Merry Christmas from the Coordinator

“I am blessed
I can bless
So this is happiness” –Yeats

I started to count my blessings this year, but after six pages, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to fit them all in this Christmas letter. Living Stones is reaping the fruit of long term investments of relationships and daily love. Nine children prayed with us this year to be saved. Over 125 children are ministered to weekly.  In total, more than 300 children heard the gospel in 2012—and saw what that looked like in practical ways.
Over 17,000 meals were served (5,000 through Living Stones directly, and 12,000 through our soup ministry). Living Stones, with your help through the $10 FOR THEM project (wribrazil.com/10forthem) provided 94 birthday parties for children who normally do not get to celebrate—or don’t even know when their birthdays are. Over 100 homes were visited, multiple times, and families reached out to through local churches.

Construction projects were completed at Cajueiro Claro, church celebrations at Mussurepe, Easter celebrations for all the children, Mother’s day for all the mothers, and Christmas parties for all the families in the three Living Stones programs. This is exponential growth from last year, and on a monthly budget of $1000. God is amazing!
For those who don’t know, I am the coordinator for a non-profit that works with local churches and church planters to begin programs for the poorest children in their communities, connecting them with lasting change. Living Stones LENDs, giving Love, Education, Nutrition, and Direction to impoverished children in Northeast Brazil.
In my personal life, I had a lot of frustration the first half of the year, asking God what I was doing wrong to feel so alone. But God’s timing is/was perfect and this summer I was able to travel extensively (to Hong Kong with Supercamp), and in August, began dating a fantastic guy from Jamaica. Caid lives in Connecticut but spent last summer at the Good News Youth Center in Indianapolis, where I volunteer whenever I am home. He’s finishing school in South Carolina, but in all this, we met and are seeking God’s will for our lives together.

In her book “One Thousand Gifts,” Ann Voskamp writes three things she is grateful for every day, discovered many things along the way, including two simple sentences that marked me profoundly: “Thanksgiving creates abundance” and “Thanks is what builds trust.” Could it be that the abundance the children I work with need—that I need—in all areas is found through thanksgiving? Through being and teaching gratitude?
Thanking God for everything, even the pain, the lack, the ugly, is what builds trust. In all of my relationships, they can only be transformed to beauty through gratitude. And it starts with simple “Thank yous” in the little things you begin to see when you practice.
Next year, Living Stones is teaming up with Athletes in Action (athletesinaction.org), who have already begun working in two churches: Carpina and Guadalajara, to give the children even more opportunities educationally and nutritionally. With them, we are also hoping to begin two more programs in 2013, in Lagoa de Itaenga and Tracunhaem: seven programs in 3 years! God is growing us His way: I just follow and thank Him that He makes the next step as obvious as possible so that even I can see it.
Thank you so much for your support and prayers this year. I am prayerfully asking for Foundation Builders—faithful givers who will provide consistent, monthly support (www.wribrazil.com/foundationbuilder) .  Our monthly budget is $1000 for Living stones and $400 for me. For next year we need $1500 and $500 respectively. Current consistent giving is $400 a month for Living Stones and $350 for me. God has provided, and will provide--we head into the new year with a surplus, and every month is a miracle. Please pray about being a part of our team.
Rachel Winzeler
God bless and Merry Christmas!