Dear Friends,

As I write this there are about 40 days to Christmas, as you read this there are considerably less!  I was thinking that a letter in the December edition of the Newsletter ought to have some sort of Christmas focus, though if you're like me focusing on Christmas is the last thing on your mind at present. 

I was reminded recently of a sticker I saw once on the back of someone's car.  I think it was from the Canine Defence League and it said, "A dog is for life, not just for Christmas."  The message was clear.  The image of the appealing eyes of a puppy in a small child's stocking isn't going to stay that way forever.  With the puppy comes a whole pile of responsibility that is going to be with the recipient of the gift for years.

I was reminded that when I saw this sticker for the first time I actually read it wrongly and thought it said, "God is for life not just for Christmas!"  When I realised my mistake, at first I thought, "how silly" and laughed at myself.  Later, I realised that in my mistake was an enormous truth.

The story of the birth of Jesus, which we celebrate at Christmas, is the message that, indeed, God is not just for Christmas, but God is for life.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The gift God gives to us of himself, that we are reminded about at this festive season, is a gift that he gives daily, offered to all people and at all times. 

The message of Christmas is the message of God coming that we might have life, life in all its fullness, life that means far more than anything human we can experience on earth. 

The message of Christmas is God with us now.  And the time is always now.  As someone once wrote (I wish it had been me but I'm not that clever!), "The past is history, the future is mystery, but now is a gift, which is why it is called the present!" 

I hope you enjoy your Christmas.  I hope you are able to join us at one of our Churches to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of the world.  And in all of this, the preparations, the event, the clearing up, may you know God with you now, and for always.

Best wishes to you all,

Thank you everyone who donated a shoe box. We took 53 boxes to the warehouse at Worthing in November. A team of workers were busy packing the shoe boxes into large cardboard containers ready for transportation to Romania. I thought that you might like hear what Angela Goach the General Manager who went to Romania last year had to say.

"I went into a really poor and run down shack where a family lived without heating or running water. The children were thrilled with their boxes but what really moved her was when the mother cried when she saw a bottle of shampoo that had been put in her shoe box. She was so overwhelmed and kept saying thank you to us. Shampoo is such an everyday thing but in Romania it is very precious".

Thank you so much for supporting the appeal this year You have no idea what these boxes mean to the people in Romania and Moldova.