Jordan Oddo is one of the cutest little girls you’d ever want to meet. I first encountered Jordan at our Family Retreat in Texas at Camp Allen near Houston and Jordan and her sisters, including mom and dad, had come to serve as short-term missionaries, as volunteer helpers. The whole family was there to “chip in.” Well, Jordan and her sisters decided to do this little “welcome” skit for all the families who had arrived bright and early Monday morning coming to the retreat. They got dressed up in their cute little cheerleading outfits and they did a cheer – Jordan even had a megaphone through which she yelled, “Hit it, girls!” And then she and her sisters did the “gimme a J-O-N-I” thing. It was so darling!
Well listen to what Jordan wrote that first Christmas after she had spent the summer volunteering at our retreat. It’s a little essay on lined school paper and it’s titled, “Where I Would Go and What I Would Do for Christmas.” And then she writes, “For Christmas if I could go wherever I wanted to go it would still be in Texas. It is called Camp Allen. There are people there with disabilities. Some people can’t walk, some can’t even see. There I would help them. I would help push wheelchairs. I could even help them walk (if they couldn’t see) so they wouldn’t hurt themselves. I also think it would be a big help to the parents.
“This is going to affect me in a good way because I know I would get closer to God. I will know what great gifts He has given us. This teaches me that we all are beautiful in different ways. Also in God’s eyes.” Signed, Jordan.
I think Jordan wrote this little essay when she was 8 years old (a few Christmases ago) and her parents are still helping out with our ministry down in Texas. I want to thank Jordan for this little Christmas essay because it has spawned a wonderful idea... and it has to do with the sort of Christmas gifts you might give this season.
You see, there are some wonderful folks – and you probably know them in your church – young people with disabilities, adults, singles in wheelchairs – they would love to experience a Family Retreat, so why not send them? Why not commit to underwriting their expenses to attend? Or may I suggest a Christmas scholarship for a whole family that has a disabled child? Could be just a partial scholarship, if you wish... but it’ll get them thinking about coming to next year’s Family Retreats.
If Jordan would choose a Family Retreat... if this little 8-year-old would say, “Of all the places I could go and of all the things I could do, I’d volunteer at a Joni camp...” if Jordan gives it the thumbs-up, then you know it would be an awesome experience for someone in your church or your neighborhood. Christmas is coming and, it’s hard to think up gifts... I just hope that today I’ve given you a pretty good suggestion for somebody with a disability in your congregation.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends