STATE NEWS
Williams Baptist launches Prayer Society
WALNUT RIDGE – Williams Baptist University is mounting a renewed focus on prayer, and it is calling on its supporters to join the effort. WBU has announced the formation of a new group, the Eagles Wings Society, whose sole purpose is praying for the university and its people.
WBU President Dr. Stan Norman led in the formation of the society and the group has been formally approved by the university’s board of trustees.
The president said the group has been in development for several weeks, but that the COVID-19 outbreak provides an ideal time to launch a prayer initiative.
Norman said he became convinced of the need for such an organization following several years of his own reading, preaching and commitment on prayer.
“In the course of my studies, teaching and praying, I came to an obvious but somewhat startling realization – if prayer is so important, so absolutely crucial to the faith and service of God’s people, why have we not organized and mobilized the employees, students and friends of WBU to pray for the university and its mission?” Norman said.
The Eagles Wings Society will be co-chaired by Dr. Johnny Hutchison and Dr. Bob Magee. Hutchison is pastor of Highland Drive Baptist Church in Jonesboro and a member of the WBU board of trustees, while Magee is chairman of the WBU Department of Fine Arts and director of the Williams Singers.
Norman said the society will be composed of people who commit to pray for Williams on an ongoing and strategic basis.
Guiding values for membership in the Eagles Wings Society will be:
■ ■ a sincere commitment to pray for WBU.
■ ■ a matured consistency in the spiritual discipline of prayer.
■ ■ a sustained intensity in the expression of prayer.
■ ■ a willingness to pray in individual and corporate contexts.
“It is common for universities to have various types of advisory board (fundraising, advisory, athletic, etc.) – these types of groups are extremely helpful to schools. In fact, we have some of these types of groups at WBU. The Eagles Wings Society is a different type of organization. Membership in the EWS is not an honorific appointment, an award conferred or recognition given for some type of achievement. This is a board of ‘working hard in prayer,’ and the members of EWS must be committed to this crucial work,” he noted.
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Above all, Norman said, the intensi_ed focus on prayer is intended to fortify WBU and its mission in today’s culture.
“The effectiveness of our mission is connected to our praying. To be candid, we will not as Christians in today’s world faithfully and effectively serve the Lord if we do not study his word and pray. And as this matter relates to WBU – Williams Baptist University will only faithfully ful_ll the mission that God has entrusted to us through prayer,” the president said. For more information on the Eagles Wings Society, visit williamsbu.edu/ eagleswingssociety/.
Barbers among those feeling the COVID-19 economic crunch
SEARCY — A Searcy barber says he is one of hundreds, if not thousands, taking a big hit after last Monday’s order from Dr. Nate Smith with the Arkansas Department of Health to close salons, barbershops and tattoo shops in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Arkansas.
Joseph Myles said April 1 will mark his sixteenth year as a barber shop owner. He has been in Searcy for 11 years and started out in Beebe. Myles operates J. Myles barber shop at 3005 Hawkins Dr.
“I know that I am a part of this community,” Myles said. “I do a back to school thing every year, this will be my _fth year. We give away free school supplies for kids and give free haircuts and I have some of my friends come in and help me. Now we do three counties. I do a Christmas event every year where I bless a kid out of my shop. I have the _re department and the police come by for the kids. With this covid virus, I could see it coming but I did not think it would affect the barbers, beauticians and the nail salons so fastly. I thought they would implement a way for us to properly go with health code _rst but at the same time I understand.”
Myles said he puts all trust in God. “I know about friends,” he said. “I know about family. I know that as a people we are going to get greater by having this. I know that it’s going to humble people and we are going to get through this and surpass this. I didn’t think in Arkansas it would shut us down this fast. I thought it would be a couple off months. I own my own business so all my business is on me. I don’t have anyone in the shop to pay but me but over the years I had 31 girls rent booths from me.”
As far as alternate income at the time, Myles said he is also a bail bondsman. “i have been a bail bondsman for three years and with this job I haven’t wrote a bond within a month because they cancelled all court and are letting every.body out of jail on misdemeanors. I got hit twice so I have no income. I never would have thought about this but I’m going to _le for unemployment since I’m shut down. I have no other choice. I have a shop. I have a mortgage. I have double bills. My son Joseph is in a private school, Harding Academy.
Working 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week is the norm for Myles. ‘I still do my other job but I love my people so much so I take care of them.”After dropping Joseph off at school, Myles said he heads right for his shop and gets it open about 8:10 and then he closes at either 7 or 8 o’clock or 9. Friday is Myles’ busiest day and night is Friday.
‘One of the things I have been doing every day is praying is Psalms 91 so I would just say patience, a virtue. I tell everybody we’re going to get through this. God bless.”
Extension Service seeks to establish statewide water quality database
LITTLE ROCK — The acidity, alkalinity and hardness of water used in spray applications can have a signi _cant impact on the herbicide being used and researchers with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture are asking the help of growers in establishing a water hardness and pH database for the state.
Tommy Butts, extension weed scientist and assistant professor for the Division of Agriculture, said extension agents in every county are available to help growers collect one-liter samples.
In addition to testing for pH, agents will test for hardness – or the amount of dissolved calcium or magnesium – and record the water sample’s GPS coordinates. Agents will also add a short description, noting the surrounding conditions. Samples will be analyzed at Division of Agriculture facilities.
“Primarily, we are looking at water that is used for pesticide spray applications, but this can include row crops, pastures, or anything else where this water is being used for pest control,” Butts said. “We will analyze the samples this fall, and we will make sure to share the results again with participants this winter.”
Butts said he and his fellow researchers, as well as extension agents, had _rst collected samples for the database in 2019.
“I greatly appreciated the help that CES agents provided in the collection of samples last year, and I hope we can collect even more this year,” he said.
Butts said the goal of the research is to build a database of spray water quality in Arkansas. Once the results are analyzed, researchers will conduct studies to evaluate how water quality is affecting pesticide applications, and whether external adjustments can or should be made to improve the ef_cacy of pesticides.
Data from growers’ samples will be anonymized in the database, Butts said, and personal information will remain con_dential. The GPS coordinates used to identify the location of speci_c samples will not be made public, but will be used to create a map depicting the general conditions of water throughout the state.
“I realize this may be a challenging task right now with the threat of COVID-19, but I wanted to at least share this now, so if there is a possibility of collecting samples, then we can do it,” Butts noted.
Producers interested in participating in the survey should contact their local CES of_ce, or contact Butts directly at 501-804-7314 or tbutts@uaex.edu.
