Christmas Again! Heck, It's Leap Year!!!
by John D. Richardson
February 29, 2024
Dear People of God,
It has been a while. May this find you well.
It was a big year for us. Madison married on October 21, 2023. We welcomed Sterling Ridgeway into our family. He is a decent enough bloke. lol It is Madison after all. Actually, we like Sterling. A lot!
Why has it been a while?
Honestly, with regard to writing, I have been less than passionate. At some point in 2021 it became obvious, to me at least, that my newsletters were not being delivered much less received and read. Literally, letters just like this didn't arrive in in-boxes. It was a battle I was not looking for and one for which I had no energy to fight. What am I going to say anyway, put up your dukes algor . . .
Why I am writing now? Out of necessity. I need your help. Times have changed. Like everywhere else, inflation has been causing pain here. Costs have increased tremendously especially in the area of transportation. It takes 500 miles a week to make this life-changing ministry happen.
By the way, I will continue writing because this is a story that must be told. God is up to some extraordinary things.
So I am asking family and friends to stop, as in at this moment, and consider again giving generously to this cause. A dozen contributors at $500 annually would knock out Programs like books for Book Club, Movie Nights, Birthdays, and Baptism Celebrations. Can You believe it! I had the honor of baptizing 40 in 2023. A dozen more contributors at $1,500 annually would knock out Transportation expenses. The number of partners needed is not so high. Many hands make for light work.
Please, reply now, right now, and let me know you are in for 2024. Be one of the 24 in 24! See the "24 in 2024" Campaign here
https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=MH56MBUAMKNFG or click the gigantic red button below! Yes please. Be on Team 2024 to make Programs and Transportation happen. Below is a story at the heart of what I do every day. This is what makes this ministry so worthy of your generosity.
It was Christmas Eve. Celebrating a birth was imminent.
I was in a juvenile detention center to hand out 52 Christmas bags. The bags contained travel size deodorant, body wash, lotion, candy, cookies, and chips to celebrate the season. They had been carefully prepared by my wife and sons. All Souls Anglican gladly picked up the tab.
“Jay” was his normal respectful and positive self. He was pleased to receive his Christmas bag, as were many of the other young men. That seemed unusual in itself. In years past, it seemed the bags were received with some indifference and occasionally with some sense of entitlement. In 2023, they were anticipated and received with gratitude.
Jay took his and said, “I guess we will have to do that tombstone thing some other time.” That pierced me. Jay was 16. He was to turn 17 on Christmas Day. On December 26, he would be transferred to an adult prison – the holiday spared him one more day at “juvie.”
A few weeks earlier Jay and I stumbled on the fact that I had not done “the tombstone exercise” with him previously. When I met Jay back then, he was in no shape to listen.