“It’s Coffee Time,” by Jane Paulson
“For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
“December” – such a special month! The Birthday of our Lord draws near – it’s the “Day of Days” of all the Year! There too will be many of us in the congregation celebrating our December birthdays. As important as our day may seem to us, somehow we don’t compare it with the one whose birthday made this season so special for everyone. There’ll be colorful wrappings and tinsel and greenery everywhere! Stores will be crowded with shoppers… and oh, so much to be done! But… when we look beyond the manger to the Cross, we will know the real reason why “Christmas” brings such joy! Also, out will come our long lists of names of family and friends we want to send special Holiday greetings to, letting them know we’re thinking of them and care enough to write them. Maybe this Christmas we could do the same for our foreign missionaries. They’ve accepted a call in their life, to leave all and to where maybe most of us wouldn’t care to go. Not only are they important to remember, but December is a good time to write them and let them know how much we care and appreciate them and their work on the field. I’m sure they get lonely… missing family and home. Here are the names and addresses of two of the families our United Methodist Church supports:
XX
Senegal, West Africa
XX
Tamil, Nadar, India
If you’d like any more information, why not call XX, Chairperson of the Mission Committee. Both X and X have a Mission Calendar you can purchase, with the names and birthdays of missionaries who are supported by the United Methodist Church and where they are serving. It’s nice to know after you card or letter gets to New York, it takes only one day to fly to the mission field. I called the Post Office, and to send a letter will cost around 60 cents. You also don’t need special envelopes or paper, just use what you have. You won’t be able to buy a Christmas present anywhere for less than a dollar. That’ll give more joy to those missionaries than when they receive our letters. I recently visited with a dear missionary friend, who has spent 50 years on the field in Taiwan and China. Now home in Minneapolis, Minnesota in her own apartment, she still loves to go to church and loves to work in the small children’s nursery. She has good health, though she will be 90 years old this coming June. I asked her what was one of her greatest joys while on the field, and she tells me, “Letters from Home.”
The mission letters that X sends in to SteepleTalk from the missionaries will give you and idea of what’s going on where some are working and also give you a real burden to pray for them.
May your Father in Heaven
Look down from above,
And brighten your Christmas
With Blessings of Love
[Ed.: Okay, I would have given anything to have listened in to that phone call to the post office.]
