During the days of Advent – and EVERY DAY – let us be like John the Baptist. Go into “all the regions” God sends you to proclaim His message of love and grace. Go and prepare the way of the Lord because one day, “all flesh will see the salvation of God.” May all who hear this message of hope and salvation receive it so they can have joy in this life and live in the beautiful landscape of Heaven forever!

This season, are we paying attention? Did we listen and pay attention to the story which first happened over 2,000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem? Are we proclaiming the glory of God like the angels who appeared to the shepherds? Are we correcting the story of Jesus for the Native people?

In this one day, I encountered three people in need of a savior. In this one day, we were able to point three people to the Savior by showing love to our neighbors, and by listening and sharing our hope in Him. On this day, we were able to say the King has come. "Do you know him?"

Advent is also a time of telling a simple story. It is the story of God coming into His creation, as the person Jesus, to show His love to all people, the people He created. He, then, perfectly walked on the path He made. Before He left for Heaven, He told His followers to tell everyone this story so they would also know the path of life and have His joy, now and forever.

When I hear the Christmas story of Jesus’s birth to Mary in the stable, I also think about our own design and creation. I am in awe that God would send His Son to be born of a virgin, with his own unique body, complete with individual fingerprints! Equally awe-inspiring is the fact that Jesus would live his life and die with us in mind. Absolutely amazing- our God loves, creates, redeems, and gives a purpose to each one of us through Christ. Now that is something to celebrate this Advent season!

The Good News is that Jesus was born to ultimately offer his sinless life as the complete payment for any and everyone who places his faith in Him. Luke wrote these words: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Faith in Jesus is all one needs to be assured of the blessed hope of everlasting life!

If we no longer sacrifice burnt offerings to the Lord, we must now sacrifice of ourselves, the same way Jesus did.

Our mission at Haskell is to invite them into our lives, provide them a safe place, and show them the love of Jesus. It is not up to us to heal their hurts or restore their legacy, it is our desire to introduce them to Jesus and a legacy of love. He will give them a new promise and inheritance.

As forgiven sinners living in a sinful world, it is still far too easy to be overwhelmed by the darkness that sometimes seems to surround us. That’s why the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus must be constantly proclaimed among us; the sudden, unexpected, and powerful work of God born in a stable.

May God bless all of you at Christmas and all year round and thank you for all that you do to make Native ministry happen.