He approached us just as you would expect a 52-year-old Green Beret veteran should — confident, armed and seeking out information.

Deven lives a few doors down. Some of our neighbors consider this retired soldier quite nosy; however, we enjoy the transparency of our unlikely friendship. Thankfully, our years living overseas changed our perspectives toward personal space, making us more open with private information. We answered the many questions Deven shot at us.

Seeking a purpose for his now unstructured days, Deven visits often and was initially a wealth of information to us newbies. He used his tractor to help us with our garden and assisted in unloading heavy items. He even made sure we got a local telephone book. We were indebted to his kindness and generosity from day one.
When our pastor dedicated our house, we invited neighbors and local church families. Deven’s wife declined, but he was punctual, as the Army had ingrained in him. He joined a few men on one corner and offered a simple prayer over the property and us. He seemed to enjoy socializing with everyone into the evening hours. 

Deven likes to jest over our plant-based lifestyle; however, he was still willing to eat watermelon and cookies with us during a recent yard sale. His language shows the influence of a life that has seen too much war and fighting, but he is conscious of honoring the Lord’s name around us. As our friendship has deepened, Deven has even shared with us the physical disabilities and PTSD that haunts his worn body and mind.

We have given The Great Controversy to him twice. The second one was for his wife, Dell, in case he discarded the first one. Dell is less engaging with us but recently opened up about how hard it was over the years to be alone for months, not knowing where Deven was serving in the world or the danger he was encountering. 

Please join us in praying for Deven and Dell, plus their adult children and grandchildren.

We pray our friendship continues growing and they enlist under a new Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ!

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