GOD'S PROMISE OF COMFORT AND PEACE! 9/29/13

THE PASTOR of my youth still teaches me today! Lots of years have passed but no matter what lesson I am preparing or when I am teaching, his name comes to mind; what he said; what he believed and just how kind and patient he was with me. The following story is not mine! This was written by my dearest of friends, about her father and unknown to him, what he accomplished through the loving care of our heavenly Father!


MR. ELLETT left behind his lovely wife, Kathryn and two daughters, Iona Kay and her sister Leilani. In 2001 the girls were concerned about the care their mother so desperately needed, and through a chain of events found Beth, a Filipino woman. She was a God send because she became far more to all of them, than what they ever dreamed. In around 2005 Iona Kay wrote a biography of her mom and dad and gave it to her mother for her birthday. The next day, after an outing with her mom, and upon returning to her mom’s home, Beth came running out of the house, beaming with joy. She could hardly wait to tell her the most wonderful story.

“BETH’S STORY!” “In the summer of 1945, Beth’s grandparents were among a group of Filipinos on the island of Leyte who had been brutally murdered by Japanese forces. When the U.S. Army heard of this, they sent a young chaplain to the survivors. He comforted them and conducted services for them; they called him “Father!” He became very special to them and was remembered as a kind and humble man. The surname on his pocket was “Ellett” but he told them to call him “Lertis.” From then on they referred to him as “Father Lertis.” Beth’s father, a young man at the time, passed down this story to Beth and her siblings. Beth said, whenever she and her brothers and sisters would ask about the events of the war, they would always hear about “Father Lertis” and the wonderful things he did for their family. Though Beth would not be born for four more years, she had heard about Father Lertis practically her whole life.” When Beth started working for my mother, she noticed a picture of my father in his military uniform, with the name “Ellett” on his pocket. She thought to herself then, “Could this be the Father Lertis I had heard about from my father? Could this be the man who ministered to my family in their deepest hour of need?” She considered the possibility, but didn’t realize how unusual his name was. When she read the biography of my father and realized he was stationed in the South Pacific during the war, including a stint in the Philippines in 1945 on the Island of Leyte, she finally connected the dots. This was the “Father Lertis” whom she had heard about all her life!

IONA KAY thought, without a doubt, this “Father Lertis”, was in fact her father, Lt. Col. Lertis Ross Ellett. Beth’s story touched the Ellett family in a way that nothing else could, when it came to knowing and understanding that their father was indeed a man of God, for all people! This wonderful story taught Iona Kay about the circle of God’s love. How her father brought comfort and hope to Beth’s family and how Beth was now bringing comfort and peace to “father Lertis’ family. Seed’s planted by Mr. Ellett in the summer of 1945 were bearing fruit for eternal life!

NOT LONG after this story was brought to light, Beth requested to be baptized. David, Mr. Ellett’s grandson, a minister and college professor at Hope International University, was able to perform the baptism. As Beth stood next to Iona Kay’s son in the watery grave, she couldn’t help but think that her father was there in the midst of them, just as he had been with her family!

GOD’S WORD says that we shouldn’t be anxious about the things we need, like the world does. God encourages his faithful followers to put their trust in Him for everything!    “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”   Matthew 6:33   God’s plan for us is to have a hope and a future. What we hope for may not happen in our life time, but the future is there until Christ returns. Mr. Ellett’s future was in his wife and his family. What they saw and heard strengthens their circle of love, until Christ returns.  Used by permission   -  Jane Ann Crenshaw 9/25/13