There’s nothing better than seeing someone you love face to face. That happened a couple of times this week—in a very unique way.

The bread and butter ministry of CRF is sponsoring children. One of the great things about our work is that you are the only sponsor of an actual child. It is a one to one sponsorship. As a result, the child is like your own child. Many other organizations do child sponsorship, but few do it with individual one to one sponsorships like we do.

I think every sponsor knows they have a child out there. They get letters. They get pictures. But every once in awhile it is easy because of the distance to doubt the reality of the whole deal. That’s why we not only allow but also encourage you to visit your child if you want to do so. Most organizations don’t let you visit the sites to see their children. I’m sure they have their reasons, but we want you to know that we have nothing to hide on the field. We want you to see how your dollars are truly changing the life of an actual child.

Lendy Bartlett from Oxford, Mississippi has been sponsoring a child in Benjamin, Haiti. Wayne Thompson from New York City has been sponsoring a child in Cap Haitien, Haiti. And they both got to see their children face to face this week as we were helping with relief down here. To see the faces of Lendy and Wayne as they met their children was as poignant as it gets. To see the joy on the faces of children who met someone from far away that not only loved them but also took care of them was the stuff of a lifetime. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

For all you who sponsor kids, they are real and they are out there. And even if you don’t get to see them face-to-face, they say “Thanks!” and “I love you!”

It was a big hole. It was a really big hole. I’ve never seen anything like it.

When I last left Benjamin, we were trying to drill a well. We have a great school and orphanage there. And they had a well that had serviced all the children for decades. Hundreds of children drank from this well everyday. And the well went dry.

When I left we were trying to drill a new well. It was the second attempt. It was also dry. And so were the third and fourth times too. I got to go to Benjamin again this week. It was thrilling to see all of the children there getting a good education. Benjamin is an area in Haiti full of orphans and poverty. And the CRF work there provides such a source of happiness for people who could so easily lose hope. But what about the water?

I went back to the old well. It still had a pump, and every once in awhile—water would still come out of it. But it was very infrequent and absolutely polluted. So I asked them what they were going to do. They took me across the road and showed me the hole of holes. It was their hope for a new well. The hole was about ten feet wide. And it was around 120 feet deep. But here is the kicker—it was dug by hand! Because of the remote area, they couldn’t get anyone to come back to this area that had a rig. So they just started digging. When they reached about 40 feet, Alfred Princilma (our CRF director) fell into the hole. He broke both of his legs and had to be hospitalized for a long time. And then they just kept digging. And there is still no water. I have never seen a hand dug well this deep. I didn’t know what to tell them to do. Should they keep digging? Should they stop before someone gets hurt again?

So I asked them where they currently got their water. The old well only put out periodic pumps of polluted water. The four new wells were dry and covered up. The hand dug gigantic hole was full of hope but no water. So they took me on a ten- minute walk to a little opening in the ground. Every once in a while some water would come out of this hole. And all the people of the town would wait for the surge. When it happened there was usually enough water to fill a bucket or two. Then they would wait ten to fifteen minutes for the next little flow of water. And this was it. This was the source—not only for the school but also for the whole community.

They asked me what to do. I wasn’t sure. They told me that they wanted to keep digging. But they also told me that if they hit water that they didn’t have the money to put casing on it or a pump. But thinking of people lowering themselves on a rope that was dangling on a stick gave me immense fears. If we did hit water, it would take a few thousand dollars to get it to the point of being a place to fulfill the community’s thirst. I figured readers of this story would be happy to send in the money to get it working once water was hit. But how do you tell someone to keep digging when it is so dangerous? But how do you tell someone not to do it when you look across the road and see all the children? These are the kinds of choices most of us never face. But the people of Benjamin have no other choice. So I know their answer. They will keep digging.

I talk a lot about James 1:27. It’s probably my standard text when I’m speaking. It fits what I do. It gives me a passion. It is an overlooked truth. It’s what it’s all about—at least according to God. But I tend to focus on one part of it a lot more than the other. Yes, I talk a lot more about orphans than widows.

But in Cap Hatien, Haiti—CRF has a home for orphans, and we have a home for widows and widowers too. I don’t know what you think of when you think of an old folks home. Usually you think of a place that’s not too nice. If you can imagine Haiti on top of that—you probably think of a place that’s really not too nice.

Our old folk’s home in Haiti is pretty good by Haitian standards—but there was one thing that really bothered me. It didn’t have running water. No showers. No water from the kitchen sink. No toilets. And the water that they brought from the nearby well was polluted. Can you imagine what this would look like? Or smell like?

Well, all that is changed now. I got to bring to Haiti with me a mechanical engineer, a civil engineer, and an electrical engineer. It is like the trinity of engineers. And Tom, Tim and Wayne (along with some other volunteers) have brought water (and it is clean) to our old folk’s home.

Can you imagine how this is going to change the lives of these widows and widowers? Yep, it is not only pure water—it is pure religion.

Blue Hills. It sounds like a country club. It isn’t.

I had never heard of it until someone called me on the phone and asked me if I would help get this place some water. They didn’t have clean water to drink. Blue Hills is an area of Cap Hatien—and I go to Cap Hatien every year. So we got our CRF person there, Moise Toussaint, to have a well drilled there. Then on my current trip to Haiti, we would put in a purification system to make sure the water was good to drink.

I think that more people will die from cholera in Haiti than from the earthquake. Water is a problem. Or maybe I should say a lack of water is a problem. Maybe I should say it’s the biggest crisis facing the world outside of our spiritual one.

Unclean water kills a child every twenty seconds. You have heard me talk about the AIDS pandemic. Dirty water will cause more deaths than AIDS this year. One in six people in the world don’t have access to clean water. If you don’t know the world’s population—that’s over a billion people. In many places, women and children have to walk as many as four to five hours every day to get water. And the water they get will probably kill them because it is so polluted. Do you get it?

So I was glad to help bring water to Blue Hills. Water is now flowing. You don’t even have to pump it. It flows constantly. We don’t have a purification system on it yet, but we dug so deep—it may not need much.

I love seeing the hundreds of people gather at the water. I never saw a time that someone didn’t have a bucket under the flowing water. It was one of the happiest sights that I’ve ever seen. Free water freely flowing.

I did find some other water in the community. It was a well on the property of a church. They kept their pump locked. If anyone came around and needed some water, they charged for it. They not only charged for it, but it was a price that few could pay. To my understanding, another charitable organization like CRF gave the well to this church. They freely received, but they don’t freely give. Something is just kind of wrong with that—don’t you think?

Here’s an interesting letter. I’ll tell you why after you read it.

My Dear Husband,
We arrived here about 12:15 yesterday. Didn’t have a bit of trouble on road. Traveled about 30 and 35 miles per hour.
Bethel got beat by 2 votes (by John Bell) in the election. But Bethel knows of at least three that he can throw out. He is considering contesting. So he may get it yet. Esther Davis (Bethel’s step sister) is here hoeing for him.
LaRue made the journey pretty well. She got tired though. She was mighty glad to get to lay on the bed when we got here.
Newell Wayne still talks about Daddy going to walk out here.
Gary and Berwyn are having the time of their lives. Gary rides the donkey nearly all the time. Then they have a little tin tank of water out here to go bathing in.
Ernestine and I are planning on going to Edna and Barneys this afternoon.
We’re still intending going to Francis’ tomorrow. Ernestine says they sure are in a hard fix. Said Mr. Francis told Papa they were going to have to go to bed if they didn’t get some clothes some way. Said they had only 2 sheets on the place. Mr. Francis sent his last dollar by Papa for some oil to be sent out. I kinda hate to go over there but am anyway and think I will go by the store at Courtney and get some light bread and stuff for dinner. Maybe they won’t take offence.
I’m anxious to get on to Coahoma and the farm and see all the folks.
You can send me a letter to Coahoma tomorrow night and I will get it Thurs. morn. Then write me at the farm.
I’d give a dollar for a good old sweet kiss this morning and to hear you say you love me. You’re too sweet.
I hope you don’t get too lonesome and don’t forget your family that loves you so much. Very much love
Your wife, boys and girl

The letter is written from Jessie to Alvah and mailed from Midland, Texas, July 26, 1932. The envelope is to A.H. Tate. Gary Tate and LaRue Shanks, who were mentioned in the letter, gave it to me. They are old friends of mine from Big Spring and good supporters of CRF.

Here is what is interesting to me. “Francis” is my family name. It is a last name not a first name. The family that was down to one single dollar was my family. Mr. Francis was my grandfather whom I have never met. He had a family of thirteen and died shortly after the last one was born. My family sharecropped on the Tate’s farm near Tarzan, Texas. It was the depression. It was so nice of the Tate family to let them farm. But it was even nicer to help give them food when they were desperate and down to their last dollar.

I am very concerned about poverty. And I try so hard to get people food all over the world through CRF. But this story set me back. It was my family. We usually define poverty as existing on a dollar a day in our present world. I know that this story was in the depression. But they were down to their very last dollar. And then they spent it. I guess it is good to know your roots. It was helpful to me to know that not very long ago my family came from poverty. I’m so glad that the Tates fed us. Indeed, it makes me want to pay it forward. It seems like we have so much in our country and age today. But just a generation ago, it was very different. We have it good today because people gave to our families—and indeed, things changed. And they will continue to do so for the people in other places whom we help today.

I have taken a little break from my blog. It is because of Barbie’s health. The following short article on the annual report for CRF tells about the ordeal that Barbie has been through lately. However, it doesn’t tell the entire story. When we finally arrived back in Amarillo, Barbie had even greater complications resulting in two surgeries. She is now recovering at home. Her healing will be long term, and she still has some serious health issues. So we cherish your continued prayers. I love the picture on this blog. It shows Barbie hugging Pin. Pin is the medic who helped evacuate Barbie from Jakarta to Amarillo. Thanks Pin!

Stuck
By Milton Jones

I have never felt so stuck in all my life. Barbie and I went to Indonesia for the wedding of my oldest son, Patrick, to Grace Go. Patrick and Grace both teach at a Christian school in Jakarta. Indonesia is the most Muslim country in the world, but the school where Patrick teaches is probably the most academic in the country. As a result, leaders of Indonesia send their children there to get the best of educations, even Muslims. And Patrick and Grace give them the best education—one that includes Christ.

Patrick and Grace got married on the island of Bali, not only one of the most beautiful islands in Indonesia but also in the world. We have hardly ever witnessed a more spectacular event than their wedding. At the end of it, Barbie and I were commenting on how our trip was just perfect. But we spoke too soon.

When we arrived back in Jakarta, Barbie was diagnosed with blood clots. I was told that she needed a certain kind of medicine. I went to the pharmacy and was told that we couldn’t get it in Indonesia. I felt stuck. I couldn’t get what I really needed. I was afraid Barbie would have dire consequences without it. I’m not used to not being able to get things that I need. I’m an American. I have money. But on this day, none of that mattered. And then I realized how it felt to be stuck. So many people around the world can’t get what they need. Whether it is medicine, food, water, housing, or the message of Jesus–they are stuck. And no matter what they do, they can’t seem to find a way not to be stuck.

We hospitalized Barbie. But we needed to get her home. And the one thing you can’t do with blood clots is to fly. We were stuck. To save her we needed to get her out of Jakarta. But to get her out was the one thing that would most hurt her.

We finally got her some medicine. It is what she really needed. And then she developed a horrible allergic reaction to the medicine she was taking. We were stuck again. Do you take it because it saves you? Or do you quit it because it hurts you? I didn’t know what to do. And I realized more than ever how people feel around the world who face immense problems of disease and poverty and simply don’t know what to do. Most people who are marginalized not only don’t have resources—they also don’t know what to do about it.

To make a long story shorter, we finally made it home. We got unstuck. Why? We had some family, friends, church members, doctors, and money to help us find our way home. Most people who are stuck don’t have the resources I have. That is where CRF comes into the picture. We help stuck people who don’t have resources get unstuck. We help them to find their way home even if they have never had a home before.

What is CRF? We are trying to be friends to the hurting who are stuck in this world. I think our annual report will show how we are truly befriending the hopeless and helpless and getting them unstuck.

Barbie and I are headed to Indonesia for the wedding of our oldest son, Patrick. Wow! I knew this day would come. I thought it would come more quickly. But it was worth the wait.

Patrick and his future wife, Grace Go, both teach at a Christian school in Jakarta. Patrick teaches English literature. Grace teaches art. Indonesia is the most Muslim country in the world, but their school is still respected there because it is perhaps the most academic in the country. Pat and Grace get to teach the smartest children whose parents are some of the greatest leaders and most influential people in the country. These children will become the future leaders of this country. And Pat and Grace get to teach them Christianity. What a wonderful school. What a wonderful mission.

Pat met Grace in Singapore at teacher training. He said that it was love at first sight. He knew instantly that he wanted to marry this young woman. And now it is going to happen. I am so proud of them and happy for them. They plan on staying for the near future and continue to teach their wonderful students in Jakarta.

Can you think of a prettier place to have a wedding than Bali? Yes, Bali is a part of Indonesia and where we are headed. Barbie and I hope to get a little vacation while we are there. It is only a 40-hour trip to get there.

Thanks to all of you for being so loving to our family. Pray for Patrick and Grace in this new beginning.

If you are like me, you are thinking like crazy trying to come up with one more gift idea for Christmas shopping. If you are still looking, I have a few suggestions. These are some of my last minute items.

Give a goat. Or you can choose so many other options from the Christian Relief Fund catalog like a mosquito net, a cow, a well, or an eReader. Recently we drilled a well in a remote village in Turkana. We gave them some food and taught them how to irrigate in order to start a farm. But when I went back in a few months, I found that their crops were not ready for harvest and the food I had given them had run out. They had no food, and yet they were alive. I asked them how they stayed alive. They revealed the mystery to me when they walked me out to a corral. It was full of goats people had bought through CRF. The people were only alive because of the milk from these goats. Maybe it was an extra Christmas present to buy for you, but to them it was the source for keeping them alive.

You can order a goat or another gift on the CRF Christmas catalog at www.Christianrelieffund.org/giftcatalog

If you want a give a book (I like to do this), let me recommend a couple for you. A Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans moved me and gave me some understanding of myself that has been extremely significant. In this new book, Evans retells the story of Joseph only in a modern day setting. If your life ends up in a good place even though the pathway there was circuitous and rather bumpy, this is the book for you. I never dreamed that I would work for Christian Relief Fund. And I certainly would have never believed that I would have arrived here in the way that it happened. Yet is easy to see God’s hand all over it. Perhaps you are still in the middle of an unexpected journey into the unknown. It may be tough. It may be unpleasant. But there is a God behind your story. Maybe this book can help you realize it.

And if you want the most dramatic story imaginable, read Running For My Life: One Lost Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games. It is the true story of Lopez Lomong who was a victim of some of the most violent and brutal abuse that I have ever known. He went from refugee camps in Africa to carrying out the flag for the United States at the Olympics. It is a heartwarming story full of hope. Lopez and I both spoke on the Rejuvenate program in Columbus, Ohio. We have partnered together to save some children in Sudan and Kenya. He is one of the fastest people in the world. He and I are together in the picture for this blog. If there is ever a story of overcoming and a modern day Joseph, it is this one.

Have a great Christmas!!!

Big. That’s what we called him. It was really Don Williams. But we always called him “Big Don” or “Big.” Why did we call him “Big”? It’s because he was big. He was tall. And he was…big. But I liked to think that he did everything bigger than life. Whether it was eating, preaching, sports, laughing or whatever—he did it big.

When I think back upon Big Don, he was one of the two biggest influences in my ministry life. I can honestly say that I always wanted to be like him. He traveled around doing retreats. That’s what I do now—I did twelve last year. He made his sermons full of personal stories. That’s what I try to do now. I can rarely make mine as funny or as sad as Big Don though. When he was funny, no one laughed more than he did. But when he was telling a poignant one, he was the first to have a tear in his eye. He gave himself to the marginalized whether it was because of race, income, or disability. I now give myself to helping the hopeless and helpless with Christian Relief Fund. But most importantly, he had a religion that was focused on Jesus Himself. In a world full of peripheral issues and hot topics, Don got me to go back to the gospels making sure that Jesus was central to my message and lifestyle.

I will never see a box of See’s Candy without thinking of Big. He especially liked the raspberry pieces. He loved little kids. I loved the way he loved mine. I miss our special funny stories. We would tell them over and over again. They never seemed to age, and they got “Bigger” with every telling. Don was kind. He was a servant. He would never let you pick up the check. He wanted to treat you. It never seemed to be about him.

The pulpit of the Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock is legendary. Not so much because of the size or the look of it. No, it is famous because there is a little plastic sign on it that you can only see if you are speaking from it. It says, “Sir, we would see Jesus”. It is from the passage in John 12:21 where the Greeks came looking to see the Christ. However, on the pulpit—it means that whoever is standing there should not have the preeminence. If anyone is looking at the pulpit, they should see Jesus not some human personality. It was a reminder to anyone who ever walked behind the pulpit that it wasn’t about him—it was all about Jesus. The sign simply appeared one day as legend goes. No one ever knew where it came from. If people knew, they didn’t tell it.

Big Don died last week. His memorial was today. If it is still a secret, the word should be out now. Big Don put the sign on the pulpit—“Sir, we would see Jesus”. It was not only on the pulpit. It was as if it was figuratively hanging around the neck of Big Don. Big, you wore it well. When I look back, all I can say is– “We saw Jesus.”

Thank you! How could a blessed person not say “Thank You”? We do it all the time. In Luke 17 Jesus tells the story of ten lepers who are all healed by him, but only one returns to give thanks. I certainly don’t want to be that way, do you?

Many of you have been asking me about the “Thank You” note from Laura Bush that was on Facebook. Since I don’t get cards like that every day, I guess it does deserve an explanation. During this last year, I have had the opportunity to partner with Collinson Media and speak at their big events telling about the crisis in the world related to poverty, orphans, and AIDS. In response participants have helped CRF. What has been so interesting to me is that this privilege has put me on the same program with Seth Meyers, Steve Forbes, Steve Harvey, Biz Stone and many other noteworthy speakers. And yes, it put me on the program with Laura Bush.

At first, I was going to follow the First Lady, but they switched the program at the last minute where I would precede her. As I was walking up to speak, I looked at Laura Bush sitting across from Barbie and thought about PEPFAR. I have always wanted to thank the Bush family for their work with perhaps the greatest government program ever done.

If you don’t know, PEPFAR is the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief. President Bush committed $15 billion over a five-year period to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. This effort helped especially with the provision of antiretroviral treatment to 2 million HIV-affected people (to stop their HIV from developing into AIDS), to prevent 7 million new infections, and to support care for 10 million others infected. Africans received the most help with this. Literally, millions of African lives have been saved because of this legislation.

I don’t know of any legislation in history that has saved more lives. I can’t remember any act that has saved more physical lives. And most people don’t know that the President and Laura did this massive effort to save lives. When I first started going into the Sub-Saharan regions of the AIDS pandemic, I had little hope. It was hard to think that many of these Africans would ever live through the pandemic. But I think we have turned the corner. There is still not a cure, but with the antiretroviral treatment, millions are still alive who wouldn’t be otherwise. And it couldn’t have happened without PEPFAR.

Most people just don’t know about PEPFAR. Matt Damon, who recently spoke about PEPFAR, said it was so good that he was going to kiss George W. Bush on the lips if he ever met him for doing it. It was so good that President Obama has praised it and continued it. Still most people don’t know that it happened.

I always felt like I should thank them for it. But how do you get a message to the President? As I looked at Laura Bush, I realized that it was my opportunity. I told the thousands of people who were there about this great gift of compassion. As I expected, very few of them knew about it. And I thanked the First Lady and the President for saving these lives. It means a lot to me because I not only know about PEPFAR , but I also know the names and faces of so many of those children who have been saved by it.

When I started talking about it, I could tell that she was thankful that I was telling about it. The Bush family has received so much criticism. It is such a shame that they are rarely thanked for perhaps the greatest legislation in history. What a privilege—I got to thank her.

When the First Lady got up to talk, she thanked me and then she thanked Christian Relief Fund telling of our work with HIV/AIDS. I was humbled. I was honored. It’s really good to be thanked.

But I think Mrs. Bush learned the lesson of Luke 17 deeply. When I got home from my trip to Columbus, there was also this thank you note from her and additional gratitude from the President.

Wow! I am honored. I am thankful. It is framed.