Faith On Every Corner_Issue 2_Final_91617

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Good and Faithful Servants Cora and Ed Hamilton Karen and I met Ed and Cora Hamilton while we were living in a rural community in southwestern Ohio. It was during our first visit to a new church when they greeted us in the parking lot, welcomed us, introduced us to others as we entered and then sat with us during the service. Afterward, they treated us to lunch and shared their story of faith and mission with us. We now live in southwestern North Carolina and the Hamiltons live in eastern Tennessee. What a blessing it was to be able to visit them recently. During our time together, we asked them to write us with more details of their lives and adventures together. Here is their story, as told to us. Ed and Cora, having been high school sweethearts, married soon after graduation on May 22, 1957. For more than sixty years, they have worked, shared, prayed, and served together. Ed states, “We work best when we work together. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways that I can’t count them. My greatest blessing has been Cora. She has been the love of my life, my greatest possible companion on life’s journey, given me wonderful children, encouraged me in whatever I was pursuing, and is a sister in Christ. In many ways, we differ and yet, we are often of like minds. We have memories and stories that will last as long as we do and we look forward to what the Lord has in store for us with faith and confidence that he will care for us and use us as long as life shall last.” 15
The Hamiltons have been blessed with four daughters plus grandchildren and great grandchildren who are very special to them. They lost one daughter at the age of forty. Their three daughters are devoted Christians and, much like their parents, love to serve others. Two daughters are nurses and the third daughter is the wife of a Navy Chaplain. All three take every opportunity to share their Christian faith with those they serve. Ed and Cora began their adult service lives when, shortly after Ed graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he joined the Air Force and became a fighter jet pilot. For more than twenty years, they served their country with duty stations both stateside and abroad. During this time, Cora helped raise the girls and worked on a teaching degree. She taught school within the Department of Defense Overseas School System at several of their assignments. Once Cora earned a degree in special education, she started teaching at the local schools. In 1984, Ed retired from the Air Force and he and Cora settled into civilian life. This lasted about a year. They decided they weren’t quite ready to settle down. Now armed with a Masters degree, Cora applied for a teaching position with the Department of Defense Overseas School System in the Philippines and was accepted. Now Cora was the sponsor and Ed was the dependent. Many Universities provided continuing education for the DDODS teachers on the base and Ed could do course work to be certified to teach in Science and Math. During their second year there, Ed taught Math and Science in the same system. Two years later, Ed and Cora moved to Stuttgart, Germany where they both continued to teach within the DDODS. In 1989, they returned to the family farm in Ohio where they built a house. Ed did the framing and interior finishing while Cora taught Special Education in the local school system. Once the house was finished, Ed began teaching math at the local high school. Since the school system did not have a computer program, Cora and Ed began to write grants and eventually about $1,000,000 worth of computer equipment and software was acquired with which they established a network linking the four schools in the area. Ed oversaw operating the networks throughout the school system while teaching junior and senior high school students math, introducing them to using the computers in the lab and classrooms. The Hamiltons continued to teach in the Greenfield, Ohio school system until retiring in 2000. While teaching, a fellow teacher led Ed to join Gideons International. Gideons is almost 120 years old and has distributed over 2 billion scriptures around the world while seeking to bring the lost to Jesus Christ. Most of us are familiar with the Bibles placed in hotel and motel rooms by this organization, but the ministry is very diverse. Ed states that he has been blessed to have participated in the distribution of complete Bibles, New Testaments, and witnessing his faith during his long service with Gideons. More information on opportunities to serve is available at http://www.gideons.org/. During the time that they were teaching, they renewed their interest in sailing and purchased a 26 foot. trailer-able sailboat. During the summers, when they were not teaching, they enjoyed taking the boat to the Chesapeake Bay and many lakes in other states. In the late ‘90s, they bought a 42-foot sailboat and prepared it for extensive travel. In the fall of 2000, they sailed from Lake Erie, through the Erie Canal, to the Hudson River and then down the River to the Atlantic Ocean, ending up in the Florida Keys. After spending the winter on their boat in Florida, although loving the sailing life and being very blessed, they felt that something was missing. Over the years, the Hamiltons visited many churches of different denominations. It was at a church in their marina that they met a couple who were active with a group that helped troubled children at an orphanage in the Bahamas. The group needed a teacher and a person to perform general work duties at the facility. A course was plotted and plans made to make the crossing in their boat. Foul weather forced them to change course, landing them in Miami, Florida. In the meantime, their youngest daughter, in Ohio, was going to have a baby. 16
Page 1 and 2: Faith On Every Corner Issue 2 Every
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Enter The Mission
Page 5 and 6: Faith On Every Corner Publisher & E
Page 7 and 8: As a teacher-librarian, Vanessa enj
Page 9 and 10: 8 New Feature! Youth In Service Int
Page 11 and 12: Then, in a tiny closet, on a dark,
Page 13 and 14: 12
Page 15: Ruth loves to volunteer, limited on
Page 19 and 20: Ed and Cora served on the Caribbean
Page 21 and 22: If you watched Hunger Games, you mi
Page 23: Book Review Ancient Stones; Timeles

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