By Jericho President Carrie L. Amos
I cherish the morning drive to school with my 12-year-old daughter, Grayce. Most days, we listen to a five-minute devotional, discuss it and then pray. The past couple of months, I’ve been praying that Grayce “experiences” the fullness of God’s truths - that the knowledge in her head would pierce her heart. During a recent drive, she asked me this: “Mom, when have you felt the presence of God the strongest?”
That day, I told her it was the moment three-plus years ago when I was having a CAT scan, at the start of my cancer journey.
Today, however, I might give her a different answer. On Monday, October 9, I experienced the presence of God, and it was powerful and beautiful and it took my breathe away. God’s Spirit visited a room where a pastor came to pray with, and for, an ill man and his wife, in the presence of a friend who loves them like family.
I am that friend. And the moments I spent with Rev. Dr. Clive Calver and Jericho Chairman Bill & Kathie Beattie where among the most significant I have ever experienced. Invited to pray, I found myself grateful, thankful and blessed, as God’s Word was declared and hearts were united.
This was the message God impressed on my heart that day: The legacy that Bill & Kathie Beattie have created is to be celebrated. And it’s to be celebrated now, while they are very much present and able to see their legacy continue, so they can know the depth of their impact to the city they love and people in need within it.
But there was more, and it was no less significant. It was the moment where Bill declared that he was passing the baton. It’s time, he told me, for the next generation of leadership to take the vision God gave him for the Jericho Partnership - and run with it. Bill was releasing me to lead. “Keep the mission the mission,” he said, and it’s a directive I will hold closely. For a time, we sat in silence, and then we prayed. It was poignant and humbling, a moment I won’t soon – ok, ever – forget. We have since fleshed out the leadership transition, including our Executive and Advisory Boards (covered on this website); Bill will serve as Chairman Emeritus.
Clearly, Bill and Kathie Beattie have poured their lives into Jericho’s mission — mobilizing ministry, serving the city and those most in need. So how can we honor these two amazing individuals and celebrate their legacy? It so happens that, in God’s perfect timing, our Jericho Gala is around the corner, on November 30. What better time and place to celebrate the Beattie Legacy than the night when 500 of our friends will come together to celebrate what God has done through our ministry?
So that’s what we’re going to do. We will honor the legacy. We will celebrate, and we will “keep the mission the mission.” It is going to be quite a night. Please join us.