May Prayer Letter

 

May 2021

Dear Praying Friends,

The seventh son of a seventh son, he was born into extreme poverty at the end of the Great Depression. To help his family survive, he was a shoe shine boy in town, shining the shoes of others while he didn’t have his first pair of shoes until he was six years old. The son of East Kentucky sharecroppers, his life was shaped by the unending struggle to survive. His mother died when he was 12 so he had to quit school to work full time. He never finished 8th grade, yet he kept on learning and was one of the wisest men I ever knew. 

When he was a teenager, my father was gloriously saved. He met my mom at a church youth activity and they later married and had three children. My dad taught me three important things: 1. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength 2. Love your family and provide for them no matter what that costs you.  3. Do your best when you work even if your boss isn’t watching, because God is!  Even though he struggled to read, he faithfully read his Bible three times a day for as long as I knew him. He taught me to tithe and give to missions, he taught me to serve to please God, not to be seen by others. He taught me God’s way is the best way. He taught me by example, not just words.

When I was preparing to leave for the mission field for the first time in 1985, it dawned on me that answering God’s call meant we would be separated more than together and I apologized for that. My dad, simply said, “Mark, I would rather have you 10,000 miles away in the center of God’s will than living right next door out of God’s will, besides, we have all eternity together in heaven to be glad we did this God’s way.”  He was right.  I thank God for my father and the lessons both positive and negative that he taught me even till his dying days. He went home to be with the Lord May 28^th after 82 years of life.

Arnold Ray Hale 1939-2021

 

See you in Heaven Dad,

Mark Hale