{"id":92,"date":"2009-12-31T07:51:15","date_gmt":"2009-12-31T07:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2009\/12\/counting-down-to-midnight.html"},"modified":"2009-12-31T07:51:15","modified_gmt":"2009-12-31T07:51:15","slug":"counting-down-to-midnight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2009\/12\/counting-down-to-midnight.html","title":{"rendered":"Counting Down to Midnight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow I will be posting the most important thing I've ever done to help me realize my dreams and passions for a new year. There's a call on your life to make a difference only you can make. Stay tuned! <\/p>\n

We've now received over $4,000 toward the $20,000 challenge to help orphans in Russia. We're counting down to midnight, and looking for $16,000 more to finish this challenge by midnight. We already can put $24,000 into programs that stop sex trafficking. We'd like to make that $40,000 by the end of the day. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tomorrow is 2010.<\/p>\n

Although the calendar moves only one day, a new year makes us feel as though the slate is wiped clean and we can start again anew.<\/p>\n

In reality, very little about our lives change. And that's exactly what I want you to remember when you think about the orphans we serve.<\/p>\n

The passing of one year to the next does not give a starving child a clean slate. January 1 is just another day of trying to find food, or eat grass, or worse<\/p>\n

The New Year holiday in Russia is the biggest of the year. It's a time for families to gather together to stay up late and drink champagne while listening to the president's annual speech. <\/p>\n

Do you think the countless Russian girls trapped in prostitution will feel any different tomorrow when the calendar changes to 2010? Probably not.<\/p>\n

Being an orphan is a 24\/7 reality. <\/p>\n

The threats facing orphans do not stop because the numbers on our calendar change. Tomorrow our precious children will battle all the same enemies tomorrow–and maybe some new ones.<\/p>\n

Our kids need you today, tomorrow, and for years into the future if they are going to make it. As one friend said recently, "If you are a Christian, orphans is your thing." I couldn't agree more.<\/p>\n

Whether you give today or not is between you and God. We'll continue to fight extreme poverty and sex trafficking in 2010, and we want you to stand with us–battle with us–to protect and fight for these children who have been left parentless and alone.<\/p>\n

Thank you, and may you have a happy, blessed, and prosperous New Year.<\/p>\n

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

Tomorrow I will be posting the most important thing I've ever done to help me realize my dreams and passions for a new year. There's a call on your life to make a difference only you can make. Stay tuned!  We've now received over $4,000 toward the $20,000 challenge to help orphans in Russia. We're counting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swaziland"],"yoast_head":"\nCounting Down to Midnight - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2009\/12\/counting-down-to-midnight.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Counting Down to Midnight - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tomorrow I will be posting the most important thing I've ever done to help me realize my dreams and passions for a new year. 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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\/92","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=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}