Merry Christmas

A letter from Gary, the director of Farm Drive Ministries:

Hello Everyone:

Christmas is definitely upon us. It seems that it sneaks up every year, and every year it seems to come a bit sooner. Am I the only one who thinks this??? I pray that you and your family will have a joyous Christmas, remembering the true meaning of the season.

Farm Drive is still a whirlwind of activity. It often seems like it is non-stop, but that is what keeps us young, right? We just finished with the LARGEST Christmas store ever. We open up the “store” so that the kids can come and shop for their families for gifts for Christmas. We put out the need for gifts, and you responded. Thank you all so much for your generosity!!! We had so many things that I could not unload my car for about two days because we had nowhere to store things while we were waiting “Store Day.” The kids were elated because they got to shop through some pretty good items, and we kept seeing the same thing over and over----the kids couldn’t make a decision between two or three gifts!!! That sounds a lot like me!! We had many people come to help the kids shop and wrap their treasures. We couldn’t have done this without our host of volunteers. And yes……it WAS like an army of people!! At the end of the day, we opened up the store to neighborhood parents so that they could come through and pick gifts for their families. We did not have much to put away at the end of the day. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Yesterday was the first day of Christmas vacation for the kids, and we started off with a waffle breakfast for the kids. We probably had about 50 kids to feed, but we had two toasters to use----until one of them “gave up the ghost” during the first toasting cycle. Oh well, we made it, and none of the kids starved to death. Yesterday afternoon, we took a group to Santa Cruz (yes, it was raining). We went to the lighthouse and then over to the wharf. Believe it or not, most of us (including me) had never been to the lighthouse!! Thankfully, Patty was our tour guide. The kids had a great time watching the waves and looking at the sea lions.

Christmas is a time of giving and again, we have seen our friends respond. Many people are deciding to try to help out less fortunate families by spending their holiday shopping money to provide gifts and food for them. We have had several people call and ask if we knew a family that they could bless by providing Christmas for them. What a joy to be able to see people, some of whom have not had a connection to Farm Drive, eagerly “adopt” these families to help them out. Some of these Farm Drive families would not have any Christmas gifts at all, if it were not for these loving families. At last count, we have had eight families adopted out!!! (We still have a few on our list if you know of someone who is looking to bless a family…...). One of the people who delivered gifts into the neighborhood this week remarked that it is difficult for him to see people who have these life circumstances, but he was personally blessed to be part of it. I know that the blessing that he received was at least equal to the blessing that the family received. Isn’t God good???? Who else would have thought of a “double blessing”???

I do need to tell you about May Coon. May is a little bit older than I am, and is one of our strong prayer supporters. She always has a keen knowledge of what is happening at Farm Drive. A few weeks ago, she sent out a flyer to her neighbors asking them to donate items for the kids at Farm Drive. She received about six to eight boxes of some pretty good stuff that the kids were excited to get! One of our volunteers said that she wanted to be like May when she got to be May’s age. I asked her if she knew how to make chocolate chip cookies because May still blesses the kids with home-baked cookies from time-to-time!!! I get all excited when May talks about the kids from Farm Drive.

As you know, Patty spent two weeks in Africa in late November/early December. The kids missed her a whole bunch (I think Pete and Cosmo and I did, too), and they are eagerly awaiting the slide show of her trip. Patty has given them African bracelets, pictures of wild animals, etc. Thanks for praying for her, and for us, too, in her absence.

We do have a few prayer requests to voice. Would you mention them to God when you are talking to Him?? We know that He cares about the Farm Drive families and their needs………

· Pray for the Torres family. They are struggling financially right now. The father, Hector, works in construction and has not been able to work much because of the economy. He is currently going through the process to get permanent residency here in the United States. He has a court hearing coming up in 2011. A few weeks ago, they got a notice from PG&E that their power was going to be turned off, and we were able to step in and help them out with it. In the midst of all this, it was a joy to hear Maria (mom) say that they wanted to come to services at Hillside, and then she and son, Eric, showed up for the Christmas program. It was awesome to see them there!!! Pray for the kids: Hector, Ruben and Eric. Ruben is especially struggling right now and could use an extra dose of prayer. He is making some poor decisions which could be life-changing for him. Pray for God’s protection and love to be evident in his life.

· Pray for Elizabeth and Yesenia. They are sisters and the family dynamics aren’t all that great. Elizabeth switched to a regular school at the beginning of the school year, but was overwhelmed and subsequently switched back. We just heard that she is not currently attending. Pray that she will make wise choices about her education.

· Pray for Leonel Barajas and kids: Maria, Lesley, Erick, Marcus and Anthony. Their mom died in June and this will be the first Christmas without her. Their grandmother had been living with them to take care of the kids, but has gone back to Mexico. Outwardly, they seem to be doing pretty well. Pray for Leonel and the kids as they continue to adjust to the time without their mom.

· Pray for our Farm Drive finances. We continue to run behind our budget projections, but God has been providing for us along the way. If you are interested in making 2009 year-end giving, any gifts need to be postmarked by December 31^st, or be turned in to the Church Office by 1:00 PM on December 31^st.

In his sermon on Sunday, Pastor Joe encouraged us to enjoy the Christmas spirit, but not to be satisfied with it. We can look for significance this Christmas by sharing the joy of the season with others. Thank you for continuing to support Farm Drive, both financially and prayerfully. May God bless you and yours a whole bunch this Christmas.