NORTH ELMORE, ALABAMA
By Wayne Dozier
ROBERT DUNCAN – The Meat Man was also a man who was very highly respected in the community and his church. One day a young lady that I had gone to school with many years ago came into the store. She had not lived in our community for a long time and her parents had died leaving her some property in our area. She told me that her property joined the property of a local church, the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Elmore, Ala. She said that she could sell the property for a nice price as it was road front property on a major highway. She asked me about the people that attended the church and what kind of people they were.
I told her that a lot of the families who attended the church had been customers of ours for many years. I said that I could introduce her to Robert Duncan, our meat cutter, who was a fine Christian man and a leader in the church, community and that he was an example of the caliber of people in that church family. I took her to the meat department and introduced her to Robert. In about 30 minutes she came back and said that if he was an example of the people in that church, “I WANT TO GIVE THE PROPERTY TO THEM, FREE!!” Today a beautiful new church sits on that property.
She had only one request in donating the land. One of Mt. Zions members by the name of Joe Washington had always let her ride around the town of Elmore with him on his mule drawn wagon. They would go around town selling watermelons during the summer. Her request was that a plaque with his name on it be put up at the site of the new church, stating that this land was given in memory of Joe, of which they did.
Betty and I were privileged to attend Robert’s funeral not too long after the new church was built. So many people attended and there was an overflow crowd standing outside the sanctuary. I miss Robert and the many talks over the years in which he shared so much wisdom with me.
This is a beautiful example to me of how God can use any person that will just make themselves available. Remember the life you live could have a great influence on others; even after you are deceased.
NOTE: You will notice that in most of all my writings when I am referring to another person, I do not mention their name if they are still alive. In this article though I did mention the names of the two men who are both deceased. The woman I mentioned is still alive. HOWEVER, I would like to point out something that I think our society needs to take notice of…..the two men were black men and the woman was a white lady. BUT they didn’t let color stand in the way. You see how God used both races to not only help each other, but to help a community, and further His Kingdom through the local church.
THIS IS WHAT HAS MADE AMERICA GREAT….WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER !!!!!
GOD BLESS AMERICA
