendous training you have already received this year via the GNs, such as training in how to weather persecution and media storms, new weapon offensive training via the "Art of War" series, the "Art of Dependence‚" and so much more. So as you can see, there is training available for everyone. The question is, will you take in that training and apply it? We believe you will, as you are winners in the Lord's and our sight.
27. A new and exciting development is that the coaches are presently being appointed and should be taking up their jobs very shortly. The coaches have attended a second training seminar and are hopefully full of faith for undertaking their new responsibilities. Your Home shepherds will be assigned a coach by your RSs, and you should be informed over the next month or two as to who your Home shepherds' coach is.
28. As with all new programs, it will take a while for all the kinks to get worked out. So we ask that you Home shepherds give your coach time to learn their job. Please do what you can to make them feel welcome. Understand that not only are they new to the job‚ but the job itself is new. So it will take some time on their part, as well as yours, for things to run smoothly.
29. We'd like to once again mention that the coach program is different than the VS program of the past. The coaches are not going to be shepherding the individuals in the Homes or trying to troubleshoot problems or resolve disputes between Home members or Homes themselves. Rather, they will be helping the Home shepherds to do their job of shepherding Home members. This point has been emphasized to the coaches throughout their training.
30. So please understand that if, as a Home member, you try to get personal counseling from them, they will direct you to your Home shepherds. It's not that they are being mean or don't love you, it's that they've been instructed to do so, as the goal is to help your Home shepherds learn to do the job of shepherding the Home, rather than someone from outside the Home doing the job. (For more on this topic and the reasoning behind this arrangement, please see "Getting Stronger!—Part 4.") The end goal will result in stronger Home shepherds and therefore stronger, and happier, Homes.
31. Please pray for your coaches. It's a big job. It's a new job, and they will need your prayers in order to do the job.
32. We're very proud of you for having gone through the first Home review with such grace. Answering the review questionnaires was probably not easy, especially since it was the first one you ever did. And, of course‚ trying to improve in areas which you know you are weak in is the challenge you are facing now. Mama and I know these are not easy times. The knowledge that your Home is expected to improve in its weaker aspects can be rather daunting. You may feel that your Home did poorly in the review and you are afraid that you won't be able to improve sufficiently before the next review.
33. Please don't be discouraged if you feel you did poorly. The fact is, we expected that many Homes would be less than stellar in their performance—as I have mentioned before. You've been through a lot since the middle of last year—increasing your Home size, a change of governance in your Home, receiving the board criteria and realizing all that there is to do to be up to par, electing your Steering Council‚ etc.—not to mention the spiritual attacks the Enemy has been hurling at the Family as a whole, and at individuals as well. It's been a fight!—And when you're at war and the fighting's intense, everything isn't going to be perfect.
34. I'm sure that many of you are waiting with bated breath to receive your Home review scores, to see how you did and where you stand, so that you will know what to focus on over the next months, as the October review is only a few months away. However, after receiving input on the April Home review, how it went and how the Homes scored overall in each of the pillars, and after much discussion, prayer, and hearing from the Lord, Mama and I have decided not to send out the scores from this review to the Homes. Along with that, we have decided to make the October review the placement test, instead of the review you took in April.
35. The Home review process has been a huge undertaking for you, for the boards, and for WS. While the April review was meant to be a placement test for your Home, it was also a test run for the mechanics of the review—both for the RBCs and WS. It was an opportunity to test the overall structure of the review, the computer program, the review questions‚ the scoring system, the flow of information‚ etc. In conducting the first review we have seen that there needs to be some tweaking in both the process and the questionnaires themselves. Because of this we feel that sending out the scores to the Homes would give an inaccurate reading of how your Home is doing.
36. After getting a great deal of feedback on this first Home review, it has become clear that some further explanation is necessary so that you will better understand the intent of the criteria. Some of the questions on the review were not clear enough‚ or could be misinterpreted. In some cases a yes or no answer box proved insufficient. The grading system of some boards needs some change in order to generate scores that more accurately reflect how a Home is doing in relation to that pillar.
37. All in all, the first review has been a great test run. It gave you the experience of doing the review, it helped test the process, and it showed the areas in the process that need to be improved. Besides this, it has given you a clearer idea of the weaker areas of your Home, as you saw which questions you answered "no" to, and therefore which aspects of the board criteria you need to make progress in. So even though you won't be getting a score, you should have a fairly good idea about the aspects of your Home that need to be targeted for improvement.
38. We're sorry we aren't able to give you a score. However, we felt that overall the scores would not have been accurate enough to be helpful. If we sent them out, then Homes would have been focusing on certain pillars where they scored low, while putting less emphasis on pillars they did well in. However, because the scores weren't totally accurate‚ your Home might end up focusing on a pillar you actually did okay in, while deemphasizing a pillar that you thought you did well in, but didn't. After prayer, discussion, and hearing from the Lord‚ we realized that it would be better to send out no scores rather than ones which wouldn't give a clear picture as to how your Home placed. You already have a pretty good idea of which areas your Home should work on improving‚ because you know which questions you had to answer unsatisfactorily to, and so you can and should be working on those.
39. We have told the RBCs, however, that if after reviewing your Home's answers they feel you need some counsel in fulfilling certain aspects of the criteria, they are free to communicate with you about it. So you may be receiving a note from some of your RBCs pointing out some of the questions you answered "no" to, which may be most important to focus on, thus helping you identify your primary weak areas in their pillar, or explaining questions you may not have properly understood, offering advice and prayer, etc. The coaches will also be starting their job of coaching the Home shepherds and may give counsel to them on the CS board criteria as they are able.
40. What this means is that by October, we should have the process tweaked enough so that it works better and so that the October review will be your placement test. Your October placement test will not be factored into the first official review in April 2006. This means that you have a full eight months to continue improving before taking a binding review in April. The April review grades will be given only on your performance from October through April.
41. Of course, having this extra time doesn't mean that you should put off working on the areas you know you need to improve in. You should focus on your weaker areas in a well-paced manner. Hopefully‚ this will help relieve some of you who feel you need to cram to improve in all areas at once. We recommend that you identify your main weak areas and steadily work to improve in them. Then the October placement test will give you an accurate reading of where your Home stands, so that you can continue to improve, and then easily pass the April review.
42. Please use the time between now and next April wisely and prayerfully. Set your goals and work toward them with regularity. Remember that the overall goal is to make your Home a united discipleship Home‚ a fruitful Home with a solid missionary work.—In short, a winning team Home. We know you can do it. Keep fighting! Don't give up!
43. Aside from the general Family restructuring‚ over the last year or more we have been reevaluating and changing how things work on the Family administrative level. Since the start of this year, each region has set up both a Regional desk and a shepherding desk. We have also trimmed down the reporting offices‚ as we work toward streamlining the reporting processes. I want to take some time to explain some of these changes to you.
44. Reporting offices: In the past, the reporting offices offered a variety of services to the Family. Aside from processing your reports, they read and answered your C&Ss, they often housed some of your RSs, and they wrote shepherding letters to the field. In short, the reporting offices were what could be considered "shepherding and administration hubs."
45. Many of these former reporting office services have now been taken on by other offices or desks. In today's Family, many of your RSs live in Homes on the field; the Regional desk handles the regional business; the boards offer board services; shepherding comes from the CS board via the shepherding desk; the regional board chairs read and answer the C&Ss pertaining to their respective boards; and each Home is ultimately accountable to maintain their discipleship standard.
46. This is the current job description of the reporting office: Your reporting offices are now strictly TRF processing centers; they make sure that the TRF/tithes arrive safely and on time, and enact PN if they do not; they make sure each regional board gets the C&Ss that pertain to that board, and they read and answer technical/office-related C&Ss. They make sure your NPC gets the current address lists so that you receive your mailings. They process the stats. They communicate with the Regional desks about a myriad of business and reporting topics. Theirs is a huge and very technical job. (To see more on the responsibilities of the RO, see the Charter's "Responsibilities and Authority of the Reporting Office" in GN 1109a.)
47. Your reporting office is comprised of a few competent and talented individuals, but they are not your shepherds. They are extremely busy facilitators—facilitating the often detailed and complicated mechanics of the Family. They are an important part of the structure, and without them there is much that wouldn't work or wouldn't get done. You wouldn't get your pubs. You wouldn't get your designated gifts. Your boards wouldn't receive the comments you wrote on your TRF, and much more. So if you only hear from your reporting office when you get a form letter informing you that according to the information they have received, your TRF or tithe has gone awry or not shown up, please don't take offense. It's their job to keep track of that information‚ and they try to do so as efficiently as they can.
48. If you encounter things in your communications with your reporting office and the procedures they enact that you or your Home don't understand, please write your reporting office and let them know. They want to know these things and they want to help and work with you. They, along with the WS Administration department‚ as soon as time and work permit, will take the time to analyze, counsel, and pray about glitches and problems that arise. In doing so they will determine whether the problems in question are things that need to be altered or they are problems which will iron themselves out in time.
49. Regional desks: The Regional desks have become operational within this year. God bless those staffing these desks. It's a mammoth job involving many details. (To see more on the responsibilities of the RD, see the Charter's "Responsibilities and Authority of the Regional Desk" in GN 1109a.)
50. Those manning the Regional desks‚ just like others in the new Family structure, are getting to know their job and all that managing a regional area with a wide diversity of Homes and ministries entails. There are things that used to be taken care of by the reporting offices, or the previous RCC, that have now been moved to the Regional desks. There are also some teams who handle both the Regional and shepherding desks, so theirs is a huge job. While our goal is to make the transition as seamless as possible, there will be some glitches during this period of transition and adjustment.
51. Thank you for your patience and understanding. And again, if you encounter things in your communications and procedures with the Regional desks that raise questions, please do write and let them know. They‚ too‚ want to do their best to serve you!
52. Shepherding desks: As you know, the shepherding desk is an arm of the CS RBC. The shepherding desk's mandate is to help the CS RBC with matters and communications pertaining to the CS board and Charter discipline. In the past the RSs, and particularly the then VS board RS(s), gave a lot of their time and attention to handling disciplinary matters. However, as you have read in recent GNs, the main focus of the CS RBC has shifted to training the coaches so that they can better help your shepherds, which will have a positive impact on your Home. The launch of the coach program worldwide is now upon us, and getting the coach program off to a strong start is very important. It's a big job, and as I explained extensively in "Getting Stronger—Part 4," this is going to take the majority of your CS RBCs' time and focus over the coming months.
53. Because the CS RBCs will not be able to give the needed time and attention to the coach program as well as continue being full–time disciplinarians of the Family, Mama and I have counseled them that their primary focus needs to be on proactively strengthening the Family. For your CS RBC, that means training the coaches and focusing less on matters of discipline. They will still give counsel to their shepherding desk team, but they will not give their shepherding desks (or previous disciplinary-related communications that they took care of before the shepherding desks were in operation) the concentrated focus that they may have in the past. So if you notice a dip in your shepherding desk service, or if you get a letter that isn't perfect or is less polished than you're used to, please understand that this is the reason why. The CS RBCs will still approve major decisions which concern your Home, and they will continue to train their shepherding desk staff, but they will not be as involved in going over the presentation of every letter or minor decision made.
54. The benefits from this shift of focus are that you'll be receiving shepherding via your Home shepherds who are being trained by the coaches, who will be trained by the CS RBCs. It is our hope and prayer that as a result of this training, there won't be as many problems that the shepherding desks will need to address. We are aiming to fix the root of the problem instead of primarily focusing on the symptoms.
55. The long-term goal of these changes is that there will be better and more effective service given to each Home. Our goal is for each desk and office to be able to focus on their job, without being divided between many other facets of the work, so that they can do their job efficiently and well. We pray that the end result of this restructuring of the Family's administrative sector will be better and more efficient service to you.
56. We pray that these explanations are helpful. We love each of you, and we want to make sure you receive the very best! At the same time, thank you for your understanding of the changes that are taking place. And please pray for the dear ones who are doing these jobs. The administration and office jobs are very big, somewhat tedious, and often thankless jobs. But you can support those who sacrifice to fill these posts through your prayers‚ remembering that prayer is the most you can do!
57. Family Policy Council: Another change within the administration structure of the Family has been the creation of the Family Policy Council (FPC). The FPC consists of all of the RSs, the international board chairpersons, the department head of the WS Administration department, and others appointed by Mama and me. Mama and I are, of course, the heads of the FPC, and I chair the meetings. The purpose of the FPC is to advise Mama and me about Family policy and help to formulate it. All new policy and major changes are discussed extensively, prayed about thoroughly, and voted on by the FPC.
58. As to the practical management of developing and implementing new policy, we have set up an FPC steering committee consisting of the international board chairpersons and the department head of the WS Administration department. The FPC steering committee meets regularly to discuss and pray about new policy, as well as the implementation of that policy. Much of the fine details are worked out in the FPC steering committee. The steering committee then sends out the policy suggestions‚ along with the details, to the full FPC. The FPC members pray about the matter, then make comments, ask questions, give alternative ideas, etc. The FPC steering committee then reviews these suggestions, prays about them, etc., makes the necessary changes, and returns the policy in question to the full FPC for final approval and a vote.
59. Mama and I have been very thankful for the FPC structure, as it has made the creating and implementing of new policy much more efficient. We are grateful to the RSs and IBCs, all of whom have very busy lives, for their willingness to put the time, prayer, prophecy, and hard work into helping us develop overall Family policy. Doing so has added greatly to their workloads, but we feel their counsel is greatly needed. As the Bible says‚ "In the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Pro.11:14). Because Family policy is something which affects every Family member, Mama and I are desperate to get it right. With the help of the FPC members we have a large body of experienced‚ multi-national representatives, whom we are able to counsel with on these important matters. Please keep the FPC, and Mama and me, in your prayers, as the responsibility of leading the Family is a heavy weight to bear.
60. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you members of the FPC for your willingness to help in the often tedious and time-consuming work of dealing with the details of new policy. We don't see how we could do the job well without your help.
61. It's been a little over two months since I wrote a notice to update you on happenings within the Family, especially in regards to the media and the activities of the apostate-type former members.
62. The last time we wrote you we spoke about a possible FBI investigation that ex–member Jim LaMattery claimed was underway regarding the Family. At the time, we explained that no Family member had been contacted by the FBI or any other authorities in the U.S. That remains unchanged, and there is no indication of an official investigation. In fact, Jim LaMattery's website has become a static site with virtually no activity.
63. On the media front, for the most part things have died down. In April a few articles came out in Japan, one of which was a reprint of an article published in the U.S. These articles had little, if any, impact on the work in Japan. Other articles that were in the lineup both in Japan and in the U.S. haven't gone to press. People magazine published an article in the States, as did their sister magazine‚ Who in Australia, which featured detractor stories. Although it was quite negative, they did give a fair amount of rebuttal space to Family spokespeople.
64. Shortly before this, an article came out in the U.S., in Rolling Stone magazine, which was particularly vicious. The author of this article apparently attended the Ricky memorial and interviewed a number of antagonistic former members. Unfortunately, the reporter took on board all that they said as the gospel truth and repeated it in the article, while giving no coverage to our spokespeople. A researcher on the Family commented on the astounding number of inaccuracies, innuendoes, and lies in this one article, and said it was difficult to even recognize any aspect of the Family in the story. Rolling Stone is known for its anti-religious bias in general‚ so it's not surprising that they stooped to such yellow journalism.
65. One of the main objectives of the article is to defame and discredit Mama and me, which the Lord had already warned us of many months ago in "Advancing Anyway":
Just as the Enemy attempted to get at Nehemiah, the leader of the day, so is he attempting to get at My anointed leadership of today and discredit My Word. He wants to destroy your faith and stop My work through you, My Endtime army. That's his ultimate goal—his ongoing agenda—and although it's a futile attempt, he will still use whatever means and whatever people he has available in order to delay, hinder, and slow down My work through you.
He knows he cannot stop Me, but he's always seeking ways to delay and hinder My wheels of progress‚ and through this media storm he's attempting to throw a monkey wrench in this very important year of strengthening ahead. He knows that once you, My Family‚ have passed through this year of strengthening, you will be a force to be reckoned with—one he has not had to contend with up until this point. (ML #3531:61-62‚ GN 1121)
66. It's quite clear that our enemies are desperate and grasping at straws, as they see that their media campaign of the first part of the year has come to naught. While they had some opportunity to air their issues, it hasn't amounted to much, and for the most part hasn't had any bearing on our progress in reaching the world for Jesus, despite all their efforts to the contrary.
67. Apparently, in their desperation to demonize the Family and discredit Mama, our detractors are stooping lower by the day to try to draw the attention of the press to their cause. In the Rolling Stone article, there are allegations regarding Mama that have no basis in fact, such as that she had sexual relations with Ricky. This is an absolute lie! Even Ricky himself never accused Mama of such things in his video or his Internet rants about the Family. Thankfully, so far the media at large has not given coverage to the more extreme tales of our ex-members, and the Rolling Stone article stands out for its utter disregard of the truth and obvious intent to demonize the Family and its leadership.
68. Our U.S. spokespeople submitted a rebuttal in the form of a letter to the editor, which we're including below for your information. Please feel free to share this with any relatives, friends or contacts that may have read the article and would like to know what our response was to it. As you'll note, the spokespeople didn't respond to every lie or inaccuracy, as there were just too many to address. But they did address the core of the issue, which was the discriminatory nature of the article, and the clear intent of discrediting Family leadership.
69. A number of SGA posters from the My Conclusion site wrote the reporter from Rolling Stone to ask that their side of the story be heard, and these were written off in the article as "robotic, stilted" cult members and part of the Family's "spin machine." It seems these letters really hit the mark for the reporter to have to strike out so defensively in his article.
70. God bless you, our second generation members‚ who have taken it upon yourselves to write reporters and make your stories known, as well as protesting for your rights. You are making a difference! These letters have definitely had an impact and made reporters aware of the fact that they are only hearing one very distorted side of the story from our antagonistic former members. Several articles that have been published over the last few months have quoted the My Conclusion posters, and made note of their e–mails.
71. One magazine in Australia, Marie Claire, published the following two letters of complaint from Family SGAs to the article they published on the Family in their May edition:
I'm a second generation member of The Family International. My attention has been drawn to your article about our missionary movement, in connection with the suicide of Ricky Rodriguez ["Killing Myself is The Only Way Out Of The Cult," May]. Some of the statements published there are quite misleading. The presented "fact" that "for many years cult members had virtually no contact with the outside world" was surprising to me. I've lived in over 15 different countries, and had substantial contact with the local people and cultures. Mine has been a beautiful and happy life thus far, not only free from abuse, but filled with a "world education" that few have the opportunity to enjoy. I would want nothing better for my own future children.—Lorie Richards (via e-mail).
I'm currently working in Japan as a missionary for The Family International. I was born in the States but grew up in Japan. I was never stuck at home or abused by my parents or members of the group. On the contrary, I remember making friends my own age and, although I was home-schooled in English, I also learnt Japanese and visited ancient castles, studied the Buddhist religion, etc. These wonderful experiences as a child led to my decision to remain a missionary. Now I work with young (12-17 years) members of our group to give them that same chance. I'm speaking out on behalf of these teens. They don't understand why we are being misrepresented.—Michelle Dykas (Nagano, Japan).
72. Thanks again for your continued key-empowered prayers for the battle in the media, which have availed much! Keep them coming‚ dear Family, so that the message will be heard and we can continue to forge ahead with the year of strengthening and all the wonderful progress and victories the Lord has ahead.
73. Along with praying, please continue to do all you can to prepare your Home for future persecution. The Enemy is angry that his attacks so far this year have come to naught. The Lord showed us that Satan is working to strengthen his forces against us, as he knows we are growing stronger, and that he will try to attack again, even as early as before the end of this year. So let's pray desperately against his attacks, claiming the keys of protection.
"Call upon the keys of protection and deliverance that they may hide you from the blast of the Evil One and those who seek to ensnare you."
"I will deliver you from every evil work and preserve you to do My will as you call on the power of the keys."
"As you call on and wield the keys, I will give you power over every attack of the Enemy, to destroy his power."
"Use the keys to fight desperately in prayer and then rest assured that the power of your enemies is no match for the power that I will wield on your behalf."
74. Before ending this notice I want to share an exciting development within the Family, and that is the tremendous job the JETTs and teens are doing in getting out the Activated subscriptions. They have taken up the challenge of the AIP (Activated Incentive Program) and are getting out subscriptions like never before. It's just incredible to hear about their fire and faith for getting out Activated. They are showing all the rest of us that it can be done! We're so proud of them!
75. Since the start of the AIP (which was launched at different times in different regions), worldwide there has been an increase of over 1,000 subscriptions sold compared to the same period prior to the AIP. We don't have the exact numbers on how many of those were from the JETTs and teens, but it's obvious that the program has had a great impact. Most of all, it's inspired the JETTs and teens and increased their faith and vision to witness. Let's do what we can to make the change a lasting one!
76. It's wonderful that amidst all of these restructuring changes, and all that the Enemy is trying to do to defeat us as a Family, we're still excelling at the job we do best: Witnessing and sharing God's truth with others. The Enemy is shooting himself in the foot, because his attempts aren't stopping us. If anything, he's just spurring us on to do more for Jesus. Hallelujah!
77. Well, that was a lot of information for one update, which is what happens when I wait so long in between notices. I'll close with a prophecy of encouragement from our sweet Lover, followed by the rebuttal to the Rolling Stone article that I mentioned earlier.
Much love,
Peter
78. (Jesus:) It's wonderful that despite everything, you're fighting hard to win! Even though the Enemy is fighting with discouragement, even though the changes you're enacting are monumental, even though you're feeling overwhelmed with all that there is to do‚ and even though your earthly enemies continue to fight you, you're not giving up! You're made of the stuff that is "buoyant enough to float instead of drown."
79. Yes‚ it may seem like you're just a little cork floating in the wide ocean of life, with the big waves of change around about you, and the big angry whale of the Enemy trying to make you drown with his attacks. But you're still holding on, you're still fighting, you're still trusting‚ and you're still floating. You're not about to be defeated, and you won't be, as long as you stay close to Me. I make you undefeatable.
80. I promise you that the waves of change won't always be as ominous as they seem right now. The sea of change will settle. And the big bully of the Enemy won't fight you in the same way forever either. You will have times of peace. The Enemy will be defeated in his present battles, and he will give up his present strategies. So just ride through this rough time, My loves. You were made to float, not drown.
81. I am proud of you for making it through the first half of the year of strengthening. That's tremendous progress, and something that you can praise Me for with all of your heart. The knowledge of your progress thus far should also serve to give you courage for the future. You can know that if you have made it through the first half of the year, you can make it through the second half. You have proven your resilience; don't doubt your future resolve.
82. I have all that you need to make it from today until the end of the year. I have the faith that you need to prepare for the next Home review. I have the strength and fire that you need to prepare for and enact your witnessing plans throughout all of these months, and especially during the Christmas season. I have the patience you need to care for your children, to adjust to the new Home structure‚ and to wait for the changes to take root. I have the joy and peace and happiness that you need to continue praising Me and living in the joy of My Spirit.
83. You might not feel that you have enough faith for the rest of the year, but I never asked you to have that kind of faith. All you need is faith for today—faith to tackle what I ask you to do today, faith to rise above the difficulties today, faith to float on the ocean of change and avoid the Enemy's attempts to defeat you today. So have faith, My loves.
84. Receive a new dose from Me every day by calling on the keys of faith. They will uphold you and guide you and strengthen you and protect you. The keys of faith will see you into the future. (End of message.)
*
The recent article "The Life and Death of the Chosen One" published by your magazine was by far the most biased, inaccurate, and pejorative account to date of the tragic events that took place January 7, 2005, involving Ricky Rodriguez and Angela Smith. It's apparent that the author did not make the slightest effort to affirm the veracity of his sources or to avail himself of impartial information, choosing instead to "spin" a tale of scandal, rumor and hearsay. The voices of current second generation members of the Family International, which tell a very different story, are callously dismissed as part of "the Family's spin machine." The 1,700+ young people serving in the Family as Christian missionaries, many in third world countries, had a right to be heard and afforded the same respect and credibility the author afforded to former members. Professionalism required balanced coverage of the subject matter, with all sides fairly represented.
One would conjecture from reading this article that the author condones and even relishes the murder of Angela Smith as some sort of necessary evil. The position and purpose is obvious from the onset: "Angry as Ricky was, he also seemed relieved. Finally‚ he'd get some peace, some revenge and expose his mother, Karen Zerby..." Angela Smith was a beautiful person who had the same rights as any other citizen in this country. By allowing this article to be published in your magazine, am I to understand that the magazine condones or justifies murder as a means to an end?
This article also refers to the Christian fellowship, the Family, as "one of the most secretive and destructive religious cults of the past forty years...operat[ing] in the shadows around the world." This statement is absolutely ludicrous. Members of The Family International have carried out missionary works in over 100 countries around the world, leading millions to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, as well as providing active assistance in a multitude of humanitarian aid projects in poor third world countries. Clearly, activities of this nature are hardly carried out in "the shadows."
Prevalent through this article is a vicious intent to malign and demonize Karen Zerby (administrative and spiritual leader of the Family). Court findings and internal Family publications paint a very different picture of Karen and the efforts she has made to ensure the safety and well-being of Family members, both young and old. Justice Ward made note of this role in his custody ruling: "I am now totally satisfied that The Family, I would think largely at Maria's prompting, has since 1986 made determined and sustained efforts to stamp out child sexual abuse and to prevent any inappropriate contact between adults and children whether young children or teenage children. I have no evidence that child sex abuse is presently prevalent any more within The Family than outside it." (Family Division, Case W 42 1992, London, England, October 19, 1995).
Although the Family International in the past has, as you stated‚ confronted allegations of sexual and physical abuse in the early 1990s, courts on three continents found these allegations to be false. Over 600 Family children were examined by court–appointed officials and not one of them was ever found to have been physically, emotionally‚ or psychologically abused in any way. That is a fact—which your article sorely lacks.
I consider that one-sided reporting of this nature foments discrimination and the demonizing of minority religious movements such as The Family, seriously endangering every precept of religious freedom and basic human rights. In order to set the record straight and in interest of fairness, I ask that you print this response.
Claire Borowik for the Family International
Subjects:
Hurricane Katrina relief
Recent media activity
September 6, 2005
Dear Family,
85. Thank you so much for your faithfulness to pray against persecution and the Enemy's attempts to hinder or slow down the many victories being won through the year of strengthening and restructuring of the Family! In answer to your key-empowered prayers, the Lord has continued to strengthen, protect, and bless the Family on every front.
86. (Jesus:) Nevertheless, the Gospel is preached, and the sample shines through even in spite of the contention. And you will shine as stars as you continue to step up to the light and let your lights so shine that they may see your good works and glorify Me. My sheep hear My voice and see through the lies and will embrace the light‚ My loves.
87. As you have heard, Hurricane Katrina caused a colossal amount of destruction and over a thousand deaths in the U.S. The Family there has mobilized to do what they can to help with the relief efforts. Please do pray for them, as working in these types of situations is extremely intense and taxing. You can find out what they are doing by logging on to their website at http://www.katrinareliefhome.com. God bless all of you who are working day and night to make a difference in that situation. Mama and I and our WS Homes are keeping you in our daily prayers for your strength, anointing, protection, unity, supply‚ and all that you need for your Homes and those you are ministering to.
88. Since my last update in July, there has been ongoing media activity, although this has been limited to the U.S. for the most part. The news generated by Angela's and Ricky's deaths made the standard rounds of the newspapers first, followed by television networks, and lastly it is making the rounds in the magazine racks and the TV news magazine programs. So the Lord has kept the Family in the news, and much of the coverage in this past six weeks has at least included clear statements from our spokespeople to provide something from our side.
89. One program, NBC Dateline, which had been filmed and slotted to air in March, was shelved at that time but aired just recently in August. NBC Dateline had done quite a negative program featuring a second-generation detractor last year, which didn't include our side of the story at all. Our spokespeople pointed out to them how one-sided their first program had been, and it seems they made an attempt to make this program a more balanced one. Of course, considering the subject matter it covered, it was still quite negative, but generally speaking there was a lot more witness and explanation of our beliefs than other programs have included this year. It also included an interview from researcher Dr. James Chancellor, who wrote a book on the Family several years ago. Dr. Chancellor's comments were accurate and fair, and explained our beliefs regarding the Law of Love and much about our lives.
90. The program also included clips of Claire and quotes from her statement, which were a positive witness, as well as a testimony of our belief in repentance and forgiveness in the next life. The program ended by noting: "While the controversy over the Children of God continues, the Family claims to have some 12,000 members today, working in ministries in more than 100 countries."
91. In my last update, I mentioned about the article People magazine published in the States. They later published a short excerpt of a letter to the editor from an SGA, which was helpful in setting the record straight. Thanks, dear Mike, and all of you of the second generation who have stepped up to the plate to help defend the Family and make the truth be heard! Here is the excerpt that was published:
I just finished reading about the Family and had to laugh. Roselle says he only had a first-grade education at age 20. I grew up in the Family, and he was one of my childhood friends between the ages of 10 and 18. He was an extremely bright person. I only wish you had quoted some of us in your story as extensively as you quoted Roselle and others. It only seems fair. Since it's too late for that, you've got my two cents here.—Mike Moore, San Diego, Calif. (People Magazine, August 8, 2005)
92. Rolling Stone also printed excerpts of Claire's rebuttal to their article in August. However, along with it they printed a rebuttal to the rebuttal from the author of the original article, who apparently didn't take kindly to standing corrected for his biased and highly inaccurate article.
93. A local newspaper in one major city in the States also covered the story, while focusing on the local work, and afterwards printed the entire rebuttal our spokespeople worked on with the local Home in that city.
94. A few other articles and programs expected to appear have yet to do so. A company in England has been filming a documentary about Ricky and Angela's deaths over the past six months, which will apparently focus on the allegations of our detractors. Please pray that the Lord will have His way and that the producers will include the information they have received from our spokespeople, so that the program will have some balance. Please also pray against any fall–out from this program. Cosmopolitan in England did a feature story on one of our detractors‚ but did not contact the Family before publishing their article. Therefore it was entirely one-sided.
95. 60 Minutes in New Zealand also did a half-hour segment on the Family. Although it was quite negative, the brethren had already received in prophecy that it would be a "tempest in a tea cup," and that seems to be the case. Apparently this program has been targeting different churches or fringe religious groups in what appears to be an anti–religious campaign, and this program was one more program in that series.
96. As a final point, we had mentioned to you that Jim LaMattery has been campaigning actively against the Family in the States. At this point, it appears that a popular program, called the "Dr. Phil Show," intends on airing a program with LaMattery and his extended family with the intent of furthering his cause. Dr. Phil is a psychologist and the format of the show is similar to a lot of other talk shows, such as "The Oprah Winfrey Show," only with a psychological "let me give you some good advice" bent. From what we have heard, the show is now airing trailers for this program, which is scheduled to air in September. This program tends to be quite sensationalistic, with secret cameras and setups to precipitate crises. Please pray against any negative fall-out from this program, and particularly that it will not be used of the Enemy to work against reconciliation and healing with former members. The program portends to be quite negative and one-sided, but the Lord through our prayers can minimize or negate any actual damage and protect His children.
97. Thanks, dear Family, for your ongoing prayers for the cessation of media coverage of this story. Please pray that if it is the Lord's will that the Family continues to be highlighted in the media, that He will allow a witness to come through and His sheep will hear His voice and discern the truth. Please also continue to pray for your media teams and PR boards as they pray‚ counsel, and hear from the Lord about media responses and proactive measures in their areas.
98. Let's also continue to pray for the strengthening of each of our Homes during this time of media battles and preparation for future persecution, that the Lord will continue to use these obstacles to strengthen us individually and as a Family for the future He has prepared for us as shining witnesses for Him. "This is your heritage, My loves—to have the greatest faith, the strongest connection, the most apparent anointing that I have given to anyone on Earth throughout all time! You will be My beacons on the Earth, and as others touch you, they too will be set alight!" (ML #3351:94; ML #3359:88).
99. Mama and I are so thankful for each of you and how you have weathered the storms and continue to bear witness of the truth every day as you faithfully witness, follow up‚ and feed His sheep! His truth is marching on every day, and grows in the hearts of the many, many lives touched by your witness! "They can't stop our rain!"
With much love,
Peter
Subject: Leadership training and the Academy International
October 18, 2005
Dear Family‚
100. God bless you! Mama and I love you very much, and appreciate the many prayers that you've been praying since my last update. Your prayers are helping to turn the tide of the battle in the spirit, and empowering our Husband to perform many great miracles on our behalf.
101. As you know, the Lord has called this year the year of strengthening. The Lord has shown Mama and me to work to strengthen the overall Family through the Word, via targeted GNs like "The Art of War" series, the "Training Winning Teams" series, as well as through things like the restructuring‚ the Home reviews, and the renewal. Besides strengthening the Family overall, our Husband also told us that an important part of strengthening the Family for the future is to strengthen the leadership of the Family at all levels.
102. We sought the Lord as to which leadership levels were most important to strengthen first, as all leadership levels are in need of further training. He clearly showed us to focus our efforts at the Home level first. So we devoted a great deal of time to developing and producing the Home Shepherd Training Program and the Coach Training Program.
103. The Lord told us that these programs were the most urgent to develop, as they targeted areas of leadership that were vital for the strengthening of the Family at the Home level. Better trained Home shepherds will strengthen the Homes spiritually, which is key to building winning team Homes. In addition to this‚ helping the shepherds do their job, via the coach program‚ by God's grace, will also go a long way to strengthen the Homes.
104. The next focus the Lord directed us to was to work to strengthen the body of top leadership. This body includes the RSs (regional shepherds) and the IBCs (international board chairpersons). The RS load has grown over the years almost to the breaking point, as has the IBC job. It's become increasingly clear that besides strengthening those who already hold these positions, we also need to raise up others who can enter this level of leadership either as RSs or as helpers for and co-workers with the RSs or IBCs.
105. In light of this, the Lord directed us to develop a training program for those who are entering into this level of leadership. Even though the number of people who work at this leadership level are few‚ the Lord said it was important to invest the time in a program to train them, and to also make them aware of the difficulties and sacrifices that are unique to the job of top leadership, so they could make an informed, prayerful decision as to whether or not working in or with this level of leadership is truly their calling. The Lord made it clear that developing this program was going to be a tremendous amount of work, but that it was vital for both the immediate and long-term future.—That such a program could be used to train those who will enter this leadership level now and in the years to come.
106. Mama and I, along with the CS board, spearheaded the preparation of this training program. All of the RSs participated by giving input and counsel. After months of preparation, a six-week meeting was held‚ hosted by me and the IBCs of the CS board‚ Misty and Joy. Mama didn't attend this program as she needed to remain at home to work on many needed GNs.
107. Twenty-four young potential leaders from around the world attended the program, called The Academy International, which ran for nearly six weeks, from August 22 to September 30. The program was held in Mexico, at the CTC. God bless the Family there‚ who took such good care of us and were wonderful hosts.
108. A team of RSs and members of WS—14 in total, who we dubbed "the core team"—helped us to run the program. Our team met together for a week before the attendees arrived for prayer, brainstorming, planning, and hearing from the Lord, etc., so most of the core team members were away from Home for seven weeks or more. I'm so thankful to all of these folks for their willingness to sacrifice to come and help me host these meetings. I couldn't have done it without them; it was a real teamwork effort.
109. The weeks of the program were intense, both for those who attended as well as for those of us who ran the program. Not only were we hosting a six-week-long program, but we were also working on reproducing it at the same time, creating videos, audio files, supplementary reading material, etc., which as I mentioned above, will provide training for those who enter this level of leadership in the years to come. God bless the core team who headed up this side of things, and the attendees who played a big part in helping us to accomplish a lot more than we had originally anticipated on the reproduction front.
110. I want to thank those of you who sacrificially gave up your mates or loved ones or Home members so that they could attend this program. I'm sure it wasn't easy to have them gone for so long, but I know that the Lord will reward you in special ways for the part you played in making these meetings possible. You might not see immediate rewards, but through your sacrifices and giving to the Lord, you have played an important part in moving the Family forward.
111. We hope to continue to develop more training programs in the future. These programs take time to develop and produce, but our prayer is that throughout 2006, other programs will be prepared for the Family. A number of boards are beginning to develop board-specific training programs. Please keep all of these programs in your prayers.
112. Thank you, dear Family, for your faithfulness, loyalty and love. Thank you for doing your part to make the Family what it is, for continuing to strengthen your personal life and Home, for being faithful witnesses and fulfilling our commission—that of showing Jesus' love to the world. Mama and I are proud of you‚ and we love you very much.
Much love‚
Peter
Subject: Appointment of new RSs
December 9, 2005
113. God bless you, dear Family. We love you very much! Mama and I wanted to let you know the good news that we are appointing eight new RSs, all young people who recently attended the Academy International (AI). The RSs of the corresponding regions put forth these people's names as suggested appointments to the RS position before the AI. After we prayed about it, they were notified while at the AI of the opportunity for them to become RSs, if they wished, and then they had some weeks to pray about it, discuss it and pray together with their mates, turn over their responsibilities as needed, etc. They accepted the offer, we confirmed it once again with the Lord, and are now announcing their appointments. They will begin their official work as RSs in January 2006.
114. The new RSs are:
Amy in the USA
Carola in South America
Claire (married to Pedro, RS) in Mexico
David (married to Victoria) in Brazil
Esther (married to Miguel, RS) in Mexico
Isamu (married to Leika) in Japan
Nora (newly married to Gabe) in Africa
Timothy (married to Mercy) in India
115. We're very thankful that these dear ones are willing to step into this top leadership position. The RS job has only continued to grow, and the present RSs are very thankful to have more shoulders to help carry the weight. And we're thankful for more young people to bring fresh inspiration, ideas, vision and even physical strength to the realm of top leadership. Many of these new RSs were already RBCs for a number of years, and others were helping to oversee or manage the RD or SD or providing other such services to the Family in their regions.
116. This appointment is not to say that these eight who attended the Academy International and who are now becoming RSs are the only ones who are "stepping into top leadership positions." We are simply announcing the appointment of these new RSs as one of the immediate results of the Academy International. The others who attended the AI also did tremendously well going through the AI leadership course. They made very good decisions of dedication, conviction and yieldedness, and they, too, are on their way to being used greatly in leadership. There is a great need for leadership in every sphere within the Family, and we don't consider that being an RS is "the ultimate." We hope to continue to train leaders in every sphere of Family life, not just RSs, but also RBCs, core team members of RSs (those who help RSs directly), those who help to man the SDs and RDs, members of WS units, coaches, Home shepherds, etc. The boards are working to this end also, creating training programs to raise up and strengthen pillars throughout the board structure at all levels.
117. Months ago when praying about how to best raise up new leadership in the RS realm, the Lord emphasized the importance of there being a training program in place to more easily orient new RSs to the job‚ and so they can receive needed training at the onset. Of course, being in leadership is an ongoing learning experience, and we expect all Family leadership to continue to receive training, as is the case with all Family members. In a work that is constantly expanding, changing and growing such as the Family, it's crucial that we each stay stirred up and desperate to continue to improve and grow, both spiritually and in our work. There are, however, special challenges that come with moving into any new level of leadership, and the Lord showed us that it would be much easier for the new RSs if they had an actual plan and program for their training. By approaching it this way, they will understand what's required of them from the onset, feel more confident that they're learning what they should be learning‚ and know that they're getting needed input for the job.
118. We have now established a one–year program by which new RSs will be trained. During this time they will be called freshmen RSs (FRSs). This year will be a time when they will become accustomed to what is expected of them. They will receive training from me and Mama and their teamworkers. They will be made aware of areas that they need to grow in—either in their personal sample, their spiritual life, their work ethic, etc. But even though they will be freshmen RSs and will be in a training program, they will still be RSs. They will have a full vote in the RS body of counsel‚ and they will have the full authority and responsibility of RSs as articulated in the Charter. They are not in a training program to see if they're qualified to be RSs; they are RSs. They have been appointed. The training program is for their benefit, so they will be able to learn about the job and their new responsibilities in an orderly fashion. Unfortunately, this type of training program is something that was missing in previous years‚ and that made it much more difficult for new RSs, as sometimes they were a bit "on their own," which didn't make for a good entry to top leadership, and sometimes they had some pretty rough first years, learning as they went. We hope to make it easier for new RSs with this freshman RS program.
119. Thank you so much for your support and prayers for these new freshmen RSs. We trust that you will be thankful for more shepherds to help guide and strengthen your region, and we'd appreciate your prayers for them.
120. These FRSs received word from Mama and me just recently that their appointment has been confirmed, but that they will not begin their work as RSs until January 2006. Since these FRSs are being appointed while the processing of a Home review is underway in some regions, we've let them know that they're invited, as observers, to sit in on the RS portion of the Home review processing if they wish, but without a vote. Mama and I didn't feel it was fair to expect the FRSs to receive their appointment and then immediately be faced with the responsibility of going over the Home review questionnaires with the other RSs in their region. The Lord confirmed that it would be best for the FRSs to observe the RS processing of the Home review questionnaires, but they will not have a vote or official say in deciding the scores of the Homes. (They will‚ however, have a full RS vote in all RS decisions, beginning in January 2006.) And during the Home review of April 2006, the FRSs will participate fully.
121. We love you very much, dear Family, and sincerely pray that this additional RS leadership will provide you with better care and service. Please pray for all our regional shepherds worldwide; they carry a very big load and are doing their best to serve you.
122. Mama and I and all our WS units are continuing to pray for your Christmas witnessing, and we trust that you're having a wonderful, fruitful, safe, happy time as you minister the Lord's love to others, and reap the tremendous harvest of souls that is waiting.
Much love in our Husband,
Peter
Subject: Home review grades
December 12, 2005
Dear Family,
123. Mama and I love you very much and we're so proud of you for laying down your lives daily for the Lord, the lost and your brethren. You're manifesting your discipleship in many different ways, and we know that it costs you. But we also know, as you've no doubt experienced, that the greater your level of obedience to the Lord despite the costs‚ the more He blesses and rewards you, both spiritually and physically. PTL!
124. It's inspiring to look back over the past year and see the progress that the Family has made as a whole and how much closer we are to where the Lord wants us to be as His sold-out Endtime army. We've made this progress thanks to your willingness to take up the challenge to live the life of disciples and do whatever may be necessary to build true discipleship winning teams. Many of you are still in the process of building those teams, while others of you are just getting started, but the first steps have been taken and we know the rest will follow as we continue to follow and obey. It's been a tough year for many of you, but you're pulling through, and we're proud of you!
125. At the time that you receive this notice you should also be receiving the scores from your October 2005 Home review. Even though the October review is non-binding, it's important that you look at your scores and any comments that you receive back from your RBCs or RSs regarding your review, as it will help you to gauge how you're doing in regards to each board criteria, and highlight areas which you may need to progress in before the next review in April 2006. We also pray that it will be encouraging for you to see how well you are doing in certain boards where you got a passing score!
126. You will be receiving six scores, one from each board, and each one is expressed as a percentage. Here's what each score means:
90% or higher: Excellent
80% to 89%: Good
below 80%: Poor
127. The standard which each discipleship Home should strive for is 80% or higher in each of the six boards.
Your overall grade
128. With the above percentages in mind, we considered what kind of overall grade Homes should receive. Should it be a percentage based on the average of the six board scores or some similar formula? That would have the advantage of making it easier for a Home that is really strong in one board to compensate for their lacks in another board, by allowing an "excellent" score in one board to average out a "poor" score in another board.
129. However‚ in order to be a winning team and a good sample discipleship Home, a Home needs to be up to the standard in all the board pillars. It's not enough to say, "Our children are not being educated properly, but that's okay because we're doing really good in our outreach." Or, "Home members are not being shepherded like they should, but that's okay, because our strong point is teaching our children." While the Lord doesn't expect perfection, He has made it clear in the New Wine that He expects us to have good sample discipleship Homes, and in order to do that, we have to be living the criteria for all the boards—not just some.
130. So the plan that the Lord gave is simple: In order to pass Home review, a Home should receive a good or excellent score—that is‚ 80% or higher—in all six boards.
131. If you've already received your October scores, in looking at them you may feel that this standard is out of reach. So before panicking, please read the rest of this notice to understand how this will be implemented and when you will be expected to reach that goal.
132. Of course we realize that it's not realistic to expect that at this point in time, every FD Home, or even most FD Homes‚ will get 80% or higher in every single board. Many of you are still working on building and strengthening your winning teams, and while much progress has been made, there's still more to be done to get to where we need to be. Nevertheless, as we discussed this issue and asked the Lord about it, He indicated that it was important that we have a solid goal to shoot for with a high standard.
133. Here's an excerpt of a message the Lord gave about setting this goal:
134. (Jesus: ) The goal is that each of your Homes is living the FD standard in each of the board pillars. That equals truly living as a discipleship Home. And that's what I will require of each FD Home. I will not compromise in this area because I know that you need to reach this standard, and I know it's a goal that is reachable. It may not seem reachable to most of you right now‚ but you are making good progress toward that goal, and I'm using that goal as the measuring stick by which you can measure your progress.
135. What that translates to in regards to the Home review is this: I expect that the process of strengthening will take time and I've built that in to the plan. I'm not expecting perfection from you. It's progress that I want. But it's progress with a goal. (End of message.)
136. Once the Lord had established what goal we should shoot for, that of getting a good or excellent score in each board pillar, we then counseled together with the Family Policy Council and sought the Lord as to when we should expect FD Homes to reach this goal. Should it be at the April 2006 review, and if not, what is the timetable for attaining it?
137. The plan the Lord laid out, which I'll explain now, is a continuation of what He has been bringing us through the last couple of years—that of steady progress at a rate that encourages us to push forward and not lapse back into our former compromised state, while at the same time being realistic and not trying to do too much so quickly that it causes Homes to work themselves into a frenzy trying to fulfill every point in the criteria in order to retain their FD status.
138. Mama and I realize that the introduction of the Home review system has been an enormous change for the Family. While many of you have expressed how helpful it has been to have the board criteria and questionnaires, so that you can gauge your progress more effectively and see where improvement is needed, we know that it has also added pressure and stress to your lives. It takes time to meet as a Home to discuss and fill out the six questionnaires. It takes time to try to follow through on the points where you see you need to improve. It's just plain not easy to work on pulling up our socks collectively as a Family, and we know you've all felt the strain. It's hard work, and in some cases, you've felt overwhelmed and wondered how you're going to be able to keep up and make the progress you need to make. You've felt the pressure of getting up to par in all six board pillars‚ and you've seen that it hasn't been possible to work on everything at once.
139. Mama and I understand this, and because of this, we've been seeking the Lord for His realistic timetable of progress. As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day," and neither will our FD Homes become strengthened overnight, or even in six months or one year. We've been through the year of strengthening and tremendous progress has been made. But the Family overall, and each FD Home‚ is a complex operation, and given the diversity of people and needs, which you can see reflected in the board criteria, it's simply going to take time to achieve the final goal the Lord has set before us.
140. Having said that, the Lord has given us a timetable for progress toward the goals He's given us as a Family. This plan will be reviewed in the months to come as we continue to seek the Lord and counsel with the RSs about how it's going with the Home review and whether the Lord wants us to make any adjustments as we go along. So what I'll explain in this notice isn't necessarily written in stone‚ but is what we'll go with unless the Lord leads differently or adjusts it down the line as we see how things play out.
141. By the April 2007 Home review, we will expect that all FD Homes are getting a good or excellent score (80% or more) in all six boards. That means that if in April 2007 you receive a poor score (less than 80%) in one or more of your questionnaires, your Home will have failed Home review and will go through a process we've termed consequences, one of which could result in the loss of FD status. I'll explain more about the various consequences later in this notice.
142. This timetable gives FD Homes nearly a year and a half to continue to build and strengthen their winning teams, so that by April 2007 at the latest each Home is truly living the criteria in all six boards. Hopefully this goal should relieve you of the pressure of having to excel in every area immediately, while still providing plenty of impetus to keep working on any areas your Home is weak in in order to hit the mark come April 2007.
143. April 2007 may sound faraway right now, but that doesn't mean that we can just not worry about reaching our goal until then. We're already on the path to progress, and we'll continue with our upward climb until we reach the goal. Therefore the Lord showed us to make the following two Home reviews‚ April 2006 and October 2006‚ incremental steps toward the April 2007 goal.
144. In April 2006, which is the next Home review, a Home will pass Home review if it gets a good or excellent score in four or more boards, with one exception: if a Home receives a score below 50% in any questionnaire, then the Home will not pass review and would go to consequences. Or in other words, if a Home receives a poor score in three boards or receives a score below 50% in any board, it will not pass review and would go to consequences.
145. In October 2006, a Home will pass Home review if it gets a good or excellent score in five or more boards, with two exceptions: if a Home receives a poor score in the CS questionnaire, or receives a score below 50% in any questionnaire, then the Home will not pass review and would go to consequences. Or in other words, if a Home receives a poor score in two boards or receives a poor score in CS or receives a score below 50% in any board, it will not pass review and would go to consequences.
146. In implementing this gradual heightened enforcement of the standard, the Lord confirmed that we shouldn't change the standard itself. In other words, He said that we shouldn't make it easier to get good or excellent scores in the board questionnaires now just because all the Homes are not yet strong enough to get high scores in each board. Instead, the Lord showed us that the consequences of not reaching the standard should be less right now, and increase as time goes on‚ as FD Homes are strengthened.
147. Say‚ for example, that in April 2006 you get excellent/good scores in four boards and poor scores in two boards. You'll still pass Home review, but the scores will tell you how you're doing in regards to the criteria and where you need to pull up your socks, in order to make sure that by October you've progressed enough to pass in at least five boards, and by the following April in all six. This would be much more useful to you than getting high scores in April 2006 that don't accurately reflect how your Home measures up against what the final goal is.
148. Here's a message from the Lord explaining why He's giving us more time to reach the full implementation of the criteria across all boards:
149. (Jesus:) My dear brides, I want you to take the time to look back over the past couple of years and see the progress that you have made. You have come a long way and are making good progress. I'm very proud of each one of you because you have held on during this time of change and have pushed forward. You have made the sacrifices that were needed and have regained your position as My Endtime brides.
150. It's very important that you remember this, because otherwise when you are faced with this next step in your strengthening and the results of your Home review‚ you may get discouraged. In all that I'm asking of you, and indeed requiring of you, you can't just look at where you are now; you have to look at where you have been and where you are going and gauge your progress. That's how I look at things. I see your progress and I'm pleased.
151. I know that man is weak. I walked in the flesh and lived with the same temptations and limitations as you. I had to overcome them just as you do. And because I did overcome them, I understand you and I know the difficulties you face. Even though I was without sin, I wasn't without battles and wasn't without the need to learn. I'm not an unjust God who has no feeling for your infirmities and the weaknesses of the flesh. I understand it all. I am a God of love above all. In love I have brought about the Home reviews and the clarifying of the standard, and in love I have allowed a pace at which you can all be strengthened in order to reach the standard.
152. That's why when I look at you I don't just judge your current state. I also look at how far you have come and whether you are making progress. I look at your effort and growth. Growth is the key word here. I don't expect you to go from 0 to 100 in a flash. I know that it takes time to grow into change, and I allow for that. As long as there is growth, growth that can be seen and measured and is in line with My timetable‚ I'm satisfied. If you do this, no matter what your imperfections and lacks are at the moment, in My book you are doing well and I'm proud of you!
153. Why am I bringing all of this out? It's because I want to explain to you how I have led in the implementation of the Home reviews, scoring‚ and what those scores result in for your Home. The direction I'm leading in is along the path of steady progress and strengthening toward an ultimate goal. My goal is for your Homes to be the samples of discipleship and children of David that you are meant to be and that you want to be. The Home reviews are a tool in helping you to reach that goal. But many of you aren't there yet, and to get there you need to take steps of forward progress.
154. I can't allow compromise to regain a foothold in the Family, and that's why there is the Home review. That's why I have made the standard for Family discipleship clear‚ and have made it clear that I will hold you, My dearest brides, to that standard. I will not waver from this, for I know that at this time these are the tools that you need to reach the standard. For those of you who want to live Family discipleship to the full, these Home reviews are My love for you and something to be cherished.
155. But in the implementation of the Home reviews, I am not going to push you beyond your means. I know for many of you the reviews have been a big deal. The criteria are broad and they cover many things. And when you put it all together, it can be overwhelming. That's why I'm going to gently lead and train you and coach you so that you make progress at a steady and sustained rate. I want your progress to be a way of life, and the only way you'll reach that goal is if the progress is steady and constant.
156. With each successive review I will require that you reach a little higher toward the ultimate goal. I'm not going to grade on the curve. I'm not going to lower the standard so that it's easier to reach. No, I'm going to keep the standard where it's at as the goal I want you to reach. I'm going to let you know when I want you to reach that goal by. But since I know that you are going to need time to measure up fully to that goal in every way, I give smaller goals and intermediate time frames to help you reach the overall, final goal.
157. Think about it as training for a marathon. Even if you are in good shape and have run a fair bit, you can't just run a marathon from one day to the next; you need time to train. So you set a goal of completing a marathon, and eventually in completing one within a certain number of hours. If you've never run a marathon before‚ your first goal is to just run one no matter how long it takes you to complete it. You aren't trying to run fast, you just want to train your body to run that distance and endure for that long. So you train and set a target date for a race, and you work toward that.
158. Once you reach that goal‚ then you can start setting new goals for lowering your marathon times, until eventually, down the line, you are ready to run the race and reach your ultimate time goal. But all that takes time and it takes constant training and progress to reach that ultimate goal. It also takes setting several smaller goals along the way by which you can gauge your progress. By having those smaller goals you aren't compromising your ultimate goal; you are simply being realistic and realizing that to get from point A to point B you need to take things in increments, to break down your ultimate goal into a number of smaller goals and tackle them one at a time.
159. So how do you break down your ultimate goal with the Home review into smaller goals and tackle them one at a time? First of all, you need to know what the ultimate goal is. With the Home reviews that goal is that you are fulfilling the criteria of each of the board pillars at a level that is acceptable for Family discipleship Homes. In other words, that you are scoring over 80% in each of the board pillars. The time frame for that is by the April 2007 Home review. So you've got well over a year and a couple of reviews to reach that goal. Those reviews are your "milestones" toward your ultimate goal.
160. When you receive your October 2005 Home review scores‚ you'll be able to see where you are at in relation to each of the board pillars. Some of you may only need to make progress in one or two boards, others in two or three board pillars, and some of you in more. But regardless of where you are at right now, your first "milestone" is the April 2006 Home review, and passing that review in at least four board pillars is what you need to strive for. So you've got to sit down and evaluate how you are doing now and then identify the areas that you are weak in, in order to reach that goal.
161. If you failed in four board pillars at the October 2005 review, I'm not asking you to pass in all of those by the April 2006 review. I'm asking that you pass in at least two of them, while not losing ground in the areas you are doing well in. Don't try to do everything at once. Just make steady progress toward each of your "milestones" and you'll realize that it's easier to progress than you think. Then once you go through the April review and get your scores, you'll be able to see where you need to make progress next and how you are doing in your training regimen‚ and how much further you have to go to the next milestone and so on.
162. My loves, I know you can do it. I know that you have it within you to reach the standard of the Word and live the discipleship life as I intend it to be lived. I have faith in you and I'm proud of you and how far you have come. You are making progress toward the ultimate goal‚ and if you keep at it, if you are realistic in what you can do and work within the timeframe that I have laid out, come April 2007, you'll be where you need to be.
163. You can do it because I'm right there with you, cheering you along and leading the way. I'm your Coach and you've got a multitude of training partners in all the heavenly hosts that I have given you. Use us to the full and soon you'll be running farther and faster than you ever imagined you could. These goals might seem like they are completely out of reach today, but with dependence on Me and the spirit world, determination, discipline, hard work and calling on the power of the keys, you will be amazed at what I can do through you and the heights to which I can take you. Go‚ team, go!
Love, your personal trainer and coach‚
Jesus
164. At this point you might be wondering the following: If Homes are ultimately expected to get a good or excellent score in every board, then what about when events occur outside of your control that cause you to get a poor score in one or more board pillars?
165. There are sometimes legitimate reasons why a Home was not able to fulfill particular criteria during a certain review period, such as prolonged serious sickness or a death‚ prolonged persecution‚ sudden departure of key Home personnel that the Home could not have prepared for, natural disasters, and other circumstances and events beyond their control that greatly affect the operation of the Home. Those are what we would term mitigating circumstances.
166. Each questionnaire has a question at the bottom where you can specify any mitigating circumstances which affected your ability to answer "yes" to a number of questions on the questionnaire. (If it's a matter pertaining to a single question, then please add your comment with the question itself. This would only be for matters pertaining to the overall questionnaire.) For example‚ if there's been ongoing violent civil unrest in your city for the last month and you haven't been able to go out on outreach much because the streets are unsafe, thus affecting your answers to a number of questions on the CGO questionnaire, that's something that you should mention in the overall mitigating circumstances.
167. When going over your review, the review body, made up of the RBCs and RSs, will look over your questionnaires and determine whether the mitigating circumstances stated are indeed legitimate—meaning that they are sufficient to warrant a poor score for that board. Mitigating circumstances will not be judged lightly, as it could be an avenue for compromise by allowing Homes that aren't really upholding the standard as they should to pass due to mitigating circumstances that could have been avoided with more prayer and obedience to the Word. So this will be limited to extreme factors beyond the Home's control or ability to cope with.
168. If the mitigating circumstances are deemed legitimate, then the poor score for that board will not count against you, meaning that if you got good scores in the rest of the boards, you'll pass Home review.
169. Say, for example, that in October 2006 you receive scores of 82, 87, 91, 75, 78, 93. Because you did not receive a good or excellent score in at least five boards, you would technically fail Home review and go to consequences. However, if, using the same example‚ the review board deems that you had legitimate mitigating circumstances which resulted in your score of 75 in one of the boards due to events beyond your control, then that poor score wouldn't be counted, and you would still pass Home review.
170. So the process is as follows: First the review board looks at your scores to see whether you have enough good or excellent scores to pass review (which depends on which review period it is; in April 2006 four good [or excellent] scores will be required, as mentioned earlier). If you don't have enough good scores to pass review, then they will look to see whether you have any legitimate mitigating circumstances. If you have mitigating circumstances‚ those are evaluated and factored in. If you don't have any, or your mitigating circumstances are not judged legitimate‚ then your Home would be subject to consequences.
171. Let's talk for a minute about what these consequences are. When your Home goes to the consequences stage, it means that your regional shepherds will look at your Home and make a call as to what the consequences of your failing to pass Home review should be. By this time they've already considered the mitigating circumstances, so at the consequences stage they'll be looking at other factors.
172. They will look at your scores and how many boards you got a poor score in and what those scores are. For example, a Home in April 2006 (where four good scores are needed to pass) that scores 82‚ 87, 93, 79, 75, 78, is doing considerably better overall than a Home who scores 82, 80, 80, 71, 62, 58, even though both Homes passed in three boards and failed in three others. In the former, the Home is just shy of a passing score in two of the three boards it failed in. In the latter, the Home is getting fairly low scores in a couple of boards and is barely over the line in the three boards that it passed in.
173. They will look at your scores from past reviews. If your Home has been passing the last couple of reviews with flying colors and in this particular review you've dipped below the standard a bit, that's very different than a Home that has been barely making it, or has even been below standard, at the last couple of reviews. They'll also be looking at the progress made in particular boards. Using the preceding example, maybe you received three poor scores of 79, 75, 78, but at the previous review you were 59, 65‚ 72 in those same three boards. Your Home's scores are still poor‚ but you've made a lot of progress.
174. They will look at whether after previous Home reviews you've received warnings or have been placed on Probationary Notice for failing the criteria.
175. They might look at the questionnaires themselves to see which questions resulted in a low score for your Home.
176. They'll of course seek the Lord as to His counsel on how your Home is doing.
177. Having done that, the RSs will decide whether your Home will receive one of the following consequences:
* Pass with a warning that your Home needs to show improvement in the particular weak area by the next review or your status could be in jeopardy.
* Place your Home on Probationary Notice. According to the PN procedures, this means that the RSs would give you specific points which need to be rectified within 60 days in order to come off of Probationary Notice. If your Home fails to rectify the weak points, then your FD status will be in jeopardy.
* Reclassify your Home to MM.
* Reclassify your Home to FM. (This should be rare. Normally an FD Home would go to MM, unless they are not meeting the MM standard.)
178. As you can see, there are several options available to the RSs. In some cases it will be a difficult call as to which consequence a particular Home should receive as a result of failing Home review‚ and your RSs will have to seek the Lord as to His will in each case. There are too many factors and too many different possible scenarios to come up with a long list of rules whereby if a Home's scores are equal to such and such, then they get PN instead of a warning, etc. In each case it will have to be a spirit-led judgment call‚ so please pray for your RSs, as the responsibility is a heavy and difficult one. They—and Mama and I—love you and want to do all we can to help you retain your FD status if that is the Lord's will for you, but at the same time they have a responsibility to uphold the standard and not allow compromise to enter in the ranks in order to protect the future of the Family and our Endtime ministry as a whole.
179. Now we'll backtrack a bit and give you a look at the review procedure that takes place before you receive your six scores (one for each board) and overall pass or fail grade. As you know, once you're done filling out your questionnaires, you upload them to the Home review website (or send them to your RD if unable to access the site). At that point, the questionnaires for each board are sent to your RBCs. So, for example, the PR RBC for Africa will receive all of the PR board questionnaires from the Homes in Africa. Your RBC will look at how you answered each question and decide, based on the information available to them, whether in their opinion, your Home graded itself accurately. In both the April 2005 and October 2005 reviews, the RBCs found that some Homes graded themselves too hard on some questionnaires whereas other Homes graded themselves too generously. They also came across a number of cases where a Home's answer was inaccurate, as they obviously hadn't properly understood the question.
180. The Home review computer program generates a score based on the answers that your Home gives to the questionnaire questions, using the scoring criteria established by the international boards. This score is shown to the RBC when reviewing your file. They have the opportunity to change some of your answers in cases where, as mentioned‚ they feel you were grading yourselves too harshly or too generously, or where you misunderstood. Your original answers to the questions are retained, along with the RBC's changes and their explanation why they suggested your score change for that question, and a second score for your Home is calculated by the program. So the RBC doesn't just arbitrarily change your score, but rather they change responses that they feel were inaccurate‚ and then the program generates a new score based on the same formulas by which it calculated your original score. Any time the RBC makes a change to one of your responses, they must include an explanation as to why they changed it.
181. When your RBC is done reviewing your questionnaire for their board, it will contain the following information: Your initial set of responses and your initial overall score, along with any comments you made in the questionnaire; any changes the RBC made to your answers and the new score generated as a result; any comments added by the RBC. All of this information is then passed on to your regional shepherds (RSs), who together go over the questionnaires for all six boards.
182. The RS body's role in the review process is two-fold. First, they act as a safeguard to the RBCs, by examining each of the changes that the RBCs made to your original questionnaires, reading the RBCs' comments, and then deciding whether to accept each RBC's change‚ let your original answer to a particular question stand‚ or change the answer to something else based on other information that they may have. Having gone through the RBCs' changes and accepted or rejected them, the computer then calculates your final score, again using the same formula as it did for your original score. (So, for example, if you answered every question with a "yes" and expected a 100% score, but got back a 92%, it's because your RBC changed some of the responses and the RSs agreed with their changes.)
183. As with the RBCs, the RSs can't just change your overall score. If the computer shows that based on the answers you gave‚ your score should be 78%, then neither your RBC nor the RSs can decide to just change your score to 82% because they feel you should get a better grade for that board. Rather, they would have to examine the replies to your questions and see if there are any that you answered incorrectly or inaccurately. If there are, they can change those replies and a new score will be generated automatically. If they feel that you answered all of the questions correctly, then the original score will stand.
184. Once the RSs have gone over the RBCs' changes and your final scores have been calculated, the second aspect of the RSs' role in the Home review process is to evaluate any mitigating circumstances, as explained earlier. Then, for any Homes that go into consequences as a result of having poor scores, the RSs decide what those consequences would be.
185. In cases where your RBC and RSs made changes to your questionnaire which resulted in a significant increase or decrease in your final score, you will most likely be hearing from them as to why they made the changes. They may also send you other feedback on your questionnaire, or advice on which areas you may want to focus on in order to improve your score next time around, clarify questions which it seems you may have misunderstood, etc. The scores that you just received for the October 2005 Home review will be considered final. However, remember that they're non-binding‚ so your Home will not go to consequences at this time in any case. So while it's fine to write your RBC asking for clarifications on changes that they made or comments they sent you, please do not request that your scores be changed. Thanks!
186. Please also bear in mind that the scoring of the Home reviews continues to be a work in progress. It's probable that with each review period the questionnaire questions, as well as the scoring formulas, will continue to be tweaked by the international boards in order to make sure that they hit the mark and reflect the criteria standard as best they can, as well as to keep them up to date and make them as clear and easy for you to fill out as possible. The changes between the October 2005 and April 2006 questionnaires probably won't be as major as those you may have noticed between the April 2005 and October 2005 questionnaires for some boards, but smaller modifications may continue to be made with each review.
187. I've explained quite a bit of information in this notice, and you may be a little unclear on some points, so I'll include a brief summary of the main points.
* When you submit your filled–out questionnaires, an initial score is generated for each questionnaire, using the scoring policies created by the international boards.
* Your questionnaires are reviewed by your RBCs (who each review the questionnaires for their particular board), who make changes if they feel your Home answered any questions incorrectly. The computer then generates a new score based on their changes.
* The RSs then review the RBCs' changes and make the final call on whether your original responses stand or the RBCs' changes are accepted. Based on that, the computer generates your final score for each board.
* Your Home then receives (via the Regional desk) the six final board scores, each expressed as a percentage. (You may also receive comments from your RBCs or RSs on your questionnaires.)
* A score of 80% or higher on a questionnaire means that you passed that particular board, with 80% to 89% being considered a good score, and 90% or higher being an excellent score.
* A score below 80% is considered a poor score and means that you failed that particular board's questionnaire.
* The overall grade that your Home receives will be a pass or fail based on how many boards you received good/excellent or poor scores in.
* For the April 2006 review, your Home will pass Home review if you receive a good/excellent score in four or more boards, with one exception: If your Home receives a score below 50% in any questionnaire, then your Home will not pass review.
* For the October 2006 review, your Home will pass Home review if it receives good/excellent scores in five or more boards, with one exception: If your Home receives a score below 50% in any questionnaire, then your Home will not pass review.
* For the April 2007 review (and beyond), your Home will need to receive a good/excellent score in all six boards to pass Home review.
* If you receive enough low scores to fail Home review, then your RSs will evaluate any mitigating circumstances which resulted in your low scores. If they deem that the mitigating circumstances are valid, then the low scores affected by those mitigating circumstances will not be counted against you, which means that your Home would pass review (providing the rest of your board scores not affected by the mitigating circumstances were good or excellent, of course).
* Once mitigating circumstances have been evaluated‚ if your low scores stand, then your Home would go to consequences.
* If your Home goes to consequences, then your RSs would take a closer look at your current board scores and questionnaire responses, as well as your Home's scores from previous reviews, and any other information available to them‚ and will decide through counsel and hearing from the Lord what the consequences should be. Consequences include passing your Home with a warning, placing your Home on Probationary Notice, or reclassifying your Home to MM or FM.
188. Since the October Home review was non-binding, you might wonder why you need to know all the information in this notice now. The reason is that you need to know what will be expected of you at the April 2006 review now so that you can start planning for it and preparing accordingly.
189. Look at your October 2005 review scores, which you've just received (or will receive shortly), and judge them by the standard of April 2006 and see how you would have fared had the October review been binding. If you would have failed review had it been binding, then you know what areas you need to work on in order to make sure that you pass the April 2006 review. On the other hand‚ if your October review scores show that you would have passed the April 2006 review, then you can set your sights on reaching the standard of October 2006 or April 2007.
190. Remember: Don't fritter the time away just because your FD status isn't in jeopardy at this moment, thinking that you have time before you need to pull up your socks and reach the standard. Start on it today, tackling your weak areas one at a time, so that you don't have to cram to pass the test when it comes!
191. In closing, here is some counsel and encouragement that the Lord gave when we asked Him about the Home review, and in particular the goal of attaining a good or excellent score in every board, and the timetable for helping every Home reach that goal as outlined in this notice.
192. (Jesus:) The Home reviews are not meant to be a system of comparing with others; they're meant to be a way for each Home to assess their placement and standing against the discipleship standard‚ and to give them a vision for what to work on next. It's important first to understand that the Home review grading is not meant to make the review an inter-Home competition. It's so each Home can individually see where they stand in relation to the expected standard. That's the reason for the Home review—to give Homes a picture of themselves, to give them a reflection of their work and to show how closely they are living the spirit of the Word and Family discipleship.
193. There will always be areas in any Home that need help or improvement, and those areas will likely change from review period to review period as a result of events of the previous six months and the different areas the Home had to focus on. Family Homes will always have different priorities at different times‚ focusing on the changing conditions and needs of the moment. At one time a Home may have a surge in their outreach and witnessing, later on their children and schooling‚ during other months it may be involvement in JETT camps or board projects, or at another time involvement in some timely proactive PR measures. But during each of those periods of time, whether weeks or months, it's understood that less attention may be given toward other areas of Home life and work, and there may be some things that slip a little. So there will be fluctuations from review period to review period. That's understandable.
194. But as a Home grows and attends to their overall work, their presence to the world around them, and their balanced progress in all areas, they will become not only stronger in each area, but they will also become more adept at maintaining a balance in all the boards even while focusing primarily on one or another. It's a bit of a juggling act and takes time to become proficient at it, just like it does anything else. It takes building a team—a focused, united, winning team that works together where the members help each other; a team that can see the areas that need attention, and adjust to that need, without leaving the other needs undone. It takes time to build that kind of team, and the Home review grading system is meant to help by reflecting back to the Home a picture of how they are doing so they will know what they need to give more attention to next.
195. There will be mitigating circumstances in the way of unforeseen events that couldn't have been prepared for, things that influence the Home and what it is able to do or attend to for a period of time. These things happen for many reasons and can have a great bearing on a Home and how well it may fare on the review—and these circumstances will be accounted for in the final outcome of the review grade. But the point here is that regardless of the spikes and dips in progress, or the circumstances that affect the grades‚ Homes are growing and being strengthened. They are still getting a handle on the myriad of things they have to do and the overall standard that they need to maintain, and while it's taking more time than originally expected to get a clear grasp of it and learn how to juggle all these many balls, the strengthening is happening and it's wonderful to behold.
196. You ask how to both encourage good progress in the right direction while the Homes are still in the conditioning and building stages, and how to grade without embellishment or on the curve, so as to reflect an accurate picture for each review period while allowing for ongoing strengthening. This can be done by lowering the expectations of what will constitute a cumulative of passing grades until the Homes get to the desired point of professionalism. I'm not talking about adjusting the standard, but of qualifying what will be expected in the review results. This can be done by creating a graded system of rising expectations for each review period between now and April 2007.
197. The end goal won't be changed during these interim reviews; Homes will still be judged according to the coming April 2007 standard, but less will be expected of them during the interim reviews. Then, come the April 2007 Home review, Homes should be expected to hit the professional standard. The October 2005 review was non-binding, but the April 2006 review is binding. It starts the real deal and there will be consequences for failure, although the expectations will be lower than the final goal. The expectations for the following October 2006 review should be a little higher‚ and then the April 2007 review will reflect the level of what the Homes should be expected to maintain.
198. This graduated increase in expectations over the next few reviews will help to relieve some of the stress the Homes are feeling as a result of the Home review system. Granted, there will be some pressure; that's unavoidable, as the requirements are rising and Homes have to rise to meet the challenges ahead. But I don't want them to fret unnecessarily, nor do I want to suddenly set the doorknob so high that no one makes it. The purpose isn't to make things so difficult. I want the Family to have peace about these reviews and to be genuinely happy at the purpose for them and for the progress they'll see themselves making. The point is strengthening, not eliminating. The point is building, not tearing away. The point is to become professionals at what the Family does best—being disciples of love—and that takes the same time, work, dedication, and conditioning required of any professional regardless of their field of expertise.
199. I have faith in the Family. I know that they'll rise to the occasion. I know that with each coming review they'll be riding higher than before and will make it over that hurdle, and then the next, until they can take each hurdle, each obstacle that comes their way, without breaking stride or losing momentum until they reach the finish line, that glorious day of My return, having run the race and having won! (End of message.)
200. Mama and I know you can run the race and win‚ and we're praying for you as you strive toward that goal. And if you're feeling weak or discouraged as you look at your October 2005 Home review scores, feeling you have such a long way to go, please don't despair. As the Lord said, you're in the "conditioning and building stages" right now, and neither the Lord nor we are expecting you to pass in all the boards right now. In fact, if you've gotten a poor score in a few boards this time around‚ that's nothing to be alarmed by. That's pretty much par for the course‚ and you have time to work on the areas you're weak in‚ and improve. Please use this time wisely, and call on the keys of progress, victory, and unity as your winning team tackles the challenges before you together!
201. We know that you can make it, dear Family, because the Lord has said that you can make it—with His help! We're all in this together. Mama and I are fighting by your side in prayer, and supporting you during this time of great change, forward movement, and strengthening! Please hang in there and don't give in to worry or fear. Wield the undefeatable weapon of praise whenever the Devil tempts you to feel defeated or discouraged.
We love you. We're very proud of you.
With much love in our Husband,
Peter
Subject: Updated listing of international board chairpersons
January 10, 2006
Dear Family,
202. Happy New Year! We love you and are so thankful for each of you and your faithfulness, love, dedication and desire for the Word and the things of the spirit that make you the wonderful disciples that you are.
203. We pray that the news and information in "A Strengthening Year" (ML #3577, GN 1163) was an inspiration and encouragement to you, to see how much you and the Family around the world are doing for the Lord! Mama and I are so proud of you‚ and we praise our wonderful Husband that we can serve Him alongside you. We look forward to seeing the fulfillment of His promises for this new year, and winning greater victories together!
204. You might recall that in "A Strengthening Year‚" it was mentioned that there have been some changes taking place within WS itself. Beginning some months ago, the Lord led Mama and me to reassess our WS structure‚ to both streamline the services that WS departments provide to the Family and to meet the increasing need for more help and personnel within WS to carry out the decisions and goals of the boards at the international level.
205. We are in the process of implementing the Lord's counsel, which has resulted in numerous changes throughout WS. One goal we are working toward is that of creating teams within WS to help each of the international boards, thus strengthening the entire board pillar through having more personnel to accomplish the goals and projects of the boards. The new personnel who join the board teams will not necessarily be board members, but they will be working with the IBC to help fulfill the will of the board.
206. At the moment, the "board teams" are still quite small, as WS continues to retain all its previous responsibilities and services. But our prayer is that having a few more "hands on deck" will lighten the IBCs' loads, as well as make it possible for more to be accomplished in time, as the board teams grow. Our hope is that each IBC will have a solid team of people working with them to shoulder the various projects and initiatives the Lord is leading the boards to implement. We'd appreciate your prayers for this.
207. With only so many people in WS, these changes have affected some of the IB chairpersons' responsibilities. The Lord indicated that some were more needed in another board pillar or even switching to a new ministry altogether, and there have been some shuffles accordingly. Those who have had a change of ministry have accepted their new responsibilities cheerfully, God bless them, and play key roles in their new positions.
208. Following is a brief listing that shows the changes made on the IBC level and those who currently fill the IBC positions:
* CGO IBC: Francis
* PR IBC: Matthew (previously co-chaired with Andrew, who has now joined the CS board)
* JT IBC: Nathaniel
* CS IBC: Misty (previously co-chaired with Joy, who is now helping on other work fronts)
* CP/FED IBCs: Dawn/Julie
209. Mama and I appreciate your prayers as we make these changes in order to better serve you and to do our part to help facilitate the Family's progress into the future, side by side with you, following our Husband and Commander each step of the way.
210. "Seize the keys in full faith and walk boldly and bravely into the light of a new day!"
We love you very much and pray for you.
Much love, Peter
Subjects:
Summit 2006
Family Policy Council business
Continental Councils discontinued
No more international board representatives
IB meetings 2006
Appointment of a new RS
Update on online Charter
Family finances
June 27‚ 2006
Dearest Family‚
211. Mama and I love you and pray for you daily! We're thrilled with all the testimonies of what the Lord is accomplishing through you as we work together to win the world for Him, as well as the personal accounts of the victories and changes He's bringing about in your lives.
212. We're proud of you for your diligence to read and study the New Wine and to apply it in your lives, and then to teach others to do the same. That's what being disciples and "making disciples of all nations" is all about!
213. Mama and I pray that the vision and counsel in the GN "Our Pre-Attack Plan" (ML #3600) will both inspire and challenge you! We're looking forward to the future, and we're also looking forward to the progress and growth the Lord will bring about in the Family as a whole, as well as in each of our lives, over these next 18 months. As we obey our Husband's counsel, we'll become stronger in spirit, a tightly knit band, and a spiritual fighting force to be reckoned with.
214. In this notice, I want to share with you a variety of points relating to Family business and administration, and some changes that the Lord has led us to make. I pray that this information will be a blessing to you.
215. First I'll give you a brief overview of the recent Summit and IB meetings.
216. Summit 2006 was held in Mexico‚ and was attended by Mama and me, 39 RSs (Sweetie was unable to attend due to health reasons, and Nora [of Gabe] had their first baby, Kiara Tarine, during this time), the international board chairpersons, other WS folks, a wonderful staff team, and one baby (Kylan, six months, of Mark and Nicole), for a total of 61 people.
217. The Summit lasted for two-and–a-half weeks (March 1-17), during which time we held Family Policy Council subcommittee meetings and other meetings to discuss and pray about a number of Family business and administration matters.
218. Mama and I had seven united meetings or classes with the RSs, two of which were classes by Mama in which she shared a variety of spiritual lessons, jewels and messages with the RSs. (Many of the topics that Mama touched on with the RSs are things the Lord has laid on her heart to share with all of you‚ so she's busy pulling down more counsel from the Lord and compiling it in GNs for you.) The "State of the Nation" meeting‚ which I led, covered a recap of the last two-and–a-half years of "wartime" since Summit 2003, the victories that have been won and the changes made in the Family, as well as some of the goals that the Lord has given us as part of our preparation for the future. (See "Our Pre-Attack Plan," GN 1177‚ for more information on this.)
219. Mama and I also spent personal time with the RSs, and we had small "in-house" dinners with them in teams of six or seven. These times of personal fellowship were very special for Mama and me. The RSs have carried a very heavy and difficult load throughout the last two-and–a-half years of wartime in helping to save the Family and carrying out the Family's restructuring. They've had to make a lot of personal sacrifices in order to do so, and Mama and I were very thankful for the opportunity to commend and appreciate them in person for the wonderful job they've done for the Family. God bless them! We couldn't have done it without them, and without you, dear Family, doing your part as well.
220. As is explained in the Family Board Handbook, the Family Policy Council (FPC) is made up of the RSs, the IBCs, and some others within WS whom Mama and I have appointed to the FPC. The FPC serves as an advisory council to Mama and me in the governing of the Family.
221. There's always a fairly long list of Family policy topics and business to discuss, and that's one of the reasons why we have Summit meetings—so that we can meet face-to-face with the Family's top leadership body‚ to discuss and pray about some of the bigger Family issues and questions.
222. During previous Summits, most of our FPC discussions were meetings with the full FPC body (usually comprising approximately 50+ people). During Summit 2006, the Lord led us to divide into smaller subcommittee groups of about 10–14 people, who were responsible to discuss and pray about the FPC point assigned to their subcommittee and to come up with an initial proposal to present to the full FPC for further discussion, prayer‚ and voting (via a website discussion board).
223. One of the reasons the Lord showed us to use this method during this Summit is because it would be more time-efficient, allowing us to have several different meetings simultaneously, and thus to discuss more topics in less time, while still providing an avenue (via the website discussion board) for each FPC member to prayerfully consider and comment on the proposals, and for those comments to be incorporated, before a final vote was taken. Additionally, each proposal is brought before the Lord for His confirmation by at least two channels, as well as to receive any additional counsel He may have on the matter.
224. Mama and I are very thankful for the time, concentration‚ focus and prayer each member of the FPC put into each of the FPC issues discussed. We firmly believe that "in a multitude of counselors there is safety" (Pro.24:6), and are grateful to have such a broad base of wise, prayerful, spirit-led counselors.
225. There are two policy changes which were finalized during the Summit that we'd like to announce here. (Further policy changes will be announced via GN, LNF or WS notice, and will be reflected in the updated Charter.)
226. With the beginning of the board structure, the Family was geographically divided into 12 regions; prior to that‚ it was divided into five continental areas. The continental areas were overseen by the Continental Councils‚ comprising all of the RSs in the continental area.
227. In recent years the regional areas‚ which are overseen by the RSs residing in the region, have taken on virtually all of the responsibilities regionally which used to be handled by the Continental Councils. Thus the FPC concluded that it would be best to do away with the Continental Councils and to officially turn over those responsibilities to the regional shepherds. Therefore there are no longer Continental Councils. This change will be reflected in the new version of the Charter that is presently in the works.
228. Once we agreed that the Continental Council was no longer necessary, we discussed whether or not the international board representatives were still needed. (Previously, the international board for each pillar was made up of one RBC from each continental area, selected by the Continental Councils, as well as the IBCs, and any additional members appointed by Mama and me.)
229. The FPC concluded, and Mama and I agreed, that international board representatives are no longer needed, and that each international board will now officially consist of the IBC and all the RBCs of that pillar, along with anyone else Mama and I appoint.
230. The IB meetings (all the international boards met at the same time) were held at the same location as the Summit, and lasted for two-and–a-half weeks (March 18-April 3). During the IB meetings, 50 RBCs, 2 more babies, 2 more staff helpers, and 9 more folks from WS (international board members and board secretaries) joined us on site, for a grand total of 124 people.
231. The IBCs took care of the organization, planning and hosting of their respective IB meetings, as would have been the case if the IB meetings had happened at different times or in different locations.
232. Mama and I weren't personally involved in the IB meetings‚ other than the two meetings we had with the RBCs: the IB keynote, in which I shared with the RBCs an overview of the goals the Lord had given us of consolidating, training, and strengthening the Family over the next 18 months, and passed on Mama's and my thanks to them for all they've done and are doing to move the Family forward; and a very vision-increasing class that Mama had with the RBCs on the joy of the Lord, and how to get it back if you've lost it. (Topics and counsel covered in this class will also be coming to you via GN, Lord willing.)
233. The international boards had daily meetings, worked through their agendas, and made numerous decisions—many of which were related to creating and providing training for the Family. It was a tremendous amount of work while on site, and has also generated a lot of work for them to take care of over the next 18 months‚ in order to prepare the Family for the coming offensive.
234. In the past, Mama and I and the RSs would have had to try to figure all of that out. We're so thankful for the board structure, and that each of the main pillars of Family life can receive focused attention, thanks to those of you on the boards, whether national, regional, or international, who help to make that possible, as well as to all of you, our Family, for your good ideas, input, prayers and support.
235. Toward the end of the IB meetings‚ Mama and I appointed a new RS, dear Nicole (SGA, of Mark‚ who is also an RS) in Taiwan. Nicole attended the Summit/IB meetings as a potential freshman RS candidate, and the Lord confirmed to Mama and me that it was His will to ask Nicole to take on the ministry and responsibility of a freshman RS. Nicole accepted this offer, God bless her. We're thankful for her willingness to step into the RS job, and we believe she'll be a great blessing to you, our Family in the ACTON region, as well as to her co-RSs and Mama and me. Thank you so much for your support and prayers for her and all of the RSs.
236. (Note: We now have 42 RSs—23 FGA RSs and 19 SGA RSs. Nine of these RSs were appointed within the last year.)
237. You've heard a number of times that the new updated Charter is "coming soon," and it still is! We understand how needed it is to get this to you‚ and the WS Charter committee and others have been working very hard on this project, as what at first looked to be a fairly simple job has mushroomed into something far more extensive than originally anticipated.
238. With the restructuring the Family has undergone over the last couple of years and the many resultant changes in the Family's governance structure, there have been numerous points to add, change and rework. For example, we've had to update previous terminology, such as changing "COs" to "RSs"; eliminate area officers and add coaches; change Home teamworks to Steering Councils; take out references to the old RCC—which hadn't even made it into a printed version of the Charter; add in the SDs and RDs; include explanations concerning criteria monitors, the board criteria, the Home reviews‚ and more.
239. All the clauses and Charter sections pertaining to these bodies had to be updated to reflect present Family policy, and then all these new entities had to be cross-referenced and represented throughout the Charter's almost 500 pages. Many of the examples and explanations in the Charter have been modified and the ML quotes updated to more accurately reflect and relate to the Family of today.
240. We've also decided to incorporate the Family Board Handbook into the Charter, since the boards play a key role in the Family's present structure and mode of operation. This has also involved updating the Family Board Handbook guidelines to reflect changes made during the Family's restructuring‚ such as the RBCs' role in the Home review process, etc.
241. There is so much that's been reworked and rewritten that the soon-coming Charter will truly be a very new and updated document.
242. We're happy to say that we're getting close to finalizing the countless revisions, and are at the point of going over the entire document yet again, along with the full FPC body, to make sure that the wording is accurate and consistent, that nothing has been overlooked, and that it reflects the spirit the Lord wants it to.
243. However, because this will take a few more months, the Lord has confirmed that in the meantime, we should post on the MOv3 site a file that combines the 1998 version of the Charter and those amendments that have already been published in "Charter Amendments 2003" (GN 1033), "Addendum to GN 1109, 'Getting Stronger—Part 2'" (GN 1109a), and "Addendum to 'Getting Stronger—Part 4" (GN 1136), LNFs containing Charter amendments, and other publications. This temporary Charter will be a stopgap measure until the new edition of the Charter is finalized, Lord willing, within the next six to eight months. But we hope that having this posted on the MOv3 site in the meantime will help make it easier for you to find and to refer to the Charter changes that have been published so far.
244. As the new Charter sections are finished, we'll post them in a new Charter file alongside the old version on the MOv3‚ until the new Charter is complete and posted in its entirety. (You can find this temporary "online version" of the Charter, along with a more detailed explanation, at http://www.familymembers.com/pubs/pub.gd.6.)
245. Please keep those working on the finalization of the new Charter in your prayers, as it's a mammoth job. Thank you so much!
246. Over the past five years our Family-wide expenses (which WS manages and administers) have increased dramatically due to the many necessary changes that the Lord has shown us to enact for the sake of the Family's continued progress. We've been amazed at how the Lord has provided through many avenues—including through your faithful giving of tithes and offerings. We're so grateful to you for your giving, dear Family.
247. When the board vision was launched, we just didn't know how we could possibly afford the boards. What we did know was that the Lord could do it, and that since He was definitely leading that way, He would also definitely supply. And He has! Praise the Lord!
248. In March of 2002, WS undertook the financing of 6 regional board budgets in each of the 12 regions, or a total of 72 regional board budgets. In addition, WS began saving monthly in order to help cover the travel costs for the regional board meetings, which take place once or twice a year. That amounted to quite a large additional expense that WS had to take on in order to make the boards function.
249. In 2004, WS took on the financing of the 12 regional desks, which had a big impact on finances. All we knew was that the Lord had to do it‚ and He did! In 2005, WS took on the financial responsibility for the 12 shepherding desks, and the Lord miraculously supplied again. Praise His name! He never fails!
250. On top of all of this‚ WS has managed to provide Missions Grants to about 70 Family Homes on difficult mission fields and needy outreaches. If you recall, back in 2003 and 2004, WS had to turn over most of the Missions Grants to the FAF to cover for almost a year and a half, as WS just couldn't handle them and the board expenses at the same time. This worked out, and by June 2004, WS was again able to finance the Missions Grants from WS funds‚ and has been since then.
251. However‚ as the Family and its needs expand, we've reached somewhat of an impasse again, and are desperately praying for an influx of funds, both in order to facilitate WS' mandates and the various gifts and budgets that WS covers, but also for you, dear Family, as you take on new projects and initiatives to fulfill the Lord's mandate for us as disciples.
252. Over the past few years‚ tithes to WS have stayed at an almost even level, and have even increased slightly over the last two years. However‚ offerings to WS have decreased drastically. We usually rely on offerings to cover many of the Missions Grants and other extra projects that are necessary to expand Family services.
253. For the first part of 2005, offerings to WS dropped by 29%, as compared to the same period in 2004, and now in this first part of 2006, they have dropped a further 66%, again, compared to the same period in 2004—meaning that offerings to WS are down 76% from two years ago.
254. Tithes during these same periods increased by 2% in 2005 and then dropped by 0.5% in 2006, so they are up a net 1.5% since 2004. So, thank the Lord, the Family's tithes are not waning, and we're very thankful to all of you for your faithfulness to tithe.
255. But because of the sharp decrease in offerings to WS, since April all Family-wide budgets distributed by WS have been cut 5% until further notice. We don't want to cut the budgets further, nor do we want to cut back on any WS services to the Family. We believe that the Lord wants the Family to expand, and that He wants us to increase our productivity. So we believe that He's going to supply, even if through supernatural and inexplicable means.
256. We know that you, our Family, are doing all you can, and we know that many of you are also facing financial squeezes at this time, and we pray daily for the Lord to abundantly supply all your needs. We did want to let you know, though, about WS' present financial situation, so that you can pray for us as well, and also, so that if you have a surplus of finances, or even if you just want to prove the Lord's promises, you can be aware of our desperate need at this time.
257. Thank you, dear ones, for praying with us and praising Him in advance for His never-failing and miraculous supply. It's His work, and we know that He'll honor the Family's faith to step out and to do what He's asked of us.
258. Mama and I pray that every day will truly be a sweeter and happier one for you, our dear mates, as you grow closer to our wonderful Husband, put on His mind‚ progress in your understanding of the things of the spirit, wield the weapons of the spirit with increasing focus and accuracy, and build stronger bonds with the mates and comrades-in-arms He's placed at your side.
259. We have so much to look forward to, as we walk into the future with our hand in His!
Much love in our Husband,
Peter
Copyright © 2006 by The Family International