Dear Praying Friends,

    Thank you for taking time to read these timely prayer requests with God's 
compassion.

FAIRYSTORY COME TRUE --- and CHRISTMAS PROJECT UPDATE
     Last week I witnessed a fairy story come true.  A young girl was 
excitedly preparing a gift to send to an orphanage, and exclaimed:  « Last Christmas 
I received a gift just like this when I was still in the orphanage in Russia 
».  You see, Lida, like her brother Andrei, was adopted into an American family 
less than a year ago.  I recently spent time with them in their new home and 
was overjoyed to see how well they have adapted.  Their story is a miracle!  
Less than a year ago, these two children were in two different orphanages in 
St.Petersburg, Russia.  Andrei was crying because his best friend had been 
adopted into an American family---while he was left in the orphanage, still without 
a family.  Through prayer, God helped us find a home for these precious 
siblings, enabling Andrei to visit his best friend.  By divine irony, these 
children now send gifts to other orphans at Christmastime.
     Christmas is the most exciting--and challenging--time of year for 
Orphans First.  Thanks to your prayers, we will bring the Christmas message to many 
poor children throughout the world by giving them gifts, food and a wonderful 
Christmas play in some places.  The teams willing to participate in our 
Christmas Project thus far are in the following locations:  EUROPE:  Albania, 
Romania, Poland, Ukraine,  Russia (the following cities: Moscow, St.Petersburg,  
Kalingrad);  Russian surrounding countries: Tartastan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 
Siberia;  S.AMERICA:  Mexico; INDIA: Guntur; AFRICA: Burkina Faso, Togo, Ivory 
Coast, Gabon, Ghana.  In some places we plan to go into State orphanages to bring 
gifts and a play.  In places such as India or Poland, the gifts will go to our 
own sponsored children.  Other teams plan to reach out to street children, 
such as in Tartastan and Albania.  Others plan to go into children’s detention 
centers and prisons (Moscow, Mexico).  Still other teams plan to go into poor 
neighborhoods bringing the children their only Christmas gift.  By God’s grace, 
we will bring JOY to thousands of children--thanks to your participation.  
(Note: We are still waiting for the response from some other locations not 
mentioned here). 
     PRAY FOR FINANCES to make it possible to bring these gifts to the 
children. The Christmas Project functions by faith, as we trust God to touch people’
s hearts to bring « gold, frankincense and myrrh », or in modern terms, to 
send money to Orphans First so that we can buy these gifts right there in the 
locations where we work.  Careworkers will then bring the presents wrapped up in 
more than pretty paper!  Wrapped up in oodles of love, accompanied by many 
hugs.  Thank you for praying for this miracle of love to take place for the 
maximum amount of children.

THE NEEDS OF THE HOMELESS
     Perhaps the worst time of year to be homeless is Christmas.  My heart 
has always broken for those with no real home, and for those who receive no 
gifts.  That's why the Christmas Project is so important.  What my family and I 
are presently experiencing brings home this truth in a very personal way because 
we are actually without a home.  Thanks to loving Christians sharing their 
homes with us, we've stayed in 6 different places in the past two weeks, living 
out of four suitcases.  But to date no affordable permanent housing has yet 
opened up.  Please pray for God to give us a home where we can all be together 
(with our 16-year-old son, and perhaps our 20-year-old daughter if it would be 
in the appropriate location for her at this time), a home with the provision 
of Christian schooling for our son, and appropriate ministry opportunities for 
my husband to continue his work with Missions, Preaching & Teaching, sharing 
his 25 years experience in church-planting and Religious Liberty, and for me to 
expand Orphans First.
    We left our beautiful Mediteranean parsonage campus home in France to our 
appointed assistant pastor while we seek to take a "sabbatical" after 22 
years on a very hard missionfield.  Please pray for us to find that home--wherever 
God would choose.

TRAGEDY
    Recently a 13 year-old-boy in France committed suicide, apparently 
because his father denied him access to his mother.  The mother had three boys from 
three different men, none of whom she lives with (this is fairly typical in 
France).  She is in shock and the two siblings of 19 and 4 are also traumatized. 
 NOTE: suicide is the number one cause of death among young people in France 
(undoubtedly because atheism is the main religion, combined with arrogant 
humanism, extistentialism, and disproportionate rationalism which promotes 
immorality and results in dispair:  no hope is offered!).  Please pray for this 
family, and for another woman whose is in a coma following a tragic accident.
    Pray for our youth in France, and for God to bless our work there as we 
begin sabbatical year here.

May this season bring you joy, and the many needy children,



Janey L. DeMeo
President/founder of ORPHANS FIRST; freelance writer.
Website: http://www.orphansfirst.org/
E mail: Janey@...
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