Jay Reed, formerly from Perry, had a vision of starting a Christian newspaper in the Middle Georgia area. He and his wife Suzy spent months making preparations. All they needed was an editor to get the paper off the ground. When Jay shared his vision with my husband and me, I knew that making this paper happen was where God wanted me to be.

I faced a major barrier in those beginning months—I didn't know how to use the new computer equipment or the software, and the price of providing training for me was prohibitive for a fledgling paper. But God provides, and employees from the commercial print division of The Telegraph patiently taught me how to use the Mac, how to lay out a paper using Quark, and how to prepare photos for print in Photoshop.

With the computer no longer my enemy, my journey as a Christian newspaper editor began. Rev. Rick Parker, former pastor of First Baptist Perry, wrote the first "Pastor's Perspective" and was a strong supporter of HIS Voice since the Reeds first shared their vision with him. The first minister that I interviewed for the "Pastor Profile" was Rev. Jim Cowart, and his encouragement gave me the confidence I needed to get out into the community and begin. Each pastor I have interviewed or who has written a pastor's perspective has shared valuable insights with me and the readers of His Voice.

Another blessing of this paper has been meeting and interviewing the many tireless workers who support Christian outreach and evangelistic efforts in our Middle Georgia area. These quiet, steady workers are my heroes of faith.

My family has been supportive in this venture. My husband, Allen, has done the billing since the beginning and has written many fine articles for His Voice. He also mapped out my first delivery route, and since he's retired has taken on additional His Voice routes each month. My son, Brian, who is now married and living in Hampton, Virginia, was a student at Tech at the time the paper started. Brian didn't complain when I turned his bedroom into a home office. My mom was His Voice's first subscriber and has encouraged me each and every issue.

Writers for His Voice have included Mark Stokes, Chris Morrison, Andy Cook, Judy Davis, Beth Anne Grant, Milton Hooper, Charles Cravey, Alline Kent, Sue Kidd, Beth Tolliver, Vicki Coulter, Joy McHale, Paula Day Johns, Greg Davis, Brenda Medlin, Phil Boatwright, Jacob Cox, and the many ministers who contributed columns.

On the distribution end, several people came forward to help at the very beginning. Dick Seifert, who has since moved to Arkansas, distributed the papers in Byron for years. The Byron route was then taken over by Wayne Davidson, a member of Byron United Methodist Church. Margie Cox helped deliver papers in those early months as well as sell ads for His Voice. Other faithful volunteer distributors include George Ealer, Maria Trenham, Joe Hale, Ginny Brantley, Sue Barfield, and Sue Kidd.

The His Voice website (www. hisvoiceonline. com) has been expertly built, maintained and updated each month since September 2002, by web developer Steve Arnold. Steve has also written some insightful articles for His Voice. If you have some time, go online and take a look at the archives of His Voice. It's well worth the effort.

W ithout the financial support of the advertisers and the hard work of selling ads, first by Suzy Reed and then by Greg Davis, this paper could never have been a reality. Greg Davis, in addition to selling ads, has written articles and helped deliver papers to advertisers each month. He has offered many valuable business suggestions to me over the years. I will always appreciate his dedication and belief in the ministry.

His Voice thanks all of the advertisers, past and present, for providing this paper free of cost to our readers.

Thanks to all of you who joined with me in this worthwhile endeavor. Thank you for allowing me to bring you the "good news" of our community for the past six years.