I've Never Been Treated the Way I Was By Ted Cruz

     I’ve never been treated by an elected official the way I was by Ted Cruz. I have served many years as a pastor in Texas. I am also the Director of a Christian missions organization that works in East Africa called Gateway East Africa (GEA). We do things like provide care for orphans through local families, help start churches, and train Christian leaders who serve their communities. The results of our work are more schools, churches, homes for orphans, and economic flourishing in the midst of a developing part of the world. GEA works in Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania and we are reaching into surrounding countries as well.  We had filed for our 501(c)3 status as a non-profit organization at a time when the IRS was allegedly intentionally focused on denying conservative groups these rights. I personally waited for close to three years for a response from the IRS regarding our request. My assistant and I both spent countless hours on the phone with automated responses which only led us to a human voice who would only say our documents were in process. When I asked further questions I was adamantly told there would be no other information given. Considering my taxes paid the salary of the voice on the other end, my disappointment was similar to the New England Patriot’s ball boy this past Monday morning. We had turned in all the paperwork professionally through a CPA, complied with every rule and could not get any helpful information at all. Then stepped Ted Cruz. 

     Senator Cruz began speaking out about the widespread targeting of the IRS upon conservative groups. A mutual friend passed along my information to Senator Cruz’s assistant who called me immediately. He asked me to send him the pertinent information and he did not make any promises regarding results but he promised to do what he could to help us. I then received a call from another man who worked with Senator Cruz who also thanked for my work in our community as a pastor and updated me on the progress of our IRS issue. Within a few weeks I had heard from both of these helpful men multiple times. About one week later I received a call from a very nice lady who worked for the IRS. She was extremely helpful and reported to me that our non-profit status was approved. I was so thankful we could finally fully operate with the same legal benefits as other non-profit organizations. Never in my life have I experienced the kind of personal attention from an elected official as I did from Ted Cruz’s staff. They treated me as though they actually worked for me. Everything rises or falls on leadership and this servant leadership is the type of leadership I’m glad to tell you I received from my Senator, Ted Cruz.