{"id":1665,"date":"2011-09-07T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=1665"},"modified":"2011-09-06T05:30:40","modified_gmt":"2011-09-06T09:30:40","slug":"the-grip-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/09\/the-grip-of-winter.html","title":{"rendered":"The Grip of Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

For me, winter isn\u2019t so bad. Colorado gets its share of frost and snow, but that means skiing, snowboarding, hot chocolate. Winter is the anticipation of Christmas, the gathering of friends, the snow-capped mountains that never get old.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it does get really<\/em>\u00a0cold. Like last winter when we turned boiling water into snow outside.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/vimeo.com\/19467292<\/a>\n

But for millions of Russian orphans, winter holds no such promise. It is nothing but desolate. It is a time when third-hand shoes and ripped clothes just aren\u2019t enough to keep warm. \u00a0Their hearts–which should be alive and bubbly like that boiling water–turn cold and snowy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their winter never thaws.<\/p>\n

When spring comes, the loneliness stays, each day as hopeless as the last. These are children with a lifelong label \u2013 one that keeps them hidden on the outskirts of society. They are orphaned each day as the world turns its back.<\/p>\n

You have a chance to change that. This September, Children\u2019s HopeChest is launching Through the Winter<\/em><\/strong>, a <\/strong><\/em>campaign to raise funds to provide a Russian-language copy of C.S. Lewis\u2019 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/em> to every child we serve in Russia. We\u2019ll also get a copy of the movie to every orphanage we work with and establish a new discipleship curriculum based on the themes and characters in this amazing book.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned in the next three days for more information on this campaign, how this book can change lives, and how you can get involved.<\/p>\n

When you give $30, we can provide one child with a copy of\u00a0The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/em>\u00a0and cover costs of creating the new curriculum and providing intensive training to our staff.\u00a0Would you give $30 today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"donate_TTW.jpg\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For me, winter isn\u2019t so bad. Colorado gets its share of frost and snow, but that means skiing, snowboarding, hot chocolate. Winter is the anticipation of Christmas, the gathering of friends, the snow-capped mountains that never get old. Sometimes it does get really\u00a0cold. Like last winter when we turned boiling water into snow outside. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1665"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1668,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1665\/revisions\/1668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}