Home for Christmas

"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' - Matthew 25:35-40

Sorry. I know I haven't posted in awhile. Its been an interesting month since Kristina returned to Ukraine. We have been blessed to send and receive two letters thanks to the Frontier Horizon workers and missionary Lela Steel. Kristina is upbeat and reflective in her letters. It sounds like her newly pierced ears started to get infected because she confessed that she took them out because they were hurting. I asked her if there was anything she needed so that I could try and get it to her. Her response? "Leslie, I need to be in your family." Sigh.

Please pray for the group traveling to Ukraine in 6 days. Although I had wanted so badly to go and be part of that ministry and see Kristina again, I am at peace that God did not open that door. We are looking forward with great hope to the Christmas holiday. We are planning on bringing her here if everything falls into place. She will only be able to stay for two weeks, but it will be worth every minute.

The Christmas hosting program is an unbelievable opportunity to bless a child who will not know the joy that comes with the holiday season here in the States. Beyond the presents and extravagant decorations, the comfort of food and family is a blessing that many of us take for granted. It sounds like a radical request, but would you take a complete stranger into your home and treat him or her like family this Christmas? Would you let him know the joy of decorating a tree, attending service at your church, opening presents on Christmas morning, Christmas carols, holiday lights, and your own family's traditions? I know that God's people have generous hearts, particularly during the holidays. You may already be planning to feed a needy family in the community or provide gifts for the less fortunate through any one of a number of programs. But what if you could see and feel the impact of ministering to Christ first hand? I promise that you have never experienced joy until you minister to the fatherless. Frontier Horizon is already gathering information on boys and girls that are available to travel for Christmas and there are pictures available. I'm not asking you to adopt a child. I'm not asking you sponser a child for the rest of your life. I'm asking you to change the life of one child for 14 days. If this is something you have room in your heart for, God will work out the details. He's just looking for willing hearts. Write me, call me, post to me here if you want more information. As God's people, this is what we have been called to.

A couple was walking on the beach, taking in the ocean air and a beautiful cloudless day when they came upon a stretch of beach that was just littered with literally thousands of starfish that had washed up on the beach during a storm the night before. They couldn't believe how many were lying helplessly on the beach starting to dryout and die in the sun. As they walked, they ran into a little boy who was picking up starfish, one by one, and tossing them back into the ocean. They stopped and asked him what he was doing.

"Rescuing starfish." He replied.

"There are thousands of them," they said, "you can't possibly save them all. You’re not going to make any difference."

Undaunted, he picked up another starfish and tossed it into the ocean.

"I made a difference to that one," he said.