Christmas is in the air!

Dear Friends,

You can feel it can't you? Christmas is really in the air- you can just sort of sense it, see it, feel it. And it is a good thing. Jesus Christ was born! What an amazing story! I just never get tired of living out the story of Christmas. In story, in song, in drama, the greatest story ever told is repeated and repeated! And it is a good one, a true one, a life changing story!

In fact as I was pondering the story once again I thought to myself, "the story is why I am in STADIA INTERNATIONAL-JONATHAN PROJECT!" I want people who have never heard the story to hear. SI/JP gives me a method, a platform, a detailed opportunity to make sure that people who have not heard...hear! Even though I live 2,000 years this side of the point of origin of the story I still get to tell it, to describe it, to paint word pictures for people so that they also see it and get it! And that is exactly what happens when unreached people groups (UPG's) hear the story for the very first time. They catch it all through word pictures.

Did you realize that over half a billion people on the planet have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. They have no idea that the only Son of God was born in a lowly manger in a stable in Bethlehem. They don't even know that there is a Bethlehem. This is not to demean anyone. This is just simply a reality in our world. The half billion plus people who have never heard essentially live in "oral cultures." That is, they do not have a written language. They therefore do not read nor do they write. What they know they have learned "orally!" Somebody tells them a story. They hear the story and then they repeat that story. The stories are handed down from generation to generation. Then one day one of their own people, or at least somebody who can communicate in their language or in a common language such as a trade language comes and tells them this amazing story. "There is a God who loves you. And He sent His one and only Son to live on this earth...." And the story goes from there. People hear the story. They believe the story. The Person they hear about becomes real in their lives. Transformation takes place. An unreached people group has been reached...for the purposes and the plans of Jesus Christ.

As I think about all of this this Christmas I get very excited. We are involved in a huge undertaking. The objective is to tell "the story," to those who have never heard! Thanks to all of you for your prayers, your thoughts, your emails, your support. And I pray that for you and your family and your friends, that this Christmas is the very best ever! I imagine "you can feel it also!"

With prayers,

Graydon Jessup