JESUS IS, WAS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE REASON FOR THE SEASON:

There was a promise left on a tree, Jesus. The gift of Jesus excluded no one. Some have yet to claim that gift, some have failed to remove the wrapping. Many have opened and received it. To all He made the promise "For God so Loved YOU," a promise and gift by God for all who receive HIS Son. even those in prison.

HE CARES FOR US

There was an Atheist couple who had a child. The couple never mentioned anything about the Lord. One night when the girl was five, the parents fought with each other, and the dad shot the Mother, right in front of the child. Then, dad shot himself. The girl watched it all. She was sent to a foster home. The Foster Mom took the girl to church. On the first day there, the foster mom told the teacher the girl knew little about Jesus, and to have patience with her. The teacher held up a picture of Jesus and asked, "does anyone know who this is?" The little girl said "I do; that's the man who held me the night my parents died."

THANK YOU JESUS, writes Beulah. "Thank you for the special evening you spent with us Friday. You are both amazing workers for the Lord." (HE does it all and we get the credit.)

"I did appreciate your presentation, and the sincerity and dedication you showed in your ministry. After I got home I prayed to God and asked for an answer about whether I should be a blessing as a Pen Friend. My answer came after church. God is good and loving. Please send me the information to start writing.

Thanks. Beulah and Art.
HAPPINESS IS TO KNOW

Thousands of men and women, boys and girls, will receive cards and presents in prison from many of you. Ten times that amount will get nothing but loneliness. I am overjoyed that Jesus gave me a talent to speak, and make appeals for folks to answer. My prayer is that everyone getting this will get involved with Someone Cares because Someone in Heaven Cares! I can tell you from experience that there is no man tough enough to handle prison alone.

Yvonne and I will hold four services for inmates at Corcoran

Christmas Eve and Christmas day. How we long to be with family, but there is a day coming when our family will no longer be separated. WERE YOU THERE?

Although we celebrate the birth of Jesus this time of year, our prayers should be BECAUSE HE LIVES. That promise makes it possible for many to face tomorrow. Then we add O Come All Ye Faithful to fulfill the commission of Jesus to Go, Do. We pray that as you become more involved with our ministry in the coming year, we will have the Blessed Assurance that someone new will know Jesus. Then he or she can Go Tell It On A Mountain!

We pray that each of you, and your families, have had Showers of Blessings and are looking for a place to share them. Someone Cares could use your help to make OUR CUP run over. We are going to end the year close to being in the black; a little extra will help. Even though we hate to ask we need Joy To The World and you will gain not only a blessing, but a tax deduction. OUR God above Increase HIS love for each of YOU

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
6,000 PROMISES:

We are always telling inmates to claim the promises in God's Word. For a long time we have been in a quandary about the growth of this ministry, and claimed God's promises. We will serve HIM in prison until HE comes or we go.

When we came back to California, we never knew the growth would be so big. We have prayerfully asked God to direct us.

The Pen Friend Program must be a separate ministry. The Dress out and Bible Study Programs need to be perfected across this country, as God directs. As we wrote last month, we would like to be nearer to our family. The valley were we live is not good for my health because of chemical sprays, cotton (very heavily sprayed) and walnuts. We made inquiries, asking God to lead. It seemed that the center of the United States would be ideal. We miss being in the country with a little land to care for. We miss Holidays with our family. We stayed with dear friends, Michelle Johnson and her neat husband, Bob. Michelle prayed that God would direct us and that we could find a home with a little land and room to expand. 24 hours after Michelle's prayer we got a call from a pastor in Indiana with a home that matched all our needs, within driving distance from our family and located so we could go East or West, North or South. God had answered our prayer. Still, were all the pieces together? We contacted all the prisons and found the doors wide open for us-Someone Cares and YOU. Since all this happened, a door has opened in another area of California! So wherever we are guided to move, this ministry will grow, and Jesus will provide the direction and open the doors for us to do His will. Please pray for us to make the correct decision.

As a self-supported ministry, we need to always be sure that we are good stewards of your donations. We are asking that if God has blessed you in 2000, and you can use a tax deduction, that you will remember Someone Cares financially, sacrificially and prayerfully. Moving is costly, but that will be recovered in less than a year in health care and cost of living.

Nothing we have done in California will be harmed. Every part of this ministry will grow and we will be opening new doors with Jesus' continued direction.

WHAT WOULD A MOVE DO?

1. We have a goal of 500,000 inmates being reached by this ministry.

2. Due to some changes, we are near starting a Nationwide Dressout program for inmates leaving prison.

3. The Two-Care Program, a one-to-one visitation program, is in place and we need to work out God's plan for this.

4. The Pen Friend Program is going so fast. With more access to radio and TV, we see another 200,000 inmates finishing Bible studies to match the 200,000 already completed!

5. If we move to Indiana, we can spend Holidays with family and pray that is not selfish. If we stay in California, the more we do to grow, the closer we are to JESUS' return. What a Merry Christmas that will be!

Remember there is no you or I in Jesus, just US.
YVONNE'S CORNER

Don and I pray that this year has been a good one for you and your families, but even more than that, we pray that we have all grown spiritually-that is what really counts.

A Mother of three [ages 14, 12, and 3] recently completed her college degree. The last class she had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that she wished every human being had been graced with. Her last project was called "Smile." She wrote:

"The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions," she writes. "Being a very friendly person and always smiling at everyone and saying hello anyway, I thought, this would be a piece of cake, literally. Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp morning. It was just our way of sharing special play time with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch...an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell, and there, standing behind me, were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was "smiling." His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed gentleman was his salvation.

I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked them what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all, Miss," because that was all they could afford. [if they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just

wanted to be warm]. Then I really felt it-the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my very action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you," I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope."

How would you have reacted ? Could you as a Christian have given the Unconditional Acceptance? We must learn that people are watching us, and what do our actions say to them? We pray that as we get one more year closer to our Lord's return we will be more loving to all no matter what people think.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

We watched during the past election the separation of church and state. We have seen the confusion, and work with it in prison. Jesus wants there to be one direction for all of us, and that is HIS. Yvonne and I wish to be part of a "Jesus in us" meets the "Jesus in them." It is the saving GRACE of Jesus that changes lives. There has become too much doctrine in Christianity and too little Jesus. It still takes the blood of Jesus when we sin. He stopped dying on the cross to save a convict! His guidance will lead us to a new location and the straight and narrow path. We ask God to bless you and yours this holiday season. Start the New Year right now asking "What can I do for HIM?"

POVERTY

In prison and out of prison, just look around you and you will see. He sits in silence, with an expression of need upon his face. You walk by, as if you didn't notice him. It's sad. He puts on a grin to keep from crying. He looks at you deep, deep with want. And all you do is keep on walking. Children die every day from disease and starvation, and you don't notice. It's sad.

Why is it that during the Holiday season we want to help, yet for the rest of the year we are content to walk on by. Is that what Christ would do if He were here??

The water is contaminated. People starve, malnourished and dehydrated, Why?

We have clothes. We have food, shelter, water, money, and they don't Why?

They have to stand in line at food kitchens. They live in shacks. They have no trans-portation, WHY?

We have all this money, all this food, yet we don't help. WHY?

This was written by a child ten years of age; how would you answer this young child?

POOR PEOPLE

Children hungry and dying, going home at night hungry and sick. What kind of life is that? No doctor to give you medicine, no medicine to give. Drinking dirty, bacteria-infested water because that is the only thing to drink! How can people live like that? How, How?

This is just a very small portion of what some children have written to us about what they see and where they live. Is there poverty in California? Oh yes, a lot, and do these people want to work? Don and I see people who get up at 4:00 a.m. and stand, just waiting for someone to come along and offer them a job for the day. What is the answer? You can see this throughout the United States, and yet we use our churches, what--twice a week ? It is something to think about as we do our Christmas shopping!

SOMEONE CARES When folks seem insensitive to your never ending pain,
When no one wants to lend an ear to hear all that again,
Remember Someone Cares
Who knows just how you feel,
Yes! Someone's always there
Who knows your pain is real!
Jesus can heal the broken heart,
The broken body too.
Reach out and touch the Lord in Prayer
By your faith, He'll strengthen you!
JEAN'S JOTTINGS

Country singer and composer Dottie Rambo has written a lovely song that goes...

Is there anything I can do for You? Anything I can do?

For all the things You've done for me, is there anything I can do? I'm willing to be used, dear Lord, what-e'er the price may be. So if there's anything I can do for You, just make it known to me.

In the second verse, "do" becomes "be." Isn't that a lovely aim for this holiday season and throughout the new year? This song is from an organ/piano duet book called The Songs of Dottie Rambo, arr. By W. Elmo Mercer, and distributed by Benson Music Group. Your local Christian book store can get it for you. It's a lovely collection of songs from the heart of someone who loves Jesus.

I was really excited when I heard that McClures might be moving closer to "home." Don has talked about the reactions he has to their environment. It's no fun to be chemically sensitive. There are thousands who have "Sick Building Syndrome," and I know folks who can't go to the store because of all the chemicals that exist in plastic containers, their contents, the products used to clean the store, and even pesticides used in food production! It's another form of incarceration with different, but very real, bars.

That's why it's so wonderful to live surrounded by certified organic farmland, and know that the food produced God's way is making people healthy, not sick.

According to an agricultural newsletter I receive by Email, many fast food chains have already banned the use of genetically altered potatoes and corn because of their potential to harm humans. The command-ment "thou shalt not commit adultery" isn't just for the purpose we normally think of; it includes stewardship of our food chain as well.

Speaking of food, aren't the holidays wonderful? We fix specially good things for our families to enjoy, and invite others who have a need to be wrapped in love. We nibble and feast for 40 days and 40 nights (until we hear the springs in the scale give way on New Year's day). Somewhere in that time we need to think of others who are behind bars with no cards or presents. Of course we can't give to everyone, but we can send special cards and notes to our Pen Friends, and ask Someone Cares for one more.

Have we written or phoned those in our churches who were sick or absent this week? Are our neighbors in need? Even if they aren't, we can share a loaf of fresh bread and a hug. Sometimes those around us just need a hug to know they're not so all alone.

When you attend a potluck, is there a shut-in who would love to be with you? Or maybe that person would enjoy a plate of food to microwave at home. And remember to thank Jesus for all His good gifts, and tell Him you love Him. He gave us the ultimate gift - Himself. This Christmas, let's give Him our hearts.