Martha Hays

To the Hays family, I never had the chance to meet Martha in 'real life'. Instead, we were friends on the forum orthodoxchristianity.net and on Facebook. Over the years, we exchanged many messages to each other, helping one another through various issues and always encouraging each other. Martha was truly a sweet, gentle and delicate soul. I am so very sorry for your loss. I sorely miss her humor and warm advice. Please know that I, along with many, many others, are praying for your family. Eternal memory to the Handmaiden of God, Martha. Very sincerely, Christian Patton

Dear Hays family: I knew Martha only on the Internet (OrthodoxChristianity.Net)but she impressed me greatly as a true Christian, a gentle soul, and just a good person. I am honored and privileged to have known her even to such limited degree. May her memory be eternal and may the Lord comfort you at this time of loss.

To all the Hays family, my sympathy is with you in the loss of your beloved Martha. I learned to know her through Menno Discuss and was blessed often by her thoughtful and insightful posts there on a wide range of topics - her vast knowledge on a plethora of subjects was a delight! Menno Discuss will never be the same without her presence. But most of all I will miss her loving friendship and the chats and emails we shared. Her honesty about her struggles with both her past pain and her faith in God as she walked the arduous cancer journey was refreshing and encouraging. I was so glad when she came through her faith struggle victoriously. And glad she had a faith community who allowed her to be real and honest through it all. She told me how much it meant to her that her struggles and doubts were met with love and acceptance. She loved her church so much. Oh Martha, I am glad you are safely home at rest, but how we'll miss you! May her memory be eternal!

Brotherly greetings Hays family, My name is Dan Ziegler, and I am president of Rosedale Bible College, a small Mennonite institution in Ohio. I wanted to share with you what a blessing your dear Martha was to me and many others through her participation in an on-line discussion board called MennoDiscuss. Through her interaction with us, it became apparent that sister Martha's spiritual journey was sincere, her heart was tender, and her insights profound. Although she began her faith journey among the Mennonites, she loved the church God eventually led her to, and most of all she loved her Lord Jesus and lived for His service. Even though I've never had the privilege of meeting her personally, I can say that Martha was one of the dearest, most humble, and most encouraging people I've ever interacted with. A few months ago, in a personal correspondence with me, she shared the following about her journey to the Orthodox church: "...i am so happy to be Orthodox, and everyone is so good and kind and loving. no, they are not uber organized like the mennonites, but everyone does care and i have a circle of loving friends." I'm glad to hear that Martha was surrounded by that circle, and her family, as she crossed over in to eternity a few days ago. Later in the same note, Martha shared the following reflection on faith: "it's rather like one of my greek orthodox friends explained to me recently, ' christianity is not about a set of rules which must be grimly followed, but it's about Jesus setting up ideals towards which we should strive...we may not always be able to meet them and we will fail a great deal in the process, but we keep pressing onwards and upwards to the goal...'." I believe with all of my heart that our sister has achieved this goal, and is enjoying being well once again...in the presence of Jesus. May the Comforter be a strong presence in each of your lives as you grieve the passing of your beloved Martha. In Christian love, Dan Ziegler