 Good evening, everyone. I'm Tom Cochran, the CEO and executive director of the United States Conference of Mayors located in Washington, D.C. We welcome all of you here tonight for this incredible inaugural ceremony for the next 76th President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. We began our ceremony and we thank God for this man, and this day, and this special place. And I'd like to call to stand, please, Dr. James, a grand senior to give our invocation, accompanying with Dr. Juan Benford to give us the national anthem. Please come forward, please. Good evening. Will you bow with me in prayer? Almighty God, creator and sustainer of the universe, loving father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon you to bless your servant, Stephen K. Benjamin. Give him an understanding heart that he may lead this distinguished group of leaders, United States Conference of Mayors. Allow him to earn the trust of his peers and fellow colleagues as he takes on this office as their 76th President. Empower him to serve both you and the people with dignity and grace. Bless him with the wisdom to serve wisely in the fear of the Lord. And when he has exhausted his own wisdom, keep your promise to give your wisdom liberally to those who ask for it. Give him strength of character to the extent that no one may be able to cause question upon his character or his integrity. Shield him with your grace from the tempest insidious offers to use his own influence for personal gain. Grant that the heavy weight of his responsibilities will not rob him of his rich sense of humor. Save him from the ugly arrogance of a pompous attitude. When he makes a mistake, as all people do, give him the courage to commit it, omit it and correct it. Daily fill his heart with gratitude and humility for the privilege of this office. Guide him to be your servant leader in such a time as this. Lord God allow him to leave at last such a shining legacy of service and faithfulness that the United States Conference of Mayors may be known across this land as a powerful good and an agent of justice and righteousness. Anoint now this day your servant Stephen K. Benjamin with all the grace he needs to fulfill the duties of this office. We ask so God that you will bless now his family, his wife, his daughters, all of his relatives and friends as they gather this night in support. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's give him one more hand. Come on. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to recognize the Columbia, South Carolina City Council and ask them to stand. It is now my honor to recognize four mayors, four past presidents of this organization. 75 men and women, yellow, brown, black and white have served this organization. And I'm very pleased to recognize four past presidents that have come to Columbia to be with us tonight. The Honorable Joseph P. Raleigh Jr., President, 1986-87. The Honorable Donald L. Pasqualeck of Akron, President, 2004-2005. The Honorable Douglas H. Palmer from Trenton, President, 2006-2008. And the Honorable Elizabeth B. Couch from Burnsville, Minnesota, President, 2009-2011. And now, ladies and gentlemen, please give me the honor to recognize the South Carolina mayors that are present. And I might miss one of you. If I do, you can talk to someone else. From Orangeburg, Mayor Michael C. Butler. From Santy, Mayor Douglas Hilliard. From Camden, Mayor Dankerforth, Drekford. From Union, Mayor Thompson. From Charleston, South Carolina, Mayor John Tekelberg. Mayor Parton from Casey, South Carolina. And Mayor Johnson from Holly Hill. And Mayor Terrence Cobra from Johnston. Also, I'd like to recognize tonight the president of the African American Mayor's Association. The Mayor, Olive Gilbert, who's here from all the way from Miami. Where are you? There you are. Yes. Thank you. He's also a visor board member of the United States Conference of Mayors. Also, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to recognize the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner from Houston, Texas. Soon to be the third largest. That's what they tell me, Mayor. So I'd like to also recognize other mayors that no one has given me a name for. Please stand if you are in the audience. Thank you. Oh, from Sumter, from some standout, Mayor, from Sumter, Mayor McAfee. Thank you so much. I cannot believe I left you out. Also, I have to recognize, I cannot go forward unless I recognize the new First Lady of the United States Conference. The Mayor's Judge D'Andra Benjamin. And also Miss Bethany Benjamin. And Jordan Grace. Because I told them earlier, I'll be talking to your father a lot. Don't hold it against me this next year. And all the family. All the Benjamin family. Thank you so much. And my wife, Collater. Thank you so much. And now the entire staff of the United States Conference of Mayors. The best team on earth, can you please rise? Thank you. And also, I'd like to recognize the Columbia team that have been working with us, Mayor. Miss Mayor, Charlene Archer, Edward Harkin, Ariel Kephart, Lauren Harper, and Sam Johnson. Thank you so much. It's a great, great, great journey ahead of us. And we thank you so much for your help in this event as we go forward. Tonight, we have in our presence the Dean of American Mayors, Mayor Joe Riley. Mayor Riley has served longer, I think, than any principal city mayor in the United States of America. He is the first South Carolina mayor to be elected president of this organization. And tonight, we elect the second one from the great state of South Carolina. So, with no further ado, I would like to introduce you for remarks the honorable Joe Riley of Charleston, South Carolina. Thanks very much, Tom Cochran. And Tom Cochran is the most splendid executive director of the United States Conference of Mayors. It's been my pleasure and all of these to work. Let's hear it for him. He's a Georgia boy, so he understands the language. And he's been a tireless advocate for our nation, cities, and its citizens. I wish that all of you had been with me over the years so you could watch, as I have watched, the enormous respect and affection in regard that America's mayors have for your mayor, Steve Benjamin. As a fellow South Carolinian, it filled me with pride. His leadership ability was noticed by America's mayors right after he was elected. He's been in leadership positions for the United States Conference of Mayors ever since, and obviously now as its president. I'd like to tell you a few things about the United States Conference of Mayors and what it does. It's the organization that all cities, substantial sized cities from America, belong to you. And as a member of the Conference of Mayors, you attend meetings and you have the opportunity to do something that you don't have the opportunity to do at home. For a large city, a centrist city, sit down and compare notes with, but a centrist city mayor has no one close at home. So first it is the opportunity to be with your fellow colleagues and whether it's over a cup of coffee early in the morning or breakfast or lunch or dinner or reception or in the hall or catching a cab together or whatever. There's an exchange of ideas and a reinforcement. I brought back so many great ideas to my city. I had the important reinforcement of when I just felt I was beating my brains out and wasn't making any progress or some challenging issue to have another mayor say at one of those sessions, let me tell you, Joe, what my experience has been or what I've done or let me tell you what I think is the value of what you're doing. We have that bonding capacity that strengthens us and strengthens our cities. Then the United States Conference of Mayors, through its mayors, develop important national policy, policy on the challenges of the time and consistent challenges, the problems of homelessness, of opioid addiction, the challenge of the arts, how to deal with the tragedy of mass violence events in communities of our country and be prepared in your country, the challenges of education, the opportunity of the arts, technology and more. So the Conference of Mayors is always working with its members to develop the best policies for our nation's country and then they take them to the policy makers, to the Congress. The U.S. Conference of Mayors is before the banking committee, is before the commerce committee, is before the director of homeland security at our meetings in Washington, the midwinter meetings, every cabinet official is at the U.S. Conference of Mayors where the policies that the mayors develop for the benefit of the citizens of Columbia, for the benefit of America is presented to those who have the opportunity to affect the policy. And then we take those policies to the national government, to Congress and to congressional committees, to the cabinet secretary as I mentioned and to the President of the United States and his staff, for you, for the citizens of Columbia, but for every citizen of every city in America, the U.S. Conference of Mayors under the leadership of his president has taken those opportunities and those challenges to places where the work can be done. Now you may question what is the benefit of having your mayor, President of the United States Conference of Mayors? Well, it's many fold. First of all, Steve Benjamin will be the spokesperson for every citizen in every American city as of today. He is Steve Benjamin and he is introduced as Steve Benjamin, the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina. He takes for the U.S. Conference of Mayors our policies and our initiatives and our challenges to Washington and press conferences in D.C. In front of the Capitol, in front of the White House, in the congressional offices and buildings, he takes those policies and procedures and goals to cities throughout our country where mayors hold meetings, New York and Chicago, San Francisco and Boston and others. Here he is leading the press conference, leading the meeting. This is Steve Benjamin, the president of the United States Conference of Mayors and the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina. And then they go to Silicon Valley, they go to Wall Street, they go to the heartland of America. Steve Benjamin with those policies and the opportunities that he has and you know he will take advantage of to meet business leaders and industrial leaders. And Silicon Valley, the high tech leadership and you can bet anything that he will be inviting them to bring their businesses and the opportunities to Columbia and this part of South Carolina. So the benefit to you is manifold. For me, my service as president of the United States Conference of Mayors was one of the greatest opportunities of my life. Because you had the chance in that one year period to work for America, to work for all the cities and all the challenges. All the people who act with poverty or facing homelessness or fighting AIDS are seeing great opportunities. We're going to develop the Mayor's Institute of City Design. It's not touched a thousand mayors and cities in our country. It's such a wonderful opportunity and a great responsibility. So I know that your Mayor, Steve Benjamin, is about to embark on this great life experience. And in embarking on it, he will take the talent and the skills and the goodness that you have observed as his citizens. And he will use them to touch the people in the cities of our country. His service will benefit Columbia South Carolina and will benefit every citizen in our country. Thank you very much. So now I will please turn to the screen for a short video. Hello, I'm Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the United States Conference of Mayors. Today, Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin becomes the 76th President of the United States Conference of Mayors. For 85 years, the United States Conference of Mayors has come together to work on issues that have shaped our cities and guided our nation's success. Mayor Benjamin is joining a distinguished group today of mayors who have served as President of our organization. Names such as Fiorello A. LaGuardia, Richard J. Daly, Richard M. Daly, Joseph P. Raleigh Jr., Ernest Dutch and Mark Mariel, Moon and Mitch Landrieu, Tom Monino, Beverly O'Neill, Steph Lee Rawlings Blake, Elizabeth Coutts, Doug Palmer, Antonio Villargoza, Kevin Johnson and Don Plasqualec. Over the decades, be it health care, housing, crime, civil rights, women's rights, gay and lesbian rights, transportation, the environment and the health of our children, mayors have led the way and now Mayor Benjamin will lead the conference in a bipartisan effort to help cities thrive in three major areas. Infrastructure, innovation and inclusion. Mayor Benjamin will become America's mayor, speaking for the nation's mayors as our organization's spokesperson to the nation and the world. He will carry the bipartisan message of civil honest conversations among mayors working with or without Washington D.C. to drive real and meaningful change for our nation. We at the United States Conference of Mayors welcome Mayor Benjamin. We look forward to sharing with the nation the success you have all seen here firsthand in Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia is a fantastic city. We took office in 2010 with a really bold vision about what we felt Columbia could be. We stressed the fact that we're one Columbia. Our young people, regardless of the zip code that they're born in, which schools they attend, I want to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to be their very best selves. The opportunity for mayors to continue the great leadership that's happening in cities and metropolitan economies, indeed all over the world, is no greater than right now. Mayors, we're all just slaves every single day to get the job done. We know that when partisan politics and divisive rhetoric become the starting point for every conversation, some mayors will left standing there as we attempt to help our communities make sense of what is not happening in Washington D.C., having to explain how an abundantly wealthy country can behave at times so morally bankrupt. We stand here today in our nation's capital in Washington D.C., urging our fellow elected officials to act. While this is an incredible challenge that we have to solve, violence in America, it is indeed solvable. This is about people. This is about our children and about helping ensuring their safety and their security. Mayors spent a great deal of time talking about building our cities and infrastructure. The greatest infrastructure that we can invest in is human infrastructure. If we help grow and nurture strong, independent, smart, healthy children, then I believe America's future is bright. Mayor Benjamin, please come forward. By the powers divested in me as the CEO and Executive Director of the United States Conference, on behalf of the nation's mayors, I hereby declare you to be the 76th President of the United States Conference of Mayors. I tell you what, that video was rather humbling, rather humbling. Even the slightly chubby photos in there were humbling. This is an incredible moment to have the opportunity to serve as your mayor, as the mayor of this fantastic city. I want to thank all of you for honoring me and our family and my colleagues and the citizens of Columbia by coming here to be with us briefly this evening. I want to say good evening to my colleagues and members of Columbia City Council. We work together well every single day. I want to tell a group earlier, wonderful reception they hosted for me. It's wonderful when you have a group of dedicated public policy leaders who don't agree on everything, but who see the importance of working together to build consensus and leading with that wonderful positive attention. I thank you for your friendship and your partnership every single day. I want to say thank you to all of our wonderful elected officials. I think we mentioned almost all of them. We have several school board members and county council members. We have a fantastic sheriff here. We have two of our former mayors and leaders in our organization, Alvin Brown, the former mayor of Jacksonville and my dear friend, the former mayor of Birmingham. Wim Bell, two good cappermen. I'm not sure if you guys saw all this red out here. Stand up for a second, Cap. Just stand up for a second. That's especially for my father-in-law and my pastor. They just both need to see that, but that's a whole other story. You too, Turner. You need to see that too. But the cappers are here in full form. But all of our elected officials are fantastic. The very best city manager in the entire country, Teresa Wilson and her fantastic team, that they work hard on behalf of the people of Columbia every single day. City employees, please stand. All city employees, every city employee. Not just senior staff. All of you, stand up. We are 2300 strong and we have a fantastic professional city staff that works every day hard on behalf of the people of this city. All of my fantastic mayors and colleagues that Tom has had an opportunity to introduce the four former past presidents of this organization who each have been incredible mentors to me. I want to thank you for your trip here. Mayor Raleigh, I want to thank you for your comments. It was, I want to thank Mayor Coba. We were together earlier today. He wasn't able to be here tonight. But Bob Coba sent me to my very first U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting before I was actually mayor of Columbia. We're in transition and he thought it important for me to be there. So he sent me on his budget. I got a bit of a head start in meeting our colleagues and developing relationships. And I've been forever indebted to Mayor Coba who still serves as an incredible advisor to me. I do remember telling Tom and Mayor Coutts and Doug Palmer that I wanted to serve in leadership at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and it eventually offered myself for the advisory board. It's a step process. You have to move up in leadership. I was elected to the advisory board and being the diligent politician that I am. I got around and I thanked all the members of the nominating committee who were kind enough to help me ascend. And I spoke to Mayor Plesquelec and I thanked Mayor Plesquelec for his support as a member of the nominating committee. And his response was, I didn't know who the heck you were. But Joe Raleigh said, you're a good guy. And so that was good enough for me. And those of you who know Don Plesquelec, he didn't say heck. He used another term. But this incredible group of leaders, Mayor Turner, I think you get the word for traveling the farthest. Mayor Tecklenburg, you may have had the longest ride up the road because I at 26 is always backed up. And to these incredible group of mayors gathered there, Liz Kitt, you're not the mayor of Orangeburg, you're with the mayor of Orangeburg, but you've been a mentor of mine since I was 17 years old. So I just want to thank all of you for being here with us today. To Tom Cochran, who has become such an incredible friend of mine and supporter of mine, I will tell you guys that if you want somebody in the foxhole with you, you want this dude right here. He's going to be there with you. He's going to fight with you. We're going to fight on behalf of American families and American cities every single day. And I value him and the incredible staff of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He introduced earlier. Look forward to working with them this year. To my wonderful mother and father, Sam and Maggie Benjamin, to stand up for a second, please. Yeah. Approaching 52 years of marriage, 52 incredible role models and also living proof that if you continue to pray even for a knucklehead son like me, that sometimes good things happen. Thank you, mom and dad, for always having my back. I have so many cousins and uncles and aunts. I have my extended family by adoption. Mrs. Giss liked me before I married her daughter. Donald is still debating whether or not he's going to support the union. But I want all of my extended family, the Giss, the Benjamin's, the Johnson's, the Evans, all of you stand up for a second. I want my family, all of you to stand up. My handsome nephew, I think he's still eligible, I don't know. But thank you for getting your hair straight today. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Pastor, representing our wonderful church family at St. John Baptist Church, thank you for always having my back. When we went to the polls in 2010, I would tell you that St. John Baptist Church family rolled deep, y'all. We were in these streets knocking doors. Flushing voters out, and the church has been there with me every step of the way. DeAndre, Bethany, Jordan Grace, you'll stand up for a second. I didn't coordinate this. You guys are not in the order. You're supposed to be red, white, and blue. But just stand up for a second. This is how patriotic my family is. They're going to tease me for this later on, but I'm going to have you guys line up in order. You can sit down. I'm sorry. I'll pay for this later on. DeAndre, I love you. I'm so thankful for you and your partnership. Girls, you know that you are our sun, our moon, and our stars. That we go to bed every night thanking God for the gift that he gave us with you. And we wake up every morning looking forward to the promise of another day with you. We're proud, but ever more thankful that you're ours. And I thank the three of you for this incredible partnership that we've been able to embark on for the last eight years and looking forward to this year doing some great things together. I love you guys. I want to set the tone tonight first by promising to be brief. And I mean the real brief, pastors, I'm a Baptist. We don't, Baptists don't really know what brief means. So I mean the real brief, the real brief, so I will not be long. But I do want to set the tone tonight by saying that this evening is not about the inauguration of Stephen K. Benjamin. It's indeed about Columbia, South Carolina, and the Midlands of South Carolina. This is our opportunity to show in concert with all of our sister cities all across this country exactly what we're made of right here. When we talk about being the most talented educated entrepreneurial city in America, showing people what that means, how we can work together to work and make sure that the needs of all our families are met, that the hopes and dreams of our families can become real, that here in the wealthiest, most powerful democratic nation in the history of the world, that cities can indeed be a force for good. And assuming the role of the presidency of the United States Conference of Mayors, we becomes leaders of this conference, the collective voice of hundreds of millions of people all across this country who aspire to earn a good life, to serve our communities, and give our families a future that they deserve. So tonight I come to you asking for your prayers, asking for your continued and constant prayers for sure, but also asking for open minds and a willingness for each of you to take this journey with me, with us. We have some incredible tasks here before us today, and I believe that's opening up a new door for Columbia, South Carolina, and that while we have so much to receive from the nation, we also have so much to contribute to this country. I know I speak for all of my colleagues gathered here today. When I say the opportunity to serve the cities in this country is not one we take for granted. The responsibility is weighty, and that we recognize it's not about us. It's us working for the people who elected us to serve, and the opportunity to serve this organization that has since 1932 started as a nonpartisan team of unified mayors and municipal leaders who committed to laying aside their differences in the environment of cooperation to bring about change for people all across this country is indeed an exciting opportunity that I believe can be transformational in nature. This year we're going to focus on the three eyes, on infrastructure, innovation, and inclusion. Recognizing that American cities and states build over 75% of all of American infrastructure, that indeed the metropolitan economies that we are at the center of now host 85% of our population, 89% of all jobs, 91% of America's gross domestic product is created in cities and metropolitan economies. We need a partner in Washington D.C. that will help us make those investments in infrastructure. The nearly $5 trillion that's necessary for us indeed to be ready for the 21st century as Tom said earlier, with or without Washington D.C., we're going to move forward in making those investments that will help people get their lives back on track, create untold jobs, investments in green infrastructure and smart infrastructure that will prepare us to be competitive in the 21st century. We will make an investment in innovation, recognizing that we have to leverage data, our collective wisdom, and sound public policy to foster the natural incubators of innovation that cities indeed are. We have to ensure access to broadband and make sure that access is ubiquitous across our entire community, not just in our city centers. We have to realize that 5G is coming. We have to get ready for, yes, for driverless cars as Jetson-ish as that might sound. They're coming, and we have to prepare for them through smart, public, private partnerships, changes are coming, automation, artificial intelligence, a sharing economy. Together we have to prepare our children for opportunities yet unknown, teach them coding, understanding that 65% of our kindergartners today will work in jobs that don't exist today. We have to prepare them in this innovation economy to be their very best selves and live up to their God-given potential. We have to grow innovative and creative children. We have to grow chefs, not cooks, people who can think on their feet and take advantage of what the world has to offer them. We need innovative and creative cities that not only focus on millennials, but also focus on perennials. You guys like that, right? I got that from someone else. Perennials, recognizing that 50- and 60-year-olds start more businesses than any other cohort in American society. In a world in which demography is destiny, the 50-plus marketplace is a $7.6 trillion market. As a country, it would be third only to the United States and to China. We have to ask ourselves how we would be innovative in building age-friendly communities. We must move forward in infrastructure and innovation. And lastly, I will say this. Mark Twain had many famous quotes. One of my favorites is that the two most important days in your life are the day you're born and the day you found out why. I would never be so presumptuous as to tell you that today is either one of those days. I will, however, tell you this, that this great city of Columbia was born on March 17, 1786 by the act of the General Assembly as the very first planned capital city in the United States of America, where the mighty broad and slew the rivers met to form the Congrury. Birth indeed in the original sins of American slavery, Native American genocide, and unequal rights across this country. Senator John Gervais made on that day a most prescient proclamation on inclusion. Several considerations were made in deciding the name of Columbia. During the planning of the new capital, Senator Gervais said it would be a place where the oppressed of every land might find refuge under the wings of Columbia. It would be a place where the oppressed of every land might find refuge under the wings of Columbia. From the fertile silt and sediment washed upon these banks, our fair city was born, named for liberty's personification, so that victims of tyranny and oppression in the world over might know that here you will be welcome, that here you will be free, that here you will find refuge under the wings of Columbia. This one Columbia, this one Columbia has always fought for our greatest challenge and our greatest opportunity, inclusion. In a city where people from 200 nations speak 90 different languages, you may be greeted with a shalom, an assalamu alaikum, a kanichiwa, a buenos dias. We believe that in the words of the prophet Micah that we should do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with each other every single day that we are indeed all God's children. So that regardless of what he admits or emotes from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the halls of Congress, or even our state capitol at times, this city will lead the way toward what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature. And we will have a unique primary voice in helping this nation become our very best selves by preaching the virtues of value in every single child of God. I believe that our commitment to inclusion is why we are here now. I believe it's the reason why Columbia is here at this opportunity right now. We'll always work to build consensus but never compromise on the issues that define each and every one of us as equals. The solution to our problems will come as we dialogue together. I'm so pleased to announce that the United States Conference of Mayors will take on a new responsibility this year as we pull together the establishment of the mayor's and business leaders' center for inclusive and compassionate cities. For decades, when it was oftentimes not popular but the right thing to do, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has taken a strong position in support of civil rights in opposition to racism and discrimination of all kinds. Following the violent protests in Charlottesville in 2017, working with the Anti-Defamation League, we launched the mayor's compact to combat hate, extremism, and bigotry to promote the fundamental principles of justice and equality that define America more than 325 of the nation's mayors signed on. Committing to act to fight inequities and create inclusive and compassionate cities, we know that is not a one-day event. It requires an enduring effort that pushes this against sometimes against the strongest voices in the land. The important goal of the center is to work to create strong and committed partnerships between mayors and business leaders and our citizens inside the conference and to collaborate on the vision of success to make our cities and ultimately our nation stronger, more equitable, more compassionate, and more inclusive. This will be a seven-figure commitment at least. Inclusion is good for our nation, it's good for our economy, it's good for business, and it's good for cities. We are excited about this opportunity. I will say this, over the next 12 months we're going to be focusing on infrastructure and investing in America. We're going to focus on innovation, preparing for our future, and we're going to focus on inclusion, preserving the ideal that is America. And I want to say thank you to all of you for being here tonight, for giving me the privilege and honor of serving you, and I ask that the Lord bless you and keep you. They make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. They lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. President. Didn't that sound good? To close us out tonight, in the name of God, we have a benediction, Reverend Taylor Scheick from the Elevation Church, Columbia. I'm going to ask that you stand up one more time to honor God. I do want to say thank you for traveling and supporting Mayor Benjamin. This is why we're here tonight, and just bow your head and close your eyes. God, I want to just honor you first and just know that none of us would be breathing or standing if it was not for you, and we thank you for that. I want to pray a promise of yours back over Mayor Benjamin and his family. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. And Lord, I just pray right now that you would bless him as a dad, as a husband, before you ever bless him as a mayor. And then after those things, it will flow into his being of a mayor and of being a president of this council. I just pray that everything that you have done in his life, visions and dreams will become a reality so that it would change the city of Columbia and go forth to our state and to our nation. The wisdom that you've imparted upon him, Lord Jesus, I just pray that it would affect more than one. I pray that it would affect a nation. Lord, you exalt and you promote and you do not make mistakes, and we know that he is in this position for a reason. And our Lord just pray that he will keep finding his why every single day and know why he does this and may he not grow weary or tired and doing good because we are going to get to reap a harvest by what you do through him. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.