Remembering Don Hale

My friend and brother in Christ, Don Hale, left this troubled world on November 5th, 2022. I am confident that he is now smiling and singing in a new, glorious world that is often referred to as the New Jerusalem. Heaven, if you will.

At Don’s “Celebration of Life” service last evening, I heard many sentiments that were familiar to me. If you knew Don at all, you knew that he was certainly one of those “larger than life” men who was full of energy, always “into something,” and often “like a bull in a China shop,” so to speak. I say that in love, not as a criticism. At times, I can be the same 😉 However, one BIG new thing that I learned last night was that years ago, before I met Don, he donated a kidney to a young man that he knew in Memphis, TN from the days when he was a carpet salesman. Don spent many years working with a major carpet manufacturer and represented them as a traveling commercial salesman. This is how he met and grew close to the young man who was the kidney recipient. This same man spoke at the celebration service last night. I am amazed that I never heard of that tremendous selfless act… but, that was just like Don. As powerful and loud as he could sometimes be, he didn’t brag about himself or put himself on a pedestal. He was always trumpeting his love for the Lord or talking about ministry things beyond himself. That, in itself, is a rare trait. Immediately below, I will list a few things that were specific to my life and how Don and I were connected. Those items will be followed by a few photos that reflect some of those bullet points. Some of the points / photos will be connected and if so, the reference will go from the top left photo, moving from left to right.

Photo and story one… this one makes me smile and was taken in October of 2008. Here is the back-story… I had been convicted (spiritually) to organize a men’s ministry group that would meet every couple of weeks, specifically away from the church property. My conviction was to gather a small group of men to encourage them to do ministry activities and Bible study in the field. Don was one of the men I asked to join this group. After we had been together for a few months, our church, Chapel Hill Baptist, was launching into a unique scriptural study by Rick Warren. It was called 40 Days of Community and culminated in a community outreach event. My small men’s group was asked to organize the event. I could relate lots of God stories associated with this event, but the short version is this. We organized a Hispanic outreach for Gibson County. It was held at Bailey Park in Humboldt, TN and was a very successful outreach. Don was one of the men who really embraced the effort and he supported this ministry for years into the future.
Photo and story two… this is a small group of church friends from Chapel Hill Baptist who gathered together at a home in Milan, TN to go through a summer home-based Bible study together. It was June of 2016, after Dawn and I were back home from Europe. I happened to be leading the study. Don and Kathy were married by this time. I specifically remember them riding up on a big hog of a motorcycle. Don and Kathy were both smiling like a couple of giddy teenagers. They loved living life together and it was plainly seen by all!
Photo and story three… this is a simple image, but one that shows the ministry heart of Don… Kathy too 🙂 It was taken at a Fall festival on the property of Chapel Hill Baptist. I recall that it was a chilly (some might say cold) night and they manned that popcorn machine faithfully all evening. It was not an up-front teaching gig, no…. it was more of the get-er-done grunt work. Don was perfectly willing to do either. Often, church folks might be willing to do one or the other, not both. Don Hale was just as comfortable bagging popcorn as he was leading a class. I believe the Apostle Paul discussed this in 1 Corinthians 9:22 and Don knew how to live it.
Photos four, five, and six and story… these three photos are connected to Dawn and my journey into the mission field of Eastern Europe with IMB. Let me say something here. For the sake of this post, I will often use “Don” as a reference and in most cases, Kathy is just as much a part of the situation. I know Kathy well enough that she will not be offended if I don’t say “and Kathy” each time. Now, back to the story.

Photo four is a tribute portrait that Don made for Dawn and I (sneakily) to remind the church to pray for us while we were in Europe. It was on the wall in the courtyard area of the church for the years while we were gone. After our return, we took it with us and it is now in my office at CEF of Greater Jackson as a reminder of that part of my life as a foreign missionary.

Photo five is a reminder of a VERY SPECIAL BLESSING. It is a photo of my whole family being united in the Spring of 2010. Don and Kathy initiated the events which helped our two children – Josh and Heather – come to Romania and spend almost four weeks with us. Honestly, we could not afford to make this happen on our own, but these dear friends offered to pay half the cost. I am pretty sure that most people back home did not even know that they did this. This act of generous giving was one of the greatest blessings we received while we were away. The photo shows us gathered for breakfast the morning after the kids joined us in our apartment in Braila, RO. Honestly, while we were in Europe, this was one of the very few gifts that we received and it was huge. Don took care of our kids in many other ways during those years and often helped when no one else was available or willing to do so. Words cannot express how deeply we appreciated all the kind things that Don did for our family during those difficult years… this kind of generosity is uncommon even in the Christian world of believers.

Photo six is of a lovely supper meal that we had in Humboldt at Wall Street Grill while Dawn and I were home for a mid-term break. We came home from Romania for four weeks as part of an agreement with IMB and then went back and soon afterward moved to Czech Republic. The picture also shows mutual friends, brothers in Christ, Gary Autry and Jason Hance. It is interesting to note that Gary was also one of the men that I selected to be in the group referred to in first story. Jason was our “right hand man” for the Hispanic outreach effort He spoke Spanish and shared our burden to reach out to this specific community. Jason and his dear wife led this ministry for years after we went to Europe with IMB.
The rest of the photos… were taken at the celebration service last night at Elevate Church in Milan, TN. I could tell you much much more about this strong Christian man, Don Hale. However, since this is a bit of a long post, I’ll finish by saying that my life was impacted greatly by the love, generosity, and genuine Christian compassion of Donald Philip Hale. Naturally, this sentiment extends to my wife and children too.