Let me tell you about a pair of Guideposts readers and donors who use us to spread hope. Bob and Phyllis Leatherman of Burbank, Ohio, are in the hospitality business. They run several hotels, a restaurant and two retirement centers. They take care of practical things like firm mattresses, clean bathrooms, Saturday night reservations and buffet food. The Leathermans serve their guests’ spiritual side too. “We have five hundred hotel rooms,” says Phyllis, “and in each we put a booklet from Guideposts Outreach.”
These booklets deal with health, worry, stress, finances, family relationships. They offer practical tips, scripture and quotes such as, “Remember, God watches over you.” The booklets are small and easy to put in a pocket. “We’ve given away tens of thousands of them,” Phyllis says. “I remember being in our restaurant and seeing a man waving one, saying, ‘Look what I found!’”
Guideposts Outreach distributes over a million of these booklets every year, but it’s readers like the Leathermans who do the real work for us. They give them to the homeless or pass them out at food pantries. They leave them at hospitals and clinics. Phyllis says the manager at one of their hotels sets them out at the breakfast buffet. Why not food for the soul along with bacon and eggs?
If you’d like to be a partner in this ministry, learn more at guideposts foundation.org/complimentary-publications. We’ll send you free booklets, and of course your donations are welcome and needed. “You get a sense of satisfaction that you’re reaching people who may not go to church,” says Phyllis. “It’s a chance to inspire someone.
“We hope to do this for a long time,” she adds. “As we grow older, our faith becomes stronger.” It’s no wonder. Faith always grows when you share it.
