I was in Kosovo, an NGO world if there ever was one. We had a small team and we set up our own small scale, NGO work.... a down to earth people to people humanitarian aid mission. So, I admire anyone who gets things done helping the needy. As you must know, in Kosovo there's a lot of UN people too, and some of them do nothing more than sit in an office pushing pencils. That can appear to be a waste, but it's not really. They bring in needed foreign currency, paying rents, buying food, paying for maintenance for their equipment & for their 4 wheelers, they give work to locals, translators, office personnel, drivers, etc. Just by being there they are a huge help. But best were the "hands on" people, we made friends with quite a few. We even got to know some Quakers who set up an relief operation with some Vietnam Vets, they were cool. Memories of the NGO community.
Anyway, we were still in the Family at that time but we weren't part of FCF. But, there was a another team in the same area that did get FCF support, and they sent the FCF the require reports, etc. They didn't get very much assistance from FCF, maybe they get more now. This team had a name for their operation, but they were unofficial, non registered, and the name the used was completely secular and totally non-Family related. Now and then they got some big donations from some other major international NGO's, like OXFAM for example, very secular organizations. And because they depended so much on support from internationals, they lived in fear and dread that their NGO foreign friends would discover they were part of the Family, and they'd end up getting banned or at the worst lose the support they were getting from the international community.
We got most of our support from local donors, and from out of the country mail ministry supporters. When we worked with internationals it was not for finances, only cooperative. Of course it was always a hassle to have to explain to people when they found out we were the Family, and it was never very easy. Sometimes we completely lost some of our very best friends. People who really loved us and Jesus, but when they discovered that we were part The Family, we could not regain their trust.
Isn't there something wrong with the picture when you need to be afraid to be up front about what you belong to? This is one of the main reasons we decided to leave the Family one year ago, last June.
Since then a lot has become much clearer, and our way has been blessed in ways that God did not bless it before. And we don't need to deceive anymore.... it is just so wonderful! Think about it.
> This is my first and probably last visit to
> this site. Someone whom I love and admire
> very much drew my attention to the fact that
> my character and life's work were under
> discussion,without my knowledge, on this
> bulletin board based on an email exchange I
> had with an individual that I have never met
> & who uses the alias Texas Ray.
> I received Texas Ray's email to me in the
> midst of attempting to answer viwer
> responses to the 3-part documentary,Hidden
> Lives, shown on Nightline. I feel,in the
> context of what's being discussed, that it's
> important to say that Texas Ray's email
> stood in sharp contrast to the scores of
> other viewer letters in that it showed an
> utter lack of interest in the actual plight
> of the North Korean children and refugees
> that I've been attempting to help for the
> last 6 years.
> Be that as it may, nevertheless I did take
> considerable time to answer Texas Ray in a
> personal letter. I then discovered that my
> email reply to Texas Ray has been
> characterized by him as deceitful, but the
> text of my letter was not actually shown to
> readers he was speaking to on this site.
> Therefore, for the record, I am copying
> here, word for word, the exchange of letters
> that took place on June 11th. My reply is
> placed first and Texas Ray's letter is
> beneath that. (Texas Ray sent a 2nd email
> that repeated the same threat, but I will
> not copy that here.)
> Yes, I do have FM status in the Family
> Missionary Fellowship. The reason that I
> state that here and did not do so in my
> email response to Ray is very simple. He
> issued his request for that information in
> the form of a very clear threat or blackmail
> issued to me his demand as follows:"If
> you will send me an e-letter stating your
> rejection of heretical "family"
> doctrines,.......I will take no action other
> than to publish that letter on several
> family oriented discussion boards.
> If you do not send me such a letter I will
> have no choice but to contact all of the
> media contacts mentioned on your site and
> inform them of the true nature of FWF and
> your own ministry."
> I kept asking myself: Why is a complete
> stranger threatening me in this way?
> I don't like threats (don't know anyone who
> does) and, just as importantly, I don't
> believe in the principle of yielding any
> personal information based on such threats,
> pure and simple.
> As another matter of record, mention of the
> Family Missionary Fellowship as an integral
> part of my missionary training has been
> stated by me in several prominent
> interviews, including NEWSWEEK, Feb. 7th,
> 2001 (regional East Asian edition).I also
> mentioned it in a long interview that was
> published with one of the primary English
> dailies here several years ago.
> I think that pretty much speaks for itself,
> doesn't it?
> That being said, in my descripton of myself
> as an independent tentmaker missionary, how
> else would you describe someone who has been
> alone in a country with his family unaided
> for 6 years to build a work? If you don't
> think that's independent, you've got another
> think coming'
> OK, to sum up, I'm FM and proud to be so.
> I'm doing my best to change the world in a
> place that no one I know of has taken an
> interest. Wanna help? I welcome contact with
> you. If you think threats and blackmail will
> work on me, sorry to disappoint you. That's
> the way that North Korean government works
> and we're trying to rescue people from that
> kind of intimidation.
> Let's win the world for Jesus!
> In Jesus' Name,
> Tim Peters (my real legal name)
> PS--I want to say a personal thank you to
> the two brave individuals on this site who
> defended my work for the Lord. I do
> appreciate that more than I canput into
> words and am encouraged.
> **********
> My reply to a letter from Texas Ray June,
> 11,2002
> Texas Ray,
> As a general rule I don't answer mail from
> individuals who fail to identify
> themselves.Your letter that began so
> cordially rapidly slid into what can only be
> described as an unexpected and very ugly
> threat. I do not know who you are and you
> apparently do not have the courage to fully
> reveal yourself. Further, you seem to have
> no idea who I am.
> Although the tone and substance of your
> letter don't merit further response,
> nevertheless, I will state the following for
> the sake of the people I'm attempting to
> help: I am a tentmaker lay missionary who
> has supported his family with a modest day
> job for years and moonlights as an NGO
> volunteer that works to feed the hungry and
> attempts to rescue the persecuted and
> downtrodden in very dangerous circumstances.
> After considerable research into other
> foundations, I have found that the 10% that
> the Family Care Foundation uses for its
> administrative expenses is considered frugal
> by any measure. Your other comments on this
> point were confusing and made no sense to
> me.
> Because you do not know me personally,
> therefore you could have no idea whatsoever
> about my spiritual journey as a Christian
> and the current state of my religious
> convictions and affiliations. I fail to see
> how it concerns you. Again, I am forced to
> say that your presumptuous intrusion into my
> life and charitable labors is unwarranted
> and distasteful. I'm reminded of what the
> Apostle Paul said: "One thing have I
> desired to know among you, Christ Jesus, and
> Him crucified."
> This, though, I will gladly share with you
> or anyone: when I stand before the Almighty
> at the end of my life, one & only one
> thing will be my plea as a mortal man: the
> blood of Christ has washed my soul and in
> this alone I can have boldness at the seat
> of God's mercy.Do you, Texas Ray, embrace
> this sacred principle that eclipses all
> others? If so, let me further encourage you
> to reflect upon a very valuable guideline
> before seeking to undermine or destroy a
> man's lifelong work for Jesus Christ &
> his fellow man, as you have openly declared
> today in your email that you wish to do to
> mine: "If this thing is not of God, it
> will come to naught. If it is of God, no man
> can stand against it." and if I'm not
> mistaken, the passage goes on to say,
> "Beware lest you be found to fight
> against God."
> May I encourage you to find your own peace
> with God and come to terms with anything
> that's unresolved in your soul. It goes
> without saying that it is a grave thing to
> attack a brother in Christ, about whom you
> know nothing. Please consider this deeply
> before you do it.
> Tim Peters
> -------------
> Letter from Texas Ray to Tim Peters June 11,
> 2002
> Tim Peters
> I was very impressed with the interview on
> CWA. I believe that you are indeed doing a
> good work with your ton a month project.
> I myself spent several months in Seoul and
> Pussan in the
> 1980s (in the family). I left the family in
> 1988 in Japan (in total disgust). More
> recent events have only deepened and
> expanded that disgust. I know there are many
> sweet and sincere people caught up in the
> family.
> However because the "family" in
> general has had such horribly bad fruit,
> stemming from horrible evil doctrines, I
> consider it to be an evil tree that must be
> rooted up and hewn down.
> Therefore I intend to expose your link with
> it in every way possible in order to ensure
> that donations intended to help the poor are
> not diverted by FCF and or yourself from
> your humanitarian project into family use.
> Even FCF's 10% is too much for my taste. Why
> should sincere people tithe to the family
> without knowing it.
> I would advise you to become what you
> claimed to be in the interview.
> "Independant tentmaking christian
> missionaries" and a "mom and
> dad" organization. I realize this may
> be largely true even now. But as long as you
> retain any vestige of family affiliation I'm
> afraid that I must consider you as being in
> the enemy's camp. As family members you are
> perpetuating an abusive cult whether or not
> you are directly involved in such abuse
> yourselves.
> If you will send me an e-letter stating your
> rejection of heretical "family"
> doctrines, specifically the "law of
> love", "one wife"
> "LJR", "posession"
> "spirit helpers" and the divine
> inspiration of David Berg and Karen Zerby, I
> will take no action other than to publish
> that letter on several family oriented
> discussion boards.
> If you do not send me such a letter I will
> have no choice but to contact all of the
> media contacts mentioned on your site and
> inform them of the true nature of FWF and
> your own ministry. I do not wish to
> interfere with your work but the (non
> existent) family of love/COG or whatever
> other alias they go by now is an evil that
> must be pursued and exposed wherever it
> shows its head.
> (end of letter by Texas Ray to Tim Peters)