Kyle Pernell, 17, and fellow page Kylon Bush, 15 speak with their Mississippi Rep. Sarah Richardson Thomas, D-Indianola, about their experiences after serving as pages at the state Capitol in Jackson. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)JACKSON, Miss.- Kyle Pernell is already ordained as a Baptist pastor at age 17, and he has put his skills to work at the Mississippi Capitol.
Pernell gave the opening prayer one day last week in the state House of Representatives, where he spent the week as one of more than a dozen pages running errands for lawmakers.
“Bless this House. Lead, guide and direct them on what to do and what steps to take,” he prayed in a deep, confident voice. “Give them your heart and your mindset.”
Pernell is a junior at Gentry High School in Indianola, Miss., where he sings in the choir and is vice president of the school’s Student Government Association. He says he has been preaching since he was 10 years old, and his first sermon was based on Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”
In a hallway at the Capitol, he smiles as he recalls the sermon.