VASSULA’S VISIT IN CYPRUS

JANUARY 11th-14th 2012

The True Life in God prayer group in Cyprus invited Vassula to give her testimony in Nicosia. Although they encountered a negative reaction from the Greek Orthodox Church, they continued with all the preparations. Since this would be Vassula’s first time giving her testimony in Cyprus, they rented a hall at Intercollege Nicosia that seats 250 people.

Here we would like to mention what Vassula had said in an interview when she was asked: “Why is the Church against you?” She responded: “Those people of the Church who have not heard me nor ever read the messages are reacting negatively, while those who heard me and read the contents of the messages are supporting me and are positive. It was arranged that the Maronite Bishop Chucrallah of Lebanon and Father Joseph would accompany Vassula for her speech on January 13th. Bishop Chucrallah is one of those who have read the TLIG messages and found them very deep and nourishing.

Bishop Chucrallah

Our departure from Rhodos was scheduled so that we would be in Cyprus Thursday evening, January 12th. Nevertheless, our Lord reserved for us a big surprise. The reporter of a renowned TV program in Cyprus which is widely viewed by the Cypriots, asked that Vassula be present as a guest on her live program Thursday 12th in the afternoon. New flight arrangements had to be made by the Cyprus TLIG team and with much joy and expectancy; everything was arranged so that Vassula and Irini, who would be the translator, could be in Nicosia on time.

Thursday January 12th 2012

Upon arrival at the airport, Vassula and Irini were greeted by the Cyprus team Carl and Ninetta. Gethsemane and Tereza from Greece had come two days prior to Cyprus to give a hand to the Cypriots. At 16:30 we arrived at the Sigma TV Station were Vassula was warmly received by the host, Elita. The program "With Elita" was set to be on air (live). From the questions the reporter was asking, one could understand that she knew the contents of the messages and in this way Vassula’s witnessing was flowing. During the interview which lasted just over one hour, Vassula briefly spoke about her background and the beginning of her experience with God. When she was questioned about whether she is Orthodox and about the opinion of the Orthodox Church, she kindly answered that those who have really studied the messages accept them, while those who have not, reject them.

She went on to say that: “Despite the oppositions and the persecutions, the messages are spreading more and more, and anyone with some sense of spirituality would understand that they are of divine origin and that nobody will be able to extinguish God’s Voice”. It is written in Scriptures: “An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit.” (1 Cor.2:14)

One of the questions the reporter asked was whether TLIG is a heresy. Vassula then had the opportunity to answer that they are not a heresy because through the messages people are led to the Sacraments of their own Church and its teachings. True Life in God revives their faith.

She pointed out that sometimes the devil can perform miracles, but he can never lead someone to the Sacraments of the church, especially to Holy Communion.

During the interview, Vassula had the chance to tell the people watching her that we all should return to God, that we should change our way of life into an unceasing prayer and live according to God’s Holy Will. She spoke about the prophecies given to her in the messages which have been fulfilled; for example the tsunami in Asia, the fall of the Twin Towers in the USA and the Transfiguration of the Church in Russia.

The reporter wanted to know more about the vision Our Holy Mother gave Vassula regarding the opening of Beth Myriam (that means House of Mary) throughout the world and about their function, feeding the poor.

While Vassula was speaking, a video was simultaneously projected, showing her worldwide mission.

Towards the end of the program, the reporter announced that Vassula will be giving a speech at the Intercollege in Nicosia the following day, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Friday, January 13th 2012

The next morning after breakfast, the final preparations for this afternoon’s speech were underway. The organizers of TLIG Cyprus received many telephone calls from people who had seen the TV program the previous day. Those who would not able to attend the meeting asked how to get the books and how they could participate in the TLIG prayer groups.

Other callers asked Vassula to pray for them and their families because of different problems they were facing, especially health problems. Another caller was the mother of a man who suffered from very serious depression since he was 17. For thirty years now, he does not react at anything around him. However, when watching the TV program where Vassula was interviewed, he was touched and showed great interest. His mother then phoned and asked if Vassula would be able to pray for her son and that she would come to the meeting with him.

By 16:30, the hall was filled with people eager to hear Vassula speak and by 17:00 there were no more seats available. As a result, some of them decided to sit on the floor, at the edge of the stage and many were standing at the aisles and outside the hall where we had set tables with the books, trying to listen through the open doors. The security “went bananas” trying to hold those back who were trying to go in.

Before the meeting started, a retired teacher approached us and he looked very touched. In tears, he explained that he had watched the TV program the previous day, heard about the Beth Myriam and he wished to offer a donation. He repeatedly thanked God for guiding Vassula to establish the Beth Myriams in the world, helping the starving poor people and children.

We will never forget the image of a young man in a wheelchair who listened to Vassula’s speech with closed eyes and joined hands throughout the entire speech. Another unforgettable presence was Mr. Joseph, a man of a certain age with heart problems. In order to be there, he was carrying with him oxygen bottles. Before Vassula spoke, we showed a short 15 minute video clip on her mission. Once the video clip finished, Gethsemane, in the Greek language and Inge in the English language presented Vassula and her charisma. Then Vassula with Irini went on stage. She started by greeting the people present, asking all to stand up and pray the “Our Father”.

Then Vassula blurted out in Greek: “The speech will be in English as my Greek is poor”. Hardly had she said these words when a brazen voice was heard shouting: “Your Greek is perfect!” Another voice was heard, this time with irritation: “Look, we are all Greeks here and we want you to speak Greek”. Vassula had spent 25% of that same day with Irini fixing and polishing up a written speech about prophecies and about the New Pentecost and so on.

Vassula tried to ignore what these people were yelling out. She looked at her text and found out that all the letters of her speech were scribbles. She could not read anything. First she thought it was a lack of light, so she lit up the pulpit light at the side and flashed it on the text. Still she could not distinguish one word from another. She thought she was going mad or blind and for the first time she drew out some eyeglasses and wore them to read: the same; nothing changed, it was all blurry. She panicked for a second - although we could not see it - and found herself OBLIGED to talk openly and on top of it all, in Greek. Barely had she started when right in the back a man yelled out, “Around me are English speaking people; they don’t speak Greek, please talk in English!”

Vassula told us later on: “I could have fainted, but I didn’t. On the contrary: my adrenaline had pumped up to explosion and like a machine gun non stop for more than an hour I told all my story and all about Jesus and the unity etc. in two languages, paragraph by paragraph, switching from Greek to English and back, back and forth. It was so well done that no one felt fatigue of repetition. When I needed to say one date of a message I somehow looked to find it on my written speech without thinking and only that date was as clear and bright as crystal and I could read it, but nothing more.”

At the end of her speech, Vassula invited the Maronite Bishop Chucrallah from Lebanon to say a few words to the audience. He witnessed that the messages of TLIG strengthened his faith and developed the two legs of Christian spiritual life which are the power of prayer and acts of charity. He also thanked Vassula for giving him the opportunity to speak about the spirituality of the TliG messages. She ended with a message of June 18, 1994:

“ -in the morning sow your seed of love;
-at noon sow your seed of peace;
-in the evening sow your seed of reconciliation;
then go and collect your harvest and offer it to Me, your Father in Heaven.”

Vassula told us later on: “The Lord triumphed and if you did not guess by now, I’ll tell you: the Lord had His Hand on me all the time and He was pouring in my mouth all that had to be said. He blurred out my speech to make His point and do it His way. For this crowd, it had to be done in that way and no other way.”

When Vassula finished addressing the audience, everybody was lit up by God and on fire. After the blessing of the Bishop, no one moved; they remained seated saying: “We don’t want to leave, the air is still full of God’s graces and blessings and it is so good to still feel them”. The young man suffering from depression had also attended the meeting. As soon as Vassula left the hall, someone ran after her saying that the young man with depression was here and could she to talk to him. Vassula agreed immediately and they led him where she was getting ready to leave. She advised him on what to do, and while she was talking his features brightened by the minute and he started to feel better, even giving her a broad smile. He left happy. His mother, a few days after, called the organizers saying that her son was fine for two days, but then the depression once more took a grip on him. Vassula then wrote to him, telling him to start reading the messages and by reading them he will be healed and will come out of his depression.

We were all happy to say that there was a turnout of over 400 people of whom 100 showed an interest in attending the prayer groups and in receiving the newsletters. It was amazing to see how every book written in Greek was sold and the other books, magazines and leaflets were given away like fresh bread. The last book was fought over by two people, almost tearing it in half, Praise The Lord! We had to say “sorry” to the people who could not have any book or other material, yet they were happy to learn that the books were available in the local bookstores. We were all so happy and praised God for this wonderful experience. However, some of us the Greek people, felt sad thinking why this spiritual fire should not also happen in Greece.

Vassula said to the organizers while going out: “You are rejoicing now, but tomorrow you will be attacked by the very ones who say: “We are the Church”. She was right. The next day, the Orthodox Church of Cyprus wrote a nasty article against her with the intention to extinguish the fire that God put in the Cypriots’ heart. Vassula commented: “God is Fire, so how could they really believe they can extinguish God?”

At 20.00 Vassula, the guests from Greece, and several members of the TLIG local prayer group went for dinner, everyone sharing his or her own experience of that unforgettable day.

Saturday January 14th 2012

Early in the morning after breakfast, the guests from Greece left Cyprus. We had not yet fully realized how many graces were given to us, the Cypriots. This reminded us of a passage in the Lord’s messages when He said: “Although you have forgotten Me, I have never forgotten you!”

Inge and Chara