Family Remembrance and a Brief Account of His Service
As far back as I can remember, my father was always in the church life and serving the Lord. Many brothers called him the "no problem" brother, because whenever you fellowshipped anything with him, he would say "no problem" and then handle the matter well. Praise God, He called my father, and my father responded to God's calling to serve full-time to the very end.
Many people know that my father had a long medical history. Many times he nearly passed away, but because of God's mercy and the prayers in the Body, my father came through these trials and continued to serve. At times I wondered what it was that enabled my father to serve the Lord in this way. In First Chronicles twenty-eight, verse nine, David said to Solomon, "Know the God of your father." It was not until I myself had begun to learn to serve the Lord for a time in the church life that I began to know my father's God. It is a tremendous blessing that our whole family can have the church life in the Lord's recovery and enjoy the riches of Christ as our daily supply.
Because the burden of my father's service was so heavy, my dad and I had very few opportunities even to speak with each other. For us, silence said more than words; when I was young, the times my father had to speak to me were usually when I had gotten into trouble. I was blessed to be able to spend time over the past few years accompanying my father to his dialysis, especially during the period after his heart attack in 2019, when he lived together with us while recovering. I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity over these past years to take my father to the meetings, to interpret for him, and to care for his physical weaknesses.
I had always assumed that my father would surely live until the Lord's coming back. But the Lord's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. A few years ago, my dad said to me that if he could hand over the burden on his shoulders to the next group of brothers, then he could retire to America. Sadly, that day had not yet come; the Lord had His own arrangement. In the last phone call before my dad was taken by the Lord, I heard him calling on the Lord's name—perhaps he was fellowshipping with the Lord. He lived in Beersheba, where there is a well of living water and a tamarisk tree, which is the church life today; now he sleeps in a place on the road from Hebron to the New Jerusalem. He now sleeps there, waiting for the day when he will awake and find himself in the New Jerusalem. Hebrews thirteen, verse seven says, "Remember the ones leading you, who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their manner of life, imitate their faith." My father is a good pattern to us of following and serving the Lord.
Dad, I love you. We will see each other that day in the New Jerusalem. This was not our choice but God's selection. As Paul said in Romans eleven, verse thirty-six, "Because out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen."