AiG Supporter Tragically Killed

This week I heard of the deaths of two people who in one way or another had connection with AiG. The first is a supporter who was actually organizing a special meeting for AiG supporters in October—she was tragically killed—but what a testimony. The second is of a man I was introduced to a few months ago. We rode together in a car with a Christian that wanted me to be an influence on this man who was dying of cancer but had struggles concerning spiritual things—and the Lord used many, including AiG to influence his life—another great testimony.

AIG SUPPORTER TRAGICALLY KILLED

This is a report from Carl Kerby about one of AiG’s supporters. What a reminder of how fragile life is and a reminder of James 4:14 "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

The Lord uses situations and circumstances in our lives to wake us up sometimes. Yesterday was one of those circumstances. I went to visit Dean and his family. They are dear friends of both AiG and myself. Last Tuesday, he and his family were on a road trip taking their eldest daughter to college. There was an accident and his wife, Sue, was killed. When I received this information on Thursday, Ken, Mally, my wife and I were having dinner together. I was shocked to tell you the truth. This is one of the families that exudes the love of the Lord.

At the Celebration Service, (This was NOT a funeral--it was a celebration of a godly life.) it was overwhelming to see how many folks lives had been impacted by Sue’s obedience. On the first night of visitation I was told they had over 500 visitors! The funeral home had never experienced anything like this before. The testimonies of friends and family struck me very deeply. I only pray that the Lord will work through my life as He did through hers.

Sue was involved with many ministries. BSF, Heart to Heart, Raising Children God’s Way, their local Christian school and AiG. It was just a few weeks ago that their whole family visited AiG’s headquarters to be updated on the progress of the museum. We had a wonderful time of fellowship.

One of the pastors really challenged those in attendance. He asked how many had been impacted by her ministry and nearly the entire room stood. Another pastor explained that by her being called home that a 'baton had been passed.' Those lives that she had impacted were now going to have to get involved and fill in the huge gap left by her departure.

It was humbling to have this pastor mention from the pulpit how Sue had supported AiG and that those in attendance needed to step up and become involved. It was even more humbling to have her sister thank me for what the ministry of AiG is doing and tell me how she personally was a supporter. She told me, 'Thank you for standing in the gap and being obedient.'

Friends, by God’s grace and through your support AiG is impacting lives. This whole day made me realize that Satan wants to distract. If he can get us caught up in silly battles and not stay focused on what the Lord has called us to do, he’s won.

After the celebration service I gently hugged Dean, he told me to be careful as he is still in a lot of pain. His wife had been planning a major donor dessert on behalf of AiG for this October. I had thought that we would have to cancel this due to circumstances. As I hugged him he told me, 'Carl, give me a couple of days to start feeling better and I’ll get with you to put this dessert together.' I told him to not worry about this that we could call the folks and explain what had happened. He wouldn’t have anything to do with that. He said, 'No, Sue would want us to do this!' Again, I can’t tell you how touched I was that even in this difficult time he was thinking us. These experiences humble all of us at AiG.

I cannot more strongly stress how important it is for the body of Christ to stand up and become actively involved in sharing the love of Christ with a lost world. My experience has been that when we truly believe the Bible to be the Word of God, true from the beginning, not just dealing with moral and spiritual issues, that we will start sharing our faith when given the opportunity. We’re no longer ashamed or afraid. We’re no longer intimidated because of what “we don’t have.” Instead, we are emboldened by “what we do have.” What is it that we have? We have the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer of the Universe empowering us through the Holy Spirit to spread a message of hope. That’s what I left there with, hope!

Please don’t get distracted. And, please pray for Dean, and his three children. God bless.

The following is a report from one of our supporters who was the chairman for an AiG conference:

Ken, I thought I would take a minute and touch base with you. I wanted to let you know that the friend that traveled to the Springfield Airport with us, passed away yesterday morning. You may remember he had cancer and I was not sure were he stood spiritually and used that time to talk with him about how he viewed Christ and the Church. Randy was at the event [AiG seminar] each day under the guise that he was helping me, he always has to be helping someone, but toward the last he was in the bleachers intently listening. Randy was one of those deep thinkers that always had a somewhat twisted way of looking at things or so it seemed to us normal folks. I know that the simple message he heard at the conference brought him down to earth, so to speak. I heard him make comments several times during the past couple of months that tied back to the message brought by AiG. Randy confessed his acceptance of Christ as his Gavior and told us he was baptized years ago. His wife told me yesterday that Randy was at peace with God when he passed and that he was looking forward to the trip, he’d see if he could get things ready for her. Thanks for your prayers and all the work you do.

Hurricane Katrina is also another reminder of the fragility of life. We have been so reminded in these events above and the tragedy of the Hurricane (and 9/11 and the Tsunami etc.) that it is SO important to reach people with the gospel. We do get intensely involved in this world--caught up with little things--caught up in our pride, material things and so on. I just thought bringing the above testimonies would be a reminder for us to think about the important things of life--our eternity and the eternity of our 6 billion relatives who live on this earth.

Thanks for praying

Ken