Do You Know What Makes a Reindeer Cry?
It is seeing the lonely, heartbroken spouses and children of inmates at Christmastime. Can you imagine the frustrating sense of abandonment a
child must feel – not understanding why a parent stays gone so long? Angel
Tree is a nationwide program that helps alleviate
that feeling by sharing gifts and the Gospel with these broken families.
You can help bring a smile
and a sense of hope to one of the 1.7 million children who have a parent they won’t be able to see this Christmas. A parent who,
like all of us, is human and made a mistake. A mistake an innocent child is suffering
for.
We all know Christmas
shouldn’t be just about Christmas presents. That’s why the Angel Tree program is so important. It helps spread the
Gospel too. It helps children to know they aren’t forgotten – that they are
loved and worthy of being loved.
As the Bible tells us, (James 1:27 KJV) “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”. When a parent is incarcerated it often means a
family living as though they were fatherless and widowed. You can make a
difference. You can change the world one child, one family, at a time.
How important is this? Consider what
Jesus Himself told us (Mark 9:37 KJV), “Whosoever
shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever
shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me”. Your help will
not only bless and enrich the lives of these children; it will bless and enrich
your own.
And there is more, Angel Tree is a
program administered by Prison Fellowship. Prison
Fellowship takes the Gospel into 288 prisons, jails and detention centers
throughout the United States. This is vital since, each year, about 700,000
prisoners are released. Although almost 95% of all inmates will eventually be
released there is great chance they will return. There is a 66% recidivism
rate. Prison Fellowship is working to break the cycle – for the inmates and
their children. You can make a difference in the life of a child and your
community.
You can aid a child or an
inmate – or both. Jesus also told us (Matthew 25:39/40
KJV), “Or when saw we thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”. You have a very
special opportunity to do just that.
What’s more you know you can count on
Angel Tree, and its parent organization, Prison Fellowship – which is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity, a member of the
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and a GuideStar participant.
What could be more important than
serving the Gospel to a lonely, heartbroken, soul hungry child? What a
wonderful way for you to obey and serve Jesus. See for yourself how successful
these guys are - read some of the Angel Tree stories.
Please, search your heart, share the Gospel, and put a smile and more in
the heart of a child. Who wants to see a child or a reindeer cry? Won’t you donate today? Thank
You, God will bless you for your charity.
And
now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity
(1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV).
No comments:
Post a Comment