I had a call at 7PM from David Tulis and then left a long message. I also sent an email earlier today that is below. Yes, I did migrate from using “pacesetter” to “pacemaker”. To err is human, to really mess up you’ve got to be me.

Dorothy-Jane, I still love you!

Family,

I wanted to encourage George again by an example that was an encouragement to me in November, but as I was thinking it through I decided to make it a public video. So it is online and the links are below. No family names are mentioned.

You may have heard about Eliud Kipchoge who ran a marathon in under two hours. It was a remarkable feat. When I saw it I immediately decided I need to keep the video and set it aside. The reason was not as much his time, but the first thing he did as he crossed the finish line. He hugged his wife. I felt a kinship, and even more in his attitude, I felt he was my brother in Christ. Tuesday I did some research on him and he has long been a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once I read about him, it brought me to tears, obviously of joy.

So I did the video, and included in it two other men, one from Nigeria, and the other from Syria, that I have had the same sense of kinship with. As stated in the video, I have had a picture of one of them, Shadi Shehda, on my wall for some time. If you look at voicemail #496 on Sep 17, 2018, you will see his photo and my statement “This is my brother, Shadi Shehda, with his wife.” I’ve seen a photo of a missile that hit his house but did not explode. About a year later another did explode killing his wife, his three kids, and his mom. His picture has been on my wall for some time.

I wanted to encourage others to have pacemakers or be a pacemaker for others. The objective was to encourage George, and the rest of my family to have others that will push you along. Clearly from the video the focus is not to physically run, but to run the race of faith. With a pacemaker, or those who will encourage and challenge you, the objective of your faith is refined. If your faith is in the institution, you are toast. If your faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have hope. It is my objective to encourage you in that hope.

I love you all!

Eliud Kipchoge – Brother and Pacesetter