Military Funeral

Today at NewPointe we hosted a memorial service for Corporal Keith Nepsa. This young man, 21 years old, was serving his country in Iraq. This was his second tour of duty. He was killed in action last week along with a close friend. This is the first time I experienced a military funeral. I was amazed at how well the Army cared for this family. They assigned an officer to be with the family through this entire ordeal. He will continue to be close to the family as all the details of paperwork and personal effects get taken care of. You could see and hear the concern they all had for this young man’s family.

I got to meet an incredible woman. Brigadier General Margrit Farmer was on hand to participate in the services. I got to meet her on Sunday night and found her to be down to earth, sincere and very approachable. I got to meet some other great officers in our Army as well. As I interacted with these “military” people I was encouraged by the integrity and level of leadership that I saw in these men and women. We have some great leaders that are behind the scenes working hard every day for our country. It was an honor to meet each one.

I also got to meet our Governor Ted Strickland and congressman Zack Space. Other elected officials were on hand as well. Again I found them all to be very sincere in their efforts to honor this brave young man and his family.

The service for Keith Nepsa went very well. Pastor Bill Sowers from Broadway United Methodist church gave the message and did a nice job of honoring Keith Nepsa and his family and presenting the Gospel. Scott Miller sang two songs and was truly amazing. He sang “The Lord’s Prayer” at the beginning and “God Bless the USA” at the end. Wow, with the American Flag on the big screen behind Scott as he sang that closing song it brought tears to my eyes and goose bumps to my skin. Great job Scott!

We also had a great group of people from Geib Funeral home led by Brian Hanner. They did a top notch job in covering all the details that went into this service. Thanks Brian.

We also had over 20 volunteers that came in to help make this service run smoothly. We had a host team in place to greet the people and help them find the auditorium and restrooms. They really helped set the tone as people arrived. We also had an usher team ready in the auditorium to help people find a seat and answer any questions people may have had. We had our sound and tech team in place as well to make sure the sound, lighting and video all worked seamlessly.

I want to personally thank each and every person that took time out of their schedules to come out and serve at this funeral. It humbles me to see people take vacation days and time off work to come and serve. These are special folks that have a heart for Jesus Christ. I really get excited when I see our Church BEING the church to our community. All the glory goes to Jesus Christ.

I am sure that many seeds were planted in the hearts of the people that attended this service. Each person that served and helped put this service together played a part in planting those seeds. What a great opportunity to serve the Lord.

Our prayers and sympathy go out to the Nepsa family.

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