In today's economy, who doesn't want to save a buck or two or three or more? Who doesn't appreciate a "win-win" situation?
In today's society, who hasn't seen a neighbor in need? Whose conscience hasn't been pricked by the excess of material blessings, while many around us are obviously less advantaged?
At Midway's ShoppE at Rose's and at Kathy Garzon's Second-Step Home, the needs of others are considered. In the second chapter of the Book of James, it is written, "What's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, "Well, good-bye and GOD bless you; stay warm and eat well" -- but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all -- it is dead and useless...Just as the body is dead without a spirit, so also faith is dead without good deeds." 
At Rose's -- good deeds abound. Through Midway's kindhearted and generous givers and because of smart shoppers -- all funds earned from this ministry (the "baby" of Midway's young-at-heart "mother hen," Pat Baize) -- have provided for such diverse good works as:
- helping orphanages in China, Mexico, Cambodia and Ecuador with clothing, school uniforms, washers and dryers, food, high chairs, beds and "half" of a pick-up truck
- providing motorcycles for two national pastors in the Philippines to enable them to minister to remote tribes...also providing these same families with a gas cook stove and medical care
- making Bibles available to troops deployed in Iraq
- buying Turkish-language Bibles for missionaries to distribute
- helping teens and young adults raise funds to go on mission trips
- contributing toward a well for clean drinking water in Kenya
- helping Second-Step Home with clothing and household items
- providing funds for a pastor's seminar in Nepal
- assisting a church plant in an inner city area of San Diego
- sending funds to provide a car for Filipino missionaries serving in India; car repairs for missionaries traveling on deputation; several computers; guitar to Kenya; mattress and box springs for missionaries in Sweden; washer and dryer for a missionary family (with four children) in Germany; optometrist visit and new glasses for an 8-year old daughter of missionaries in Mexico; travel expenses back to the US for two missionaries to be with their dying parents; moving expenses in Cambodia, Bolivia, Australia and Iraq; emergency assistance for a missionary who had been shot and needed to move (fast!)
- surprise CHRISTmas offering for nearly two dozen missionary families for whom things were very tight
- funds for the children of Naselesele village -- used to buy children's backpacks for each village family, crabnets for a couple women who each had four school children, shoes for a couple kids, funds for a couple widows, Fijian-language Bibles. (This is but a very short list of all the many, many good works accomplished through the ShoppE at Rose's.)
From the "mother hen's" own words: Odd things some of them...and not always glamorous. But Rose's strive to meet needs and make missionaries' lives easier by providing practical help and encouragement. We particularly like to meet needs that would fall under the radar of other mission groups. We are blessed with a great group of dedicated workers, generous donators and avid shoppers who make all this happen! Never underestimate the power of "little ol' ladies"!!! (Hmm...i would rather say "mature young 'uns"!)
This CHRISTmas, with the hustle and bustle of preparing for the celebration of JESUS' traditional birthday of December 25, we can all take part in the joyful "win-win" situation of helping others in need by shopping at The ShoppE at Rose's, confident that all the monies received will be put to good use conscientiously and with GODly integrity. Your hard earned dollars go a long way at Rose's as you shop for your loved ones because of fantastic low prices for practical and unique items which fill all the nooks and crannies of this most unusual shop.
As James wrote -- faith without good works is dead. So when the giving and receiving of the CHRISTmas season has passed and all the turkey and ham and apples pies and chocolates have gone to the gut and hips -- remember that like the EverReady Bunny commercial, your dollars keep on going...morphing into practical and unusual material aid to those in need all over the world.
It really is so much better to give than to receive, whether to give plenty or but the little we can afford. GOD searches our hearts and sees our genuine desire to help and bless others for His sake. And our GOD is a good Father Who blesses 100-fold those who allow themselves to be His instruments of blessings to those in need of a helping hand.
GOD Himself has said He loves a cheerful giver! (II Corinthians 9:7) And to give in the spirit of CHRIST, agape -- is to give in deed, indeed!
These flip flops will be part of our WOW (World Outreach Week) -- "Soles for Souls -- a missions ministry to help those devastated by the flooding caused by four successive typhoons in the 
i bought mainly small sizes so that these would specifically go to children...and i hope the personal touch will bring smiles to their faces.
We are part of the privileged minority when we can finish secondary school without paying for our education, if we even own one phone or TV or car (let alone 2 or 3 or more in one family), have computers and laptops and libraries and Walmarts and Starbucks and Pizzahut... And...and...and...
As CHRISTians, what are we going to do about it? As a believer, what are you going to do about it? As a fully devoted follower of JESUS CHRIST, what am i going to do about it?
This: to share the privilege of knowing GOD.
The only way to know GOD is to know JESUS, the Person. When one knows JESUS, He knows GOD Himself. GOD accomplished His will through Moses and Abraham and David, as He did through His prophets and kings and judges as recorded in the Old Testament -- but did they have a personal, one-on-one relationship with Him? Moses did. GOD spoke with him as a friend...and Moses wrote that GOD has promised that One would come after him. The nation of Israel looked to the promise -- and that promise, that hope, did not become reality until GOD Himself became manifest in the flesh, as JESUS, the CHRIST, Son of Man.
Most people may believe that they know GOD because they have accepted certain information about Him through hearsay at schools, or from church-going, or from the media; or have read enough of the Scriptures (Old or New Testament) to get a deep enough understanding of Who He is...but unless the Holy SPIRIT is in the person, the Holy Scriptures will remain a mystery to him/her. Only by the indwelling Holy SPIRIT of GOD will the reader receive true revelation of what the Word of GOD is all about -- and the Holy Scriptures is all about CHRIST JESUS.
JESUS gives to anyone who believes in Him the gracious privilege of knowing GOD, the Father of all, Creator and Sustainer of all. And because as born-again CHRISTians (whether of this or that denomination -- Methodist, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Assembly of GOD, Pentecostal...), we can never ever give enough or do enough to thank GOD for His gift of grace, salvation through CHRIST -- so the most important work is to share the Word of Truth -- JESUS. For In CHRIST, is GOD Himself, by the indwelling Holy SPIRIT. Whoever has CHRIST abiding in him/her, also has the Almighty Father of all Creation, by His Holy SPIRIT.
Man is spirit clothed in flesh...GOD is SPIRIT, and spirit finds true life only by abiding in the SPIRIT. True love and communion is experienced only when spirit bows down to SPIRIT, the SPIRIT of GOD. And the Way is by the blood of CHRIST...by His Cross alone can a person come to the gracious privilege of knowing GOD. There is no other way.
Just in case some people have forgotten, or truly do not know that the US of America was founded by CHRISTian leaders, here's George Washington's (first president of the US of America) prayer for the nation:
Almighty GOD, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in thy holy protection, that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large.
And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.
Grant our supplications, we beseech Thee, through JESUS CHRIST, our Lord. Amen.
Or baby waves whisper sweet somethings?
Have you ever felt the silk of a rose petal upon your cheek?
Or a cat's tongue rough on your palm?
Have you ever embraced a tree with reverence for GOD?
Have you ever tasted the sweetness of sea urchin eggs?
Or the tang of a wind-blown ocean breeze?
Munich, Germany 
Munich... 
Munich...
Paunzhausen...
