At our staff meeting on Wednesday, a man stood up who graduated from RVA in 1958 and worked on staff here for man years. After thanking us all for our prayers on behalf of his family, he asked, “Who is the Penn State fan here?” I raised my fist in the air, which prompted him to chant, “We are…” I knew the appropriate response—“Penn State!”
He had seen my tire cover (in the picture above) and knew there was another Lion fan roaming the campus of Rift Valley these days.
The reason he had come back to visit us was to bury and to celebrate the memory of his identical twin brother John. John and his wife Elaine live here on campus, and John served the school (in recent years) by being our visa/immigration/tax guy to the Kenyan government, no small feat for a faculty of around 70. During his forty years of service at RVA (yes, 40!), he had done just about every other job imaginable—teaching, dorm parenting, administration. His wife has built a growing ministry to orphans in recent years (called “Little Lambs”) and will continue in her work even now that he’s gone.
In a beautiful display of love, over 300 students attended a memorial service yesterday, despite the fact that few of them knew him. To see young people (the future missionaries to Africa and world-changers in every corner of the globe) honoring the legacy of a man who devoted his life of 68 years to the Lord’s work on this continent was a beautiful tribute.
The verse that the Lord brought to mind this week was 1 Peter 2:5. “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
John is no longer a “living stone” here among us, but his time on earth has left a firm foundation. And the “spiritual house” that is RVA will forever be more stable and strong because of him.
He had seen my tire cover (in the picture above) and knew there was another Lion fan roaming the campus of Rift Valley these days.
The reason he had come back to visit us was to bury and to celebrate the memory of his identical twin brother John. John and his wife Elaine live here on campus, and John served the school (in recent years) by being our visa/immigration/tax guy to the Kenyan government, no small feat for a faculty of around 70. During his forty years of service at RVA (yes, 40!), he had done just about every other job imaginable—teaching, dorm parenting, administration. His wife has built a growing ministry to orphans in recent years (called “Little Lambs”) and will continue in her work even now that he’s gone.
In a beautiful display of love, over 300 students attended a memorial service yesterday, despite the fact that few of them knew him. To see young people (the future missionaries to Africa and world-changers in every corner of the globe) honoring the legacy of a man who devoted his life of 68 years to the Lord’s work on this continent was a beautiful tribute.
The verse that the Lord brought to mind this week was 1 Peter 2:5. “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
John is no longer a “living stone” here among us, but his time on earth has left a firm foundation. And the “spiritual house” that is RVA will forever be more stable and strong because of him.
You can pray for this family (his two missionary children work in South Africa and Tanzania) as they go through this time of mourning and transition. I’ll take care of his brother tonight. We’re planning to listen to the Penn St.-Purdue football game on Internet radio together at my house. Of course we’re hoping for a PSU win, but I’m also hoping to learn more about this great man who went on to glory this week through his brother.
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