Someone To Tell It to - June 2014 Newsletter

“Someone To Tell It To: Sharing Life’s Journey”

Our book, “Someone To Tell It To: Sharing Life’s Journey” is currently in the design and production process for publication and will be available for sale in mid-July. More details will follow in our July newsletter.

Here’s what other authors and experts have written, through their endorsements of our mission, ministry and book:

Someone to Tell It To represents one of the most compassionate outreaches by the Church to those who are troubled by groanings that cannot be uttered. The prayerful listening and counseling that these two men do is one of the most effective instruments for the healing of minds and souls that I know about anywhere in the world. What a treasure it is for us to have these men serving so faithfully at work that is essential and, yet, has been left largely undone.

Tony Campolo, PhD, Sociology Department, Eastern University

If it isn’t the greatest need in Christian community, it surely ranks high: RELATIONSHIPS, the kind that connect people in ways only the Gospel makes possible. That’s what “Someone To Tell It To” is all about. And that’s why their vision has my support.

Dr. Larry Crabb, Author, Psychologist

Too often we suffer alone, afraid to share the truth of our insides, afraid to be authentic with others, particularly when we are suffering. That greatly exacerbates pain and prolongs it. A big part of my message, when discussing my friendship with Mister Rogers, is to encourage people, to come out of their hiding. Cop to their pain. There are people out there who will listen with healing presence and compassion.

I have just discovered two more. They are Michael Gingerich and Thomas Kaden, who have recently embarked on a mission they have named, brilliantly enough, Someone To Tell It To. … I learned of their hopes to help coax people out of their isolation, (as Fred coaxed me out of mine.)… I believe one of the greatest struggles of humankind is individual isolation, particularly with suffering. With great personal courage themselves, these two guys are committed to tackling that struggle head on. I endorse them without reservation, and admire them both greatly. I am proud to call them my brothers, my friends.

Tim Madigan, Journalist, Author of “I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers”

$524.84

We value every donation to the mission of Someone To Tell It To as a treasured gift. We try our best to express gratitude for every $10 commitment, as well as the $5,000 yearly pledge. Each gift helps us to fulfill the calling that God has placed upon our lives. We live in awe of God’s abundant faithfulness. But there was one donation this year, especially, that caused us to pause, give thanks, and simply rest in wonder …

It was the last day of the month, and it was time to pay our local, state, and federal taxes, thousands of dollars. What we owed depleted our bank account to almost nothing. Yet there was still one bill that we needed to pay—the down payment for this book. $524.84. The bill was due the following day, and we didn’t know where we would get the money to pay it. We were certain that we were going to miss the deadline for publishing this book.

But that evening, one of us had dinner with two of our closest friends. As they were leaving, totally unaware of our financial situation and the acute anxiety we were feeling about it, they left a check to support Someone To Tell It To’s mission—for $525! Enough to pay the bill and with a little extra leftover.

This was when we knew this project of sharing life’s journey was meant to be.

Currently, as our book nears publication, we need $2,000 in order to fully market the book, to reach the greatest number of people and to expand our ministry and mission. If you can help us to reach that goal, your gifts will be deeply appreciated too. You can donate to us on our website – www.someonetotellitto.org– or by sending checks to our new mailing address – 7810 Allentown Blvd., Harrisburg, PA 17112.

For every $100 you give, you will receive a signed copy of the book as an expression of our gratitude. Please mark in the memo line or on the online form that the gift is for the book.

Thank you so much!

If you’d like to reserve a book, please email us at [email protected] today!

All proceeds support the ministry of Someone To Tell It To.

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We are very grateful!

 Every time we have had a need, our needs have been met.

We believe that God has honored our work and we receive continual reminders that we are involved in a mission that is touching and changing hearts and lives and bringing them toward wholeness.

Here’s an example:

Around this time of the year, inevitably, funding slows down. And after our quarterly taxes and other necessary expenses are paid, little is left in our bank account.

But last week, we shared about our ministry with the United Methodist Women of Calvary UM Church, in Dillsburg, PA. After the presentation and an insightful and enjoyable period of questions and answers, the women gathered for the evening handed us a check for $1,000! It came just at the right time and was deeply appreciated.   We cannot express our thanks enough to these generous and faithful servants of God.

It is gifts and affirmations such as these that give us encouragement and motivation to do what we do each day.

March 6, 2015 Fundraiser with Wm. Paul Young, author of “The Shack”

A lot of people have asked us:

Why did you select Paul Young to speak at your banquet?

Well, we believe that we were led to him for a reason.

Primarily, it was because we strongly resonated with the message of his book, “The Shack”. The book’s main character, Mack, is someone who is hurting, desperately, terribly broken and beaten down. Specifically, it was Young’s freeing, transformative message of unconditional love, grace and compassion – especially to those who are hurting – that really attracted us to it.

We are asked all the time:

What types of people is Someone To Tell It To working with?

We connect with people who are broken, hurting and so often feeling alone.

We always try to provide a compassionate presence and listening ear to those who need a safe place to share their stories, to share their brokenness and pain. In the Latin, “compassion” is pati cum – “to suffer with”. We are “suffering with” those who are hurting – walking with them through the darkness in their lives, just as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit did for Mack in “The Shack”.