Greetings, Brothers and Sisters!
We open this letter with the following thoughts recently shared with us by a Christian volunteer in Kansas:
Good afternoon, I am a volunteer at [a care facility in Kansas]. I started volunteering about 7 months ago and have found such joy in leading the music and sometimes sermons there. Before I started volunteering [at the facility], the Chaplain had contacted you and received your amazing song books. We, along with the residents, have enjoyed them tremendously! I just can’t say enough about the resources that you provide. The number of people that have enjoyed and have used the song books has been enormous. Unfortunately, they are now diminishing in number because they have been carried off, have been stained from communion, ripped or in disrepair from use. In my opinion that is a fantastic problem. Being used means that the Word of God is being distributed among HIS people!
YOU and your ministry have provided such a gift to many, many people, including me. The materials that you provide, at no cost, have been invaluable in the ministry that we provide for the residents. If I could, I would like to get more of them. The following is what I would like, if you have them available.
30 “Favorite Hymns of Grace” (Large Print) with the instrumental and vocal CDs.
30 “Hymns of Our Redeemer” (Large Print) with the instrumental and vocal CDs.
40 “Christian Christmas Carols” (Large Print) with the instrumental and vocal CDs.
20 “Psalms of Comfort” (Large Print) Scripture booklets.
20 “The Love of God” (Large Print) Scripture booklets.
Again, I can not thank you enough for this valuable ministry. We use these books every week and are thrilled that you provide them at no cost. THANK YOU SO MUCH! – P. H.
We THANK YOU, dear friends of Christian Concourse, for your kind support over the past 34 years. We came this far by the Grace and Mercy of our Father God. Additionally, you, His children, helping us is an expression of His Love through you to us and to nursing home residents all over the United States!
It has been such a joy to serve our Master over these years in the mission field of nursing home ministry. But time has taken its toll on our bodies – Jerry and a few volunteers have been doing the printing since we started giving hymn booklets away in 2002. We are making adjustments to our means of supply to compensate for our age and extend the availability of our printed materials. Country Pines Printing, a Christian company in Indiana (they already print our two hymn booklets) has agreed to extend their help with all five of our printed products, at a very competitive price. We will continue to handle the packaging and shipping from our home, maintain our website, add new materials for download on our website, burn and label CDs and DVDs, and share ideas and experiences with nursing home ministers who call. We should mention that our treasurer, Nathan Montgomery, has really stepped up recently to help out with answering the Christmas rush.
So, though we are shifting the way we acquire our printed materials, we are no less thankful, and deeply so, for the privilege the Lord has given us to focus on this need. With God’s help, the commitment for Christian Concourse to carry on this work remains settled. As you can see from the letter quoted above, these simple tools for Christian nursing home ministry are very effective for the encouragement of the Faith of God’s “little ones” in long-term care settings from coast to coast!
Again, we sincerely thank each of you for your encouragement to us through your prayers and your kind donations! May God richly bless you for your help.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jerry and Dar Johnson