by Tommy Wampler
Down at the lake, near the Dollar General, a young girl looked down and saw a little tub of pens that changed messages when clicked. Big deal, right? For Emma Failmezger, yes, it was. Manning native and lake dweller, Emma is only 16 years old, but she saw that tub of pens and thought, “People use pens. That’s a great way to spread the Gospel.” With help from her pastor at Emmanuel Baptist and encouragement from her parents, Mike and Shea Failmezger, she created a fundraising website for ‘Jesus Pens.’ Within weeks, about $4,000 had been raised and Emma had ordered 2,500 pens. It is now a recognized 501c3 non-profit with its own website, JesusPen.org. “The pens are a great way to evangelize. Sharing the Gospel is hard sometimes, but as Christians we have to get out of our pews,” said Emma. “The messages offer pointers to go off to witness.” Jesus Pens are on 5 out of 7 continents today with plans for many more to be delivered. Her dad, Mike, is a pilot for Delta, so “I may get to deliver pens to India personally.” Emma has been homeschooled since 3rd grade with the Charlotte Mason Curriculum. “It is book based teaching, the textbooks are narratives that tell a story,” she said. “My family travels a lot so we thought this method would be better for me, my 2 brothers and my sister to get our education.” This hasn’t stopped her from being a normal teenager. She plays volleyball at church and is on the Manning High tennis team. This past year she picked up a new sport, fencing. “My brothers were doing it and it looked fun,” she said with a little grin. “Plus I get to stab at them. That’s pretty awesome.” She says she picked up the sport quickly. So quickly in fact, she will be travelling to Memphis, TN for the Junior Olympics. Emma and 3 other young ladies will be representing South Carolina in Fencing. This young woman is on the path to greatness. She resonates with confidence and determination. Faith and trust in the Lord give her strength but it’s hard to say whether her Jesus Pen is mightier than her sword. En garde!
