It has been said that we should give roses while the recipient can still smell them. I my own little digital way, I want to give one to Dr. Logan Hampton. He is the President of Lane College in Jackson, TN and a man that I appreciate very much. We are not the best of friends in the traditional sense, but I would say that we are good “ministry friends.” We are also brothers in Jesus, the Christ. That fact allows us to transcend any differences we may have with regards to race, economic class, or denominational affiliation. Our connection started with a common background element… CEF.
When I accepted the position as local director of CEF of Greater Jackson, I was not aware that Dr. Hampton had previous experience with CEF. However, out of happenstance – yea, right – we discovered that CEF was a common denominator. This is the story. On one cool day in December of 2016, I was invited to go to Lane College to join in with a prayer group that was meeting at their old chapel. A mutual friend, Jared Okoth, led the prayer gathering and had been engaged in other activities on campus. On this occasion, I just happened to be in a small group that prayed over Dr. Hampton and after we finished praying for him, I think I gave him my business card. He took it and smiled and said that he knew about CEF and as a matter of fact, while he was a pastor in Arkansas, he used CEF curriculum in his church and personally participated in CYIA summer ministry activities.
This sparked a connection and I have been blessed to get to know him on a personal level since that initial meeting. Since that day, he has…
I’ll finish this post with a few photos below to show the progression of things mentioned above. Let me also say, that if Logan happens to read this at some point. God bless you my brother and thank you for taking the time to be a friend and helping our local CEF ministry advance through the years. May God richly bless you in return… amen.
