Helping out; on my own.

“But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB)  

How many times have you looked at a calamity that took place in this world, like coronavirus, and said or thought to yourself, “how can I help?”  When the tsunami hit Sumatra a decade ago, many asked “what can I do to help out?”  When the earthquake struck Haiti in 2010 our initial response was “how can I best help?”  Most often, our initial response is directed to our ‘own’ actions our ‘own’ resources and our ‘own’ directions.  Sadly that is satan trying to get into our actions and urging us to take God out of the picture and just take care of matters on our own.  Once you do it a few times, well it just gets a lot easier to use our ‘own’ means to help do things that we enjoy and others will see that we are doing good things.  We don’t really need our Triune God to help us do wonderful things; we are quite capable on our ‘own’.  

I don’t know the name of the girl in the photo; took her picture at Bon Berger in Caredeux on a Sunday morning in 2001.   The only connection that I have with this child is that she is in a Trinity/HOPE feeding program there.  The connection that I have with her is not about me, it is about what God is doing for her through that program.  The human side in us would probably want to send her new ribbons for her hair, new shoes, money for clothes, a backpack for school, an MP3 player and a cell phone as she must be 18 years old by now.  Then, her life would in my mind be about ‘my’ helping her and not about the wonderful things that our Triune God is doing in her life.  It is not about us, it is all about Him.  I don’t make any friends when I tell this to people who want to send North American stuff to children in Haiti, but before you do, please honestly search your heart and discern what is driving your motives.  

Is this something Jesus would give to this child or is this something that a North American culture wants to give to a child in the Haitian culture?  I have seen two young Haitian school girls playing a game of jacks using six bottle caps and bouncing a small rock and having the time of their lives.  Haiti needs Jesus, its children need food.  Our brothers and sisters in Haiti and we here in North American need a Savior.  We need to thank our Triune God for the daily blessings he pours out into our lives and remember from where it all comes from.  It is not about us, it all about Him and what His Son gave for us on Calvary.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Where do you worship?

(Jesus said) "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12 (NASB)  

Where do you go to Church?  Are there comfy pads in the pews?  Are there large stained-glass windows?  Do you worship in climate-controlled comfort?  Is there a large pipe organ in your church and do your choir members wear robes?  What does God’s House look like where you go to worship on Sunday morning?  Or, in these times, do you worship at home?  Are there other activities that take place there during the remainder of the week…or is He only there on Sunday?  

The attached photo was taken in the Plateau Central of Haiti, probably twenty minutes south of Thomassique and forty-five minutes from where I had to park my truck because we could not drive it any further as the road was impossibly impassable.  This is God’s House, made out of branches with wood boards on a 2 inch branch for pews and probably about the size of a double stall North American garage with a six-foot ceiling; I was unable to stand upright when inside.  

I heard a Gospel song recently that made me think about this photo, about my time in His House.  It was written by Sarah Fuller Flower Adams (22 February 1805 – 14 August 1848).  

“Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!  E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.  Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down, darkness be over me, my rest a stone; yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee.  There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n; All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv’n; Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.  Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise, out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise; So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.  Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky, sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly.  Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.  There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest, there in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest; age after age to be nearer, my God, to Thee.”  

There have been North American mission teams coming to Haiti to build concrete block churches with reinforcing steel, steel doors, glass windows, generators for electricity, varnished wood pews and white painted walls.  Simple truth; the buildings are really not that important, Haiti needs Jesus.  He is in this small stick structure that was built by Haitian hands.  God is there smiling upon His children giving Him thanks for their providence and His Son Jesus Christ.  He doesn’t care that they worship in a stick building, He is just happy that they are there.   

Trinity/HOPE provides resources to Christian schools in Haiti so they can purchase food in Haiti, cook it the Haitian way and help to prepare them to draw nearer to Jesus and go out into their neighborhoods and share the love of their risen Savior the ears that have not heard.  God smiles upon these children, eating their rice and beans, singing praises to Him and sharing the news of His Son Jesus Christ throughout their neighborhoods.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

We need Jesus.

“And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:18-20  

A hour and thirty minutes south and east of Miami, FL is the Republic of Haiti; just a few days swim east of Cuba.  After you leave the Troussant airport and drive through the roundabout and start to head east, out of Port-au-Prince, your vehicle will pass by numerous goats and pigs who are rummaging through piles of garbage that have been heaped on street corners and burned to some degree.  From there, you travel up Mont Cabrit (Goat Mountain) to the north and when on top you will pass through a number of small rural villages that will cause you to think that you have entered the Twilight Zone, and the year is 1900.  

It is amazing that only two hours separate you from traveling on a ten-lane freeway in Florida to traveling on a 10-foot-wide dirt trail in Haiti.  North Americans come to Haiti to ‘improve’ their way of living by bringing electricity, Internet and gasoline machines to do the work for their brothers and sisters in Haiti.  They need Jesus.  Pass by a number of vodou temples adorned with various colored flags and you will understand that first, before anything else, they need Jesus.  

One of my favorite photos that I took while living in Haiti is attached and it doesn’t need a lot of explanation.  It was taken inside a small rural church about two hours from the climb up Mont Cabrit in the Plateau Central between Hinche and Thomassique.  It was a Saturday morning in 2002 and there had been a wedding there and following the ceremony the Pastor was talking to some of the family and placed his Bib la (Bible) down on the pew as he talked and shook hands.  The Word became flesh.  A Bible resting upon a board in a small church in rural Haiti is a powerful message; we cannot begin to fathom how strong the Word of God is in a land still dedicated to satan.  

Haiti needs Jesus Christ and we certainly do too.  We have the Great Commission from our Lord Jesus instructing each of us to “go and make disciples of all nations”.  We are not going to preach the Gospel in our English language; we are helping them by preparing their children for the task at hand.  They don’t need electric lights and computers for their schools, they need food…they need Jesus.  It is that simple; they need Jesus.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

One day closer to Christ.

“He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  Mark 16:15-16.  

During Lent, there were many parallels between Baptism and the Cross.  The attached photo was taken in Les Cayes, Haiti in the fall of 2002.  Pastor Israel Isidor was baptizing the very first group of orphan girls who would occupy the Lutheran orphanage there.  

On that day, these sisters in Christ received the blessing Eternal life through the waters of Baptism and will one day be with their Savior whose blood was shed for them on the Cross of Calvary.  We Lutheran’s in North America have a wonderful hymn titled “Come to Calvary’s holy mountain” which was written by James Montgomery in 1819; just a couple of decades after Haiti gained its independence from the French.  The words are relevant for these Haitian girls and for us.  

“Come to Calvary’s holy mountain, sinners, ruined by the fall; here a pure and healing fountain flows to you, to me, to all, in a full, perpetual tide, opened when our Savior died.  Come in poverty and meanness, come defiled, without, within; from infection and uncleanness, from the leprosy of sin, wash your robes and make them white; ye shall walk with God in light.  Come in sorrow and contrition, wounded, impotent, and blind; here the guilty free remission, here the troubled peace, may find.  Health this fountain will restore; he that drinks shall thirst no more. He that drinks shall live forever; tis a soul renewing flood.  God is faithful; God will never break His covenant of blood; signed when our Redeemer died, sealed when He was glorified.”   

Pastor Isidor is today celebrating with Jesus Christ today as he enjoys his eternal home.  All of the orphans in Les Cayes are enjoying a Trinity/HOPE meal every day they are in school, drawing closer to Christ.  You and I continue to do what we can do to go and make disciples throughout this entire world, bringing Christ to the lost in our country and Haiti.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Something new.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  Matthew 5:6  

Numerous times members of our Saturday morning men’s Bible study group have commented as we read what we thought to be a familiar passage, “wow, I don’t recall reading that before.”  For some of us, it’s just a “senior moment” but most of us have read through the Bible several times throughout our lives and when Mark is reading the Bible, quite often the Spirit moves us to see the Scripture in a different way.  Not sure what is in the forefront in our culture today, knowledge or wisdom.  I have read that knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.  

The beauty of finding new insights in Scripture is that the Holy Spirit continues to open our eyes and minds a little more each time we dig into His Word.  There is always something new and exciting in His Word; another lesson to learn.  

The children in the attached photo attend the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe and their school day is over and they were in the process of saying ‘orevwa’ to the mission team members.  They are hungry and thirsty for His Word and thanks to people like you, they will come to school each day and be fed; Spiritually and nutritionally.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you.  Jay

Being meek.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”  Matthew 5:5  

Thirty five years ago a co-worker told me that he was going to inherit the world because he was meek and humble; Ernie daily reminded co-workers that some people are like ‘Slinkies….not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs”.  His wisdom was generally self-proclaimed and his was continually seeking attention.  Meek; Noah Webster defines the word ‘meek’ as 1) enduring injury with patience and without resentment 2) deficient in spirit and courage and 3) not violent or strong.  

When I spend a few moments gazing into the eyes and smiles of several children in the attached photo the word ‘meek’ seems to be written on their faces.  There is a song written by Sammy Masters, Richard Pope and Tex Satterwhite and recorded by Patsy Cline in 1958 titled ‘If I could see the world.’  These lyrics seems to match up well with the children in Mammou.  

“If I could see the world thru the eyes of a child; what a wonderful world this would be.  There'd be no trouble and no strife, just a big happy life with a bluebird in every tree.  I could see right, no wrong.  I could see good, no bad, I could see all the good things in life I've never had.  If I could see the world thru the eyes of a child; what a wonderful world this would be.  If I could see the world thru the eyes of a child; smiling faces would greet me all the while.  Like a lovely work of art it would warm my weary heart just to see thru the eyes of a child.”  

This world will tell you that it will take ‘somebody’ rich, powerful and important to inherit the earth; they will make history with their accomplishments.  How about you?  Are you a ‘somebody’ by this world’s standards or a ‘nobody’ like the small children from Mammou?  Jesus says that the meek will inherit the earth; when you have a humble heart, there is great power.  

Your ‘riches’ are helping the six kids in the photo.  Your $1.50 is being used to help them to be prepared to go and share the Gospel message of our risen Savior throughout their neighborhood in Haiti.  More importantly than inheriting the earth, they will claim a home in Heaven and with us; meet our Savior face to face.  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Tough times.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  Matthew 5:4  

As more and more years pass by, it seems that reading obituaries have become a regular occurrence in my weekly routine.  Attending funerals, not so much since we’ve been sheltering in place.  Sad to say, but mourning is taking on a different feeling these days.  I rejoice as the obituaries tell of a departed soul who knew Jesus Christ, loved Jesus Christ and rejoiced as they were going to meet their Savior.  

The attached photo is of a Hospital in Port-au-Prince, and this compound near Croix-de-Bouquet has seen its share of suffering and mourning since the earthquake in January 2010 and again will be busy with COVID 19.  Lives that came in through the gate following the quake were crushed and broken and were never the same.  Today, bodies with fever and struggling to breathe will be brought to the hospital in many different forms of transit.   

The hymn ‘Stricken, smitten and afflicted’ brings to mind the condition of so many in Haiti who survived the quake and are struggling today, so many of us who are reaching an age where our final day seems to be drawing closer and also and more importantly the passion that our Savior endured for us.  This hymn was first written around 1850 by Geistliche Volkslieder and was sung to the German tune “O Mein Jesu, Ich Muss Sterben.”   

“Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see him dying on the tree!  This is Christ, by man rejected; here, my soul, your Savior see.  He’s the long expected prophet, David’s son, yet David’s Lord.  Proofs I see sufficient of it: He’s the true and faithful Word.  Tell me, all who hear him groaning, was there ever grief like this?  Friends through fear his cause disowning, foes insulting his distress; many hands were raised to wound him, none would intervene to save; but the deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice gave.  “You who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great, here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.  Mark the sacrifice appointed; see who bears the awful load; it’s the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man and son of God.  Here we have a firm foundation; here the refuge of the lost; Christ, the rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast.  Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!  None shall ever be confounded who on him their hope have built.”  

Our lives go on, until that moment when we all will draw our last breath and are in the arms of our Savior.  Thank you for sharing your time and talents with the children in Haiti who bring Jesus Christ to the lost still living in Haiti; still awaiting the news of the Savior, the Lord’s anointed.  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Looking for bright spots.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:3  

Coming full circle through the passion story of Jesus Christ brings the immenseness of the victory that was won for us on the Cross of Calvary and the joy of an empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday morning.   

On Friday mornings, a small group of us have been continuing to have our prayer time via Zoom, instead of the library at church.  Together, we spend time reading a few scriptures and in prayer with our Triune God, considering how awesome He is, giving thanks for what He has done for us, confessing our sins, giving thanks for the bounty that is daily poured into our lives and seeking His direction.  On Saturday morning our men’s Bible study group met using Zoom and the 15 of us looked like a large Brady Bunch; it was good to gather, watch an Andy Stanley video and talk…and pray.  

There have been moments along my journey when I felt poor in spirit, recalling times when my path was not His, when my words were not His, when my thoughts were not His and then what He gave for me, in spite of my sinfulness.  There is nothing I can do, no amount of work, money or time to right those wrongs that have come from my life; they are only rectified by what He did for me on the cross.  The sacrifice of Jesus Christ sealed the deal for me, for you, for the world.  

The women in the attached are doing their laundry in one of many humble homes in Port-au-Prince.  You would have to talk with them to better understand what is going through their lives.  Without the meager shelter, they are homeless, but they have a Savior.  Their children are in a Christian school with a Trinity/HOPE feeding program and their lineage will continue to realize what their Savior did for them on Calvary.  They like us will receive the Kingdom of Heaven, and prayerfully their words and actions will bring many more from Haiti away from vodou and into the arms of a loving Savior Jesus Christ.  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

A different perspective.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”  Psalm 34:8  

Resurrection Sunday has come and gone for 2020 and has been celebrated in a different way for probably all of us.  We still know and believe that our Savior Jesus has risen from the dead and LIVES!!!  I missed sitting on a padded pew in the sanctuary and hearing and feeling the organ pound out the hymn “I know that my Redeemer Lives” and receiving Holy Communion.  This year, I spent this Resurrection Sunday sheltering in place.  I read an email from one believer who was really happy about not going to the “Easter service” this year as they had the opportunity to stay at home and be what God had created us to be; human BE-ings.  This year they will not be human DO-ings on Easter.  They wouldn’t be getting up at the crack of dawn to rush to church bleary eyed, holding giant cups/mugs of caffeine, hoping to not be late.  No huge gathering to prepare for after church.  

I was looking through my cache of Haitian photos for a picture for today and the attached caught my eye, as there was a great article written by John Hall about this child year ago; back in the day.  I found the story and it just shouts at me about what my life was like before COVID and what it is like now and how my yearnings are nothing compared to this young boy.  This article takes a glimpse into the life of a child attending the Lutheran school in Thomassique.  

“Envision with me this plausible account by a boy named Kevin who shared this story through an interpreter.  It was a hot March morning and a neighborhood rooster and hunger pangs woke me.  My older sister and I started getting ready for school.  My little brothers were crying because they were hungry.  I didn’t ask if I could have any breakfast because I knew the two slices of bread and small serving of beans my family had divided the night before was all the food we had.   The walk to school was one of about four kilometers.  The road was rutted and dusty and today there were a lot of people on it hurrying to the market with things they could sell or exchange for things they needed.  Men led cows, women walked with huge loads on their heads, trucks loaded with people and their goods bumped by in clouds of dust.  When we reached the center of town, people were already setting up their spots.  There were lots of things; goats, chickens, corn, tomatoes, onions, dirt cakes, shoes, clothes and tools and all of these things could all be bought by those who had a little money or something to barter.  I paused briefly beside a lady selling beans and rice and said a silent prayer to God for my Papa to find enough work today to buy some food so Mama would be cooking it when we got home.  

But today was a special day as well.  We had been told that a Trinity/HOPE mission team might be at our school (L’Univers Lutheran) School in Thomassique to talk about our getting one of its feeding programs.  When we arrived a big, dusty vehicle was parked in front of the school and the mission team was our school yard taking pictures of some of the children who were bringing wood so the food could be prepared if we truly got such a blessing.  I wished I had found some wood this morning.”  

This was an actual account of this small boy named Kevin and one year later God had provided and the children were getting a meal at school each day.  When that year’s mission team visited the school to see how the program was working, a young boy rose and asked if he could read a letter he had written for his entire class.  It was Kevin and the letter said in part: “Thank God for providing and Trinity/HOPE for feeding us.  The food is so good.  We love to eat it. Please do not stop feeding us.”  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Wise decisions.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." James 1:5-8  

When the women found the stone rolled away and the tomb of Jesus empty on Resurrection morning, it changed everything, and prophecy was fulfilled.  A theologian in an article on CBN suggests that coronavirus is also prophesy being fulfilled in our time.  In my 69 years of life, this is the first time that I’ve spent all of Holy Week sheltering in place and watching church services from a number of different churches in AZ, NE, IL and TN on my computer on each Sunday, Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  

We are certainly living in uncharted times along our journey, and we hope that our leaders are seeking advice from our Heavenly Father and following the nudges from the Holy Spirit and listening to His Word.  Up until a few weeks ago there were no reports of any coronavirus cases being found in Haiti, but, unfortunately it has now spread to Port-au-Prince and the Haiti government has closed its border with the DR and all schools have been closed until further notice (most likely the rest of this school year). As bad as the Coronavirus has been here in the U.S., it has the very real possibility to be significantly worse in Haiti.  

When schools with Trinity/Hope programs close, children are not fed and food has already been purchased and is in secure storage areas.  When the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010 a similar situation occurred in and around Port-au-Prince, but not the entire country.  At that time, Trinity/Hope assisted the LCMS World Relief by making arrangements for them to purchase food from the local vendors that TH uses and not have ship it to Haiti. That was then and this is now.  The TH Executive Board prayed, listened and formulated a course and share with the remainder of their Board and it as agreed that this was a wise plan.  We now have food and also have funds for food until the end of this school year.  Within the next week, TrinityHope will begin executing a highly accountable action plan to get emergency food to the families that have children attending the 150+ Christian schools we normally feed. This plan will be overseen by our team of eighteen Haitian Feeding Program Directors and will include the following details.  

The procedures, processes and quality assurance we use for transferring money to Haiti, purchasing food, getting food to our schools, securing the food at the schools and reporting will not change.  The Haitian Feeding Program Directors will continue to be the representatives on the ground, assisting with this adjusted plan for feeding the children.   

Changes that will be made to the normal operating procedure will be as follows.  We will limit the ingredients we purchase to Rice, Beans and Oil; making it easier to distribute to families and allowing us to buy the most food possible.  The quantity of food each child's family receives during the single distribution will be equivalent to the quantity of food the children would normally receive for the entire month at school.  And, most importantly and to avoid any confusion a letter written by TrinityHope and translated to Creole will be shared with the families, explaining the food is given to them in the love of Jesus Christ and encouraging them to wash their hands with soap often.  

Let us be reminded what Isaiah 41:10 tells us, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  It is going to be difficult as this virus leaves Port-au-Prince and into the rural areas where people don’t know what has hit them as they typically have allergy issues in springtime and this will blind side them.    A few facts that I found about Haiti that may open your eyes.  The U.S. has one ICU bed for every 3,000 Americans; Haiti has one ICU bed for every 100,000 Haitians.  The entire country of Haiti, which has approximately 11 million people, only has 911 doctors (source: Haiti's National Institute Statistics).  There are only 64 Ventilators in the entire country and several of those are likely not working.  The projected death toll from coronavirus could reach 800,000 in Haiti. (The 2010 earthquake resulted in about 250,000 deaths).  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay