Many of you will remember our newsletter from September of last year. For the first time since our ministry was formed back in 2002 we petitioned for funding. We promised you all that we took the concept of “no guilt and all content” seriously and that we’d only make our needs known when we were unable to fullfill them any other way. Because of your help we were able to operate from September of last year to now without any further requests! Thank you so much!

With the release of the DVD and all the costs associated with publishing it and distributing it, along with our growing postage and shipping costs (every month we send DVDs, books, newsletters and other requested material for free to those all around the world that can't afford it) our monthly budget has increased by $500 just from last September. Our network related bills have grown and of course we also have one full time employee. Remember, we are a 501(c)3 organization—anything you give can be used as a tax deductible donation. Our monthly operating costs are around $2,500 a month and just keeps growing as more people request material and new content is created. Just to give you an idea – in the last 24 hours since we sent out our electronic version of our newsletter we’ve had requests for materials from: New York, Illinois, Michigan, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, 3 from South Africa, Kenya, 4 from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Orkney Islands, Bulgaria, and finally – one in California. Without your help our next month's financial requirements will simply not be met.

Donations can be made to: HeavenlySanctuary.com, PO Box 4, Redlands, CA, 92373 or electronically by clicking THIS LINK.

We are very happy to announce that The Good News Tour - Vancouver DVD has gone to the mastering process and will be available shortly for distribution.

I know I speak for many when I say that this particular conference, led by Greg Boyd, went above and beyond in glorifying God's incredible character as manifested in Jesus. We hope that it will be as much of a blessing to those who watch the presentations via video as it was for those who attended in person.

Although the DVDs aren't officially available yet - you can view the entire conference via our streaming media server by clicking on the following link: CLICK HERE.

We hope you are uplifted, provoked, moved and challenged by what you hear and may God's goodness be clearly seen as we share the good news with each other!

This last weekend, yesterday in fact, my daughters and I visited the Simon Wisenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.  We had been planning a trip for some time and were excited to finally make the one hour trek from Redlands. Upon arriving, we were just in time to hear Holocaust survivor William Harvey speak for one hour.  We noted how beautifully simple the museum was with its smooth white walls and spiral walkway that resembled the delicate curves of a giant sea shell.  Black and white portraits of Holocaust survivors lined the outer walls - memorializing those who survived such atrocities and lived to tell about it.

Mr. Harvey sat in front of about 50 of us and told his story of what it was like to live in Nazi Germany under the hateful fist of Hitler. The room was draped in hushed attention during that sacred hour of hearing how Mr. Harvey recalled memory after memory - unpacking each detail carefully and holding it up to the light for each of us to examine.  We were breathless. 

If you are familiar with the Holocaust, you know then that the Germans and their collaborators were responsible for murdering and torturing 1.5 million Jewish children alone.  The total victims counting ethnic Poles, Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents equals about 11 to 17 million... 

Sasha grew up in home where her family went to church every Sunday but  she never quite understood why. When she turned 13 she asked her parents, "Why are we Christians and not Buddhist like my friend Jordan?"  Her father looked up from his newspaper, "We are Christians because your grandparents were Christian and their parents were Christian before them. It's a family tradition that we are proud to carry on."  He looked back down at his paper, taking a sip of coffee.  Sasha felt a myriad of emotions well up inside her chest. She could not distinguish what exactly she was feeling so she dropped it and went outside to ride her bike.

Three years had passed and Sasha was now 16.  She had many friends at school but they were all the same religion and even went to the same church every week. She longed to spend more time with Jordan but her parents always gave her a "good " reason why she was not allowed to hang out with her Buddhist friend.  Sasha felt particularly brave one evening before bedtime and approached her mother who was finishing up with laundry, "I was wondering if it would be okay if I went with Jordan to her family’s temple where they will be celebrating a special holy day...may I go?"  Mother kept loading the dryer, not missing a beat, "Hmmm, sounds interesting..."  Sasha pushed, "It's coming up in a few days so I need to let her know. So, is it okay?"  Again, Mother kept at her work, never once stopping to look Sasha in the eye.  Silence.  Sasha could barely muster the courage, "Mom?  Can I go?"  Mother turned to face her daughter, "Sweetheart, we are Christians, not Buddhist so please, stop asking, okay?"  ...

Amanda grew up in a home with a domineering father and subservient mother.  Amanda’s father was quick to lift up Amanda but never her mother.  Instead, there was only criticism and reproach for the quiet and obedient woman who did her husband’s bidding.   Amanda was a conscientious student who went on to graduate and realize her dream of becoming a university history professor.  She loved her career yet, always felt empty on the inside as if her life never quiet measured up to her father’s expectations.   Even though he always told her how brilliant she was, he would often insert an insult inside a compliment – or so it seemed to Amanda.

Her father would say, “It does not surprise me that you got that promotion, but really, you could be doing so much better.  With your smarts, you could be running that school!”  His comment lifted her up and then tore her down and always left her feeling like she had somehow let him down.  Over time, she learned how to numb those feelings by replacing them with lofty thoughts of self-importance. Eventually she stopped hearing her father’s insults completely.  Each day she would repeat a mantra that she could do no wrong because she was immune to fault...