Dear Friends,
It has been a year since our last Update. I have worked most of the year without an assistant so finding time for communication has been difficult. Pam Wilson is now working with us and I am very thankful. She is a delight.
Christmas Season
Christmas carols, lights, and all the hurrying around to prepare for Christmas remind me once again of the wonder of the season. Our years of providing food, toys, and gifts for the homeless, Parkland patients, and families in West Dallas have raised my awareness to a whole new level of how to receive the ‘Greatest Gift’ ever given and to carry it into dark places. There are two wonderful little stories that I think of every Christmas. The first was in 1986, our second year to take gifts to Parkland patients. Bob Striler was our Santa Claus. As Bob and I were leaving through Parkland’s Outpatient Clinic after a day of distributing gifts, I saw a middle-aged blind woman being led into the clinic. I noticed the strained look on her face. Then she heard the familiar “Ho Ho Ho”. Her whole countenance changed. She broke into a smile and said, “Oh, it’s Santa Claus." That same year we took gifts to the residents of The Dallas Life Foundation, a homeless shelter. Our Santa Claus (Bob) was hugging everyone with a “Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas”. Then he noticed that these grown men, hundreds of them, had formed a line just to get a hug from Santa Claus. That moment was life changing for Bob. When we fail to carry ‘the Light of Christmas’ within us, our material gifts loose their sacredness. The wonder of it all is lost to the one who gives and to the one who receives Croatia Laura and James Albright, my daughter and son-in-law, spend some of their time working with the needs of the poor in Croatia. Karlovac is a war-torn area where many widows are living without family in deplorable conditions. This Christmas season, they joined with a small church in Samabor and took in blankets, socks and food for the most needy in that area. Their hope is to be able to extend this effort into two more villages near Karlovac and to take some kind of help in each month. If you would like to donate to this need, make your checks out to Love in Action/Croatia Mexico Because of our hero of the year, Orley White, shipments continue to go into Mexico. Mr. White not only gathers dental and medical supplies and equipment but also takes them in his 16-foot trailer to Brownsville.
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A doctor and his brother who work with the poor in Matamoros work hand in hand with hospitals that also work with the poor. A shipment will go the first of the year to Chihuahua. Mr. White works tirelessly to bring donations to needs we’ve identified.
Parkland Palliative Care Patients
We continue to take Parkland’s Palliative Care referrals for needs that cannot be met through usual channels. That may be a bus or plane ticket home so their last days can be spent with family. Others may need medical equipment, food or help with rent and utilities. Without Bob Striler this work would not be possible. He works most every day to provide something for these needs. Bob puts his arms around these families and gives them the most precious gift – the gift of himself.
West Dallas
Mable and James Armstrong continue in their life’s work – giving to their community in West Dallas. Bob Striler and Orley White regularly deliver donations of clothes, toys, baby equipment and household furnishings to the Armstrongs. This Christmas we are providing food for the elderly through Angel Food Ministry that John Jurisich coordinates. We are also giving Christmas gifts for many children. All the work to prepare the packages and deliver them is done by Mable and James and their volunteers.
Conclusion
In the early years of this work, I was at a loss as to how I could change what we were doing at Christmas with our family. Something was missing and I couldn’t figure out how to capture that something. Then one year a poor family of four came to our church. They were in a desperate situation: health problems, roach infestation in their little house, depression – the list goes on and on. Members of the church came together in a focused effort to help this family. We invited them to our home for Christmas dinner and gave each person a small gift. Our children played together – it was a wonderful day. When they left, they told us, “This is the best Christmas we have ever had.” And I found the something missing in our Christmas
Thank you dear friends for your support and may this be a season filled with wonder.
Rae England
Executive Director
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