A CHRISTIAN MISSION
August 2025 Newsletter
Prayer Request: This month, pray that you continue to grow and mature in your faith, deepening your relationship with God through prayer, Scripture, and daily obedience. Ask the Lord to shape your heart, renew your mind, and strengthen your spirit so that your life reflects His love, truth, and grace more each day.
Please call us if you have any questions about the Mission or how you can help. 432-337-8294
A Word From Our Director ~ Pastor Andrew Pistone
Growing Up and Maturing
How can we know we are growing up and maturing? Obviously, we see signs of physical growth and aging, but when it comes to spiritual maturity, we need another kind of growth chart. In Galatians 5, the Bible talks about The Fruit of the Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”(Galatians 5:22-23)
Each one of these “fruits” is a quality that the Holy Spirit develops in us as we mature in our faith. They are called “fruit” because they are the natural result of the Spirit's presence in our lives – just like the fruit we eat is the natural product of a healthy tree. As we grow and mature in our faith, these qualities will be more and more evident in our lives.
These qualities are also used in the Gospels to describe Jesus. “And seeing the multitudes, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) Just as these hurting people touched the heart of Jesus, hurting people around us should also touch our hearts. If they do, it's a sign of spiritual growth. We should never think we are so important that the needs of others no longer matter.
There's a book called, Character Above All. It's a collection of 10 essays about 10 U.S. Presidents – from Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s to George H.W. Bush in the 1990s. Each essay is written by people who knew those presidents well: friends, fellow politicians, speechwriters, and other colleagues who worked closely with the presidents. One chapter was on President Ronald Reagan - who served our country for two terms - from 1981-1989. Peggy Noonan was one of his speechwriters, and she knew him well. Her essay was included in the book and it captured the essence of his character in 22 pages. At the end of her essay, she told a story which highlighted one of hisqualities - his kindness.
A Misunderstanding & A Big Trip
Peggy Noonan's story is about Frances Green, an 83-year-old woman who lived by herself – just on Social Security - in Daly City - near San Francisco. She didn't have much money at all, but she believed in President Reagan's policies and wanted to support him. For several years, Mrs. Green had faithfully been sending one dollar a month (some versions of her story, say one dollar a year) to the Republican National Committee.
Because she was a regular contributor, (even though it was a very small contribution,) she was on the mailing list of the RNC. During the spring of 1988 - she received a fund-raising letter in the mail. It included a beautiful invitation that was printed on thick, cream-colored paper with black and gold lettering. It was an invitation to a special reception at the White House where the donor would meet the President. The reception was scheduled to occur around July 4 that summer, and she was jumping for joy at the thought of meeting President Reagan!
The problem was – she never noticed the little RSVP card – stating that a considerable donation needed to be included with the “Yes” reply. She thought she'd been invited because they appreciated her faithful donation of one dollar. Even though she didn't see the RSVP card, she did send a short hand-written note – accepting the invitation - because she had been taught good manners, and knew that confirming her attendance was the proper thing to do. She never even noticed the official RSVP card and the mention of a required large donation. She was just excited at the thought of being invited to meet the President!
Frances Green scraped together every penny she could, and she took a four-day train ride across the country to Washington, D.C., because, at that time, she said it was cheaper than flying. She couldn't afford a sleeper car, so she slept sitting up in the coach section of the train, but she figured it was worth it, because she would be meeting the President. Finally, she arrived at the White House gate, with her invitation in her hand. She was wearing her best white suit, white hat, white shoes, and white gloves. She felt extremely privileged and excited to be there!
When she spoke to the guard at the gate, she gave her name and told him about her invitation; but the man checked, and double-checked his official list, and told her that her name wasn't there. Of course, she was heartbroken, and tried to explain that she had come such a long way, and that she had definitely received an invitation, and had even sent a handwritten reply – confirming that she would be attending.
The man standing near Frances, heard the discussion. He was intrigued, so he pulled her aside and got her story. The man was S. Charles Momjian. At one time, he was a liason between Ford Motor Company and the White House, and he also was an advisor to several presidents – and had worked on multiple government projects. After hearing all the details of Frances' story, he wanted to help her, and since he knew Anne Higgins – one of the President's aides, he was able to relay the story to the aide directly. The story reached President Reagan, and he agreed to see her!
There were a lot of things going on at the White House that day. There were several high-level generals and other leaders coming and going, and it was an especially busy time for the President; but when his aide, Anne Higgins, walked near the oval office with Frances Green, the President smiled and motioned for them to come into his office.
Kindness
As she entered, he rose from his desk and called out, “Frances! Those darn computers. They fouled up again! If I'd known you were coming, I would have come out to the gate to get you myself.” Then, he went over and took Mrs. Green's arm, invited her to sit down, and escorted her to a comfortable chair – where they talked about California, her life, and her thoughts on several subjects.
President Reagan gave Frances Green a lot of time that day, and it really was more time than he could spare. He knew that this woman had nothing to give him, but she needed something he could give her. The President – along with Mr. Momjian and Anne Higgins – took time to be kind and compassionate.
Peggy Noonan said that Ronald Reagan had a big heart – a kind of liquid heart that flowed out to others. Nearly everyone who worked with Ronald Reagan has a story about some act of kindness that he demonstrated.
We want to be kind – even when there's no advantage in it for us. In our high-tech world, it seems like we live our lives in the fast lane, and it's easy to become focused only on our own agenda. It's good to look for moments when we can show kindness to people. It might just be a couple of words of encouragement. Maturing people are kind and compassionate – and our world is in desperate need of kindness.
Pastor Andrew
Thrift Stores
If you haven't had a chance to shop at one of our Thrift Stores, we hope you will do that soon. The proceeds from the store are a significant source of our support. You will find thousands of quality items at incredible prices, and you can shop with confidence that your dollars are helping to change lives.
Our stores are located at 1515 E. 8th St., Odessa & 1020H Andrews Highway, Midland
Our hours for shopping are Monday - Saturday from 9:00 am – 7:00 pm.
We continue to take ALL donations with grateful hearts. We could not do this without your help.
We will come to PICK UP any donations – call us at 432-337-8294 to schedule a pickup. You can also drop off your donation at the Thrift Store,
Please visit us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DoorOfHopeThriftStore
All donations are tax-deductible.
Please check out our latest post and like our page at https://www.facebook.com/DoorOfHopeMissionTX
Funds / Donations Needed
Your financial support will help us provide hot meals, a safe place to sleep and shower, and exposure to the truth of God's Word through Bible study and counseling to those who struggle with addictions. Many come to know Jesus as Savior because of the work God is doing here at the Mission.
There are a few ways you can give:
#1: PayPal Giving Fund:100% of your gift goes to the Mission. Paypal does not charge a processing fee when you use this service. If you would like to make a direct financial donation, you can go to PayPal using the link below.
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2432315
#2: Use our Website http://www.doorofhopemission.com/donate.html
#3: Mail a Check to Door of Hope Mission PO Box 1789, Odessa, TX 79760
#4: When you Shop on eBay, add us as your preferred charity, and a portion of your purchase will go to the Door Of Hope Mission.
With Ebay: You must add the Door Of Hope Mission to your favorites. Click the link to add us.
https://charity.ebay.com/charity/charity-name/2432315
If you have any questions, please call us at 432-337-8294.
The Door of Hope Mission is supported 100% by DONATIONS and our thrift store. We do not take money from the government because they would restrict us from preaching about the freeing power of Jesus to those we help.
All donations are tax-deductible.