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Issue 16
\u00a9 2000 Aurora Production, Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

Unless indicated otherwise, all
Scripture quotations inA ctivated are
from the New King James Version of the
Bible \u00a9 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

There\u2019s probably not a person on this planet who is
completely satis\ufb01ed with the way they are. Everyone is either
\u201ctoo fat\u201d or \u201ctoo skinny,\u201d \u201ctoo short\u201d or \u201ctoo tall,\u201d \u201ctoo aver-
age,\u201d \u201ctoo different,\u201d or toosomething. And what about those
bad habits, weaknesses, and personality quirks that seem to
stand in the way of our happiness, success, and successful
relations with others?

In time, most of us realize that one of the keys to happi-
ness is learning to accept certain things about ourselves that
we can\u2019t change or that don\u2019t really matter, and to major on
the things that wecan change and that do matter. Someone
wisely summed that up in what has come to be known as the
Serenity Prayer: \u201cLord, give us serenity to accept what cannot
be changed, courage to change what should be changed,
and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.\u201d

If we ask Him, God will not only give us serenity, cour-
age, and wisdom, He will also help bring about the positive
changes we desire in ourselves. The Bible is full of promises
about that: \u201cIf you abide in Me [Jesus], and My words abide
in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done
for you\u201d (John 15:7). \u201cNo good thing will He [God] withhold
from those who walk uprightly\u201d (Psalm 84:11). \u201cWith God
nothing will be impossible\u201d (Luke 1:37).

But what then? What\u2019sour part? Just how do we go
about the business of letting God change us? How much help
does He need or expect from us? It\u2019s our hope that this issue
ofActivated will help answer those questions and lead to a
happier, \u201cnew and improved\u201d you.

Each time I write Ilie, I enclose some Christian literature,
so during the visit Ilie gave his son one of the posters I had
sent him. His son later gave that poster to a fellow inmate,
Ovidiu, who also began corresponding with me regularly. With a
little encouragement, Ovidiu started to tell other inmates about
Jesus\u2019 love, forgiveness, and power to change hearts and lives.

Over the next year, Ovidiu won more inmates to the Lord.
As some of those inmates were transferred to other prisons,
more inmates were won to the Lord in those prisons. Now 12
inmates in \ufb01 ve prisons actively share the Good News with their
fellow inmates, and every month their numbers grow and more
prisoners get saved.

Several of them have written to say that whenever they
receive a letter from me, it\u2019s like a holiday for them and the
others in their little prison fellowships. Here are a few translated
excerpts from recent letters I received from some of them.