“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18

Death and life. Hunger and fulfillment. Sorrow and joy. At Feed My Starving Children, we wade in the mire of these dichotomies daily.

We know that more than 6,000 children a day die from hunger related causes. We grieve. We take action. We hope. We do it all again the next day.

We are about life, despite so often being surrounded by death.

This week we lost one of our own.

Jamison Pals was a grant writer for FMSC for the past three years. He left us in April to pursue missions in Japan with his family. While here, he touched countless lives. He was about to touch countless more through ministry in Japan.

Not only were we inspired as staff by his heart for Christ, but thousands upon thousands of children will live because of the work he did as a grant writer.

He died with his family on a road in Nebraska. His wife, Kathryne. His two toddlers, Ezra and Violet. A two-month-old infant named Calvin. The thought is almost incomprehensible.

We are grieving with the families of Jamison and Kathryne. But we are not without comfort and hope — this is the wonder and the miracle of a life with Christ.

We know from God’s word that there is a time for everything “and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”

Good and gracious God,

May we take time to mourn, to grieve.
Thank you for your grace — that there is room for questioning and anger in grief.
And that sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Be near to us as we walk the line between sorrow and joy every day.
Thank you for Jamison, Kathryne, Ezra, Violet and Calvin.
Thank you for the thousands of children who eat MannaPack Rice™ and the volunteers and donors who make it possible.
Thank you for the comfort and healing from your presence, and we humbly ask for more of it now.

Amen.

After traveling to the Dominican Republic with FMSC, Jamison wrote a blog post about fatherhood. He closed with this verse:

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12