J

J.C. and US Ministries

To Bikers and Others

Rich and Jennie Hardesty

6594 Point Pleasant Road, Elk Grove, CA 95757

(916) 599 – 0705 -- www. jcandusminstries.com

Non – Profit Federal Tax ID No. - 94-3372919

November - December 2011

It’s the end of the year, winter is here but it’s the Season to Tell of the Greatest Gift that is given and it was last forever when you receive it. The love of Jesus, His forgiveness, His grace. The gift of Salvation.

MMA toy Run is led by the Hells Angels. There the door is open to share the real meaning of Christmas.

Sacramento MMA Toy Run – by Sue Neander

It was a gray foggy morning, but the “Son” was shining throughout the day. The Lord kept giving us one opportunity after another to witness to the bikers attending the toy run and to the other vendors, as well. Before the crowds arrived Jennie decorated the Christmas tree at our table with beautiful leather key chains that read “Jesus Cares” or “Got Jesus?” Bill delivered a rag tract to every vendor who would accept one, and of course, he took a moment to talk with each one. Before long we had children and adults coming up to the booth to do the beading craft and to pick up some of the other items we had to offer. As always the socks and the JC & Us rag tracts were a big hit. It’s amazing how offering something to people for free just blows them away. It also gives us a chance to plant those seeds. As Rich likes to say, “It’s free just like salvation - can’t buy it.”

Christians came by our booth too and shared their praises and prayer requests. Some told us how much they appreciated the worship music by Rob Holly and the Christmas carols by Jim Jackson. Others shared their appreciation for the outdoor service we did at 10 a.m.

As you might well imagine you cannot be on the front line for Jesus without the enemy noticing and attempting to defeat you. Well, we had a medical marijuana booth directly across from us and you would have sworn they had a machine puffing out their product. We would pray and it would die down for a while, but then we’d have to pray it back again. However, one of the vendors from that booth came over to see us and we were able to share the gospel with her, give her a Hellfighters New Testament, a few of the other goodies, and share the light of love of Christ with her. Needless to say, we are praying that God used that encounter to soften her heart to the Truth.

December proved to be a full month of Ministry. It started off with the J C and Us Ministries Christmas Party. This year had an extra special bonus with Skip and Janet coming all the way from Prescott Valley Arizona. Skip blessed our time of fellowship by sharing in songs the Love of Jesus.

The next day we were off to a Toy run at Meadows Depot, a halfway home for moms where they can have their children with them. Paula is the one who owns the home and she is very ill. Pray for her and the future of Meadow Depot so it can continue.

December 10th Vacaville Toy Run – by Sue Neander

It was a brisk morning, but families were pulling into the New Hope Christian Fellowship parking lot by 8:45 a.m. so they could be at the front of the line to receive Christmas toys at 10:30 a.m. The JC & Us Ministries craft tables were busy all morning as children decorated they bags and completed the fringe on their Christmas scarf gift. The bikers started rolling in around 10:45 to drop off gifts for the children. The pastor’s wife at New Hope was so thrilled to see such an event taking place on church grounds that she was out photographing our ministry, the Black Sheep in action, and everyone pulling into the parking lot. After dropping off their gifts the bikers appreciated the free items on the JC & Us table. Socks were going fast along with Hellfighter New Testaments and a great book on Psalm 91. It takes a lot of folks to handle all that so we were very blessed when members of CMA Lord’s Knights showed up to help hand out rag tracts and Hellfighter New Testaments and a couple of the CMAers helped Rich man the helium tank and passed out balloons to the kids. Rich Hardesty just had eye surgery a couple of days ago so he was supposed to be taking it easy – OK, you can stop laughing now! He did eventually sit down and handed out the goodies to kids who had finished decorating their bag. As each child walked up, he would ask them, “What is Christmas?” When they gave him the right answer, “It’s Jesus’ birthday,” we would cheer and Rich would hand them the bag of goodies which included the true meaning of Christmas. One little girl came up. She didn’t speak English, so I translated for her, but the problem was not language based. The problem was that she honestly didn’t know what Christmas was. I gave her a big hint that it was someone’s birthday, but she guessed “Santa.” We were blessed to share with her and her parents, who were watching the whole thing, that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. Like all of the other children she left with the gospel message in her bag. We praise God for the opportunity to share His love and His word with children and adults at these motorcycle events.

December 11th MMA Swat Meet in Dixon

It was another brisk – as in freezing – morning; we had a space in the corner of the building that was a little out of the way, but without us saying anything one of the staff had us moved to a space where hundreds of people came by our booth. Praise the Lord, it was a very good one. It was indoors! Swaps meets are very different from toy runs in that the participants are just walking past. There’s no time for crafts so we brought the colorful Christmas bags already filled with the gospel, a Jingle for Jesus beach ball, a true Christmas story coloring book and some bubbles. The bags were placed under the table top Christmas tree ready to be handed out to visiting children. The Jesus Loves Me balloons were a big hit as well. The adult table was a very busy place. We greeted every passerby and offered a Merry Christmas rag tract until there were no more rags to offer. The socks with a gospel tract and the leather key rings with “Jesus Cares for You” stamped into the leather were also popular items and as usual people could not believe it was all free. Of course, that’s when we get to share our praise – that all the items on the table have been donated specifically so they could be shared them. One man who was very appreciative was a gentleman who explained that he is a pilot, but is also ordained and does counseling with pilots who have been laid off. He told us that these men have lost their identity, they income, and in many cases their spouses as a result of losing their job. He explained that there is a very high rate of suicide in that group right now. Hearing all that we offered him a few extra copies of the Psalm 91 book and a couple extra Hellfighter New Testaments to share with whomever the Lord sent his way. Perhaps Sunday was best summed up by a man who came to the table, received a Merry Christmas rag tract and took a few of those delicious Hershey’s kisses and upon hearing that it was all free said, “Oh, hey, I get it. This is the giving table!” A THANK YOU to everyone who makes this giving possible.

The Ministry has one more outreach to attend with Feeding Gods Children the eighteenth of December.

The Ministry was given a 1997 Chev. By Donald and Lenda Snyder. It has very low millage 85,000, new tires. Asking $1900 or best offer, Good Condition.

We praise God for the open doors in the biking world. We praise God and are so thankful for you our Ministry Partners. This year was a Very Full year and we know God will lead us to the right outreaches that He wants us to attend in 2012.

We have two special prayer requests besides the ones that were already mentioned, Joyce Sayre and Peggy Henkens who have cancer. We are praying for a full remission.

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas;

Rich and Jennie Hardesty