December NewsLetter

Hello Ministry Partners,

    Well, things are really picking up, as they always do this time of year.  We are excited about our upcoming Christmas Programs and have had a terrific year!  We have contacted two of our 3 nursing homes and one has asked us to pray about being able to purchase them a stove for this year.  We are not doing Christmas bags, but want to buy a large gift that will be of benefit towards the residents.  I must admit a stove was not what I was expecting. I love how God put things together.  I thank the Lord for one of our Board of Directors (Clyde) who works for an appliance type store.  Clyde was able to get a very nice stove and he even delivered it to the facility for us. Thank you Bro. Clyde.  One last note, we hope to start doing some room-to-room communions for some of our residents in Jan/Feb.  I am in the process of ordering a portable communion kit and have our “ordained pastor" who will perform the ordinance.  Many of our residents have not been able to partake of communion for many years.  Pray for us as we very prayerfully hope to bring this capability to them!

Dec. 3 - West Jax - What a wonderful time. When we walked in the facility we could smell the distinct smell of freshly baked cookies (we got some nice samples, delicious). I walked over to look at the stove and it was a real nice looking stove. We later found out that they baked the cookies to sell to the staff; this is a fundraiser for their Dept. The winners, the residents, they are the overall beneficiaries of this. Thank you all who support this ministry. I cannot begin to describe how gracious and thrilled the staff was that we had made this purchase (I guess not to many ministries do this) for them. I really feel the tremendous love these Activity Directors have for these special people. Our services went real well. We preached on the importance of Jesus’ birth and sang Christmas carols. We distributed cards to each resident and in turn received a very nice letter and card of appreciation from the residents/staff. We had about 10 volunteers there and it was just a GOOD time. I know each of you cannot come to be with us but I wish you could have seen the happiness on the resident’s faces. I did witness one lady who was singing along with us as we sang Christmas carols. Her mouth would move but no words came out. Bless her heart. Next stop, Cedar Hills!

Dec 10th - Cedar Hills - It was a rainy day today so we were unable to take our equipment into the building. Though it was dreary outside we had plenty of warmth inside where the birth and love of Christ was proclaimed. We sang Christmas carols and just had a great time. The residents were very thankful for the 27” color television and DVD/VCR combo. We look forward to seeing it mounted (maintenance will be doing that) and the residents enjoying the gifts. For those of you who have been following our newsletters you may remember that I would frequently mention Ralph in our newsletters. Ralph progressively got sick and we found out that he has gone to be with Jesus! The ladies have been a real blessing to me, but more importantly, to the residents. Thank you ladies for your labor of love!

Dec. 17 - Life Care Center - Today it was kind of cold but again we found the warmth of many inside. God blessed us with a great turn out and the staff was great in their efforts to get as many residents to the service as they could! We are re-establishing a good relationship with the new Activities Director (this is the 3rd one we have seen) and she seems very open. The Director asked us if we might be able to provide a nice sound system (they are currently using a Karaoke) for their dining room. I must admit, this was a challenging one but God blessed. We went a little over our limit but it will be worth it. I had to order it and hope to pick it up next week. The residents are excited about being able to hear some of the other speakers and musicians who do not have their own sound systems! The services were a real blessing. The residents really enjoyed the Christmas carols and devotion. Sister Betty sang a special “Silent Night” and many residents sang along with her. This was our last Christmas Program and though it was busy, it was blessed. I pray that CHRIST was the center of your Christmas!

Please pray for us as we hope to be starting some one on one room communion for some of our church attendees. It seems that there are several who would like to do this but have been unable to do so for many years. You may ask why? Simply, there has been no one there to provide this service for them. I thank our Pastor, Bob Galentine for being willing to go with me to perform this very important ordinance! For our financial contributors, we will be sending your, tax deductible, love gift receipts as soon as we possibly can!

Until next month!

David, Pat & Rachel

Sounds of Joy Ministries
Ministry Family
446 Halsema Rd. N.
Jacksonville, Fla. 32220