MESSAGE FROM PASTOR GARY

Well done, Good and Faithful Servant - Matthew 25

We were out in the villages where the streets are sand and the houses are one room shacks made out of cardboard and tires.  As was our routine we picked a spot, got out of the van and sent people out for several blocks inviting the villagers to come.  On this sunny afternoon, we were in a particularly desolate area and Harry got out, took out his violin and started to play.  Our interpreter went up to him and said, “Brother, if you want the people to come you must pull that bow very, very hard.”  Harry set his feet and laid into the strings; increasing the volume to get the attention of the villagers.  I remember walking a long way, knocking on doors, inviting people to come and at one point I looked back and there in the distance was Harry, all by himself, dust swirling around him in the open street, pulling the bow over the strings very, very hard.  Before long a crowd had gathered and we did our thing; singing, preaching and distributing beans, rice, candy for the children and Spanish Bibles.                                               

Back at the Orphanage, Harry, a retired draftsman, played with the children, helped pack bags of rice and beans and worked on building projects.  He and I painted the kitchen on one of the earliest trips and had to scrub the grease off the walls to get the paint to stick.  Harry was a Deacon, a member of our Worship Team and a faithful servant at Christian Life Church for more than 70 years!  Having survived a major heart attack in 1977, he had open heart surgery which was a new technique at that time.  They said the repairs made on his heart would last 15 years, but Harry got on a healthy diet and walked every day rain or shine and his heart lasted 33 years.  Last month at the age of 84 he got up one morning, went to the gym to walk, then went to a men’s meeting at Panera Bread.  He went home, had supper and went to bed.  Awaking around midnight he told his wife Thelma he didn’t feel good and moments later he lay down and left this world for a better country.  Harry was a remarkable man, but typical of the kind of people who work with Caring Hearts.  He made several trips to San Luis; all of them after the age of 64.  When we lose great people like Harry we tend to worry that we will never find another one like him.  But I choose to trust God that He is raising up young people to pick up the standard and carry on the work of the Kingdom.  Maybe one of those people is you.         

God Bless you all
Pastor Gary