In sports, the best defense is often a good offense.

Trigg County Sheriff Ray Burnam applies that philosophy at The Way. And it reaps benefits.

The sheriff doesn’t want a kid’s first encounter with the law to be a bad one. He wants them to know law enforcement is their friend. So Ray and his deputies often spend evenings at The Way playing basketball or whiffle ball with students or just hanging out and talking with them.

The basketball games he has organized between his department and “The Way All-Stars” have been especially successful in building relationships and fostering mutual respect.

So when Sheriff Burnam recently became a Proud Sponsor of The Way, we were incredibly grateful but not surprised.  As much as his generous donation, we appreciate the precious time he gives to those who attend The Way.

The Way thanks Ray and his family – son Tyler, wife Tasha and daughter Tori – for becoming silver sponsors. And we look forward to seeing him and his deputies in our new youth center behind the school campus.

We normally don’t run two photos with a sponsor post. For Winston Perry, we’ll make an exception. He deserves it.

When The Way needed expertise and organization in preparing the building site for the new youth center at 197 Lafayette Street, we approached Winston. He readily agreed.

First, he worked with civil engineers, surveyor Matt Clark, county officials and The Way’s Project Manager Jerry Schisler to determine exactly what work needed to be done. He then proceeded to singlehandedly spend several days doing all the dozer work necessary to ready the site for the building.

Normally, such work would cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in labor, equipment costs and fuel. Winston donated it all to The Way, charging us nothing.

Without his work, there’s a strong possibility our timetable to open the new youth center this fall might have been endangered. What’s more, Winston has agreed to provide advice and assistance in preparing the rest of the property for parking, drainage and recreation.

There are no words to express our gratitude for his tireless efforts. Those of us who work at The Way will never forget his invaluable contributions each time we see the building and property. We thank God that he is a Proud Supporter of The Way.

Anyone needing dozer services from an honest, skilled, professional should contact Winston Perry at 270.522.6576.

Matthew Clark is a great example of Trigg County generosity when it comes to supporting our youth, especially for the cause of Christ.

Matthew has selflessly volunteered to provide any and all surveyor work required for The Way to get to where we are today. Matt has surveyed, resurveyed, surveyed the next piece of property, marked the building location corners twice, assisted Winston Perry in getting started with site preparation, and performed other necessary services.

Once it was all accomplished, The Way gratefully thanked Matthew. His reply? “Let me know what else I can do to help.”

The Way truly appreciates Matthew’s expertise and generosity. Unfortunately, once the building is finished, no one will notice the surveying. However, those of us who have been involved will remember what he and others did behind the scenes to get the project off paper and into reality. These people saved this ministry thousands and thousands of dollars.

“I am just glad to be a part of something that I hope my new daughter will enjoy someday,” Matthew said. We look forward to seeing her walk through the doors of the youth center her dad helped build.

The Way owes a huge debt of gratitude to our latest Proud Supporter. If you ever need surveying work done, we encourage to you to contact Matthew Clark, professional land surveyor, at 270.365.9500.

St. Stephen Catholic Church has been a Proud Supporter of The Way since 2014. Father Greg Trawick (pictured), one of the kindest and most thoughtful men in Trigg County, has been especially supportive.

Father Greg has shared several devotions at The Way and stays afterwards to talk with students, build rapport, and let them know they are loved by God. St. Stephen is also a monthly financial partner with The Way.

St. Stephen was built in 1966 as a mission of St. Peter and Paul Church in Hopkinsville. The Extension Society in Chicago donated more than half the $27,000 construction costs. Since that money came from a bequest of Leslie O’Brian of Chicago in honor of his brother Stephen, the mission was placed under the protection of St. Stephen, the first martyr.

Besides Father Greg, The Way thanks other members of St. Stephen for their support, including (but certainly not limited to) the Rea, Kell and Howard families.

St. Stephen is located at 1698 Canton Rd. Weekday Masses are at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday and 12:05 p.m. Friday. Weekend Masses are 6:30 p.m. Saturday (Vigil) and 8:00 a.m. Sunday, plus 9:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of every month.

For more information, call 270.522.3901.

You can’t build a modern, fully equipped youth center without a professional architect. So when it came time to choose one, The Way selected Wayne Clayton (pictured) of CS Design Inc. He’s now a Proud Supporter of this ministry.

Since early 2015, he has provided hundred of hours of pro bono services, saving The Way thousands of dollars in professional fees. “I am glad to be able to help an organization that means so much to the community. Cadiz has been good to us and we are pleased to give back when we can,” Wayne says.

His professionalism and expertise in designing the new facility, coordinating with other architects and engineers, working with the state to get plans approved for building, and performing other duties has been absolutely invaluable through the entire process.

The Way thanks the Lord for the generosity and selfless service of people like Wayne Clayton. Should you ever need a top-notch architect for your project, we highly recommend him.

CS Design’s local office is at 67 Main Street. Wayne can be reached at 270.522.7505. 

The Little River Baptist Association (LRBA) has been a Proud Supporter of The Way even before The Way opened in May 2011. It has encouraged associational churches and Christians to not only be financial partners, but also get personally involved in the ministry.

Previous Director of Missions Mike Rust and current Director of Missions Paxton Redd (pictured) have prayed for, promoted, provided personal encouragement, and been actively involved in the ministry. Both have done many daily devotions at The Way and have been blessed to see young people find a relationship with Christ Jesus.

Paxton also served on The Way’s board of directors for three years. During that time, he was a passionate advocate of helping those Jesus referred to in Matthew 25 as “the least of these.” He states: “The Lord is using The Way to reach young people for Christ who are not otherwise being reached”.

“We are proud to be a part of the Lord’s ministry at The Way,” says LRBA Ministry Assistant and Secretary Shari Littlejohn (pictured).  She has assisted The Way in a multitude of ways, including publicity, prayer, technical and administrative support, etc.