Archives for August 2012

Making Clarendon a lighthouse for the Lord is the mission of one local man as he erects white crosses and signs with inspired messages for all to see.

 Jim Griffin says all his efforts are to be a witness for Jesus Christ and to plant seeds that people need in order to find their way to the Lord because the time is short.

“It’s not for anyone’s glory but God’s,” Griffin said, “and seeds are all the Holy Spirit needs to work with.”

Over the past several months, Griffin’s calling has led him to erect between 40 and 50 ten-foot tall crosses and a dozen or more signs that measure four feet by eight feet.

Permission is given by every property owner where the signs or crosses are located, Griffin said. The crosses are constructed of 4-inch thick-wall PVC and are concreted three feet in the ground, and the signs bear messages such as “Repent: Call unto Jesus. The end is near!” and “Receive Jesus. He died for your sins. Behold! The final day approaches.”

Griffin says it’s all designed to make people think and get them into a relationship with Jesus, and he says the wording for the signs comes to him after studying the Bible, hearing messages at church, and listening to inspirational CDs and sources.

“It’s all right from God’s word,” Griffin said.

One of his latest signs invokes the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States to convey its message. “911 Tragedy. Worse things coming! Find Jesus!”

“If you look at Syria and what’s going on in the Middle East and you study the books of Daniel and Revelation and others, you see it,” Griffin said. “Within two years we’re going to have a major catastrophe and be in a war. We are on the verge of the rapture at the doorstep.”

Griffin says he is just trying to follow Christ’s great commission to his disciples to spread the gospel, and he says many churches spend money to send missionaries oversees but don’t reach out to those here at home who need Jesus.

“I don’t want to see anyone go to hell; I want to see us all go to heaven,” said the 68-year-old who has battled cancer and other maladies.

His work hasn’t been without its critics, but he says he doesn’t let that bother him.

“I have had some persecution, but Jesus and his disciples were persecuted,” he said. “I’ve heard one comment that the crosses look like the work of a cult. Whoever believes that doesn’t know what a cult is. A cult doesn’t follow Jesus.”

But Griffin says he also has people who believe in what he’s doing, volunteers who help him install the crosses and signs, and others who have made positive comments.

“A lot of people tell me how blessed they are to have seen it,” he said. “You won’t see any other town that has done what Clarendon has for Christ.”

The mission has not been cheap. Each cross cost $70 to $100 for the material, and each sign costs between $250 and $525. Griffin says he’s paid for 60 to 75 percent of all that cost himself but says he has had some donations.

“I won’t take anybody’s money unless they have a willing heart,” he said. “If they offer money because they feel they have to or they’re ashamed, I won’t take their money.”

For crosses that have been requested outside of Clarendon – in Hedley, Howardwick, Dumas, and one in Colorado – he asks those folks to pay for the materials. But he says if someone can’t afford it, he will still make one for them.

Griffin’s work is also partly a response to the words of President Barack Obama.

“Obama said we’re not a Christian nation anymore,” Griffin said. “Well, I want the world to know that we are a Christian community. A few crosses would have been fine, but a lot of crosses makes an impact.”

Griffin says it is not his intention to demean anyone who believes differently than he does and he says everyone is welcome in Clarendon, but he says he wants to spread the message that he feels is vitally important.

“There is only one way to heaven… through the cross of Calvary,” Griffin said. “Do not be deceived.”

Clarendon ISD students exceeded the new testing targets required by the federal government, but local school trustees are still calling for the Texas Legislature to revamp the accountability system.

Only 44 percent of school campuses and 28 percent of districts in Texas met the standard, but Clarendon and Hedley both did. Scores were based on student performance on the TAKS exam, which has now been replaced by the STAAR test.

“Our kids and teachers worked extra hard and meeting the standard makes us feel good,” CISD Superintendent Monty Hysinger said. “But the stats ratchet up every year.”

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school districts are required to meet certain Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets. For this year the AYP calls for an 87 percent pass rate for Reading/English language arts, and an 83 percent pass rate for math. All three CISD campuses exceeded those goals. Clarendon High School students were 95 percent in reading and 89 percent in math, Clarendon Junior High students were 94 percent in reading and 86 percent in math, and Clarendon Elementary students were 93 percent in reading and 84 percent in math.

“We’re relieved but still cautious,” Hysinger said. “If you don’t meet the AYP, there is a lot of extra work to be done and extra committees that have to be formed.”

The AYP standards increase every year until they reach a mandated 100 percent pass rate in 2014, and that is an unrealistic goal, Hysinger said.

“Basically, there is an overemphasis on testing and it has become very punitive,” Hysinger said, who noted that the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) is now trying to get 80 percent of school districts to sign on to a resolution asking the State Legislature to reexamine the accountability system.

CJH Principal John Taylor agrees that the testing system has gone overboard.

“There is too much testing,” Taylor said. “We can prepare students, but, ultimately it is still a paper and pencil test on one day and you don’t know what else that student has going on in life.”

In addition to the pressure on students and school personnel, CISD officials say the testing system takes up too much time and adds too much cost to schools. A school year has 180 days, and CISD has 40 days of testing schedule across its three campuses.

“We had to bring in ten teachers for two weeks in the summer to do remediation, and we had to hire substitutes during the year to administer the tests,” Hysinger said. “That costs us a lot of money, but imagine what it must be statewide.”

Hedley students did very well on the AYP targets. HISD is looked at by the state as one campus, and students there scored 96 percent on reading and 89 percent on math. Principal David O’Dell said that there is similar sentiment about the accountability system at his school but as of yet Hedley school trustees have not adopted the TASA resolution.

Donley County Commissioners were in budget negotiations this week as they try to cope with rising expenses.

Judge Jack Hall said the Commissioners Court met in regular session Monday and were reconvening in a called meeting Tuesday as the Enterprise went to press. He expected the court to finish its work that day but had another called session planned for Wednesday if needed.

On Monday, the court issued a memo to all county offices asking them to make no further non-mandatory expenditures – including travel, overtime, and supplies – for the current fiscal year which ends September 30.

“We’re in good shape and want to finish in good shape,” Hall said. “We have two months to go, and every bill has gone up just like everyone else.”

In addition to the usual increasing expenses, such as fuel and health insurance, commissioners are still coping with the expense of trying convicted child murderer Robert Babcock.

That case cost the county about $57,000 in the last fiscal year, and Hall said more expenses could still trickle in. In the coming year, the county is setting aside another $50,000 in case Babcock files an appeal.

Hall said state mandated expenses are also hurting the county, and he specifically pointed to about $37,000 Donley County spent on indigent legal defense expenses in addition to the Babcock case where only $30,000 was budgeted.

Commissioners are considering a “slight increase” in taxes, have eliminated one part-time position in the clerk’s office, and are not planning on any raises for county employees this year.