CLARKS GREEN, Pa. — While it may have looked like a typical service at the Servant Church of the Abingtons in Clarks Green, many veterans and military families filled the pews for a special sermon ahead of Memorial Day.
Including Gina and Jay Jayne, who met during their time in Germany while in the Army.
“The service is for all veterans, first responders, and it just gives them a feeling of hope,” said Gina Jayne from Newton Township.
The Jaynes planned this church service and invited Sergeant Carlos Evans to give service men and women that feeling of hope.
Sergeant Evans came home from his deployment in Afghanistan without his legs and his left hand after stepping on an IED.
Today, the Marine Corps Chaplin shared what Memorial Day means to him.
“So it's very important to bring awareness, especially to the young generation, that the freedom we are enjoying today has a price,” explained Sergeant Carlos Evans, U.S. Marine Corps.
One of the goals of his sermon was to make sure service men and women feel seen.
“40% are veterans in the community. And they're amazing because they not only serve their community, but their church and their families, they are so involved,” Gina Jayne added.
Sergeant Evans hopes sharing his near-death experience will encourage other veterans to open up about their stories too.
“There's purpose in our scars. That we're not victims of our tears. That we have a purpose, we have opportunity, to look at yourself the way God sees you,” he mentioned.
And help others who may not know someone in the armed forces understands the sacrifices military personnel make.
“Today, I'm touching more people with only one hand than when I had two. I'm leaving more footprints in people's lives than when I had feet. There's no excuse to touch someone, to change their lives,” explained Sergeant Evans.
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