Dad went home to his Saviour, Jesus yesterday. We will hold a memorial service for him at Living Saviour Lutheran Church in Asheville, NC on Saturday at 10 am, and another at Trinity Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine, MN on Monday at 11 am. Mum hopes to also have a memorial service for him in Malawi at a later date.
Mum, Tanya, Keith, Nicole, Steve, and I spent his last two earthly hours with him in the hospital room, singing him hymns, reading to him from the Bible, and telling him stories of times past. He was not able to speak, but he managed to groan a "A uv u too" when we first walked in the room. I think he knew we were there with him and we reminded him constantly of how much we love him. We also told him that Kirsten and Lori were flying down, if he could hold on. God had other plans for him.
The week before he died he was very weak, finding it difficult to walk. He complained of pain in his left lower side if he moved. His last two days at home, he spent in his chair downstairs, waiting for and then watching his last Green Bay Packers game on Christmas day. They won. When he could not move at all early Monday morning, Mum called 911. They took him to Mission Hospital in Asheville, and then to St. Joseph hospital.
Test results show that the T-cell lymphoma in his skin metastasized to his blood and bone marrow. In his skin the cancer was not fatal (just uncontrollably itchy); in his blood it attacked his liver and kidneys, shutting them down. Given his constant, full-body itch for the last two years and his back-bending load due to edema, Dad was ready to go. When I asked him last Monday how he was doing emotionally, he said, "I'm strong; like a rock."
God did bless Dad with a rock-like faith. We are certain that right now Dad is enjoying the crown of life that Jesus won for him. We look forward to seeing him in heaven some day.
Our condolences to your family. We rejoice with you that he is resting in the arms of his Savor.
ReplyDeleteMissioner Larry and Kay Retberg
Dear Alex,
ReplyDeleteI got this link through Julie Majerus. I had not known that your father had skin cancer and was suffering so. He and your mother were so kind to us. I remember their stamina, humour, and most of all, their mission spirit. Yvonne, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Beth Thompson
I was only 14 or 15, a student at Michigan Lutheran Seminary when John, while back on furlough from Africa, came to speak at MLS. I had written in an class essay that I wanted to be a missionary some day, so a professor took me into the faculty room and introduced me to John after the service. We had a private 10-minute conversation in which he spoke man-to-man with the 15-year-old about the joys and challenges of mission work. I have never forgotten that conversation, and 12 years later I ended up in Zambia as John's colleague in the LCCA. He was a giant of a missionary, a great friend, and a great man of God.
ReplyDelete