A Story from the Christmas Cantata

“Do you know who Joanna is? I want to meet her.” This was a phone call we received at our call center one day. A 50-year old lady by the name of Rose McFarlane called us after seeing this hand-delivered letter on her porch. “This is such a bad area, the neighbors don’t even come outside let alone write each other letters. Who sent this to me? I’ve never gotten anything like this before. Someone must have dropped it off on foot. I have to meet this person…I’m so thankful.”

Rose’s neighborhood had a reputation for being a dangerous place to live. There are frequent house fires, very high rates of crime, and there isn’t even mail service on her street. And here this letter was, delivered by a passionate IYF volunteer.

Rose eventually found her way to the Good News Miami Church, also known as IYF Miami, realizing this was the place where the letter had originated. She was introduced to Joanna, profusely thanked her for her kindness, and ended up bringing the pastor of her home church and several other congregation members to the Christmas Cantata at the Fillmore Miami Beach. Everyone was so happy.

This is a small story from our 2013 Tour, but IYF has been so blessed to meet countless people like Rose during its outreach across America. 4 more performances to go. How the time flies.