HUSH Magazine, Fall 2016

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1 KJV

Magazine

Published by

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Magazine

6

Mentor Remembered

10

Childhood incident impacted life’s story

12

Beard: Life’s about service

26

16

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Dr. John Perkins

30

How a Cardiologist Helps Others See

34

Inspiring Our Youth

18 21

Movies tell of individual faith, call church to community action INSANITY OF GOD: Moviegoers touched by sacrifices

36 41

24

CFPB fines lending company $9 million; Proposes new regs for payday lending

46 47

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Parkway Hills UMC Members Work to Help Flood Victims

Seven Steps to a Healthier You Blacks, Whites: Solutions for Unity?

A Survey by Pew Research Reveals Possible Answers Follow-Up: Past HUSH Features HUSH Locations: Where the Magazine is available

HUSH Magazine:

Magazine

✔✔promotes unity among all people

–– believers in Christ in particular –– blurring the cultural and racial lines that tend to oppose us;

✔✔offers real-life stories of people making a positive difference as encouragement to others to do the same;

Photographers in this issue

✔✔spotlights success stories of care and

HUSH Magazine started with three issues in 2015. Four quarterly issues (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter are scheduled in 2016. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all content. However, we do not guarantee that every article, column or story is free of error. No responsibility can be or is assumed.

Opinions presented in columns do not necessarily reflect the sentiments of HUSH Magazine, its editor/publisher or others beyond the particular columnist. All Rights Reserved. © Rapha Communications, LLC, P. O. Box 12635, Jackson, MS 39236; 601.506.1847.

Subscribe online at www.hush-be-still. com or www.hushzine.com for periodic updates about upcoming magazine issues, as well as other information.

Errol Dillon | Florence, MS Jayden Funchess| Jackson, MS

concern for the development of youth –– the source of the nation’s next generation of leaders.

In a nutshell, HUSH Magazine is about Impacting People Positively and Powerfully.

Victor Calhoun | Mobile, AL

Amanda Patterson | Mandilay, Inc. | Ridgeland, MS Contributing Editor / Writer

Eleanor Reynolds | Mobile, AL

Contributing Writer

Charlotte Graham | Laurel, MS

Columnists

Jerome Douglas | Ridgeland, MS Dr. Myrna Alexander | Health | Jackson, MS

Scripture Consultant

Jacqueline Mack | Jackson, MS

Proofing Consultant

Elise J. Ballard | Clinton, MS

Christian Education Director

Design Consultant

Amanda Patterson | Mandilay, Inc. Photography, Graphic / Web Design

Editor / Publisher

Linda Buford-Burks | Jackson, MS

Visit us online for a number of resources, including a search engine for farmer’s markets and organic farms, college scholarship searches and archive issues of HUSH Magazine.

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Pauline and Fred Rogers are gearing up to operate the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Home to help former female prison inmates make the adjustment from prison to their communities.

The home is named after Mississippi’s first female prison chaplain, a woman from England who took a personal interest in the wellbeing of those in the prison system in Mississippi. The couple knows firsthand the potential obstacles often faced by those released from the prison system. Additionally, Pauline Rogers has been the Mississippi Field Director for the national organization, Prison Fellowship, for a number of years.

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Former Mississippi Department of Corrections Chaplain Wendy Hatcher. Photo provided by Pauline Rogers.

Mentor Remembered:

Transitional Home Honors Former Prison Chaplain

by Linda Buford-Burks Editor/Publisher

“...because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives...

- Luke 4:18

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auline and Frederick Rogers operate a nonprofit organization to help former female prison inmates get on with their lives after serving time in prison. The Jackson, MS organization, Reaching and Educating for Community Hope (RECH) Foundation, also serves children whose parents are incarcerated, offering summer camps, angel tree, educational support, and other activities to help narrow the void left by absent parents.

The RECH foundation’s centerpiece is the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Facility, named for Mississippi’s first female prison chaplain, a woman from England who came to Mississippi after marrying a Mississippi man. Hatcher served as chaplain at Parchman and the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF) for decades, winning the respect and admiration of inmates who responded positively to her efforts to point them to Jesus Christ. Several inmates took pride in placing “wings” HUSH | 6 | 2016 FALL

Former Mississippi prison chaplain Wendy Hatcher (center photo, right) had the place of honor at the June ribbon-cutting announcing the coming of the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Home for former female prison inmates. Sales of Hatcher’s book, Time Served, will benefit the home.

PHOTOS by Mandilay, Inc.

on the golf cart she used to get around the CMCF campus. It was not uncommon to hear the inmates warn that “the soul patrol is coming,” as Hatcher made her rounds.

Located on the 27-acre BERCH Re-Entry Campus in south Jackson, the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Home was official as of June, with a ribbon cutting announcing the establishment of the facility, as well as Hatcher’s new book, Time Served. Proceeds from book sales will help operate the home.

For Pauline Rogers, the transitional home is the answer to the RECH Foundation’s dream to have a place where former female prison inmates can live temporarily while they make the adjustment from prison to their communities. She

wants to provide the women the kind of support and mentoring that Hatcher once gave her. Hatcher and Rogers came to know each other quite well while Rogers was incarcerated at CMCF when Hatcher was chaplain. Even after Rogers was released from prison, she eventually stayed in Hatcher’s home when she couldn’t find a job or a place to stay. Hatcher was involved in Rogers’ life to the point that the former prison chaplain was the matron of honor at Fred and Pauline Rogers’ wedding.

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live has been “shut up” for eight years and will need some issues addressed before residents can move in. The couple will take time to assess and address repairs, furnishings, and campus clean-up.

The grounds include a main residential home where Pauline Rogers estimates that about 10 women will be able to live comfortably while they get acclimated to their life outside of prison. Two buildings on the BERCH ReEntry campus are designated for teaching life skills to children of prison inmates –– a girls’ “playhouse” and a boys’ “man cave.” A warehouse building on the campus helps with storage needs.

When the transitional home is ready for residents, they will move in by referral,

PHOTO BY PAULINE ROGERS

either by MDOC (Mississippi Department of Corrections) or pastors in the community who are “ex-offender friendly,” says Rogers.

“Nobody will be able to come knock on the door, say ‘I just got out of prison and need somewhere to go.’ We’re not doing that. It’s going to be by referral.”

Even so, Rogers said that their organization will take its time to help ensure that they meet their goal “to transition people to stability.”

Defining the length of a transition period is difficult, because people are released from prison in unequal circumstances.

“We’ve got a guy that we’ve been working with who stayed locked up 34 years.

Everything was different for him. He’s been out 10 years

now. He is our most faithful volunteer and he works as parking lot security at one of the local churches. He tends to have a better eye than some of the policemen who carry a gun. He works security.”

She pointed out that another person, a woman, “stayed locked up” for 24 years.

“People like that will be different than somebody who got out after six months or some other short term…

It involves evaluating the person.”

While the couple raises money and gets everything in order for the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Home residents to move in sometime next Spring, they also are handling other commitments.

Pauline Rogers is still Mississippi field director for the national Prison Fellowship HUSH | 8 | 2016 FALL

organization, having worked with former prison inmates for a number of years. She continues to do so parttime. The couple’s RECH Foundation also still provides summer camp and angel tree gifts to help look out for children of inmates.

Summer camps for children were held across Mississippi this summer, including on a cleared area of the BERCH Re-Entry Campus, Vicksburg, Biloxi, and in the Mississippi Delta. During the 2016 summer camp, children of inmates made “kits” based on the theme, “Fit for life: Spiritually, Emotionally, Economically.”

Children at camp created poster board collages detailing their “aspired-to careers” and presented a “Fit for Life” Kit. Rogers said that children

in summer camp were not allowed to play electronic games or use their cell phone during their activities.

“We want them to know that all jobs do not allow you to use cell phones or play electronic games,”said Rogers.

Summer camp also teaches survival skills for outdoor jobs and acquaints children with fields such as archeology, emphasizing the need to learn how to survive. “We were doing this before I joined Prison Fellowship.”

It was an eight year-old summer camp participant at the BERCH Re-Entry campus who came up with the idea of a special place for girls on the campus. The smaller “house” had been used as an office at one time and is wired for phones and electricity.

Rogers said that the eight year old was so excited about the “dollhouse” possibility that she offered plans for the redesign of the building down

to the colors and the “key for the door.”

The Rogers couple will renovate and use the building to teach children housekeeping and other life skills. The other small building on the property, the future “man cave” for boys, will also be renovated and used to teach boys similar skills.

“This little girl planned the renovation down to the colors, calling it her “dollhouse,” Rogers said.

“She said the door should be white, with a key to go in it.

So, we’re going to do that.”

While these plans are in the works, the couple will carry on as usual with the RECH Foundation’s annual angel tree distribution for children of prison inmates this Christmas holiday. Children receive items such as bikes, electronics and other toys but also are often provided necessities like blankets, tooth

Although getting to Disney World “is not an option” for most children of the incarcerated, the summer camps operated by Rogers’ foundation bring a little bit of Disney to them. PHOTOS BY JAYDEN FUNCHESS HUSH | 9 | 2016 FALL

brushes and other items.

Rogers dreams big, believing that she serves a big God who will make the couple’s vision for the BERCH ReEntry campus, along with the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Home, surpass their hopes and dreams.

The couple foresees former inmates having jobs on the campus, generated from skills they already have.

“We want to create jobs on the grounds. A lot of inmates have gifts and talents. We want to have a life skills facility developed, where they can sew, make quilts that can be sold back to the public,” Rogers said. She envisions the campus with “an eatery,” barber shop, cleaners and more. A performing arts program is not out of the question either, she offered.

“We’re trying to make this place so rock solid with the things that people are doing that it will become a commodity that people cannot ignore,” Rogers says.

She also wants to change the perception of the future of children whose parents are inmates.

“We want to show that these are not your next generation of offenders, but these are your next doctors, lawyers, artists, soloists, choir directors/ leaders, and so forth.”

She also wants the campus and its facilities to outlast her and her husband, “with somebody...taking it to the next level, where people know about Wendy Hatcher, and they are giving back, and keeping it going. If we don’t do that, it’s not successful.”

Childhood incident impacted life’s story

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auline Rogers’ own experiences sparked her passion and keeps her motivated to go to great lengths to help those incarcerated as well as their offspring. Her story started violently. As a young child, she saw her mother shoot and kill her father. It was in self-defense, but the death of her father by her own mother was a horrific experience, one that would cause her restless nights where she heard gunshots ring in her ears for years after the incident.

“I had to testify about what I saw,” Rogers recalls. “I was actually seven years old when that happened.” She needed counseling, but no counseling was sought. “I didn’t fear my mother. I just felt that I needed to stay covered up, to protect myself,” Rogers said. “I went through childhood hearing those sounds and never dealt with it.”

She had a continual fear of the unknown “something” that would happen next.

“As a child, when you see somebody’s life taken away and when you hear those gunshots, you don’t rationalize that it was self-defense. All you know is that you saw this person shoot that person. It was my Mama. I had love for them both, for both of my parents.”

After the incident, Rogers’ mother became a workaholic and as the eldest, the seven-yearold Pauline found herself taking on her mom’s role.

“When we were with my grandmother, everything was taken care of. But when we were at my mom’s place in another town, we didn’t have enough food sometimes,” Rogers remembers.

She began taking her sisters and brothers to funerals, “not because we were interested in who died, but because we could get food at the repast.”

Attending funerals to help with basic necessities like food escalated to shoplifting “hair clippers from Sears & Roebuck” because her brother was being “picked on at school” about his haircut, done with scissors by his big sister.

Getting away with shoplifting hair clippers led to taking more pricey items. Rogers spent several times in the county jail before she ended up in prison at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.

She was warned early on in her shoplifting “career” that she could turn to other sources for help, but she did not heed it. Her first warning came from a police officer who took the nine-year-old Rogers home rather than arrest her when she was caught shoplifting.

The officer gave her a lecture, “you don’t have to do this,” and a few dollars to help out. She ignored the officer’s advice.

In prison at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), Rogers met Chaplain Wendy Hatcher.

“I wasn’t classified. I wore the canary jumpsuit,” she remembers. ”By the grace of God, Mrs. Hatcher picked me out of thousands of women there to come work for her.” Rogers’ work with Hatcher began the road to the healing of her deepest hurts.

“The Lord opened my eyes to see that I had come from a good family and that there were others in the prison who were like me.

I learned that there were more people at the prison like me than were not like me.” In time, Rogers began writing down “visions” of what she felt “the Lord would have me do.”

Rogers was grateful that the Lord brought Hatcher, a woman from across the world, who would become like “a second mother” to her.

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“She was this tiny lady who had no fear of the criminals all around her.” Over time, Hatcher took Rogers and other inmates organized by teams to speak at churches, organizations, and other entities that invited them to come.

“We raised money to build a chapel there in the prison,” Rogers said, noting that inmates usually had worship services in the prison cafeteria, sitting on “those metal steel seats.”

Their worship services were often cut short so that other inmates could eat. “In prison, getting all the inmates fed was the priority, not the church services. We would sometimes have to cut off in the middle of church services to give right of way for the next group of inmates to come in and eat,” she said. Stopping the worship services got so routine that “We got tired of that. So, we built our own church.”

Building a chapel at CMCF would cost money. Rogers said that Hatcher was allowed to take speaking teams of inmates to churches, where church members would give offerings for the special chapel project. When the needed funds were raised, the chapel was built.

“After we got the chapel built, they said we couldn’t have church services because we didn’t have a security fence around it,” said Rogers, adding that the late Stuart Irby paid for the fence required around the chapel.

Hatcher and Rogers developed a longlasting bond while Rogers served time in

prison and was assigned to work for the prison chaplain. The chaplain counted on her to handle major responsibilities, including keeping records of funds raised for building the chapel at the facility. Rogers also was given the task of planning and organizing the prison’s first revival. Dr. Jerry Young, now president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, preached at the first and second revival services at the prison.

Because the first revival was such “a big hit,” Rogers said the audience of inmates mushroomed even more by the second one.

“When the inmates knew he (Dr. Young) was coming for the second revival, he almost emptied every building there because he had been such a phenomenal speaker.” More security guards were put in place for the event.

After Rogers’ release from prison, Hatcher helped her find a place to live. Later, the former prison inmate lived at Hatcher’s house when renting became too expensive. Hatcher was even Rogers’ matron of honor at her wedding 25 years ago.

“This lady had such an impact on my life,” Rogers says of the former prison chaplain, who was like “a second mother” to her. Today, she credits her emotional healing and her confidence to the intervention of Hatcher.

Rogers’ natural mother passed earlier this year, in April.

Of the approximately 183,400 cases* of larceny-theft handled by juvenile courts throughout the nation in 2013, females accounted for about 40%, whites for 60%, African Americans 36%, American Indian 2% and Asian, 2%. Of these cases, 52% of the offenders were under 16 years old.

- Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics: 1985-2013. See online at www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/ *Latest data available. These figures are for adjudicated cases, where the teen was placed in a facility.

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The crew above is the main cast of approximately 45 students who were part of the Laurel School District’s production of Disney’s Peter Pan Jr. in April. They are pictured with Laurel School District Board of Trustees President Miranda Beard (center, back row), also president of the National School Boards Association since April. The cast dazzled on stage in their beautiful costumes while displaying a host of talents during the production of multiple performances. PHOTO COURTESY Laurel School District

BEARD: Life’s about service

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By Charlotte Graham ngage in a conversation with Laurel, MS resident Miranda Beard, and it will not take long to hear her express the sentiments of her heart. A woman of strong Christian values, Beard loves God and His people. Despite the twists and turns of life’s journey, she’s committed to seeking ways to make a positive difference.

“I want to be one who dies empty and not full,” the former broadcast journalist said. “I want to use every gift, every talent, every ability God has given me to serve others.

“The cemetery is a wealthy place,” asserted Beard. “There

are too many people who have died with their dreams and visions never realized. I do not want this to happen to me.”

Beard, sworn in as president of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) in April, will serve in the position for one year. She is dedicated to making her life count to the fullest, to “die empty.” She has long been an advocate for public education, believing that each child has “mustard tree” potential and like a mustard seed, able to mushroom to great heights with the right kind of motivation and cultivation. The magnitude of the unrealized potential of so many children drew her to HUSH | 12 | 2016 FALL

become an advocate for public education. She started as a member of the Laurel School District Board of Trustees, advancing to president of her local board, as well as to president of the Mississippi School Boards Association.

She also served as a regional board member of the National School Boards Association for several years before becoming the organization’s president.

“I have always wanted to be a positive force in the community,” Beard said.

“Serving others is my way of giving back.”

Much of Beard’s overall community and professional service was covered in the last issue of HUSH:

commissioner for eight years with the Mississippi Employment Security Commission; advisory board member, the Frances Karnes Center for Gifted Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi; advisory board member, the University of Southern Mississippi School of Mass Communication and Journalism; past president, the Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters Association; former member, Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi; and various roles in church, civic and social organizations in her community.

As she considers her life, career, and involvement in local and national service, Beard says God has been gracious to her over the years.

As a child, she was often teased about her deep voice.

Her voice was unique, even embarrassing, for a child who wanted a more gentle tone like

Tom Gentzel (third from left), executive director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA), was presented a key to the City of Laurel, MS by Mayor Johnny Magee, while spending a day in the city meeting with new NSBA President Miranda Beard (far left). Gentzel also got a firsthand look at some of Mississippi’s public education success stories, including the Nora Davis Magnet School, a Mississippi Arts Commission Whole Schools Initiative Model School.

The 25-member NSBA Board of Directors, which represents regions across the nation, will convene its December board meeting in Laurel. Others pictured: Laurel Board Members Jim Rasberry (second from left), Ann Barrow (second from right) and Doncella Milton (far right). PHOTO COURTESY: Laurel School District

her female friends.

“The voice I grew up with was so masculine,” Beard describes. “I used to cry about it. I wanted to sound like every other teenage girl. I had no idea God would one day use this voice of mine in the way he has.”

For almost 30 years, Beard’s booming voice as a broadcast journalist at WDAM-TV’s NBC affiliate near Hattiesburg was heard throughout the Pine Belt region of Mississippi.

She worked as early morning newscast anchor and as assistant news content director.

“My relationship with God HUSH | 13 | 2016 FALL

is top priority,” she said of her current state of mind.

“I truly believe He orders my steps. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3: 5-6,” she said, reciting the words: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Beard believes that even uncomfortable paths will work out for her good. That includes her discomfort earlier this year when a disagreement with her broadcast employer led to the loss of her job.

A closed door in her career

PHOTO COURTESY: Alabama Association of School Boards

did not surprise God. She sees all things working out as He planned.

“For me, it’s really about following Jesus’ example.

He came to serve. That’s how He lived his life and the expectations for us are no less.”

Looking out for the best interests of the children, parents, and educators in the Laurel School District is one thing. But, it’s a much taller order to help do the same for the approximately 90,000 school board leaders nationwide who make decisions that impact as many as 50 million children in the public schools nationwide.

“If you understand your steps are ordered by the Lord, when there is a shift, you are not thrown off balance,” said Beard. “You see it all as something positive.”

From her vantage point, God

has her in the place where He wants her to be right now.

“For some reason, as a child, I carried a dream that I would one day stand before thousands of people. I even dreamed that someday I would do work in Washington, D.C. Things are unfolding now. I saw my dream become a reality when I stood before almost 6,000 in Boston for my inauguration speech to school leaders from across the country.”

Beard is the first NSBA president from the Pine Belt and only the second from the state of Mississippi to head the NSBA Board of Directors.

“Serving as president of NSBA is enough to keep me quite busy,” Beard said.

“To be honest, I have more time to do what I really love.

I’m standing in the gap for our children. Every child regardless of race, gender, or HUSH | 14 | 2016 FALL

socioeconomic status should have access to a free and adequate education.”

As NSBA president, Beard is speaking to school board members and other audiences across the country.

At the time of this interview, she had spoken to school leaders attending a statewide conference in Alabama and was headed to Chicago for another engagement.

Invitations to South Dakota and Connecticut were in the wings.

Simultaneously representing the state of Mississippi and school boards across the nation is a humbling experience. The agenda is the same. She promotes public education across the nation, emphasizing excellence “from the board room to the classroom, from the state Capitol to the U.S. Capitol.”

TRENDING....

Memphis among top five most generous cities

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emphis, TN is among the top five most generous cities in the nation. That’s according to the latest research about the matter by the research organization, the Barna Group.

With Memphis in spot number 3, Barna revealed that only El Paso, TX / Las Cruces, NM (number 1) and Lexington, KY respectively exceeded Memphis residents in giving. Other cities on the top five givers list are Charleston-Huntington, WV and Milwaukee, WI. In all of the top five cities, “upscale” residents (adults with an annual household income of $75,000 or more and who do hold a college degree) did not give more than people considered

“downscale.” “Downscale” adults in Barna’s study have an annual household income of $20,000 or less and do not hold a college degree. In fact, all but one of the top five most generous cities had more lower income people than upscale residents: Lexington, KY (11% upscale vs. 18% downscale), Memphis, TN (11% vs. 25%), CharlestonHuntington, WV (9% vs. 15%), Milwaukee, WI (12% vs. 10%).

The findings, released July 28, were from a phone survey in April. Barna Researchers also found that churches benefit most from the generosity.

For the top five generous cities, 69 percent of giving in Memphis is to churches, compared to 87 percent in El Paso, TX / Las Cruces, NM, 84 percent in Lexington, KY; 64%

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in Huntington, WV; and 73% in Milwaukee, WI. Interestingly enough, no city in Mississippi made the top 50. However, several cities in neighboring states did. Those include Alabama cities of Mobile, Birmingham/ Tuscaloosa area, and the Huntsville area; New Orleans, LA; and, Atlanta, GA. You can get a closer look at the results on the HUSH website, www.hush-be-still. com or go directly to Barna, www.barna.com.

Barna Group is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization in Ventura, CA, that has been “conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984.”

the SSpotlight potlight IInn the A team from Moody Publishers was in Jackson, MS in late August to discuss a new book project with Dr. John Perkins (seated) and to get a contract signed. Perkins, author of about 10 books, is co-founder of the national Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and co-founder of the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation, Justice and Community Development (JVMPF). He is pictured with Moody representatives (left to right) Randall Payleitner, editorial director; Karen Waddles, assistant to the publisher; Duane Sherman, acquisitions editor, strategic partnerships; and Edward Gilbreath, executive director of communications. According to Sherman, the group’s two and a half day visit was to produce “ a rough outline which will, God-willing, turn into a full length book over the next year. ” He said that Moody hopes to have the book ready for release at the CCDA conference in October 2017 in Detroit. Perkins’ latest book, Dream With Me, will be reviewed in the next issue of HUSH. The book is a memoir of sorts about the 86 year-old’s lifetime ministry of reconciliation. Its release is expected early next year.

PHOTO BY MANDILAY, INC.

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PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS FOR THIS ARTICLE ARE COURTESY OF ICON MEDIA

Movies tell of individual faith, call church to community action Compiled using information and interview material from Icon Media, Nashville, TN

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wo movies in theaters this October look at individual faith in action and the role of the church in communities.

Voiceless, and I Am Not Ashamed, debut on movie screens October 7 and October 21 respectively.

Voiceless is a film that tackles the controversial pro-life vs. pro-choice debate, concluding that perhaps the biggest choice is that of the church. In the film, a young, reserved war veteran-turned-community outreach leader puts his life on the line to stand against an abortion clinic that has taken up shop across the street from his Philadelphia church.

“Voiceless was made to engage the church,” said producer Stuart Migdon. “We believe our film artfully presents the issue in a way that pro-life supporters can rally behind without alienating pro-choice viewers before they’ve had a chance to contemplate our story.”

Battling his own inner-demons, Jesse (Rusty

Joiner: Last Ounce Of Courage, Dodgeball, Days of Our Lives) encounters a young, pregnant teen overcome with grief that, after an impulsive abortion, has her family blaming Jesse for more than just her final decision. Jesse’s wife Julia (Jocelyn Cruz: Strike One, This Is Our Time) must come to terms with her own choices and decide if she can support her husband as opposition mounts against him. Comedian Paul Rodriguez and James Russo also star in the movie.

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Actress Masey McLain is Rachel Joy Scott in the movie, I Am Not Ashamed.

The I Am Not Ashamed movie is the true story of Rachel Joy Scott, who was the first of 13 people (12 students and one teacher) killed at her high school, Columbine High, on April 20, 1999. She was singled out because of her Christian faith.

The film is based on Rachel’s personal journals and reminds the audience how God uses even tragic situations to make a positive impact on the world.

“Rachel wrote that she would one day touch the lives of millions, and we’re honored to help make this dream a reality,” said Benny Proffitt, executive producer, and founder of the youth organization First Priority.

Rachel’s mother, Beth Nimmo, is an executive producer of the film as well.

“I am hoping this film will be a reality check for teens about the importance of choices in determining the course of their lives,” Nimmo said. “Rachel was willing to die for the Lord, but more importantly, she was willing to live her life for the Lord. The Lord is not asking us to die for Him. He is asking us to live for Him.” While Nimmo wants young people to carefully make their choices, she also hopes the movie will help motivate parents and grandparents to play a greater role in the lives of children.

“I am praying that this film reaches across the generations to the parents and grandparents to engage with their children and give them the emotions tools, spiritual tools and understanding that this generation faces issues we never dealt with,” she said. “It takes more than just what we were given for teens to live their life different than their peers. I also hope that the church and body of Christ will rise up as a force to take back their families, churches and communities.”

Although Nimmo has had a number of opportunities across the years to have her daughter’s tragic story told on the big screen, she wanted to wait for the right timing.

“I have felt for many years that I was supposed to have a film about the faith of my daughter Rachel,” she said. “Having been approached on more than one occasion to work with other producers and studios, I waited until I felt there was the same shared vision before committing to anyone. Benny Proffitt and I have ministered together on many platforms. He has heard me speak from my heart on what was important to me regarding what Rachel left behind in her writings and drawings. In view of this, I knew I could trust him to help me impart my vision.”

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Artwork Courtesy: LifeWay Films

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PHOTOS FOR THIS ARTICLE BY Editor/Publisher Linda Buford-Burks / Get more information at insanityofgodmovie.com.

Moviegoers touched by sacrifices

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ifeWay films is taking its highly successful first movie, The Insanity of God, straight to consumers and churches in time for Thanksgiving. The film premiered in select movie theaters across the nation on August 30 as a one-night only event. Because of the response, the movie was repeated on September 13.

A church simulcast of the movie is set for 7 p.m. CST on November 9 and on Sunday, November 13. Additionally, a church and consumer DVD are to be released before Thanksgiving.

The turnout on August 30 represented “40 percent more than our goal,” said Trey Reynolds, head of LifeWay Films, on September 1. “The film came in at number one in per-theater average, beating

major films being played with nearly triple the amount of theaters,” he added. More than 70,000 tickets were sold for the August 30 event.

The Insanity of God movie recounts the true story of the journey of missionaries Nik and Ruth Ripken as the couple explores the depths of the persecuted church, beginning their pursuit after the death of their son. According to movie producers, their central goal was to answer the question, IS JESUS WORTH IT? Namely, “How does faith survive, let alone flourish in the places of the world that are over­come with the darkness of sin, despair and hopelessness,” was the question posed by filmmakers.

In the movie, the Ripkens tell how believers in persecution showed them “how to follow Jesus, how to love Jesus, and HUSH | 22 | 2016 FALL

how to walk with Him day by day, even when it doesn’t make sense.”

The film was released in association with the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

HUSH Magazine asked for reactions to the August 30 showing of the movie, questioning people who have traveled together on mission trips to Honduras and Africa on behalf of their local churches. The members of Covenant Presbyterian Church and New Hope Baptist Church, both located in Jackson, had much to say.

“My impression of the movie was that it is a powerful message of commitment and witness to the followers of Christ who practice obedience far beyond the measure most of us have ever been exposed

LEFT TO RIGHT: Woody and Deborah Davis, Denece Brookins, Mary Louis Shaw, and, Susan and Slade Exley.

to in our protected Christian life,” Slade Exley said after watching the film. “It makes me question my own commitment and ability to face persecution to the degree many followers in foreign countries face today.”

Exley also was impressed by filmmakers’ ability in raising “awareness of the high degree of persecution Christian followers have experienced in my lifetime.” The Exleys have been members of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Jackson for almost 40 years.

The retired civil engineer and his wife Susan have been going on mission trips on behalf of their church over the years, making 30 trips to Honduras and several trips to Malawi, Africa. They also have traveled for mission work in Zambia and Tanzania.

“The movie certainly highlighted my belief that religious persecution, particularly Christian persecution, exists in the world today and will always exist,” said Exley. “As Christians, we must better prepare ourselves to fight this persecution. Are our churches preparing us for the fight?”

Woody and Deborah Davis, longtime members of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson, met the Exleys on

mission trips to Honduras.

“It made me aware of the extreme sacrifices, personally and professionally, that missionaries endure to share the Word of God,” Deborah Davis said of the movie.

“This did not make me feel any differently about mission work, but it did make me realize that my sacrifices are “null and void” when compared to those of many others.” Davis, a nurse practitioner, has been on three mission trips to Honduras and one to Africa. Her husband, who works for the U.S. Post Office, has gone on two trips to Honduras.

“I really could not relate to the personal sacrifices of the Christians in the movie, but I could relate to the vast amounts of people in third world countries who experience poverty, sickness, hopelessness, homelessness, and the need for sharing the gospel,” Deborah Davis noted.

Retired teacher and guidance counselor Mary Louis Shaw, also of Covenant Presbyterian Church, is thankful that people are willing to go to the most dangerous parts of the world to share the gospel, but also feels comfortable that her work in Honduras, Mexico and Kenya has been exactly the work to which she HUSH | 23 | 2016 FALL

was called. She has been on 10 mission trips: two each to Mexico and Honduras, and six to Kenya. “ He (Christ) didn’t call every person to go to every nation,” Shaw pointed out.

“Some are called to China, or Japan, or India, while others are called to Latvia or Egypt or France.”

Another moviegoer, retired nurse Denece Brookins, said the Insanity of God movie “stirred in me a more urgent desire to continue to go and do mission work for the sake of Jesus Christ.” A member of New Hope Baptist Church, she has gone on 10 mission trips to Honduras and two to Malawi, Africa. She said the movie also “raised my awareness of the suffering and horrible persecution, enormous danger, and barriers” to overcome to witness to ‘every nation.’”

She added that the movie underscored that the single motive for Christians to get involved in mission work has to be the whole-hearted belief that “Jesus Christ is worth it.”

Woody Davis and Slade Exley left Friday, October 7 for a 3-week mission trip to North Africa to help build 1500 water wells to help prevent illnesses caused by contaminated water.

CFPB fines lending company $9 million; Proposes new regs for payday lending The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has fined TMX Finance, LLC a total of $9 million for “abusive practices” in its lending and debt collection in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Headquartered in Savannah, GA, TMX is a specialty finance company that makes automobile title loans to consumers. It has 1,300 storefronts in 18 states under the names of TitleMax, TitleBucks and InstaLoans.

Mississippi has at least three TitleMax locations –– one in Pearl and two in Olive Branch.

“From at least 2011 until December 2015, if a consumer failed to make a timely payment and did not respond to communications from store employees, respondent’s policies allowed employees to conduct ‘in-person visits’ to the consumer’s home and to the consumer’s references,”according to the Consent Order filed by CFPB on September 26. TMX employees were authorized to make home visits when the loan payment was “at least three days late.” When the payment was “at least 11 days late,” and the borrower could not be reached by phone or at home, TMX employees ignored written policies and made in-person visits to the borrower’s employer, even when the consumer or his/her supervisor indicated that such visits were not allowed.

The CFPB says that TMX

Finance, LLC has agreed to the consent order “without denying or admitting any of the findings of fact or conclusion of law.” TMX has been ordered to pay the $9 million fine and to stop making visits to the borrower’s home or employment, except to locate and repossess vehicles that are used as collateral on a loan.

A number of other provisions are outlined in the Consent Order, file No. 2016-CFPB0022.

In a related matter, the public had until October 7 to comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s proposal to help protect consumers from lending abuses through payday loans, vehicle title loans, and “certain highcost installment loans.” If approved, CFPB’s 12 CFR 1041 would “curtail some of the current lending that charges consumers as much as 300

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percent interest for short-term loans.”

CFPB’s notice in the July 22 federal register indicated that the loans are typically used by people “living paycheck to paycheck, have little to no access to other credit products, and seek funds to meet recurring or one-time expenses.”

Regulations would be issued primarily under section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) to identify and prevent unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices; supervise “certain non-bank financial service providers,” require disclosures to convey the costs, benefits, and risks of particular consumer financial products or services.

The Faith for Just Lending coalition, formed May 2015, has been speaking out for reforms in the short-term lending industry. The group

was formed to launch a concerted effort by diverse religious organizations to urge the faith community to “increase awareness of predatory lending” and to “motivate individuals, lenders, churches and the government to help bring an end to the practice.”

In April of this year, the coalition announced LifeWay Research findings that “86 percent of self-identified Christians in 30 states support government regulation of the predatory lending industry.”

About 20,000 payday and car-title loan stores exist in the United States. Payday lenders also operate online.

Members of the Faith for Just Lending Coalition include the Center for Public Justice; Ecumenical Poverty Initiative; National Baptist Convention, USA; National Latino Evangelical Coalition; the PICO National Network; Southern Baptist Convention; and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s notes that many lenders in the pay-day, vehicle title and similar areas have “business models that deviate substantially from the practices in other credit markets by failing to assess consumers’ ability to repay their loans and by engaging in harmful practices in the course of seeking to withdraw payments from consumers’ accounts.”

CFPB asserts that borrowers are often unable to repay loans from such entities and make matters worse when a

loan payment is due. They start a vicious cycle as they make “additional covered loans, default on the covered loan, or make the payment on the covered loan and fail to meet other major financial obligations or basic living expenses.”

CFPB said that the shortterm lenders often tries multiple times to withdraw loan payments from borrowers’ accounts, causing them to be assessed “multiple fees.”

The proposal would apply to short-term loans for 45 days or less, including typical 14-day and 30-day payday loans, and short-term vehicle title loans generally made for a 30-day period. Longerterm loans of more than 45 days with interest rates above 36 percent and those with a lien or other security interest in the consumer’s vehicle or a form of “leveraged payment mechanism” giving the lender the right to get payments from the borrower’s account or from a payroll deduction or other direct access to the borrower’s paycheck. Included among covered longer-term loans is a subcategory loans with a balloon payment, which require the consumer to pay all of the principal in a single payment or make at least one payment that is more than twice as large as any other payment.

Under CFPB’s proposal, it would be considered “abusive and unfair practice” for a lender to make a covered short-term loan “without HUSH | 25 | 2016 FALL

reasonably determining that the consumer” can repay the loan.

To meet the proposed regulation, lenders would have to take steps to confirm a borrower’s net income versus debt. Additionally, the regulations would keep consumers from taking out more than three short-term loans within 30 days of each other. Other provisions of the proposal can be found on the CFPB’s website, www. consumerfinance.gov, or in the Federal Register, Volume 81, No. 141, July 22.

If approved, regulations would be effective 15 months after publication of the final rules in the Federal Register.

Parkway Hills UMC Members

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ecently, a Sunday gathering at Parkway Hills United Methodist Church in Madison, MS drew a special kind of crowd. Members came to help build bunk beds for flood victims in Louisiana, and even preschoolers had a job that they could do. Bill Flynn (next page, bottom left photo) has headed up the Bunk Bed Ministry at Parkway Hills since 2013, after moving from Tupelo, MS to Madison. But the ministry was underway before Flynn arrived. Even Parkway Hills Pastor Bruce Case was helping build bunk beds when Flynn volunteered to head up the ministry’s activities. Because of this special work, a wide range of needs are met. It’s no surprise that recent flood victims have received bunk beds from the church.

In fact, two sets of beds were shipped in late September to Ouachita Parish in Louisiana to a young family with four girls who needed them.

Eight more sets were to go to Denham Springs, Louisiana (Livingston Parish) the first week of October to a women’s shelter that recently flooded.

And the church also was preparing to

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Work to Help Flood Victims

send a set of bunk beds to a Mississippi family in Bentonia whose house recently burned, and the family’s two children needed the beds.

The ministry is one of hard work involving church members like those pictured on these few pages. They extend the love of Christ by filling a void in the lives of others. In addition to the preschoolers already mentioned, Bunk Bed ministry workers run the gamut in age and include the church’s oldest members. They raise funds for the construction materials, do painting and sanding, gather linens for the beds, and assemble the beds. Tate Furniture, of Canton, MS helps out by allowing the church to purchase mattresses “at near

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Parkway Hills UMC... continued from previous page

cost.” A group of men at Parkway Hills meets periodically in the church basement to cut and manufacture bunk bed parts.

It’s not unusual for the church to host a “Bunk Bed Blitz,” like the one shown in the photos with this article. Everyone goes all out to complete the sanding, painting, and staining to get a project finished.

Church members deliver and set up the beds, complete with mattresses, mattress covers, sheet sets, comforters, and pillows.

While the church sends beds outside the area, any need identified close to home gets attention first. Just last year, 25 Bunk Bed sets were gifts for 50 Madison County children, responding to a request of the Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty (MADCAAP).

“To see a child receive a bed and say, ‘This is the best day ever,’ or ‘I’ve never had a bed before’ is inspirational,” Flynn says. “God took the Bunk Bed Ministry and ran with it!”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Parkway Hills UMC member Linda Irby for assistance in gathering information for this article. She also took the photo of the church sign at the top of the previous page.

PHOTOS BY MANDILAY, INC.

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WORDS 4 LIFE

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PHOTOS FOR THIS ARTICLE ARE BY VICTOR CALHOUN

How a Cardiologist Helps Others See The Story of Joseph L. Fontenot, MD, CLVT

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By Eleanor Reynolds or someone who says he was “a very poor student” as a child, Dr. Joseph L. Fontenot grew up to excel in education. He became a medical doctor of Internal Medicine / Cardiologist, and one who personally knows the tremendous value of gifting “new life” to those with low vision. It was a life of dwindling sight that led him to a new medical career as a Certified Low Vision Therapist and to establish a non-profit

that helps others see.

Dr. Fontenot was born in a little town called Washington, in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.

While very young, Fontenot’s father (a lawyer) moved his wife and family of eight children to Opelousas, Louisiana. He recalls the day that his parents pulled him aside to talk about his education.

“We think you will do better with a better education,” they told him. “We have found a catholic boys school in Alexandria, Louisiana, called Menard Memorial High HUSH | 30 | 2016 FALL

School. You will stay at that school and come home every other weekend. What do you think?”

Fontenot, who had milked cows several years on the family’s “semi-farm” asked his parents if the school had cows.

“When they told me no, I said I’ll go.”

Upon graduating from high school, young Fontenot attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama where he majored in Chemistry.

He decided to take the pre-

medicine route with two years of study at the University of Southwest Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana (now called the University of Louisiana Lafayette). His medical track led him to Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, right near Charity Hospital. He graduated from the university in 1962.

Dr. Fontenot did an internship at Charity Hospital before being drafted from 1963 to 1965 into the Army Medical Corps.

“I ended up stationed in Okinawa, did a tour of Vietnam and Thailand,” said Fontenot. “After that, I came back to the states and did my residency in Internal Medicine. I always liked Internal Medicine.”

But, perhaps it was his father’s sudden death due to a heart attack at age 55 that contributed to his choosing a career as a Cardiologist.

Following a two-year Fellowship in Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, a multispecialty academic hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Fontenot started practicing Cardiology in Mobile, Alabama in 1974.

More than a decade later, in June 1988, the cardiologist noticed a change in his vision.

“Things looked distorted,” he said. This did not occur overnight. It occurred over three to four months. I went to an Ophthalmologist. He recommended a Retina specialist, who recommended a specialist at The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins

Medicine in Baltimore, MD.” The Wilmer Eye Institute is internationally-renowned for the diagnosis and management of complex medical and surgical eye disease. There, at the young age of 50, Dr. Fontenot was told that he had a congenital form of macular degeneration, with no treatment available.

“Most people go into shock, denial, anger, or have some kind of adverse reaction to that kind of news. In fact, for some it is like the loss of a child. But, it did not seem to bother me as much as it might most people.

“I immediately started looking for things and ways to compensate for my eye disease. I wanted to continue to work in my chosen profession.”

Maybe the consummate scientist, medically trained doctor in Dr. Fontenot allowed him to compartmentalize what was actually happening to the health of his eyes and to persistently search for ways to improve his vision.

However, the cardiologist acknowledged that he could no longer offer his patients the same level of service as before, and took steps accordingly in June 1988.

“I stopped putting catheters into people. I stopped driving

by September 1988. I joined several organizations like the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind, talked to others with the same condition, got help from others. I worked at it HUSH | 31 | 2016 FALL

immediately to find ways to keep seeing. I bought some electronic magnifiers at $2,500 a piece and strong glasses.

I kept researching. As a cardiologist, I was fortunate enough to be able to do these things.”

Dr. Fontenot also had great support from his medical team and his wife Linda.

“My wife was a nurse. She understood the problems.”

The couple’s understanding of his condition and their willingness to work together to keep life as normal as possible helped keep their four children at peace through the low vision changes that their father experienced.

“My Medical Group had four doctors. We were trying to find another doctor to join us. But, they did not want me to leave. Our office nurse then and who still works with me today (Kim Bufalo) made rounds with me. I kept up consultations and could read with heavy magnifiers and did so for 15 years until 2003.”

Oddly, it was a major automobile accident in 1999 that led Dr. Fontenot to another medical career.

“I was off work and at that time, I started thinking about other types of work. Patients with vision loss like me would be referred to me by other doctors who knew of my condition. I consulted and taught what I knew. In 2000, I started preparing to set up a low vision service, attended meetings, took courses.

In 2002, I took an exam and became a Low Vision

Therapist. In 2003, I opened up a low vision practice in Fairhope on a trial basis until 2006. In 2006, I changed it over to a nonprofit.”

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation (CSVR), has offices in Mobile, Daphne, and Montgomery, Alabama, as well as an office in Gautier, Mississippi. As the founding medical director, Dr. Fontenot spends much of his time every day helping patients with low vision.

About 2.9 million people in America are affected by low vision, caused not only by macular degeneration in the case of Dr. Fontenot, but also by glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. While it is most commonly found among people 65 years and older, Dr. Fontenot says a high number of people 35 to 64 years old experience visual loss mostly due to diabetes. Children can also have vision loss, even under the age of five. Early detection is critical.

“The bottom line is people with vision loss need to see their eye doctor and get help right away,” Dr. Fontenot cautions. “They may be able to treat the disease. People really need to see their eye doctor every year anyway. If a person has any degree of vision loss, take care of it early. Learn how to compensate for your change in vision and not lose the freedom of doing what you normally enjoy doing.

“Otherwise you will become dependent on family members, you get depressed, the family gets depressed and

it doesn’t work out well for anyone,” he said.

Today, in addition to improved medical treatments for saving sight, many patients with low or impaired vision have gained new independence with training, special glasses, magnifying glasses and other improved technology. Some phone Apps even brighten screens, magnify print, read information out loud, take notes, book a taxi, and confirm travel arrangements.

“Having low vision does not mean quitting your job, giving up reading, or your hobbies, but it does mean finding new ways of doing those things,” the physician emphasizes. “So don’t turn in your resignation letter, stop crafting, or hang up your fishing rod and golf clubs. Let us show you your HUSH | 32 | 2016 FALL

options first. The faster you receive care, the faster you can return to doing the things you enjoy and do them more independently.”

So what is this cardiologist with low vision still able to do, and what does he miss doing?

“Well, I continue to fish, and I am still able to read. I was an avid tennis player, hunted some, loved wind surfing, but I don’t do that anymore.” He said he also liked bike riding but stopped doing it when he “started crashing too much.”

He misses driving his car most of all.

“I have a driver. He is a business friend and neighbor who works close to my office in Mobile,” he says. “I’ve always been lucky in getting rides. But, you don’t have the spontaneity to get up and just go wherever you want to go

due to the inability to drive.

So that’s hard.”

The inability to drive does not keep Dr. Fontenot from visiting family and friends, or attending medical seminars.

As chairman of the Vision Rehabilitation Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, he is constantly on airplanes, going to conferences and giving presentations. Getting around just takes a lot of advance planning.

“You must plan ahead. I go to San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C. –– anywhere

in the United States. I keep magnifiers with me to read tickets and flight schedules.

You just need to know in advance how to get to where you are going, and what to do when you get there.”

He advises people with low vision to ask for help when it’s needed.

“If you are in a big meeting and need someone to walk around with you, ask. You have to be willing to ask for help. Simply say to people, ‘I don’t see well. Can you tell me where...’ or whatever you need help getting or finding.

People don’t mind helping.”

Preserving eyesight takes discipline, and Dr. Fontenot says that healthy choices, along with a well maintained appointment schedule are a part of it.

“Eat well: green leafy vegetables... Keep your blood pressure under control. Don’t smoke. Know your family’s medical history.”

Diabetics in particular should keep their blood sugar under control as well as “see an eye doctor on a regular basis.”

“If you’re told to come back in two months do that,” the physician points out.

Although a bit pricey, magnifiers can help bring small text within view of lowvision readers.

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INSPIRING OUR YOUTH

‘Keeping the Faith’ in College

by Jerome Douglas, Guest Columnist

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s a senior marketing major, college has been a life changing experience. Between classes and faith, life has been quite challenging. Three things have kept me grounded in the last four years. These are: ››Reading & Praying: Keeping God's word close helped me stay faithful. Prayer provided space for me to let God know my struggles and achievements.

Jerome Douglas (@gjeromed) is advancing his education at Jackson State University. His wife, Analise Douglas, is a 4th year medical student at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The couple has led small groups and bible studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS, on behalf of Bethel Campus Fellowship (BCF) and Reformed Fellowship University (RUF), respectively.

››Community: What would I do without people around me who are just as serious about their faith as I am? Fellowship provided space to have people to hold me accountable and pray for me. Reading the Bible and Friday nights got lonely sometimes; so Christian friends were important. ››Mentorship: Wise counsel helped me make Godly decisions with career options, relationships, classes, etc. It was helpful to have someone older with Godly wisdom to show me the ropes and teach me God's way.

We met often and talked about our lives. He helped me with everything. Needless to say, free meals are always nice, too!

Overall, reading/praying, community, and mentorship were substantial components God gave me to help get through college. I recommend all of these for anyone furthering their education away from home.

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Seven Steps to a Healthier You

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by Dr. Myrna Alexander Nickens, Cardiologist recently participated in my family’s reunion weekend in the capitol city (Jackson, MS). The ages of the participants ranged from 6 weeks to 89 years old. At least four members among the 40 family members were octogenarians who were very active in all of the activities, including mentally sharp games such as the Family Feud. What did they have in common in their healthy longevity? They appeared happy and active, engaging in activities with other members of the family.

They have rarely participated in an aerobic class, never ran a marathon, or been on roller coaster diets. Although they have arthritis and hypertension like 50% and 65 % respectively of Americans over 65 years old, they maintain healthy weights.

Well, what is their secret? Of course, there is no secret.

Nevertheless, here are 7 suggestions for healthier longevity.

Why seven? Well, my editor wanted seven and it just so happened that the word “Healthy” gives me a guide. Just consider the 7 days of the week, 7 continents, 7 deadly sins, and of course, 7 days for God’s creation (1 for rest). This acrostic arrangement of tips is a prescription for a healthier YOU. HUSH | 36 | 2016 FALL

HEALTHY:

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ealthy consumption. In 2007, our church congregation decided to join the Pastor in making healthy changes.

Members encouraged each other with weekly talks in our Sunday school classes about living healthier lives. We drank more water, lost some weight, and felt better. However, old habits returned gradually. One positive tip for feeling better is an adequate consumption of water, fruits, and vegetables. Mild dehydration has been linked with developing chronic diseases such as headaches, kidney stones, and impaired cognition, dental caries, obesity, and arthritis. The Institute of Medicine recommends that children over 14 years old and adults drink an average of 3.3 liters of water daily for males and 2.3 liters for females to maintain healthy hydration. Of course, the intake may increase for more athletic individuals. At the same time, it is important to avoid illicit drugs, cigarette smoking, vaping, marijuana, artificial sweeteners, and excessive prescription pain pills. Make a decision to change such habits. Indecision is a fatal decision.

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xercise and rest. Exercise will keep your heart pumping stronger, legs and arms movement better, and do wonders for mental alertness, and digestion. The USDA’s “My pyramid” guidance system recommends 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise most days of the week (that means at least 4) for adults, and 60 minutes for children and teens. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on gym fees to get in shape. Organized exercise in a local gym maintains motivation.

But simple steps such as, walking the dog 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening is a good start. Other activities like raking leaves, riding a bike, playing tennis, playing golf, and choosing a sport you like are the best ways to exercise. Remember, playing checkers, bridge, and bingo is not a sport.

Once we have exercised and worked all day it is important to get 7-8 hours of restful sleep. It appears counterintuitive, however we burn calories while sleeping.

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ttitude. Setting aside 15-30 minutes of your day to think about the present and appreciate past failures / successes facilitates a clearer perspective for the day.

We would not sweat the small stuff if we allow the Creator to lead us during the day. Listening in silence enables your head and heart to make better decisions. Remember the old cliché, “the Lord won’t give you more than what you can handle.” That means any problem or success that arises is an acceptable responsibility to handle. It is our responsibility to determine, through God’s guidance, how we handle it.

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aughter. Find something to laugh about every day. A busy day may overwhelm your sense of humor.

Make light of situations you cannot change. Laugh about them. Over the years, I have been mistaken for a girl of primarily European descent, a nurse, a teacher, an elevator operator, and recently, guess what?

My family and I traveled to North Mississippi for Labor Day. We stopped at a newly built Hilton Garden Inn. I had eaten a bit much the previous day; therefore, the next morning I set out to work off some calories in the small gym of the hotel. I put on my fancy work out attire with sneakers and earphones for music. As I opened my hotel room door, the towel/supply cart obstructed my path, along with a woman of European descent who was exiting her room at the same time. In her hands, she held rolled up dirty towels, which she extended to me. She looked me straight in the eye and said, “I just want to exchange these dirty towels for clean ones.” I stood with a smile and said kindly, “Girl, I’m just coming out of my room. I don’t know what to tell you what to do with those.” I laughed, and so did she in embarrassment. We laughed so loudly that her family members came out of the room to see what the commotion was about. Yes, I was mistaken for a housekeeper wearing an iPhone earplugs, Under Armor tights and Nike sneakers. The Hilton housekeeper uniforms looked nothing like my attire. The fact is that sometimes you have to laugh for a lack of explanation.

However, I’m sure our different heritages had something to do with my mistaken identity.

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hankfulness. People with humble attitudes tend to accept mayhem, illness, and success better than the general population. Saying thank you and showing gratitude are totally separate issues. I reflect on my 85 year-old mother with severe arthritis requiring assistance to put on her tight TED hose. She thanks me for what I’d consider small and unmentionable. After she thanks me, she has to give me a hug. Who would not want to help someone with such gratitude? Oh well, you say that’s your mom too.

However, patients with the most gratitude are loved by nursing staff, physicians, and other medical personnel. Of course, our grumpy patients receive the best care too, even though they commonly complain about the smallest things. You might be amazed at how good you feel as you choose to be thankful for blessings such as a good night’s sleep, meals, shelter, family, friends, or just being an American.

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elpfulness. Luke 6:38 instructs “Give, and it will be given to you…” The purpose of giving is not to receive, but it is to bless another person as we have been blessed. Give time, money, clothes, food or whatever is needed to assist your brother or sister. Within the last decade there has been a surge in giving abroad, going on mission trips to third world countries, and sending aid for disaster relief. We often fail to spot opportunities to assist our neighbors who live within five to 50 miles of our homes.

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early checkups. If you’re over 21 years old, diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension are potential threats to your health and longevity. Know your personal numbers: Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, glucose, and lipid panel.

We often complain about things we can’t change: It’s hot; It’s raining; it’s cold; my boss is mean, etc. The information in this column is your chance to impact your longevity by making the suggested changes. You can do it!

Dr. Myrna Ellen Alexander Nickens, MD, FACC, currently serves as associate professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. A 1982 graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, Dr. Alexander also spent more than a decade in private practice with Jackson Cardiology Associates (1995-2012).

She has served as a member of the media advisory panel of the American Heart Association since 2009.

Partnering with You to Improve Your Business George Brooks 601-957-0130 George.Brooks@tbs.toshiba.com

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A Survey by Pew Research Reveals Possible Answers HUSH | 41 | 2016 FALL

Overview of of how blacks are treated in the U.S.

NOTE: Whites and blacks include only non-Hispanics. Hispanics are of any race.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Feb. 29 - May 8, 2016. Q19F2a-f.

“On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart” PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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he findings on the previous and the next couple of pages are from a Pew Research Center national survey of 3,769 adults (including 1,799 whites, 1,004 blacks and 654 Hispanics) during February 29 - May 8, 2016.

According to the Pew Research Center, “The survey – and the analysis of the survey findings – is centered primarily around the divide between blacks and whites and on the treatment of black people in the U.S. today.” Pew Research Center is described as a “nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.”

PEW RESEARCH CENTER REPORT:

On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart* An overwhelming majority of blacks (88%) say the country needs to continue making changes for blacks to have equal rights with whites, but 43% are skeptical that such changes will ever occur.

Racial gaps in household income persist. The median adjusted household income for whites in 2014 was $71,300 versus $43,000 for blacks during the same period.

Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to point to discrimination as a major reason that some blacks have a harder time getting ahead. More see individual, rather than institutional, racism as a bigger problem. Seventy percent of whites, and 48 percent of blacks believe this to be true.

While median net worth tends to increase as levels of educational attainment rise, the white-black gap in wealth persists even controlling for educational differences. For example, the median net worth of black households headed by someone with at least a bachelor’s degree was $26,300 in 2013, while for households headed by white college degree holders that net worth was $301,300 – 11 times that of blacks.

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PEW RESEARCH CENTER REPORT:

On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart*

About half of white college graduates (47%) say their race or ethnicity has been an advantage for them, compared with 31% of whites with some college education and an even lower share of whites with a high school diploma or less education (17%).

Whites with family incomes of $75,000 or more (42%) are more likely than those with family incomes below $30,000 (23%) to say their race or ethnicity has made things easier for them.

About a third of white Americans say President Obama has made race relations worse, while only five percent of blacks agree.

Roughly six-in-ten white Republicans say too much attention is paid to race these days.

You can download a copy of the full Pew Research Center Report (released June 27, 2016) at www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequality-blacks-and-whites-are-worlds-apart/

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Offered by Survey Participants

NOTE: Whites and blacks include only non-Hispanics. Hispanics are of any race.

Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Feb. 29 - May 8, 2016. Q19F2a-f.

“On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart” PEW RESEARCH CENTER

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “...for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5: 9b-10 HUSH | 45 | 2016 FALL

Follow-Up...

Achievement

Condolences

Ralph Moore, featured as an award winning, highly competitive high school swimmer in the November / December 2015 issue of HUSH, now attends the U.S. Naval Academy. At the time of his feature in HUSH, getting into the Naval Academy was a dream to which he aspired.

Congratulations!

Dr. Ollye B. Shirley, interviewed about her husband (the late Dr. Aaron Shirley) in the January 2015 premier issue of HUSH Magazine, passed in September. She was 82. A staunch education and civil rights advocate, Shirley worked alongside her late husband in both arenas. In the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, she published a newspaper to keep citizens and activists informed.

Rev. Willie B. Varnado, Jr., featured in the May/June 2015 issue of HUSH, passed in late July. He was 66. The HUSH feature drew attention to the efforts of Rev. Varnado and his wife Gennia to coordinate summer camping trips to Kids Across America, a Christ centered, sports filled interactive adventure for inner city and rural young people 8 to 18 years of age. The Varnados not only raised money to help get youth to camp, but also accompanied them there and provided ongoing encouragement throughout the years.

Fred Thompson, a four-time cancer survivor, passed in late June. He was 73. HUSH Magazine reported Thompson’s perseverance throughout the years as he battled cancer and as he grieved the death of his wife in 2012, when she succumbed to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis commonly known as Lou Gherig’s Disease). The longtime businessman operated Patton Publishing, which specialized in newsprint publications, for more than 40 years.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Each of the persons above (condolences) made a significant difference in their communities. Their departure from this life emphasizes the need for others to pick up and carry “the torch” that each one left. How about you?

HUSH | 46 | 2016 FALL

Magazine

Distribution Locations BANKS Community Bank 6158 Old Canton Rd Jackson, MS 39211 BEAUTY & NAIL SALONS, & BARBER SHOPS 360 Barber Shop & Beauty Bar, LLC 5735 I-55 North / Beasley Rd. Jackson, MS 39206 Belinda’s Hair Salon 2570 Bailey Avenue, Suite 5 Jackson, MS 39213 Blessed Hands Barber Shop 1335 Ellis Avenue, Suite 5 Jackson, MS Glamour Palace Hair Salon 1518 Broadway Dr. Hattiesburg, MS 39401

Nail Gallery & Spa I-55 North Jackson, MS 39211 CAR DEALERSHIPS Herrin - Gear Service Area Waiting Rooms: Infinity, Chevrolet, Lexus 1685 High Street Jackson, MS Paul Moak Honda / Volvo Service Waiting Rooms Harding Street Jackson, MS CHILDCARE / PRESCHOOL New Hope Christian Preschool 5202 Watkins Drive Jackson, MS

Hairtrapreneur Barber Studio 6067 Old Canton Road Jackson, MS

Seeds Educational Enrichment Center 4426 Hanging Moss Road Jackson, MS 39206

LeChic Hair Gallery 863 Centre Street, Suite C Ridgeland, MS

Cade Chapel Preschool Ridgeway Street Jackson, MS

Lucy Nails & Spa 6071 Old Canton Rd. Jackson, MS Personal Touch Hair Salon 4802 North State Street Jackson, MS 39206 Total Package Beauty Salon 6850 Commerce Plaza Jackson, MS 39206 Ultimate Touch Hair Salon 545 Nakoma Drive Jackson, MS 39206

CHURCHES Anderson United Methodist Church 6205 Hanging Moss Road Jackson, MS Cade Chapel Baptist Church Ridgeway Street Jackson, MS Church of Christ 5225 Hanging Moss Road Jackson, MS

Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church 305 North Congress Street Jackson, MS 39201 Greater Bethlehem Temple Church 1505 Robinson St. Jackson, MS 39203 Green Grove Baptist Church Prentiss, MS 39474 Highland Colony Baptist Church 1200 Highland Colony Pkwy Ridgeland, MS House of Peace Worship Church International 1301 Holly Street Vicksburg, MS 39180 Keys Memorial Church of God in Christ 1014 St. Elmo Street Laurel, MS Highland Colony Baptist Church 1200 Highland Colony Pkwy.

Ridgeland, MS 39157 Jordan Chapel CME Church Oxford, MS Mt. Nebo Baptist Church 1245 Tunica Street Jackson, MS 39209 Morning Star Baptist Church 2050 Thornton Ave. Gulfport, MS 39501 New Hope Baptist Church 5202 Watkins Drive Jackson, MS 39206

HUSH | 47 | 2016 FALL

New Jerusalem Baptist Church North, Midtown and South Locations Jackson, MS Riverwood Bible Church Old Canton Road Jackson, MS Shady Grove Baptist Church 101 Church St. Petal, MS 39465 Stronger Hope Baptist Church 223 Beasley Rd. Jackson, MS 39206 Shekinah Glory Baptist Church 485 West Northside Drive Jackson, MS 39206 True Faith Inspirational Baptist Church 2526 W. Sligh Avenue Tampa, FL 33614 Zion Baptist Church 721 Johnson Street Saginaw, MI CITY OF JACKSON Business Permits Office Zoning Office Jackson City Hall Jackson Chamber of Commerce Office

Magazine

Distribution Locations GROCERIES McDade’s Maywood Mart & Westland Plaza Locations Jackson, MS Food Depot Northside Drive Jackson, MS 39213 NON-PROFITS 100 Black Men of Jackson 5360 Highland Drive Jackson, MS 39206 Mission Mississippi Office 840 E River Place Suite 506 Jackson, MS 39202 REAL Christian Foundation 115 Linda Joe Drive Richland, MS Spencer Perkins Center 1831 Robinson Street Jackson, MS 39209 Southern Christian Services for Children & Youth 860 E River Place Suite 104 Jackson, MS 39202 RESTAURANTS / BAKERIES Beagle Bagel Highland Village Jackson, MS Broadstreet Baking Co. / Cafe Banner Hall Jackson, MS Penn’s Restaurant & Catering 587 E. Beasley Road Jackson, MS 39206

Monroe’s Donuts 3820 Hanging Moss Road Jackson, MS

Dr. Annyce Campbell, M.D. Perkins Bldg-Hanging Moss Rd. Jackson, MS 39206

UMC Physicians / Cardiology 5903 Ridgewood Rd # 210 Jackson, MS 39211

NEWK’s 4450 Old Canton Road Jackson, MS

Dr. Maurice James St. Dominic Medical Plaza West Wing, 5th Floor Suite 563 Jackson, MS 39211

SCHOOLS Adhiambo School 3424 Robinson Road Jackson, MS

Dr. Teresa M. Perkins Dentistry for Children 4631 Hanging Moss Road Jackson, MS 39206

New Hope Christian Elementary 5202 Watkins Drive Jackson, MS 39206

Primos Restaurant & Bakery 2323 Lakeland Dr Flowood, MS Quizno’s 101 Johnston Place Clinton, MS 39056

Capital City Physical Therapy 5888 Ridgewood Road, Suite B Jackson, MS 39211

THE ARTS / DANCE Ballet Magnificat 5406 I-55 North Jackson, MS 3921

Capital City Children and Adolescent Clinic 2679 Crane Ridge Drive Jackson, MS 39216

LAW FIRMS Martin & Associates 821 N Congress St, Jackson, MS 39202

Jackson Medical Mall 350 W Woodrow Wilson Jackson, MS 39213

Priester Law Firm Executive Place Jackson, MS

Kool Smiles Dentistry 989 Ellis Avenue Jackson, MS 39209

The Wade Law Firm Vangela Wade, Esq. 361 Hwy. 51, Suite C Ridgeland, MS

MEA 5606 Old Canton Rd Jackson, MS

MEDICAL Dr. Sheryll Vincent Asthma and Allergy Center 5440 Watkins Dr Ste A Jackson, MS 39206 Dr. Arthur Dampier Ridgeland Eye Care Clinic 8 Professional Pkwy.

Ridgeland, MS

Perkins Pediatric Dentistry 4631 Hanging Moss Road Jackson, MS 39206 Reddix Medical Group 5903 Ridgewood Rd # 310 Jackson, MS 39211 Select Specialty Hospital 5903 Ridgewood Rd Jackson, MS 39211

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GYMS, FITNESS Anytime Fitness 4924 I-55 North Jackson, MS 39211 Baptist Healthplex 717 Manship Sreet Jackson, MS 39202 Courthouse Racquet & Fitness 46 Northtown Dr Jackson, MS 39216 Quest Fitness 1693 Lakeover Drive Jackson, Ms 39213 Downtown YMCA 800 River Place Jackson, MS 39202 theVitamin Shoppe 1220 East Northside Dr. Jackson, MS 39211 HOTELS Residence Inn 855 Centre Street Ridgeland, MS 39157

Magazine

Distribution Locations HOTELS continued Homewood Suites 853 Centre Street Ridgeland, MS 39157 Hampton Inn 493 Springridge Rd. Clinton, MS 39056 Holiday Inn Express 495 Springridge Road Clinton, Mississippi 39056 Cabot Lodge Millsaps 2375 N State Street Jackson, MS 39202 MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS M3A Architects 4880 McWillie Circle Jackson, MS 39206 McDowell-Convention Center 120 Old Airport Road Hattiesburg, MS

Sanderson Farms, Inc. 127 Flynt Road Laurel, MS

North MS Regional Center 967 Regional Drive Oxford, MS 38655

Tate’s Furniture 150 Feather Lane Canton, MS 39046

Zeta Beta Sigma Chapter Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc D’Iberville, MS

Total Taxx by Tee 4436 N. State Street, Suite A5 Jackson, MS 39206 Walgreens 1583 East County Line Road Jackson, MS 39211 Art Supply Headquarters 707 Monroe Street Jackson, MS 39202 Watkins Shell Station 5492 Watkins Drive Jackson, MS 39206 MISCELLANEOUS - OTHER JSU e-Center 1230 Raymond Road Jackson, MS 39204

SHOPPING CENTERS MAYWOOD MART: 1220 E Northside Dr. Jackson, MS 39211 Suite 16 - Starbucks Suite 14 - Lost Pizza Co. Suite 170 - Cellphone Repair

Shop TRACE STATION SHOPPING CENTER: 500 Hwy. 51 North Ridgeland, MS Edible Arrangements Suite O The Gift Box, Inc. Suite M College Corner Suite V Pink Blush Boutique & Nail Spa Suite L

HUSH | 49 | 2016 FALL

Next Issue:

Winter 2016

A review of Dr. John Perkins’ new book, Dream With Me, will provide a sneak peak at the 86-year-old’s memoirs tracing his lifetime ministry of reconciliation.

...And there’s much more!

Be sure to pick up a copy at one of our locations or email info@raphacommunications.com.

HUSH | 50 | 2016 FALL

October is

Racial Reconciliation Celebration Month in Mississippi proclaimed by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant “For some it might mean going to lunch or getting coffee with someone of another race and engaging in meaningful conversation.

For others, it might be going to a church that is of another race.

It doesn’t have to be complicated: just intentional.”

Neddie Winters, Executive Director, Mission Mississippi

Magazine

published by Rapha Communications, LLC • www.hush-be-still.com • 601.506.1847 • hush@hush-be-still.com

Encourage Everyone.

Hebrews 3:13

Do Good.

Ephesians 2:10

Don’t Worry.

Philippians 4:6