APRIL 2002

Dear friends,

I want to thank all of you that have responded so kindly to our announcement last month on the passing of Bobbie Cavnar, my father. He was truly a great man, and touched many thousands of lives. His ability to communicate the excitement of life in Jesus Christ and his vision for evangelization were extraordinary. He is missed every day by all of us.

Bobbie’s vision, our vision, for The Way Home is much more than a weekly television program. It is a plan of action to cover the whole world with broadcast television and radio programming, witnessing to the everlasting love and grace of our Lord and Savior. We are working in collaboration with Catholic producers around the world on a number of new programs that you will be able to enjoy.

Our greater mission is evangelization, and that is why we "…ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:38). As individuals we can only accomplish so much; that is why Jesus taught his disciples to spread the Good News and "Go, make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19). For this reason Bobbie helped found Lumen 2000, one of whose objectives is to train new disciples so they can go out to teach and evangelize through the broadcast media.

I would like to tell you a little more about how Lumen 2000 came into existence as a "sharing" of God’s gifts to us all. After the deaths of Piet and Trude Derksen in 1995, Bobbie wrote a short history of the founding of Lumen:

"It was my privilege to meet Mr. and Mrs. Derksen Thanksgiving weekend 1982, when Father Tom Forrest arranged for us to travel together from Rome to Medjugorje for the first time. As a result of that trip, we agreed to collaborate on the production of the first television documentary about the reported apparition of the Blessed Mother to six children in this small village of Bosnia.

"Two months later Father Tom Forrest invited twelve people from nine different countries involved in evangelization and communications in the Catholic Church to a meeting in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It was at that time Mr. and Mrs. Derksen explained the vision they had received in prayer over a period of many months.

"They fervently believed the Lord wanted all of us to join together in order to help the Church in third world countries develop the capability to use the modern communications media of television and radio in their mission of evangelization of their own people. Not only did they believe this was what the Lord wanted, but they established "The Witnessing to God's Love Foundation," and dedicated their entire financial fortune to fund the effort.

"Subsequent to four days of prayer and sharing Lumen 2000 was born! We all agree that the time we were together was one of those extraordinary manifestations of God's Grace. It was a life changing experience. God moved and none of us have been the same since that time.

"Within three months we were training students in Dallas from Brazil and Colombia. Since that time we have trained over one hundred fifty students from fifty-one countries to produce Catholic television and radio programs in their own countries, in their own language, their own culture, and with their own equipment.

"With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Derksen, the Catholic Bishops of America and those of you who support "The Way Home," we have installed television production centers for the Church in thirty-one different countries. We continue to support each of these centers with technical and production assistance. Many of these production centers have contributed programming that has been made a part of the television program we produce and distribute for broadcast weekly in over fifty different countries."

We continue to receive requests for our help from Bishops throughout the world. They need training for their personnel,  assistance in selecting equipment, and programs to broadcast.  We respond with the resources we have available.  

We can only do this through your generosity of prayer and financial assistance. Please continue to support Lumen and The Way Home. There is no better way to memorialize the extraordinary, blessed life of a great man. (Click here to make a  donation now.)

The videotape we are offering this month is entitled "Lumen 2000." It tells the story of our training and encouraging Catholics around the world to produce high quality Christian radio and television programs.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, waited in the Upper Room with the Apostles until the Power of the Holy Spirit descended upon them. This time of prayer was called a Novena, meaning nine days of prayer. It was prayed between the time Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven (Ascension Thursday) and the descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). Again this year, as in years past, we are encouraging everyone to join with us in praying the Novena prayers to the Holy Spirit (May 9th through May 19th), the nine days between these two great feasts.

If you need a copy of the prayer, simply write "Novena" on the enclosed card and mail it back to us. You will notice on the back of the card a place to write your prayer intentions. They will be included in our Novena prayers for you. In turn, we respectfully request that you include, in your prayers, our intention for WISDOM, to know how we can better serve the Church in the communications media.

May God bless you and all your loved ones!

Sincerely,

Chris Cavnar

CC/vrb