I first met John or as I had always known him “Bro. Jack” when I was 5 years old. He brought me to church on the bus where I would come to know the Lord as my personal savior. When my family moved, Bro. Jack managed to find me and keep me in church throughout my adolescence. Even after his days as the bus captain, he and Linda would pick me up and drive me in their own car. During my teen years, they offered me work and tasks for his business, Faith Financial, to help pay for Christian Camps and eventually even offered me a work scholarship for Christian School through helping in their home. Over the years, Brother Jack was a spiritual mentor, father figure, and even was a guest speaker at my graduation. The Holtsclaws were my example of Christian parents, faithful servants, and abundant givers. Without them, I wouldn’t know the Lord as Savior, wouldn’t have married a Christian man, raised my own sons to know the Lord, or served in children’s ministries since I was basically a child myself. In the last few years I was reunited with now “Bro. John” and he would always greet me with a hug and with remembrance and pride for his “little bus kid”. Even the last time I visited him with Linda in his care facility, he still knew me and still communicated his pride. His legacy continues on in countless lives as trophies of grace. He is surely hearing “Well done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant” in the presence of Our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for Heaven and the reunion we will have.
