In 1992 Jeffrey went to jail for a million dollar heist of a Las Vegas casino – a crime he committed with his Dad and one of his brothers. Jeffrey’s daughter Amanda was only 4 years old at the time.
In the sweltering Texas prison where he was held, the chapel was the only air conditioned room and truthfully, Jeffrey only went there to stay cool. He never paid too much attention to what was being said until one day when the chaplain talked about Angel Tree. He signed up for the program and on Christmas Eve Amanda came to visit her dad. She was gushing about how the Angel Tree volunteers had delivered a gift from him. She told him he had learned about God’s love and forgiveness and that she wanted him to know she loved him and forgave him for what he had done.
Jeffrey started attending chapel regularly after that and it wasn’t long before he surrendered his life to Christ.
When he was released a few years later, Amanda was there, waiting in the parking lot – arms stretched out wide, clutching an unopened Candy Land game, the gift she got from her dad through Angel Tree and was waiting to play with him.
You see, for Jeffrey, it started with a simple gift. God used Angel Tree to renew a relationship with his daughter, and more importantly to open the door to a personal relationship with Christ.
We are running behind on our goal this year and could use your help to reach kids like Amanda! Would you consider giving a gift and some hope through Angel Tree this year?
We’ll thank you with new Christmas CD’s from Chris Tomlin, Danny Gokey, Mercy Me, Laura Story, passes to Taproot Theatre, Creation Northwest, Bellevue Zip Tours, and more…
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