Dear Dave,
It will be two years since I last saw you and two years that you have lived in eternal time with Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Does time fly in heaven as it does here on earth?
I am writing to tell you of your impact in the faith on my life. This letter comes with much forethought and tears many times I think of you. See, I cry here on earth because deep in my spirit I know I am not home yet. This truth sometimes is a distant knowledge of which I must remind myself. At other times, it is as close as a whisper in my ear.
Because of your work for Jesus Christ in planning our mission trips to Ukraine, much work continues to go forth. Joe is serving as a full-time missionary in Horodok. Merrie and some of the others continue to take summer missions and continue to plant and water the seeds of the gospel that you helped to plant for many years.
Ron and I are continuing in the mission minded path the Lord Jesus used you to pave in our lives. I will be returning to the foreign mission field for the first time since our Emily was born four years ago. Do you remember that last trip? It came just after our return from a winter mission you helped me plan.
You were content to let a 25 year old young lady learn the ropes of leading a mission team and allowed her to take leadership responsibilities. Thank you for your training! Because you were content to nurture my call to serve in missions, a winter trip to Ukraine took place allowing for us to get our feet wet teaching English as a Second Language as a missions tool to reach the lost for Christ. One of my favorite parts of this trip was the fact I was accompanied by my sister. Thank you for your belief in me.
Few people touch the lives of two siblings groups out of one marriage, but you did. You led trips to Ukraine where both Ron and his brother, Tom, and I and my sister, Julie were able to go. These are memories that Ron and I will cherish forever.
This July I will be going on a new mission with a different destination than our beloved Ukraine. Following in the footsteps of Ron last year, I will be traveling with our team to Honduras to build four homes for children and their families who live and work on the trash dump in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. Our work partners with a Christian school and church lead by Pastor Jeony of AFE.
I am so excited to plant my feet on foreign soil once again!
Dave, I wanted you to know that you are not forgotten. That your spiritual legacy lives on and the work continues. I am so blessed to have known you friend, and I look forward to seeing you when I come home.
Love,
