The Words of the Verheyen Family
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The Words of the Verheyen Family |
Miss
Ursula Schumann's Speaking
The evening began with prayer by Martin Porter.
Martin and Dawn Porter and Carlo Zaccarelli, sang and Italian song, followed by Ursula singing a Spanish song.
Ursula then spoke on 'False Christs and Prophets'
Martin followed with a talk on Comparative Religions, and their initial views of evil, in contrast to Principle.
Dawn gave her testimony, which inspired us all.
The closing prayer was given by Harold Unger.
A metaphysical center in Germany has counted about 50 persons who can be classified as false Christs and prophets. Some of them are still living, whereas others have died in our generation. This number does not include those poor people who are in asylums, but it refers to more or less 'normal" people.
We know from the Bible, Matthew chapter 24, that this phenomenon is one of the signs of the time of the second coming of the Lord.
Let us first have a look at the founders of new cults which are worshipped by their disciples as a new incarnation of the Divine Word.
In all parts of the world there have been legends passed on from one generation to another with regard to a future Golden Age or the return of the Promised One. The followers of Zoroaster are still waiting for the coming of Soshiyant as their final savior. A movement within the Moslem faith is expecting the return of the Iman. The Hindus are waiting for the incarnation of their god Vishnu. The Buddhists are looking forward to the arrival of Maitreya or Buddha. And the Christians are eager to see the second coming of Christ realized. The great world ruler or avatar will establish a new world with his followers. We see that the hope for a physical redemption exists in all parts of the world between the members of the great religions; the false Christs come in part from non-Christian surroundings.
In the first place I would like to mention the founder of the Bahai movement. Last century there was a man in Persia who called himself "Bab,' or "the door' who acted somewhat like John the Baptist, namely as a forerunner. He announced the immediate coming of the great world savior. After the death of the Bab, one of his followers identified himself as the promised master and managed to become recognized by the members of the movement of the Bab. His followers are called the Bahais, according to the name of their master Baha U'llah. They have their in the Holy Land and send missionaries to other countries in order to announce that the prophecy about the second coming of the Son of man had been realized through Baha U'llah. Almost all the members come from Islamic background, just like their founders. There are very few Christians who have been converted to the religion of the Bahais. I have met them in Germany and the United States. They visit people in their homes and inform them about the teachings of the Promised One, as they call Baha U'llah. It has to be admitted that their teachings have ethical and spiritual value. But some points prove definitively that Baha U'llah was nothing but a forerunner of the universal Christ. The Bible indicates in various passaged that the Son of Man will be recognized by the whole world as the Lord of Glory, during his life on earth. Baha U'llah died in 1892, and up to the present time there are still relatively few people who have heard his name. Furthermore the various signs before the great and terrible day of the Lord are happening in our time. Also in 2 Timothy 3 are a number of points which show the decay of the people with regard to their moral standard, pointing definitely to this generation.
The Bahais have no remedy against the problems of this satanic world. They don't even believe in the existence of evil and ignore the negative aspects of human behavior as if they were only mental errors. Moreover, once somebody is converted to that movement he is not supposed to continue his investigations of other religions and philosophies. The absolute truth must never have fear of comparison with other thoughts and new ideas.
A few years ago I met two Moslems at a conference, who were sent to the Frankfurt mosque by a movement of Pakistan which had been founded by Hazrat Ahmad, considered to be the world savior. It seems that various miracles happened amongst his followers who had offered long prayers, and for this reason the identity of Hazrat Ahmad with the savior was evidently confirmed to them. This man taught that one has to have a close relationship with Allah by means of intensive prayers. By the way, he taught that Jesus did not die on the cross but that he had gone to India and lived there for many years in a certain town where his tomb is still shown. The Moslems generally don't admit the death of Jesus on the cross. They explain that a man with similar aspects was crucified in Jesus' place, or that Jesus had not passed away when he was taken down from the cross. This movement has also had no impact on the Christian world. Hazrat Ahmad died around 1950.
The people are always attracted when wonders are wrought.
There is a rumor that the Oriental prince Abdul, member of the Family of ex-King Farouk, can perform miracles. It is said that he can call fire down from heaven just like Elijah and imitate other miracles described in the New Testament. Furthermore he is supposed to be able to heal the sick and raise the dead just like Jesus. In Southern France lives Georges de Montfavet who also claims to be the returned Christ. Quite a large number of miracles are reported to have been performed which would be the proof regarding his pretensions. Humanity is falling from one extreme to the other.
During my vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1963 I visited the center of the world messianic group. This movement was founded by a non-Christian Japanese by the name of Meishu-sama. After his death his mission was transferred to one of his daughters.
He taught that he had received the mission of eliminating the evil in this world by means of showing his adepts how to concentrate and meditate about various truths in order to convert themselves into perfect beings, using also a purifying ray of ultraviolet color. They dedicate themselves to healing the sick, love together in a big house and try to establish Paradise on earth. They are mostly Japanese people and their centers are in Japan and Hawaii.
In Japan there are various new movements which developed from Oriental philosophies. Amongst the non-Christian founders there excels a woman, the prophetess of Tabuse. Her name is Ogamisama, or the Divine. During her world trip she held a private conference in Frankfurt which I attended. Ogamisama was born in 1900: she is of short stature and stout. She has always lived in a rural area. She received voices telling her to build a temple and proclaim that there is only one God in the universe. This fact is already a progress for the Japanese people who mostly serve many gods. It is interesting to note that many Japanese are members of various religions at the same time; in case one doctrine cannot save them 100% and another is more effective.
Ogamisama told about her spiritual experiences and found almost 2 million followers who consider their leader as the incarnation of God. She announced the end of the world through atomic bombs if the people don't change their lives and repent. She has her adepts, mostly Japanese, pray for the peace of the world using a phrase in Japanese language which one has to chant. Then the members start dancing with closed eyes. It was interesting to note that nobody ever touches his neighbors while dancing around with the eyes closed.
The German lady who had prepared the conference of Ogamisama has also spiritual gifts and knows how to discern spirits. She informed me that Ogamisama apparently realm.
Anyway Ogamisama did not impress me with the things she talked about. She didn't teach anything new which we had not known ourselves.
We must also include Pak Subud of Indonesia and a certain Indian Buddhist who belong to the category of those who are considered great spiritual masters.
Europe has not so many false Christs and prophets as for example, America. Germany has at least two: one is a student living in the Black Forest and the other is a man with beard who explains in the coffee-shops of various towns that he learns through astrology that he himself has to carry out the mission of Christ.
The next one is Lou of Holland. I have read articles of him in a bulletin of his movement and think that he does not really deserve too much attention. Lou is one of the many pretenders teaching very confused doctrines. He had visions and heard voices but it seems he did not differentiate between the spirits who contacted him.
Those people don't necessarily want to betray others and lead them astray, but they act in faith and believe that they really are the new redeemer. Otherwise they would not risk becoming the object of mockery, being persecuted, and considered as mad.
In Africa there is a magician who knows how to produce phenomena and he too attracts disciples. He is called Nigel the One. According to an advertisement in an American magazine one can be admitted into his society by paying a certain amount of money. Then the members receive a talisman made by Nigel himself!
Now let's go to the United States with their 2,000 denominations and sects. Two of the American false Christs died recently. One was called Father Divine. He claimed to be God and his son was Christ. Both had the reputation of being able to cure and kill at distance. A missionary told a German theologian that his mother had been killed by Father Divine through black magic.
Another cult founder was Krishna Vento who lived in Los Angeles. He was very attracted to women, even to the wives of the members of his group. One day the betrayed husbands could not stand it any longer and sent their master Krishna Vento to the spirit world by means of a bomb!
In Boston there lives a colored man who goes around blessing food in various grocery stores, carrying out his mission of Christ in this way.
The area of San Francisco where I lived had 4 Christs. One of them is only known to his own disciples who worship him in his room. They believe that it would be best for their. Christ not to mix with the people because the multitudes would probably kill their master. This man has not understood at all that the mission of Christ does not only consist of receiving honor and adoration but that he has to subjugate Satan completely and destroy evil in the world. What kind of salvation could we possibly expect from this coward of San Francisco who does not go out into the street through fear of being assassinated?
The second case is a white man who teaches that all colored folk are the descendants of Cain and therefore evil. Only the white race is the good race. Naturally, his followers are only white people, but Christ could never be a racist; in the sight of God all human beings are equal.
The third is a student with a beard at the University of Berkeley.
Especially in our time there are many spiritual experiences of various types. For instance, several years ago there was a wave of speaking in tongues in an Episcopalian church of California. This caused great surprise between the pastors and the congregation of that church, and in the beginning they did not know what to do, whether to be glad about it or not.
Before his ascension Jesus had said to his disciples: (John 16, 13) I have still many things to tell you...
If this Spirit of Truth had fulfilled his mission completely on Whitson 2,000 years ago, then the truth would have been so clear that there would not exist today more than 2,000 denominations between Christians and St. Paul would not have said after this event: We know in part... We see through a dark mirror... (1 Cor. 13) Who can really interpret the whole contents of John's Revelation.
We really need some prophets who bring us the ultimate truth from God and who instruct us with regard to the great-day of the Lord and the corresponding preparations. In the 20th century, the Christians cannot afford to cover their ears when they hear about prophecies and other phenomena which also occurred in the past, by shouting "false prophets" or work of the devil. God has given us intelligence and wants us to use it. We must not forget the advice given by St. Paul: "Test the spirits, if they are from God."
In the past God never informed all the righteous Jews, or even the high priests about the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. A prophet received this message in advance, and later only a few persons received signs when the prophecy was fulfilled. We must not expect that God informs all the Christians about the details of the second coming of the Lord; nor will He inform all the pastors and priests of our days. Christ will come like a thief during the night. But when he has come persons will know where he is; let us keep in mind the parable of the eagles who will gather where the Kingdom is. And also the passage of Amos 3.7: 'God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants and prophets.' God has revealed many details in our time.
The last one in this connection is King Narcis of Oakland, California, a colored spiritualist people He has almost one million disciples but all are colored people His whole family consists of princes, dukes, counts, etc. Once a year he visits the mayor of San Francisco in order to chat with him for a while. On this occasion the great King Narcis comes in his Rolls Royce, his servants then rolling out a carpet so that he should not touch the ground with his mink slippers. A person who is living such a luxurious life is hardly a good example when there are millions of people who have nothing to eat.
There are many movements, especially in Los Angeles, whose leaders are adored almost like supernatural beings. One lady, who of course is also convinced to be Christ, seems to have raised a dead child. I have seen a leaflet about her showing her photograph. Another lady by the name of Analee Skarin who grew up in the Mormon church photograph, had a number of spiritual experiences, and her followers believe that she experienced an ascension into heaven without physical death and that she appears frequently to her adepts in visible form her book is so profound and metaphysical that 1 don't remember a single word of it; not even the title.
Now let us look at other aspects.
The first reaction of the Christians who hear about the appearance of a man who claims to be the Lord, is, of course, mockery, as the Christians believe that Jesus will come literally on the clouds with great glory, and that before the day of the Lord comes there will be false Christs.
In general there are few people who investigate seriously the phenomena of the false Christs and prophets. It is very surprising to check the teachings which indicate according to the Holy Scriptures that Christ will have a new name at the moment of his second coming. There is a risk of deviation also for the Christians. Especially for those who don't know that there are several pretenders for the position of the universal Christ in all parts of the world. It is very useful to know the strange happenings of our time with regard to the false Christs and prophets, and the interpretation which • they give to certain Bible passages and verses, which are little known and perhaps even ambiguous.
We can ask here why do false Christs appear?
When one reaches the highest level of the growth stage, he sometimes receives spiritually that he is a lord, or Adam. If the individual is a woman, she may receive that she is Eve or the Wife Jehovah.
God promised to give Adam and Eve lordship over all creation. But, because of their fall, this promise was not fulfilled. However, God renews his promise to those who have grown to the spiritual level which Adam had attained at the time of his fall. The message that they are lords I, e ns that God has restored the promise of lordship to man. It does not mean that they, as individuals, are the Lord of lords of the Second Advent.
There is another reason why such a message is given at this time. In the last days, those at a high spiritual level a mission to testify to the time of the Second Advent. Thus, many will be called at different laces to be the forerunners of the Lord to come. In their ignorance of God's will, these people may mistakenly act as if they were the Lord of the Second Advent. However, if they do so act, they will gradually lose their spiritual gifts.
I remember the sad destiny of Sonja, a German girl, in San Francisco he had never heard of spiritual phenomena in her life until she herself received revelations in form of visions and voices. In this way she received the spiritual name Eve and therefore thought that she had a special mission in this world. Shortly afterwards she met an American who likewise had received the name Adam. They lived together without being married until child was born. At that point Adam left and became a tramp who slept in the parks. Of course, he and the girl lost their spiritual gifts immediately. Sonja's ignorance with regard to visions and voices had caused her disgrace.
Before closing, I would like to mention the church of the New Apostles in Germany. I think they are a branch of the new Catholicism. The founder, Mr. Bischoff, presented himself as the chief apostle of our time. He thought himself to be the mouth of God. One of the prophecies which he propagated was the fact that he would not die until the Second Coming of the Lord had been fulfilled. He was so convinced of the certainty of his revelations that he risked a great many of his followers leaving the group because they could not believe this statement.
The others believed 100% in their chief apostle. They watched him grow older and older until he finally died in the year 1960. Thereupon his followers divided into two parts: the majority rejected the whole doctrine and did not want to have anything to do any more with the New Apostles: and the rest thought that God had changed His plan. Apparently nobody has thought of the possibility that the prophecies had been realized after all but not necessarily in a spectacular and visible form. Perhaps Mr. Bischoff was right after all!
Various persons and groups learnt through visions in 1960 that the 19th chapter of Revelations was fulfilled that year with regard to the Marriage of the Lamb. In Oregon, U.S.A. there appeared the following words on a wall before the eyes of various persons. (Isaiah 55.8)
"My thoughts are not your thoughts... I have started a new project on earth."
When we compare the essence of the many visions, dreams and other spiritual experiences received by people all over the world we get the confirmation that we are living in the last days of the satanic age and that the Kingdom of God is closer than mankind thinks, namely that it has already started.
We have to watch carefully the signs of the times and listen to what the Spirit of Truth wants to transmit.. He who has ears to hear, let him hear, what the Spirit says to the churches.
Families
of Holland and England
We all arose at 4.30 a.m. for Family Prayer at 5 a.m.
All the family walked for two hours for the Unification of Korea under our Heavenly Father.
After breakfast we had regular service.
Moderator -- Carol Bartholomew
Sermon -- Teddy Verheyen
Opening prayer -- Christopher Davies
Scripture -- June Darby
We began with singing, and then Christopher Davies led us in prayer. Teddy Verheyen then presented his sermon.
We are followers of this man -- this great man: the greatest man that ever lived on this earth; the everlasting Father. Some of you have not seen him, but when you see him you will know. There is no other man in the world like him. The way he went, the road on which he travelled, is a terrible road. We read the life-story written about him, but that is only a little bit. The true story is what we experience ourselves, when we go out and work for our Father. Then we know the true story not when we read the Divine principle alone: that is not the story; only when we work hard for God do we know the true story. This world must be restored for God. We are here together, and we are all feeling our Father's heart very deeply.
I have had many experiences in my life, and I know I can never leave God. It is impossible, because my experiences with Him have been so very very deep. I have cried and cried, sometimes for hours and hours, sometimes all night, when I have felt our Father's heart. Sometimes I have been beaten physically because of this word, but I still had to go on. As our Leader said: we must go forward with the Father's heart, in the shoes of a servant, and shed tears for man and blood for heaven. When I arrived in Holland I knew I must live in this way.
Our Master called me when he was in Washington in 1965 when I was in Los Angeles. He said, "Go to Holland." It was on a Friday, and I felt like Abraham must have felt, and I had to obey. I packed my bags, got a plane ticket and left on Saturday. On Sunday I arrived in Holland. I didn't take any money with me in order to make indemnity. I noticed, however, that I had 90 cents in my pocket and so I dug a hole in the ground and buried it. So I had nothing. I took my suitcase and walked 12 miles to Amsterdam and then I didn't care about anything but telling people of the principle. I didn't eat or sleep for days.
Someone felt pity for me and asked me, "Don't you have to sleep or eat?" He almost forced me to go to the Salvation Army with him. So I agreed, and slept there, with about 20 older men, in a large room. The atmosphere was terrible. I washed the dishes to pay for my food. At 10 o' clock the next morning I had to leave, there so I went and walked and prayed and the first shop where I enquired for work was a paper shop binding paper in bundles. I got the job and bound paper together with wire hour after hour, until! My hands were bleeding. I didn't care, because I thought of the Leader and how he had suffered, and I felt so close to him in this time. I actually felt joy from this experience. Sometimes I was so tired I could hardly go on, but I persevered.
Later I found a room which I shared with four other people. One of the people helped to translate the Principle for me into Dutch. Every day when I came back to the room, the fellow translating made excuses about translating. He always wanted to go to movies and so forth. With every page, I thanked the Father, and little by little, it was finished. I paid him to the work, so he was able to do it without being distracted.
The translation was not very good, but at least it was useable. Then it had to be printed and it was expensive, so I lived on almost nothing. (I often picked up a pair of shoes from garbage cans -- but anyway, they served me!) Fifty copies were printed in all. I had to do the binding together of the books. That moment was such a joy for me, for now I had something to show our Master when he came to Holland. Our Master was very happy to receive the translation.
After a year, one person accepted the Principle, but he fell away, and I went into a period of deep depression.
No one after that for two years although I worked day and night. There were three people who accepted finally, but they also fell away -- and I felt as if I were being crucified; then I went into a very dark period for three days. After this, I came out of it, and felt again the joy of the Father.
I remembered in Los Angeles the time I saw Jesus in a vision: he was suffering so terribly, and I felt that that experience was a sign given to me years before of what I would have to endure in Holland -- spiritually and physically.
So I want all of you, please to go out and learn the heart of the Father. Go out and work for Him. You will feel his heart and never want to leave Him.
You will always want to do His will, because it is your will also. Then you will know the Father. Go out and tell everyone how very wonderful he is.
The Sunday Service ended with Ursula leading us in prayer.
Lunch was served, and at one o'clock we began the Conference. Prayer was given Dawn Porter.
Policy was discussed, and, the provisional date and place of next year's Conference; and other business.
The place of next year's Conference is to be in Essen, Germany.
Date -- The 18th, 19th and 20th of September, 1970. President, Doris Orme, will plan the Conference program. Everyone must arrive on the 17th, so that the Conference can begin promptly on the morning of the 18th.
It was suggested that some personal details of delegates should be sent prior to their arrival, and that the number of persons attending the Conference from each center be given, so that sufficient arrangements can be made for sleeping and eating.
President must issue internal report.
It was decided that only members should attend all meetings.
The financial question was raised concerning the Conference: travel expenses, initial eating and sleeping expenses, and also expense for renting of a hall if necessary, but no definite plan was agreed upon.
This was left open and will be decided upon later in the year by delegates.
Dennis Orme spoke on Unity of Heart in Europe!
Family
at Austria
We all understand that it is indeed the Father who has brought us together here. It is the purpose of our being here. When we have felt the Father speak through Paul, Peter Reiner, and all the others here, our hearts have been filled. We know that it is indeed the Father who has brought us together; and it is this ' unity of heart which is what our Leader asked us to bring in Europe. It is perhaps the most difficult thing to continue to lead many people and at the same time keep flexible and open to the Father's eternal wisdom, eternal love and eternal power.
When I look back in history and see how the Father has worked I am always amazed that he has worked in such a way to defeat Satan's instruments to bring about a great work. I will illustrate this with one of the most notorious men that Britain has ever known, Henry the Eighth. He had many wives, was a dissolute philanderer, and he was useless, but he set this nation free spiritually in a way that has not occurred in any other nation. He was so useless that nobody could get excited about him. They felt that whatever he does we'll go our own way. Henry overthrew the Catholic Church in this country in the Middle Ages (1400 A.D.) and from that time this country was set free of a theological doctrine and bigotry which enabled many people from Central Europe to come here. The Huguenots and many others sought refuge here. The Father was able to work in one sense through this man without inflaming the nation. I want you to think of Europe as a whole in this context, because Europe had been enslaved by Satan in every way: Politically, religiously and materially in those feudal times and what happened? The people always had that urge for freedom, and liberty. Many of them, when new discoveries were made, like America, went to America. Many more of them, like the early pilgrim fathers, were religious men seeking religious freedom. Europe contributed to America nearly all the great virtues that n has and each nation, each character, each race, has a virtue: has an aspect of the Father in a great way; -o in America, you might say, is Europe, and that nation grew because it had the freedom which had been upheld in places like England and Switzerland for many years. It had the industry of the Germans and other races. It had the sensitivity of the French who were early colonizers and, the vitality to a certain extent of the Spanish, the Red Indians and others. We can see then that that nation had many aspects which it could use for the Father, without the prideful divisions of a European Continent. Then the teachings of Jesus and the influence of the Christian Church were brought from Europe to the new World. We know how in principle things are often reversed.
Europe may have taught America Christianity, but America has brought us all here today. That we are here today is indeed the result of disciples such as Miss Kim in America. I feel a very great love for that nation, from Europe -- that here in Europe we are indebted to the work that has taken place in America.
I'd like to paint a little picture about -- if we follow the Father's Heart -- what is in store for Europe. The natural talent in Europe is obviously often used by Satan to separate Europe. Many nations have great assets but they have been used always in the wrong way. What can occur if these assets are brought together for the Father?
On a short visit to Holland recently the Van Der Stoks took us to the Zuider Zee. There, indeed, if anybody believes in the physical restoration of land, you can see it before your own eyes. A nation, a very small nation, has sought peace and sought to extend itself -- not at the expense of its neighbors, but into the sea. Every yard of land they win is carefully looked after. They don't waste land, because they have spent a long time working for it. You can see Principle in action there: that if you put our effort, when you get something, you are not just going to throw it away. The principle of give and take occurs. Nations which have abundance of land often just waste it, but Holland works hard for its land, and loves its land. The other great virtue there which is apparent is this: that, as a people, they have their feet firmly paced on the floor, because year after year they have to deal with practicalities -- the ocean and other consequences. and so they are very far-sighted. When they instituted the Zuider Zee scheme, it was one hundred years from when they first started planning it, to its eventual conclusion, which isn't yet.
Now in this country if I went to politicians and said, Let's start a work for one hundred years, most of them wouldn't be interested. But that is a natural thing for a Dutchman to think of his country on a very long-term basis. Holland, then, has qualities which are needed in every other nation of Europe. When they are applied for the Father they will be even more needed.
Then we come to Germany. Germany is there key to Europe. There is no doubt at all about this; our Leader has spoken about this many times. why is it the key to Europe? It is the most powerful nation in Europe. Industrially, it is by far the greatest nation and will get greater because of its natural resources, its industry and skill. It produces many fine men like Schweitzer and Einstein. They have a natural ability -- through the development, of their language which is logical, to think in a logical way, to work in a logical way, to work with vigor, endeavor, courage and determination. All these can be brought to the Father, but they themselves are not enough.. These things can lead any nation into terrible turmoil; they must be harnessed and put into right perspective through the Heart of the Father. We see this has happened to a certain degree in America where much of the industry stems from this sort of activity, but it is balanced a little bit more, and that nation has retained a more democratic ability over the last one hundred and fifty years, because of this.
Now Germany, then, is the key; if, for example, any, war ever broke out between the Satanic forces of Communism. Europe would be lost completely without Germany. Industrial might in a mechanized war is the key to success if you hate the other qualities of determination, good leadership and endeavor. So Germany, then, needs something from other nations.
The French, likewise, are a very sensitive people, age they have many assets in this sphere which enable time to the Father in perhaps another way. They are in many senses very changeable. We have heard Reiner talk about many of their failings and much of the difficulty in handling them. But French people are like a boiling pot; you can never stick the lid on. Satan, therefore, can never stick the lid on France, and perhaps it may be difficult for God to stick the lid on, because they keep boiling -- but they have an aspect to give nations like England and Germany. English people are rather slow, you see, and they, need a bit, of boil: something to make them more alive, and the French have this aliveness. The Germans, I think, need a bit of this also.
Then we come to the Italians. Likewise they have a great rapport with the things of beauty, with music, art, color, and these sort of things. We know in the Father's restored world, it is to be a beautiful world. It is not enough to just erect vast cities, but they have to be beautiful places for people to live in. to express the Father. We have a portrait done in our dining room by Carlo; he's our Italian Family member, and, indeed, the Italians also have something to given to Europe. They need -- like England needs -- a bit of Germany, a bit of France and many other aspects of the Father, and we will find then suitzerland tool is very isolated. It's isolation has been a great thing with the Swiss. It has preserved them through two world wars. It has given them much, but in the Swiss there are other aspects which are more useful. One is that they have a small country, and like Holland--they care for it in a much greater way. Being very close to their country they have a greater rapport with creation, perhaps more than some other nations. So Switzerland has something to give and this is true for every nation. It is true for every continent: for example, that Europe also has a great deal to learn from the African Continent.
It's no good us thinking here in terms of just restoring Europe to be together with the Father, because Africa -- with its more open and childlike approach we say, is more open to the Father. Our Leader has said this perhaps the African will love me most'. That is the key. The ones who love the Leader more, who love the Father more, will be closest to him and if the movement spreads quickly in Africa, where young nations which neither wise to copy Europe, or copy anybody else, adopt principle and come together, they may well teach the older nations of Europe which are more deeply entrenched in their individuality -- a lesson about the great advantages of coming together. So even here in Europe we cannot just neglect Africa. Africa may have a greater lesson to teach us than perhaps we can teach ourselves in Europe.
We have to understand that with Europe, the forces that can keep us apart, are those forces which try and separate us from God, which try and prevent us coming together in heart.
The English, for example, have a long history of Democracy and they will philosophize over decisions at great length to try and work out the most just. Meanwhile things may slip beneath them, passing them by, with little accomplished. If the English people ever thought that they should impose English democracy upon Europe it would be a total failure. So England has much to learn, and has learned much in this Conference from the Father working through you all here. This is the reason and purpose of us coming together: that, tile Father can work through each of us, and teach us many things.
To preserve this, to create this, must be the purpose of every nation which holds this Conference. To create the conditions for us to feel the heart of the Father.
I would like to say just a few words. We are most grateful to Go the Father for Fringing forth this Conference. Our Father deserves all the praise an ' all the credit in this endeavor.
I myself, personally, feel that I have learned very many things from this Conference, that I don't feel I could have learned by myself in many a year.
The Father has been, more or less, chastising me. and, breaking me down- for weeks prior to this meeting, and many realizations have been coming to me through very unpleasant experiences, here in the center with members and also with members in Europe.
In Holland, especially, I learned many things. I have recognized how very wrong I have been in many cases and even here at the Conference, I have been reminded of this. Through each one of you, in a sense, I have learned more ways of subjecting myself to God the Father, and to members here, by mistakes I have made even in these three days.
I pray that that each one of you have seen many more things from the Father; in fact I am sure you all have.
In the past I had been very much prone to be too spiritual: so much so, that I went through' many difficult moments, and in turn suffered very much and inflicted suffering on others unnecessarily.
Through the help of many of you here: Peter (for one), Paul (for another), and Pauline, especially, chastising me I am extremely grateful.
Through this chastisement I have been able to see our Father more, and, in turn been able to help others more.
I have learned from all of you, from just a few words of Paul even, my weakness in handling members here.
All I can say is; that I am thankful that our Father put me this position as President, because I felt that I had to learn more than any of you.
I only hope that I can continue to do better, and co-operate more fully, with everyone from this moment on. I must, say again how grateful I am to our Beloved Leader because he knew my problem more than I, so this is his reason for putting me in this position.
I know that now. At first I thought rather a proud thought, but now I know differently, because I needed to learn lessons than any of you.
I am thankful also for the opportunity of going to Essen for our next Conference and also to work with Paul.
I thank you for all your co-operation,,, and your great hearts here, who have helped the English family so very very much.
We ended the First European Conference being led in prayer by Elke van der Stok.