"Mr. Booth, I believe that if the Lord’s preacher will look after the Lord’s people, then the Lord’s people will look after the Lord’s preacher."

This was Jay Blunt’s reply to the deacon in Burnsville, Mississippi, who had just apologized for the $35 weekly salary the church provided. He said it was all they could pay. The offerings were less than $100 a week and utilities and other expenses used up most of the income.

But the Blunts weren’t trusting in the church; they were trusting in God. When Jay was saved and called to ministry at age 27 in 1947, Matthew 6:33 became his favorite scripture. "I took it to live on all my ministry," he said.

"When you were called to a church in those days, you had to go on faith," his wife, Johnnie, added.

Wherever Jay and Johnnie went, they simply sought God’s kingdom first and trusted that all the things they needed would somehow be provided. Much of the time, Johnnie had to work, in addition to raising their four children.

"She was a good pastor’s wife," Jay noted. "If I got a call to go to the hospital or funeral home in the middle of the night, by the time I got off the phone, she had my clothes laid out and ready to go.

"When babies were born, I’d try to be there. If someone had a funeral or wedding, I’d be there for them. The Lord gave me the ability to love people and they’ve loved me back."

Jay loved to preach. And he always enjoyed seeing how God worked in people’s lives to draw them to Christ.

"I was preaching in Phillipstown and it was just before dark. Someone came in the back of the church and whispered. Some of the men got up and left. Soon, the rest of the men were called out — all except one man who I could tell was under a lot of conviction. I didn’t know what was going on, but I kept on preaching.

"In a while the men came back and sat down. At the invitation, the one man who had remained came forward and got saved. It was then that we found out the man’s barn had burned to the ground. The rest had left to put the fire out. His barn couldn’t be rescued from the flames, but he was."

Jay also loved to visit and Johnnie usually went with him. On one of his visits to a church member’s home, the people noticed he had a hole in his shoe. When Johnny got up to leave, the husband pulled him aside and wrote out a check. "This is for a new pair of shoes."

That’s just one example of how people have cared for Jay and Johnnie through the years. Like many small churches, the 20 churches they served during 45 years of ministry didn’t pay much in salary and few were able to contribute toward retirement.

"We never made more than $300 a week anywhere we went," Jay recalled. "I didn’t get in to the annuity program until late. We didn’t have the money to pay for it."

In 1997, the Blunts received their first check — for $50 — from the Adopt An Annuitant ministry. They had a small retirement benefit and some Social Security. But the small amount they’d saved up before retirement had been used for medical care and other living expenses. Their Adopt An Annuitant supplement was increased to $75 a month a year later, then to $265 in 2002.

"We couldn’t get by without the extra help," Johnnie said. "Our four children would never let us starve, but they have their own families and expenses are hard on them as well."

Jay and Johnnie Blunt spent a lifetime looking after the Lord’s people. Now, the Lord’s people are looking after them.

"God has really blessed us through the Adopt An Annuitant program," Jay said. "It’s one of the best things Southern Baptists have done."

The Adopt An Annuitant ministry relies on the support of churches and individuals to provide this vital assistance. You can participate in this ministry by sending a gift, funding a Charitable Gift Annuity, designating the ministry as the beneficiary of your life insurance, will or estate plan, or requesting materials to share with others.