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have told him I desire NO such titles; that I want him alive and
well, healthy and vibrantly active. What really matters is that
I have his full support and confidence. That has been given!
And how we both thank God for it!
"My father has had to be a fighter -- all his life. He
has had to fight to make these wonderful institutions what they
are; fight to preserve God's Church against all outside
persecution, and against enemies from within; fight to salvage the
Work when terrible financial adversity threatened its very life;
fight to preserve and protect that way of life he originally laid
down as fundamental for Ambassador College.
"It seems to me, as his son, that it is a fabulous
blessing for my father to be able now to see, to know, and to
understand that his son is fighting WITH him, and FOR him; that he
can enjoy the fruits of his labors in more of a relaxed, high-level
atmosphere, where, as God opens doors for him, he can produce for
God's Work in his speaking with world leaders and in his writings
to millions of people. My father's visits with these leaders in
all fields, at the very highest echelon in many countries, evidence
enormous fruit of a positive kind for God's Work -- and that, while
my father is engaged in these very critical and far-reaching
activities with incalculable future potential for all of us in
God's Work, he can rely on his son to take up the banner and the
shield and stand up to fight for those same basic principles that
have always guided this great Work.
"I am feeling as if a great weight has settled down on my
shoulders -- a weight I cannot carry alone. I told my father it
was like standing under the Rock of Gibraltar -- or, at least, so
it seems.
"I need the prayers of every one of our brethren and
CoWorkers; I need the support of the entire worldwide ministry.
I can only be thankful that God has provided -- called and trained
-- a qualified, dedicated and loyal group of ministers and
executives to hold up my hands as I hold up my father's.
"I know, and I know other thousands know, that one of the
most important things really needed in this whole Work is for my
father and me to be REALLY CLOSE TOGETHER. THAT REAL CLOSENESS IS
AN ACCOMPLISHED AND PERMANENT FACT!
"I intend to make it my aim and one of my primary goals to
see that NOTHING and NO ONE comes between that close, personal
relationship with my father and me. Our Creator has shown that He
wants this Work to go on to greater proportions than ever before.
I know with all my being that our commission is the real reason
we all draw breath. It's the greatest calling given to any human
beings in history, the only goal worthwhile in a lasting, permanent
sense.
"With deep love, in Jesus' name,"
Garner Ted Armstrong