Thursday afternoon I was given the opportunity to participate in the Bennettsville National Day of Prayer service.
As a reporter it is not often I am part of the article, some even accuse the media of always lurking around in the shadows looking for a story, and to some degree, I suppose that is true, even if the mental image it paints is less than flattering.
That being said, I felt personally blessed to have been granted the opportunity to pray and meet with you on a one-one basis.
It is tough leaving a place where you have become so personally entrenched in the lives of the people you report on, but I have to say since coming to the Herald-Advocate, I have felt welcomed from day one in Marlboro County. I am the sort of person who gets homesick on occasion, and I want to thank Mayor Tyron Abraham for inviting me to participate in the service, making me feel included in the community.
One thing I have learned in reporting is that there is definitely a love-hate relationship with the media, so thick skin is required, but moments like Thursday remind me why my job is so important.
As a Christian, it was an honor to talk about the Lord and share my faith with you.
I think the idea of bringing the community together spiritually is beautiful and I was impressed by how many turned out for the event given the last minute change in venue due to the rain. It is my humble opinion, that holding similar prayer events more frequently can only be unifying for the county as a whole.
Clio Mayor Adam Pate, Sheriff Larry McNeil, Bennettsville City Administrator William Simon Jr., Bennettsville City Councilman Cy’Heim McRae, Bennettsville Police Chief Sammy Crosland, and many other county officials were present to join in the community prayer service and I found it encouraging to see such an abundance of caring, compassionate leaders.
As parishioners, we often take for granted our religious leaders will be at our beck and call, and it was nice to see so many pillars of faith turn out for the mayor’s special prayer service.
Many of you expressed a desire for honesty in media and that is one thing I promise you I will always try my very best to give you because I believe my word is my bond but I am human, and I can promise you I will make mistakes! And when I make an error at work—it’s pretty public!
Times are scary—especially with our media because it seems all too often these days, we can’t trust our ears or our eyes. This is a position humanity has not found itself in before and how we move forward will determine the outcome of our future.
AI is scary. It is taking jobs and it does allow for the creation of credible deception. For this reason, honesty and integrity in media has never been more important, and I promise to do my best to provide the kind of coverage I heard requested.
I wrote for my previous paper for over two years and made deep bonds with members in the community, which is something I truly hope to do here. I shared in their struggles, concerns, tears, and uplifting moments—as I hope to one day do in the Marlboro community.
Following the prayer service, I received emails from some of you that I met and I want to say that was also a blessing to me.
Expressed loudly and clearly at the prayer service was our need to hire office staff and I can promise you we are working to get someone hired.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for including me and making me feel welcomed Marlboro County and Mayor Abraham!