Serendipity: Inspired, speaker shares foster care testimony to Chamber
An expected agenda topic for the July Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce Luncheon blossomed into a unified and inspiring message for those in attendance.
Melanie Keller, Apelah’s President and CEO, was invited as the Chamber’s featured guest, and talked for a short while about Apelah’s foster care work in Mississippi, which touches more than 50 special needs children and half-a-million service hours annually.
Her message, unbeknownst to her, fell in accordance and previewed with the following words of the Chamber’s keynote speaker, Hayes Patrick, who serves as a deputy commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Ag.
Patrick, from Jackson and a 7th generation cattle farmer, was a rather last-minute guest who stepped in when the Ag Commissioner was unable to attend.
Patrick provided some DeSoto County agricultural statistics, but his talk from the podium pivoted to a personal testimony: He and his wife, Lyndsey, adopted twins Marc and James a few years ago after becoming their foster care parents when the boys were three-years-old.
The fact that the subject of foster care complemented two speakers who had never met at the same speaking event was powerful – and divine.
“I was praying on the way up (to DeSoto County) there since I had a couple of hours of road time and felt a strong prompting to speak about the twins we adopted through foster care, but didn’t know how that would happen, since I was there to speak about agriculture,” he reflected.
It was not until the commissioner sat down at the guest table to eat, inside The Gin in Nesbit, that he was certain what he was going to lean into.
The opening to tell his emotional story, as are most all of foster care parents, was provincial. He was certain about that. (His family’s story can be found on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/M4cjtsXHu1s)
“I saw the handout from Apelah and then I knew that I had heard from the Lord that He wanted our story to be shared,” Hayes said.
“Being a part of fostering and adopting, one quickly learns His heart is for orphans … and for those that step up to the challenge!
“And I would dare say, after the unlikely place of a chamber meeting, many saw a glimpse of how important the subject is to Him by the way He orchestrated the events to have me there.”
Keller said it was a pleasant surprise to hear the Deputy Commissioner's story.
“I am grateful that we have people in state leadership that have first-hand knowledge of the plight of some of the children in our state and have not only spoken out, but also stepped up,” she said. “His story of love and compassion was inspiring. This is a perfect example of how opening your home and your heart can make such a positive impact on so many lives. “
To learn how you or someone you know could become a foster care provider visit www.apelah.org
Hayes Patrick, deputy commissioner for the Miss. Dept. of Ag, spoke about his family fostering, then adopting twin boys, at July’s Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce Luncheon.
Pictured at the July luncheon of the Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce were Apelah President Melanie Keller, the Chamber’s Board of Directors President Michael Cobb, Miss. Department of Ag Deputy Commissioner Hayes Patrick and Horn Lake Mayor Allen Latimer. Both Keller and Hayes spoke about foster care work, with Hayes providing a personal testimony.
“I saw the handout from Apelah and then I knew that I had heard from the Lord that He wanted our story to be shared,” Hayes said.”