Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 2011 Page: 4 of 20
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Page4A ★ Crowley Star ★ Thursday, April 14, 2011
www.crowleystar.net
Troy
Brewer
Captors spare life
of kidnapped man
The typical midnight sounds from the open window are
drowned out by the banging away of my keyboard.
“Are you writing a column again?” Leanna asks from
under her pillow. “I can tell by the way
you are typing.”
For more than seven years, Leanna
went to unrestful sleep, most nights to
the tune of my rat-a-tat-tats and famous
fury of three-fingered typing skills. I gave
up doing my weekly newspaper column
in January. Since then, there has been
a lot better sleep for the Brewer Bride.
Tonight, the clanging of my clumsy
fingers against my ancient Dell keyboard
plugged into my superior Mac sounds
like a flurry of plastic quails in the room.
Fresh from Like an addict, I have had to go
the Brewer through terrible withdrawals from pour-
ing out my slightly clever and always
irreverent theology from this man of the
cloth without the cloth. These are the confessions of a highly
caffeinated Christian and, at least for this day, the tremors
have ceased. Gosh, I’ve missed y’all.
As my cabin fever gives way to spring fever, I can tell you
I haven’t been bored since the last time we shared this page
together. The big-ticket item in my life has been the new
church building and our celebrated move to Main Street in
Joshua. To tell you the truth, the first six weeks looked less
like a new church had come to town and more like Willie’s
picnic had come through.
There were cars everywhere and people from every direc-
tion. It was kind of like when the Golden Corral first opened
in Burleson. It took a while to get good service because the
staff was just overwhelmed. I mean, who could resist that
tater bar?
Things have began to simmer down a little, and I have a
night to tell you a story you just have to hear.
In mid-February, my phone rang late on a Wednesday
night. When pastors get midnight calls, there really isn’t
much telling what will be on the other end of the line. I
took a deep breath and picked up the receiver. It was from
Mexico, a long-time friend of mine. In broken Tex-Mex I was
able to understand part of the first horrific sentence.
“Sergio has been kidnapped.”
Thirty minutes later, I was on the phone calling my
heaven-raising friends to pray for a miracle. Sergio had been
missing for a day when the church was called by the Mexican
cartel that had abducted him for a ransom. They wanted
$10,000 in three days or they would kill him.
I have been doing a work at orphanages and churches on
the border for 15 years. As everybody knows, the violence
has escalated in terrible ways. Tiffany Hartley, the wife of the
American who was shot while jet-skiing on the border, says
there have been at least 864 Americans murdered on our
border in the past eight years by these maniacs.
While the American government worries about political
correctness and the Mexican government worries about how
it can pocket more cash, the common people on both sides
of the border worry about how they can survive with these
people running around.
I don’t mean to sound hyper-spiritual, but I am telling
you, sometimes the only thing you can do is run to Jesus.
Sometimes there is nothing you can do to control a situation.
All you can do is pray. I do not enjoy those situations but I
thank God I can go to the one who can control a situation.
Four nights later, during a prayer service at that same
church, Sergio walked into the room. Like a scene from the
book of Acts, Sergio was not in the prison with death immi-
nent but standing in the room giving everyone a hug. It was
miraculous. It was amazing. It was like a dream come true
for all of us. There was crying and shouting and more crying
and more shouting. It was wonderful.
The murderers had killed several people locked up with
Sergio that week but inexplicably had taken Sergio away
from the killing field and dropped him off at the front doors
of the church. “You can thank your God for your life,” the
driver told him. “We just don’t feel like killing you today.”
There were no reason for the murders, there were no
reasons for his life spared, it was just what they do and they
didn’t have an explanation. While Sergio is grateful for his
life, he has also battled feeling guilty that he survived when
others didn’t. This is natural, but what is supernatural is that
the hand of a mighty God reached into the dark and made a
way where there was no way.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you,
and you shall glorify Me.
— Psalm 50:15 (English Standard Version)
Troy Brewer pastors Open Door Church In Joshua
and can be reached at troy@opendoorministries.com.
Crowley$cStar
Volume 25, Number 1
20 Pages in 2 Sections
(ISSN-1092-4965)
Periodicals Postage Paid at
Fort Worth, Texas 76161 and
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Playoff travel an unfunded mandate
The North Crowley High School
boys and girls soccer teams had playoff
games at two separate sites in Abilene
on March 29. The
boys’ 2-0 victory over
Midland Lee sent the
Panthers to an area-
round game April 1
against El Paso Soc-
coro in Odessa, which
they won. The girls,
unfortunately, lost to
Odessa.
Dave It’s great to see
r* that aU four Crow-
ley ISD high school
Sorting soccer teams made
it Out the playoffs this year,
with the Crowley
High girls reaching
the sectional round last Friday. What’s
not so great is the University Inter-
scholastic League alignment that has
the North Crowley boys — and other
schools in the Fort Worth/Dallas area
— taking a tour of West Texas.
Luckily, the Panthers played their
next game April 5 in Bedford. Unluck-
ily, they lost.
The CISD is in financial exigency for
the second consecutive year. It is in the
process of eliminating about 60 more
jobs and faces an estimated revenue
loss of up to $13.8 million, though that
could drop as the legislature debates
the budget. Yet, the district must bus
students-athletes hundreds of miles
to a neutral site for a playoff game.
Of course, the El Paso, Midland and
Odessa districts have to do the same
thing, as do others.
It’s all because the UIL insists on
lumping three West Texas Class 5A
districts in with five Metroplex leagues
to form District I. The region stretches
from Plano to El Paso, with stops in
Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland,
Odessa and San Angelo in between.
North Crowley, in District 4-5A, is
paired with District 3-5A — an Abilene-
Midland-San Angelo district — in
bi-district play, and the winners go
up against Districts 1 and 2-5A, which
include El Paso, Amarillo and Lubbock.
Meanwhile, three DFW districts
are in Region II with three Central
Texas districts and two loops com-
prising northern suburbs of Houston.
Poor Mesquite ISD. Its teams have to
travel to Tyler and Longview for district
play, then play squads from Killeen or
Bryan/College Station in the playoffs.
Region III is safely tucked into the
Greater Houston Area, which is what
should happen with DFW districts.
Region IV has four San Antonio-area-
dominated districts and four South
Texas districts.
Class 4A isn’t any better. Region
I has three West Texas districts, four
DFW districts and one Central Texas
loop. Region II has six leagues from the
Metroplex and two from Central Texas.
Insane.
In this day of crumbling school
budgets and rising gas prices, the UIL
is doing a disservice to the schools and
students its supposedly serving to force
school districts to travel obscene dis-
tances. Why North Crowley and North
Mesquite are in different regions while
Allen and Amarillo are in the same re-
gion defies belief. You have San Marcos
and the Austin schools, just a half-hour
apart, in different regions.
The UIL will not realign the districts
until next February, but it needs to look
at how it separates the DFW districts.
Yes, there are 10 Houston-area Class
5A districts and 10 DFW-area Class 4A
districts, so some compromises will
have to be made. But better to stick
extra DFW districts with East Texas
or Central Texas compilations than to
send them all the way to West Texas.
In Class 5A, it is relatively easy. Put
the eight DFW districts in one region.
Keep eight Houston-area leagues in one
region, and put the other two with the
three Central Texas districts and three
of the four San Antonio-area loops. The
fourth region would be the spare San
Antonio district — perhaps the one with
Corpus Christi schools — and the South
Texas and West Texas units.
In a story last week, state Rep. Bill
Zedler talked about “unfunded man-
dates” being placed on school districts.
In a way, this is what the UIL is doing
in making scholastic sports teams travel
so much to play playoff games. They
are forcing the districts to pay for gas,
meals and sometimes even lodging they
wouldn’t have to pay for if the games
were closer. It’s yet another way to cut
the cost of education.
Because what are the schools going
to do? Forfeit a playoff game because it
costs too much money?
Dave Sorter is editor of the Crowley
Star. Contact him at crowleystar@
thestargroup.com.
Texas elderly concerned with hunger
For thousands of Texans,
eating dinner tonight is not a
foregone conclusion.
Tex-
as has
the
fourth
highest
hunger
rate
among
the
elderly.
OUie Texans
Besteiro fight
~ tooth
Commentary
nail for their legislative pri-
orities this session, many of
the most vulnerable among
us are losing a much more
difficult battle - the fight
against hunger.
We’re in a time when
nutrition is particularly on
everyone’s mind, and it is
important to remember that
nearly one in five Texans
is at risk of going hungry.
And the problem goes well
beyond our borders. Of the
51 million Americans who
struggle with hunger every
day, more than 6 million are
over the age of 60. This is a
problem we can solve.
AARP is leading the Drive
to End Hunger program to
help alleviate hunger prob-
lems among senior citizens.
The campaign includes vol-
unteer-led food drives, indi-
vidual and corporate funding
campaigns, and local SNAP
(“food stamp”) enrollment
assistance. We hope to make
a real difference for those
most susceptible to hunger.
NASCAR Sprint Cup
driver Jeff Gordon and team
owner Rick Hendrick are
among those partnering with
AARP. Through its Founda-
tion, AARP has organized
donations that will provide
more than 146,000 meals
for hungry seniors during
the opening weeks of the
2011 NASCAR season. As the
program grows in size and
visibility, the likelihood of
shrinking hunger risk will
also grow with it.
As Texans watch the
Legislature decide the
direction of our state, it is
important to remember that
the priorities and changes
occur outside of the capitol
as much as within it. The
fight against hunger does not
occur within party lines or in
legislative committees. It is
something that everyone can
be a part of, no matter your
age or political beliefs.
Donations to the Drive to
End Hunger program benefit
the hunger programs of the
AARP Foundation. AARP
is making fighting hunger a
top priority, but we need the
help of all Texans to make it
to the finish line.
Across the state of Texas,
food banks provide emer-
gency aid for nearly 3 million
people each year. Meals on
Wheels programs give older
and disabled Texans the
opportunity to stay in their
homes without the fear of
hunger. Any gift or volunteer
time to these organizations
goes a long way to stopping
hunger.
As long as Texans go to
bed hungry, the fight will
march on. The AARP, food
banks and hunger programs
across the state will be avail-
able to make sure that the
hunger issue never takes a
backseat.
This National Nutrition
Month, take time to think
of our most vulnerable
neighbors who struggle to
find their next meal. Texas
seniors are one of the groups
across the country most sus-
ceptible to hunger risk. It’s
time to reach out a helping
hand to the hungry.
Learn more at www.
drivetoendhunger.org.
Ollie Besteiro is president
of AARP Texas.
letters policy
The Crowley Star welcomes letters to the editor for consideration for pub-
lication. Letters to the editor are offered by the newspaper to the community
for expression of personal views on matters of concern.
Residents are encouraged to use the column in a constructive manner,
sharing their views on subjects of interest with the newspaper's readers. Let-
ters are individual opinions and not those of this newspaper.
Each letter must be original, limited to 300 words or fewer, signed by the
writer and bear the address and phone number of the writer. Only the writer's
name and the city will be published with the letter. The Crowley Star does not
withhold the writer's name for any reason. Anonymous letters or letters signed
by an unidentifiable pseudonym will not be published. The phone number and
address are necessary for verification of authenticity or clarification of content.
Letters which cannot be verified will not be published.
The Crowley Star reserves the right to edit all letters. Letters deemed
libelous, slanderous, unclear or otherwise unacceptable will not be published.
Thank-you expressions singling out individuals or organizations will not be
published. Poetry is unacceptable as a letter to the editor.
During election campaigns, the Crowley Star will accept letters to the
editor discussing issues or offering endorsements. The deadline for election-
related letters is two weeks prior to Election Day.
Address letters to: Editor, Crowley Star, P.O. Box 909, Burleson, TX 76097-
0909. Letters may also be faxed to 817-295-5278, or e-mailed to publisher@the-
stargroup.com. Faxed and e-mailed letters must include the writer's complete
address and daytime telephone number.
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Sorter, David. Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 2011, newspaper, April 14, 2011; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth807071/m1/4/?q=%22~1~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.