Pauline Hord is a remarkable woman well into her eighties. Pauline is always willing to pray for other people and their needs. Pauline’s passion is literacy and prison ministry. There are thousands of people in her home state of Tennessee who can’t read and write well enough to function in an adequate way in society. Pauline gives of her time to work with teachers in public schools, training them in a new literacy method. She gives three days a week, four or five hours a day, to teach this new method of literacy in model programs.
Once a week Pauline also drives over a hundred miles one way to Parchman State Prison in Mississippi to teach prisoners how to read and write. Pauline does more for these prisoners than teach them how to read and write. She shares her faith with them. She speaks of her love and her faith and witnesses to the power of the Gospel.
A few years ago President George Bush started a program called “Points of Light.” President Bush wanted citizens to exercise positive and creative influence and service in the areas where they lived. In cities and communities across America, people have been recognized for being “points of light.” It is no surprise that Pauline Hord was chosen as a point of light. An article was written about her in the local newspaper describing her work.
A few months later, President Bush came to Memphis. He wanted to honor the seven most outstanding “points of light” in that area. Pauline Hord was invited along with six other “points of light” to have lunch with President Bush. But the President made a mistake. The luncheon was scheduled on a Wednesday. That’s the day Pauline spends at Parchman Prison in Mississippi, teaching prisoners to read and write and witnessing to them of the love of Christ. She would not give that up to have lunch with the President. (1)
Do you think Pauline Hord has been able to see all the fruit she is bearing? I doubt it. Sometimes it takes generations to see the results of our labors, but the fruit will come if we will be faithful. God will use the seed we sow to accomplish great things in this world, if we will only do our part.
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1. Maxie D. Dunnam, CONGREGATIONAL EVANGELISM, (Discipleship Resources, 1992), pp. 29-30.