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Message from Our Chairman
 As
Christmas approaches, I am reminded of all the lives that you have
touched this year thanks to your dedication and generous support.
You have brought joy, hope and peace to so many people throughout
2006.
This is the time of
year that I like to report back to you on the wonderful work that
the Ministry Programs of Guideposts Outreach have been able to
accomplish. And it’s only because of the generous support of you,
dear friend, that we are able to help so many.
2006 has been a challenging year. But thanks to you, we have
been able to touch more people than ever before. Your friendship
and support makes a world of difference to our work here at
Guideposts.
Let me share a few of the milestones with you:
Our Prayer
Ministry
is growing faster than ever. Over 1400 prayer volunteers have
shared the power of prayer, praying by name and need for over
500,000 prayer requests. Many of these prayer requests came to us
through our Prayer Website, which is allowing us to reach thousands
of people outside of our traditional Guideposts family. So far this
year, we have prayed for people from 59 different countries!
Nora requested prayer via our website, and she wrote back to
us to share how her prayers were answered: “My husband had a total
knee replacement 2 weeks ago. I requested prayer for him. Your
Prayer Warrior emailed us her prayer which was so comforting and we
both felt so thankful. Today my husband is feeling so much better
and even though the full recovery period will be long, we know we
are being supported by prayers. God will see us through. Thanks for
praying for us.”
Our Military
Outreach Program
has been growing by leaps and bounds. We are now supplying over
60,000 copies of Guideposts magazine to the military every
month. Our custom made “Deployment Kits”, which were launched last
year as a pilot program, has been a huge success! This year we’ve
distributed over 50,000 kits to soldiers and their families, and we
hope to increase that number in the coming year. We’ve also created
a military version of our popular annual devotional, Daily
Guideposts. This special version is small enough to carry to
the front lines, and has been fitted with a special camouflage
cover.
One grateful soldier who reads Daily Guideposts every day
told us, “…it’s great! My commanding officer asked me how she, too,
could have the sense of peace that she sees in me daily!”
2006 also marked
the 10th anniversary of Guideposts Knit for Kids ~ and our 300,000 sweater! What began as a story in
Guideposts magazine, has grown into a global movement that has
clothed more than 300,000 needy children all over the world. And
now, as we enter our 10th year of Knit for Kids, Guideposts receives
a steady stream of sweaters - nearly 4,000 per month! When the
sweaters arrive at our offices, we count them and repack them into
larger boxes, which are then shipped all over the world.
One of our great
friends, Julie, knits over 200 sweaters a year for Knit for Kids.
As she tells us, “Seeing pictures of kids wearing sweaters in the
magazine is truly heartwarming. I say a little prayer with each
sweater that the child receiving it will be warm and that their
family will be blessed.”
2006 has been an
exciting year for us. We’ve seen a tremendous growth in our
ministry programs, and in the months ahead, we will continue to
grow! One way is with the expansion of our Prayer Ministry.
In honor of my mother’s 100th birthday this past
September, we have dedicated the prayer ministry to her. The Ruth
Stafford Peale Prayer Power Network will take our prayer
capabilities to an even higher level. With your support, we will be
able to use all of the technology available today, enabling us to
pray by name and need for over 1,000,000 people a year.
None of what we have accomplished and none of what we will do
in the days and months ahead, would be possible without the generous
support of you, my wonderful friend. I’d like to thank you for your
generous gifts to Guideposts Outreach, and I hope that I can
continue to count on your support. May you and yours have a
wonderfully blessed Christmas and New Year.
May God bless all
that you do,
Elizabeth Peale
Allen
Guideposts, Chairman of the Board
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