One of the side benefits of being a part of the Adoption Team is the terrific people that you meet by sending them adoptions. A few months after I joined the Adoption Team I received an adoption request from Lon Thomas. He listed his web site on the request so I went to see it and was very impressed. I saw the beginning of what would grow into an awesome site. Lon has one of the busiest sites on the Internet and it continues to get better all of the time, which shows I am not the only one who appreciates him and his web sites. I am very proud to introduce you to my very good friend and the first Advocate/Volunteer to be featured in the Moonduster Chronicles, Lon Thomas.

Lon, how did you get started on the Internet?

I purchased my first PC in July 1998. I have some background in art and layout. I decided to do a Memorial Page for my daughter. Wendy is my only child; she was killed on December 5, 1995 because she rode in a car with a drunk driver. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of her. I wanted people to see the damage drunk drivers do and to show the pain of the loss in the hope that someone would make the choice to not drink and drive or ride with a driver who is drunk.

When did your first page for Wendy go up on the Internet?

The pages started with Wendy's Memorial Page on October 7, 1998. http://members.home.net/lonthomas/wendysmemorialpage.html

What did you do after the page for Wendy was finished?

In November I added some Thanksgiving pages then included Christmas pages. By January 1999 I was amazed to find that there had been several (3 or 4) thousand visits. That was a lot more hits then I had relatives and friends so I was pleased with the drawing power of what I put on the Internet. I was encouraged by guests through the guest book and in personal email to do more pages. There is still rarely a day that passes without an email or guest addition to one of the guest books asking for more pages or simply “please don't stop” messages. With Easter approaching as the next holiday period, I did a page called Lon's Amazing Grace with some poetry and graphics.

After the Holiday pages were up what direction did you head in for your new pages?

Another subject that I knew something about was the '50's, and 60's. In the 50's my goals were pretty lofty – I thought Ed Sullivan and all the rock and roll radio stations were just the place for my songs. Elvis didn't have a move I couldn't do and I had a God given and Mother stimulated talent for singing any song, though the roots of my raising always showed through. Country, Bluegrass and Gospel were my beginning and when they spread to Rock and Roll it was not much of a change.

Because of all the Y2K scares involved with the beginning of the New Year I was inspired to put up Amazing Grace 2000. This was done to give Christians a place to celebrate the New Year on the Internet. I offered OJC a place in the program and Marilyn recorded a segment on the POW/MIA(s) from a Christian viewpoint. During the presentation she put up a slide show including pictures of the POW/MIA(s) from Vietnam.

My two grandchildren, Jonathan and Samantha, were with me during the Easter Holiday and Java for Jesus had over 10,000 hits in one day on the Monday following Easter Sunday. The guest book was getting twenty or thirty signatures a day; mail was coming from folks who were moved by Wendy's Memorial Page, the POW/MIA page or the Crucifixion. And many were written while the author was in tears. When I got their mail I was often moved to tears and the kids thought I was on some mission to make the world cry. I showed them though! I started The Sunday Funnies and Heavenly Humor to show them I could make folks laugh as well.

How did you get involved in the POW/MIA issue?

I had done a lot of surfing on the Internet and knew that I wanted to do a page for the POW/MIA(s). I had some experience in the Army during the 60's. Uncle Sam thought I would look a lot better with an M16 in my hand then a guitar and he sent for me in 1967.

Trained as an 11B10, Light Weapons Infantryman, I had looked into the eyes of a lot of boys and men who were scheduled for a one-way ticket to hell as soon as training was finished.

The thought that maybe some of those faces could still be in South East Asia haunted me a great deal.

How did you get involved with OJC?

I joined OJC and wrote letters and received my adopted POW/MIA from Marilyn Grote. My first POW/MIA page was called Paint it Black. In Marilyn's return mail was a link to what she called John 3:16. It turned out to be Michael Gieson's Shockwave movie about the Crucifixion and he was kind enough to let me put it on my page. This simple animation made a difference in my life too. I meant a rebirth of my life as a Christian and the will to answer His call. Java for Jesus was born on the Internet with the idea of entertaining Christian families with innovative multi-media such as other had. Along with the entertainment side of my web site I have included the POW/MIA issue to let the visitors know we have an important issue still remaining unanswered by our Government. We need to work to bring home the POW/MIA(s) and I am glad to have the means to let people know that we need their interest and help to make this possible.

On my web sites I have links to OJC and the POW/MIA Prayer Web Site. This site came about when Marilyn asked me to put up a site for people to prayer for the return of the POW/MIA(s). Included in this site is also a place to send in prayer requests. Over time the Prayer Partners have grown into a large group of people and I know that their prayers plus the work of OJC and the other POW/MIA groups will bring the return of the POW/MIA(s). Prayer plus work has to produce the answers that we all have looked for over such a long period of time.

Lon's web sites: