By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
MONROE, La. (LBM) – U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District seat in March, only three-and-a-half months after her husband, Luke, died from COVID-19 complications, Dec. 29, 2020. He was just five days from taking office after he had won the election the month before to succeed Ralph Abraham, who retired from Congress.
She told the Baptist Message that the prayers of others helped her during that difficult time.
“It’s hard for me to put into words how overwhelmingly beautiful and impactful and precious those prayers were to me,” Letlow said. “Even while we were in the hospital and Luke was in bad shape, we treasured those intercessory prayers that people were saying on his behalf and on ours. I know that they enveloped him, and he wasn’t alone, and he was at peace, and he had hope. To feel that on a visceral level — thou-sands if not many thousands of prayers going up — I will never be able to put into words what that means to me and my family.”
Her husband’s death was not the first loss of a close loved one, she said.
When she was a junior at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, her brother, Jeremy, 17, died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident in March 2002. The incident devastated Letlow and her family, but she said she was comforted by many, including fellow members of the campus Baptist Collegiate Ministry.
“The BCM was there for me in every way possible and was an integral part of shaping my faith,” said Letlow, who wrote her doctoral dissertation at the University of South Florida on grief. “As you know col-lege oftentimes can be that time when people stop going to church and fall off on their faith. It’s organiza-tions just like the BCM that kept me connected and engaged.”
Mark Robinson, campus BCM director at the time, provided counseling and eventually invited her to be a part of a new Bible study for members of the campus fraternities and sororities. He sensed even during her college time that Letlow was bound for great things.
“Her spiritual leadership, academic abilities and social graces were unparalleled,” said Robinson, now the state collegiate ministry director for Louisiana Baptists. “We all knew very early that she was destined to become a great leader in whatever field of discipline she chose to serve.”
Letlow, who is adjusting to life as a congresswoman while also mother to her two children, hopes to continue representing her constituents and family. Her focuses will include agriculture and education.
“We just want to work hard and try to make this world a better place for our children and for future gener-ations,” Letlow said. “So, it’s an absolute honor to live amongst our rural communities and be a part and member and ultimately to represent them is an amazing honor.”
Letlow, who in 1991 put her faith in the Lord and was baptized in the Ouachita River by the non-denominational Covenant Church in Monroe, asked for prayers of clarity of mind and wisdom to serve her constituents and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
“This world is not our home,” Letlow said. “We are passing through and are called to live every day to the fullest. Serve other people and let Christ guide your life. We all will be reunited again one day in some place far better.”
