‘From pasture to pastor’ — a life of service
MIDDLEBURGH — For the second morning in a row, the day held the promise of being a nice warm 80 degrees. We will take that anytime Mother Nature feels like handing it to us.
The OMOTM descended upon the Middleburgh Diner on April 29, and the sun was up and shining brightly at 7 a.m. We raised our cups of fresh coffee to acknowledge the beginning of another fine day.
This column has made mention before of the many and varied occupations of the OMOTM that you will find among those members who join us each Tuesday morning for breakfast. Maybe the most unique would involve a young man named Jay T. Francis who was born and raised on a family dairy farm in Berne, here in the Hilltowns.
That, in and of itself, is definitely not unique. Many members of the OMOTM can say the same thing. Furthermore, Jay liked being a farmer and wanted to stay and grow the family farm; after all, he is the fifth generation to work that farm, and he can see at least three more generations learning the family farming business.
He went to school and received a degree in agriculture. Along the way, he realized he also wanted to help those people in need of a helper, in need of a guide and someone to counsel them. Jay felt the calling and enrolled in the Nyack Missionary College in Rockland County. At this point, let me quote from an earlier article appearing in the old Knickerbocker News dated Monday, June 26, 1978.
Jay “... recalls thinking, ‘Lord, I know you’ll probably make me a missionary in Africa, but I want to build a Christian community here.’ Francis says his prayers were answered in the form of an abandoned, bankrupt, burned-out farm just a couple of farms from where he grew up.”
Reverend Jay T. Francis, pastor of the Rock Road Ministries in Knox with his wife, Evelyn, took that old farm and built it and more, into exactly that dream while also growing the family farm into a substantial enterprise.
I will quote once again from a previously published source, this time the Alumni News from his old alma mater, Coby Agricultural and Technical College, written in the fall of 1985. It reads in part, like this:
From pasture to pastor — “Colby Grad Combines Farming and Fellowship … troubled youth have come for help …. and get their life together, so they can function in this world. As a home, the farm is a place people can turn to for help. Over three-hundred people have come here at some time, sent by pastors, parole officers, judges, parents.
Another sentence from the Knickerbocker News: “He is more interested in where they are going than where they’ve been.”
In addition to all of this, Pastor Jay Francis also maintains a well stocked food pantry with personal-care items that are available to all, free of charge. If you are hungry on a Wednesday morning, there is a free (donations are always welcome) hot breakfast that is maintained by volunteers cooking your breakfast just the way you like it.
I think the world could use more fifth-generation farmers like the Reverend Jay T. Francis, but to meet him on any given Tuesday morning, he is just another OMOTM enjoying breakfast at any one of the five diners we frequent. A good man. One of many in the ranks of the Old Men of the Mountain with a life story you may not suspect.
Well done, Pastor.
Drone capabilities
Also, previous columns have discussed the advancements in our phones from the old party lines to every house having it' own private number, to today's wireless cell phones that just about all of us have.
We have talked about the advancements in communication with regards to the volunteer fire and rescue and emergency medical services personnel. All these advances enable them to respond more quickly to the emergency to provide the necessary help as quickly and accurately as possible.
That leads us to Tuesday’s discussion about the use of drones.
One of our OFs is a volunteer fireman and was telling us about the capabilities of these special modern-day drones and some of the wonderful benefits they can and do provide the volunteers and by extension, all of us.
The local demonstration and educational session he attended showed how the drone can help find someone lost in the woods and mountains. These drones have heat-sensing capabilities; it doesn’t matter if it is night or day, thick underbrush, or if the person needing help is under a tree with a bunch of leaves overhead. The licensed operator can tell if they are looking at an animal, like a deer, or if they are looking at a human.
Remember the column about GPS? These drones know exactly where they are looking and can tell the searchers exactly where to go to find you. To the foot! They can tell an ATV or helicopter where you are and, because they have cameras, the rescue people will know what to bring with them in order to get you out safely.
If it is a fire they are fighting, the drone can tell them right away exactly where a new hot spot has broken out. Good ol’ GPS again and cameras. If, by chance, you just robbed Fort Knox and are trying to hide from the authorities in the woods, good luck with that.
It really was a fascinating and enlightening conversation, and such drones are in use right here in the Hilltowns right now. Do go ahead, the next time someone says, “Get lost!” go for it, get lost, the volunteers will find you. I do recommend you bring along a PB&J sandwich and some water.
Those who joined the pastor this morning at the Middleburgh Diner were Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Miner Stevens, Ed Goff, George Washburn, Pete Whitbeck, Frank A. Fuss, Warren Willsey, Russ Pokorny, Dick Dexter, John Jaz, Gerry Cross, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Herb Bahrmann, and me.