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| E-Letter
Friend, It is amazing how God has granted us so much favor in our nation’s Capitol. I can not begin to thank my dear brother James Beabout Legislative Assistant to Congressmen Gil Gutknecht who worked diligently in coordinating numerous meetings with Congressional offices as well as the White House Drug Policy Office, and my dear brother David Contreras, Deputy Director-Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives who facilitated meetings with the different directors at Justice, Labor and HUD. Please pray for these two young warriors whom God has called to join Coming Clean Ministries in our fight for the soul of our children. The following is a summary of our amazing trip: On Monday February 23 Guy and I traveled to D.C. for numerous meetings at the Capitol to arrange for our future Congressional Rallies. By God’s grace we were welcomed with open arms. We met with Congressman Mark Souder of Ft. Wayne Indiana; Congressman Robert B. Aderholt of Alabama; Congressman Jack Kingston of Savannah; Congressman Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota; Congressmen John Boozman of Arkansas, Congresswoman Ileana Ross-Lehtinen of Miami; Congressman Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami, and Congressman Jerry Weller of Illinois. As a result we have agreed to conduct two major rallies this year, one in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and one in Alabama. For 2005 we will conduct three major rallies in Miami, Arkansas, and Illinois. It is amazing how God has opened so many doors for our ministry to impact The Kingdom for Christ. On Tuesday we visited with Congressmen Jack Kingston with whom we shared our vision for Coming Clean Ministries and showed the clip of “A Letter to Daddy.” Pray for God to use this powerful clip of what we believe will be a major TV program. When the video ended there was not a dry eye in the room. Later on we visited with Congressman Gil Gutknecht and his staff where we planned for further outreach in his district. Please pray for Jack and Gil, two brothers who love the Lord and are truly making a difference for the Kingdom in our Nation’s Capitol. These two brothers have been Coming Clean Ministries’ greatest voice in D.C. On Wednesday we met with the three deputy directors for the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for the different cabinets: HUD, Justice, Labor and the White House. We shared Coming Clean Ministries’ vision to help ex-offenders not go back to prison and prepare them for the workplace. We shared the vision of Koinonia House and the work my dear brother Manny Mill is doing in Wheaton. It takes an army to fight a war. We are in a war my friend, we need to unite and share all our resources to make a difference. On Thursday Guy, James, Fidel and I had lunch at the Members’ Dining Room in the Capitol with our dear friend Congressman Bob Garcia. Bob’s wife Jane is one of our board members and a great friend. It is always great to share our vision with these two amazing man and woman of God. Afterwards, Bob and I attended the Members only Bible Study at the Capitol with our dear friends Sam and Ted from the Christian Embassy. What an awesome ministry the Christian Embassy is. They are making an amazing difference sharing the Gospel and ministering to our world’s leaders. Immediately after the Bible Study I was rushed to the Executive Office of the President for a top level meeting with John Horton, Associate Deputy Director the White House Drug Policy Office and senior members of his office. I shared my vision of educating our youth so that we can win the war on drugs. God has given Coming Clean Ministries a 10 year vision to win this war that we have been loosing for so many years. Please pray for this vision which I will share with you in the future. Immediately after this meeting I was rushed to further meetings with members of Congress. My friend, this is my fourth visit to the Capitol and every time I am impacted differently. On this visit the greatest blessing I received was to observe how indeed our nation is being run by young committed Christian man and woman such as my dear friend James Beabout. James is a bright young man twenty five year olds graduate of Notre Dame who is responsible for an amazing amount of legislature for Congressman Gil Gutknecht. This young man has blessed our ministry in so many ways. But the greatest blessing to me personally is the realization that this young man exemplifies the hope that exists for our young people. Young man and woman like James are running our nation. They will one day be our Congressmen and Congresswoman as well as our President. They are bright, energetic, and committed to our Lord. They have a passion for the lost. Therefore it becomes the mission of us elder brothers and sisters, as we work with teenagers today who are dying, to somehow create a bridge for these teenagers to make it to be the James of tomorrow. The answer lies in the “Bridge.” A twelve year bridge that will take a teenager, or younger, who believes that there is no hope and surrenders to drugs or suicide, to becoming a young man like James who holds the future of America and the world in his hands. This is what we must pray and fight for. My friend, always remember that the same Christ who used twelve blue collar workers without fax or e-mail to change the world in three years is the same Christ who reigns in you today. Imagine how much HE can use us today with all the technology we have available. Let us pray for James and others like him to be role models to our kids; to be a walking Gospel for Christ. Our kids do not need to hear about Jesus any more. They do not need more information. They need to SEE Jesus! Please pray for us and thank God for what HE is doing through Coming Clean Ministries as HE has granted us so much favor before our world’s leaders. Love, Jorge L. Valdes,
Ph.D. Founder
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