Christmas carols sow seeds in Michigan.

This time last year, we brought you news of our evangelist friends Syd and Liz Doyle and their efforts to share the Gospel in Dearborn, Michigan, through Christmas carolling outreach. This year we are pleased to share another update from the same mission.

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Dear Friends and Family,

"Joy to the world, the Lord has come" echoed up the streets of the highest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East, Dearborn, MI., on the first two Saturdays of December 2018. Despite cold, wet weather, 185 people from many different churches, ages and ethnicities came with us to sing Christmas carols. We had 25 groups made up of our own international team of Koreans, Chinese, Canadian, English, Irish and Americans and gave out about 450 gift bags! We prayed with many families and had a great time sharing “Peace on Earth and goodwill to all people!”

We carolled in a beautiful Lebanese Bakery. A large gathering of Egyptian Christians joined in singing the well-known songs of Christmas. A woman in a hijab called us over to her table to talk with us about the lighting of the Christmas tree in her hometown, Bethlehem.

One young woman, driving by, saw us walking down the street with our Santa hats and tinsel wrapped around us and pulled over to ask for a song. After singing “Jingle Bells” to her little son in his car seat we sang “Joy to the World” while she recorded the whole encounter on her cell phone. It’s our custom to not only give a gift bag with a Christmas ornament, candy, a Jesus film DVD and this year a booklet especially prepared in Arabic and English to explain the Christmas story, but we offer to pray for any needs. She asked we pray for the safe delivery of a baby she was carrying.

At one Yemeni home, tears freely flowed as we prayed for family members still in that war-torn country beset with famine and cholera.

We met families from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan, and even Brazil. Some families invited us into their homes. Children often interpret for their parents. At one Yemeni home, tears freely flowed as we prayed for family members still in that war-torn country beset with famine and cholera.

Another reason we went carolling was to invite the neighborhood to a Live Nativity staged by the Springwells Church right in the center of Dearborn. The church was transformed into the scenes of Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Live animals were housed outside under a tent. Nearly 200 people attended and at least 75 Muslim people came to our feedback areas to ask questions and get more information. We were delighted to spend time answering questions and sharing together our understanding of the Christmas message.

OSyd and Liz Doyle.ne Afghan family, new to the USA, had never heard the Christmas story. When talking with some children from Yemen, we asked what they felt the most important gift ever given by God was. After visiting the Live Nativity the first child said “family,” the second, “love”. Finally a little girl of 10 said, “The most important gift God ever gave to us was JESUS!”

She is right: “For God so loved the WORLD that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that who ever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

There are many more stories - you can watch some of the action on cbn.com (coverage begins at 8:34) as CBN interviewed us for ‘The Global Lane’ programme.

Altogether: 9 gatherings, 185 carollers, 25 teams, 7 caroling times, a live Nativity, 3 parties, 550 gift bags given out, and CBN coverage! About 1600 people personally talked to and prayed with and 28 nations were touched as carollers from USA, China, Korea, Japan, Canada, Ireland and England sang to people of all ages from Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Iran, Algeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Syria, Italy, Lebanon, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Morocco, Yemen, Kurdistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, & Kuwait! We prayed with some to receive Christ- only God knows the total outcome!

May you and yours have a safe and Happy Christmas!

Syd & Liz Doyle

Find out more about Syd and Liz Doyle at Nations Light Ministries website.

Linda Louis-vanReed challenges us to understand better the power we have in Christ - and to not be easily overwhelmed by worldly displays of strength.

Although day to day, life appears to be returning to normal here in Ferguson, Missouri, there is a war going on - and it isn't about race.

It's about power.

System in Need of Reform

In March 2015, a report issued by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was critical of Ferguson's police practices and its 'profit-driven' municipal court system which relied heavily on revenue from traffic tickets to fund the city and its resources (two things which, I regret to say, are not uncommon in the smaller cities and suburban communities of the United States). Negotiations between the DOJ and the city government in Ferguson ensued.

Public meetings were held where, many times, voices promoting peace and reason were drowned out by those whose purpose was to foment dissent, mainly for the benefit of a restless media. Most of those voices were not residents of Ferguson. Nevertheless, they were loud, they were present and they were perceived as powerful.

Clash of Authorities

After seven months of talks, a 407-item consent decree outlining a top-to-bottom re-shaping of basic police practices – everything from how to conduct traffic stops to when to utilise force – was submitted to the City of Ferguson. The caveat was that, should Ferguson refuse to sign the decree as it was, the DOJ would file suit.

Last Tuesday the City of Ferguson agreed to sign the decree, but only if the DOJ agreed to seven 'conditions of acceptance' tailored by the City in an effort to make the extra costs associated with implementing the items within the DOJ document financially bearable.

The following day the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Ferguson. The 'powers that be' prevailed.

Crippling Costs

As for Ferguson, the cost of implementing the reforms spelled out in the consent decree with the DOJ approach around $3.7 million in the first year alone.

Other cities that have entered into a similar consent agreement with the DOJ have been forced to incur costs into the millions to implement similar reforms. In 2015, the Albuquerque Police Department in New Mexico agreed to a settlement following an investigation that determined a pattern of use of excessive force. The first year of reforms could cost the City of Albuquerque up to $6 million.

In Ferguson, reforms being imposed by the Department of Justice will cost the city a quarter of its annual operating budget.

In Cleveland, Ohio, an agreement with the DOJ which requires a new use-of-force police policy and enhanced officer training could cost the City of Cleveland at least $10.6 million in the first year and $7 million for each of the subsequent four years.

But Ferguson, with 21,000 residents and a total annual operating budget of $14.5 million, is smaller by far than either Cleveland or Albuquerque — and its residents are far less able to absorb costs in the millions. Already Ferguson suffers a $2.8 million deficit since the incident occurred.

Costs to cover overtime pay for police and emergency personnel, vehicles and equipment during protests, loss of sales tax revenue from businesses damaged by fires and looting, legal fees, and lost income from municipal court reforms already in place have all but knocked the lock off the city treasury. Jobs are on the line, as power grabs are being made just to be the one on top when the legislative smoke finally clears.

Concern on the GroundAttorney General Loretta Lynch responds to questions in the wake of the DOJ's lawsuit announcement.

In April the city will be asking its voting residents to approve increases to their property and sales taxes. All this at a time when Ferguson businesses are in their first real year of recovery, and property values - according to Breitbart.com - have dropped by 45-50%.¹

Many of the people are concerned. Some are frightened that the City of Ferguson could possibly be legislated into a financial crevasse so deep that the only outcome could be the dissolution of its city charter. They feel helpless and overpowered by a system much larger than they can either understand or affect.

Yet, the majority of residents here are not willing to allow their city to remain broken and tarnished by media reputation, nor by outsiders who come not to visit, but to foment unrest in this historically peaceful, suburban community.

In spite of all the hype, population statistics current for 2015-16 show that Ferguson actually has more residents now than in 2013.² It isn't because families cannot afford to leave – it's because they do not desire to do so.

Working to Rebuild

In the year and a half since the Michael Brown incident I have watched the people of Ferguson work together to rebuild this community, and have been involved personally. People of every colour and background have pooled their money, lent their tools, fed one another, prayed together, traded skills and hired one another to repair fire damage.

Many of the people feel frightened and overpowered by a system much larger than they can either understand or affect. Yet, they are not willing to allow their city to remain broken.

Although an altercation between protesters and one of the vendors on site forced the Ferguson Farmer's Market to close, it is now open and running stronger than ever after just a few months. Drive down the streets and every few buildings have construction projects going on. New facades are being erected, giving the entire community a facelift. People are donating their time and resources to conduct personalised studying sessions for those who dropped out of school and want to re-enter to receive their degree.

Churches Stepping Up

Churches in the area are stepping up in remarkable ways. Through a contact within its body of believers, one church is working with a local company who made 24 permanent positions open to people who are homeless and have no vehicle. Not only did the church use its building to house the job fair for this company, but it also allowed a follow-up hiring workshop, and provided clothing and bathing facilities. Now every morning, those two dozen new employees walk to the church where, for $7 per day, they are bussed to and from their new jobs.

First Baptist Church of Ferguson opened its doors for kids at Christmas so those who attend the Crisis Nursery (an organisation that helps kids and mothers in crisis) could meet Santa, have lunch and receive Christmas gifts for the kids. Over 500 mothers and children attended. I was thrilled to see 64 children receive books from our library that they could keep.

Although so many of these activities seem small in the face of government action and financial ruin, they are examples of people using whatever power they possess to effect permanent change from the ground up.

In the face of government action and financial ruin, ordinary people are using whatever power they possess to effect permanent change from the ground up.

Feeling Vulnerable?

So many of us (if we will admit it to ourselves in those rare moments of self-honesty) feel small, soft and easy to kill. We feel vulnerable to ourselves, vulnerable to one another, to forces of nature, forces of man, to God.

When we turn our eyes away from our Father, from Truth himself, to focus on ways in which we can take our lives and futures into our own hands, we invent whatever facade we believe will best protect us - and we are dismayed when it fails. Like a suit of armour, it is only a hard shell built to protect that which is soft and vulnerable.

As people who serve God, we often get sidetracked into using those human survival skills we have been taught since childhood. We have never given thought to whether or not we, as individuals, possess a proper understanding of 'power.'

True Power

Galatians 2:20 defines it with eloquence and brevity:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.³

This is our power - this freedom that Christ offers us through him, by his sacrifice for us. When we apprehend that we died with Christ and rose with him to eternal life, when we understand that we are now heirs to the Kingdom of God through his atonement - and as such, we have access to all to which he has access - we understand that we, through Christ, are not disenfranchised.

The freedom offered to us through Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection means that we are not disenfranchised - we are heirs to the Kingdom of God!

We have the power to open our hands to God, with all our deepest desires and best-kept secrets (even about him), and to ask our Father to help us know him, his voice, his words.

We have the power to live our life through his.

We have the power of choice – to not worry, not argue, not indulge our personal strongholds that separate us from God, but to allow ourselves to be open to becoming the son or daughter that God intended us to be.

We have the power to pray, and through that one simple act, we have the power to turn a nation.

References

1 Nolte, J. Months of Media and Protests Devastate Ferguson Property Values. Breitbart, 16 March 2015.

2 Population Demographics for Ferguson, Missouri in 2016 and 2015. Suburban Stats.

3 The Oxford Annotated Bible, RSV

An exciting update from Ferguson, Missouri.

At the end of August, we shared some encouraging news from Ferguson, Missouri, where racial tensions erupted in 2014 over the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer. Linda Louis-VanReed and Bruce VanReed shared with us about how Christians were using the threatening environment to proclaim the good news about Jesus, and how God was using the prayers of the saints to intervene in the situation.

We now have a new and exciting update to share with you about events in Ferguson on November 24^th, the anniversary of the court decision in favour of the police officer: first a brief note from Linda, then a response from Ferguson's Interim Chief of Police.

Hi, Cliff and Monica –

As always it was lovely to hear from you. Thanks to you all for your prayers and remembrance of us, here in Ferguson, during this past couple of weeks.

Yesterday, November 24, 2015, marked the one-year anniversary of the handing down of the decision in the Michael Brown incident. People have been gathering in small groups (around 5-10 individuals) since Thursday, the 19th, so we were unsure as to how far things were going to go.

But, praise God, so far no big events to report. The demonstrations have been largely peaceful. We had some activity last night, far into the early hours, we understand, in front of the Ferguson police department, but everyone maintained a focused and respectful presence. There were few media. We were driving home at 10PM last night and saw no media trucks.

It does appear as though our continued prayers and commitment to have an open dialogue with the community after last year has had an impact. God's grace and His mercy are boundless.

Hope you two have a beautiful and blessed week.

Yours in Christ,

Louie

Response from Ferguson Police Department

As you may all know, your prayers prevailed. A number of you met at the police station, spoke to protesters (citizens) in a way that allowed for some to gain a perspective about the day's event. In a way that allowed for them to express their constitutional rights. At a meeting, I asked you to pray that we have no violence, no damage, and no criminal activity. I challenged you to stand up and prove that you're the "Moral Authority." Well, it's evident you made a difference. No reported damage, over 150 protesters, no arrest, no one injured, no crimes reported due to protest, and all calls for service were handled.

Because of you, we are well on our way to ensure that your combined efforts will endure. You are very much part of a greater strategy and one that will not only ease tension, but improve our officer's response, and improve their lives. Your work has just begun in my view. And I believe you know there is much more to do. We must continue to improve race relations, improve the quality of life for those less fortunate and be the living embodiment of professional excellence. I can say without a doubt, you mean a great deal to this community. If it was not said before, I am saying it now. THANK YOU! The "Moral Authority" stepped up! I will be leaving, but I have not left you. An old adage commonly said, I'm only a stone throw away."

Andre C. Anderson
Interim Police Chief
Ferguson Police Department