Christmas Cheer

Tonight was our W2 Christmas party at the provincial women's institution and a great time was had by all! We made up 150 plates of food and set up the prison gymnasium with 150 chairs. Elsie led us in singing Christmas songs and carols, and told a few jokes, and the women recited some beautiful poems of thanks and sang some songs for us.

They loved their Christmas bags so much that many of them opened all the gifts inside before they even left the gym to go back to their units. Elsie told them about all the many folks who are involved in making up these bags - from a group of women in Ontario (Elsie's mom's friends) who shop throughout the year for gift items and then ship them out to us, to Elsie's mother who buys the material and sews up every one of the 700 bags, to the many folks who come to the house to help us wrap up all of the items that go into the bags. She reminded the women that they are not forgotten about at Christmas time, that there are people who care about them, even though they will never meet most of them face to face.

I had a chance to visit with all four of the women I've been seeing; they'll all be gone before my next visit as they are all being released at the end of the month or early in January. Please pray that Letticia, Denise, Lindsay and Kim will all remain clean and sober and be able to get on with their lives and resume their relationships with their children and families, and that they will never again see the inside of a jail. Every one of them knows the Lord, but my prayer is that they will give their lives into His hands.

Also, please pray for Lisa and her baby girl Jordan. Lisa is fighting to keep her baby with her when she is moved to the federal institution next month and there's a good chance she'll be able to do it, but there's just as good a chance that she won't. Both mom and baby are looking radiant and healthy. I pray that the prison staff will recognize the importance of keeping the baby with her mom.

Blessings!