Christmas JOY Telethon 2013 landed at the calm before the storm which is why this recap has taken so long to get to you. Living Ministries has been so busy living life and building relationships and getting back on our feet, but memories of this glorious night has brought us all JOY along the way.
First, we had a new venue on year 3. The Electric Bean is the PERFECT venue for this event or any event that includes amazing local musicians. The lighting, sound and stage were made for this! The staff and volunteers (most of the people that work at The Electric Bean are volunteers) are well-trained, dedicated and BIG-HEARTED! From a community stand point I loved the fact that there are less entrances and corners to worry about people and what “could” happen. Although many people like to enjoy an alcoholic beverage at community events, I also felt a peace knowing that I didn’t have to worry about people having a little too much to drink and then driving home…however The EB is just a short walk from other places like Vernie’s or Triangle Sports Pub and Grub and The Office 842 where you can wet your whistle. Living Ministries would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to Andrew and all his peeps that made our musicians, guests and team members all happy. We all agreed that this was the best telethon since we started in 2011 for spreading JOY at Christmas!
We were so excited to have The Grinch and Santa at this event and Amanda Wilson Portraiture was there again to capture the JOY! For all three telethons Amanda has captured the beauty and some of the magic that happens at Christmas JOY Telethon. We are so thankful for her! She set up a photo area with props and some of the cutest pictures you could ever pose for were created…however I have to admit that some of the event coverage pictures that were candid are my absolute favorites! You sure can tell that Amanda loves people when you look at her pictures.
This being the first year that Christmas JOY Telethon was strictly a community event to benefit Living Ministries and their affiliate ministries we needed new marketing materials. Luckily when Exclaim Media Video & Marketing found out they were on it…in fact they even had art they had created on a whim, following Christmas Angel Telethon 2012, that was waiting to be used which turned out to be our logo! They were quick to redesign our website and help us rename our Facebook page and Twitter. We LOVED the flyers and banners and signs they created for us to use. We even had an amazing video PSA that played on KLTV and shared online that was so fun!
As always, Copies Today Speedy Litho was there to help us with printing. We are so thankful for their regular sponsorship of our drives, especially Christmas JOY Telethon. They are so gracious to let us carry an account that we can make payments on monthly for all our print marketing needs…it seems to me that sometimes that account shrinks quite suddenly…and for that I have to give a huge thanks to Pat Palmer and his team for being so generous and handling my last minute orders with speed and grace.
Prographyx has always been a supported of our telethon. When we decided to change the name of the event and had totally new art, we needed a new banner and Prographyx was there for us! Cal Dowd and his team were there to donate not one, but 
TWO new banners. They also donated event t-shirts which we proudly wore! We are so thankful for their generosity!
Since the beginning Valley Bugler Newspaper has been a supporter of Christmas JOY Telethon. They have printed advertisements and thank you ads for us for free and earned a soft spot in our hearts as one of our major media sponsors! Thank you Michelle Myer!
We were so excited to have affiliate ministries to help out this year! Hearts For Homeless Outreach is led by an amazing family that loves people so much and they were glad to join us. Living Ministries helps them with marketing costs and hails fundraising efforts for them while they work in the trenches. We also were inspired to invite Canz 4 Toyz to join Christmas JOY Telethon and help them get the word out of what they do to help make Christmas more merry for children in Cowlitz County. This was the first year were were in the Christmas Parade and with the help of Rightway RV, who loaned us a trailer and generator, Western World , who gave us 
bales of hay to sit on, and the man-power of Living Ministries, Hearts For Homeless and Canz 4 Toyz we handed out 500 business cards and candy to parade watchers…when we had run out of treats we enjoyed wishing people Merry Christmas as we drove past, showing off our beautiful banners and borrowed decorations. Our bodies were freezing but our hearts were SO WARM!
At the last minute Karen’s co-host had a family emergency and had to cancel. When we looked around for a co-host at this late moment, the idea occurred to us to have our nephew, Braden join us. Although he was only 10 at the time, his curiosity, loving heart and exuberance made Christmas JOY Telethon even more special and fun! There was a moment when Karen was really tired and he looked at her and said, “Auntie Karen, I can do this. You rest.” And he grabbed the mic and rocked it. My family is amazing and Braden exemplifies this!
At the event we had certificates donated to us by Canyonview Cyclery, Holos Yoga, Applebees and items donated by Knotty Wares to give away and make the night more merry. We also had Linda Haarstad out in front selling her handmade jewelry which also added to the FUNdraising part of Christmas JOY Telethon more lucrative.
Christmas JOY Telethon would not be the same without the performers that donated their time and talents to this wonderful night! Following opening ceremonies, where Karen made me sing the national anthem we were blown away by the musical stylings of Raeann Phillips, Mending Hope (who invited Santa on stage for a duet), Mark Macminn, Paul Mauer, Tom Stiltz, Consecrated Revivalists Band and Paul Lopez & Jeremy Jones who helped us finish our night with amazing worship! We also enjoyed repeat performances from the Longview Parks & Rec Belly Dancers, who led by Sue Libby, had joined us in Telethon 2012!
Overall it was a night to remember!
What was my favorite part of our 3rd Annual Christmas JOY Telethon? The same as any event that Living Ministries is at. We are not a church, but each of us has assignments and callings and there are always moments when it is all about a specific person and someone on our team has the words or actions, inspired by God, they need for that moment on their path. I was overjoyed that even in the chaos of this community event, there were times I would happen to glance in a corner or even in the middle of the room and I could feel that there was a ministry moment going on. I would send up a quick, “Yes and Amen,” and know that the world would change a bit in that moment.
I would like to give a huge thank you to all the people that made this event possible, especially if I forgot to mention you. We are so looking forward to Christmas JOY Telethon 2014…which is exactly 1 week from tomorrow!
God Bless You,
Summer D Clemenson
Executive Director
Living Ministries
Longview, WA December 12, 2014 — Spread JOY @ Christmas
