How good, how marvelous is the Grace of God! Ruth and I began our full-time ministry at Lake Avenue Church in the Fall of 1979… 35 years ago! We were interviewed and called by Pastor Jerry Johnson to come and Pastor the Junior High Ministry which grew in number to 200 exciting young people meeting every Sunday morning! “Christ in You, The Hope of Glory” was our theme and goal for every precious young life. We were blessed with this ministry of spiritual impact for 16 years!
Soon after, God opened the door for us to pastor the grandparents, the wonderful Senior Adults of our church, close to 1,000 of them active in serving the Lord! They truly were the Vanguard of Lake Avenue Church! In fact Vanguard became their name as they led with outstanding dinners held in the Skyroom, Sunday evening Song-fests, special day trips and amazingly, fifteen mission trips to different parts of the world, including four trips, each of them fifteen days, to the land of Armenia where we were blessed to serve beside Steve & Iris Lazarian, precious to their own country as beloved Missionaries, highly revered and loved. It is true that this Vanguard Group, dedicated saints of God, will absolutely never be forgotten for all that was achieved for His glory!
Ruth and I were quite humbled to be called to serve Care Ministries for these past five years at our church. Upon our understanding in addressing the physical needs of our church body, we were determined to build the Eight Fold Care Ministry that we have at this present time. This ministry of care and love includes hospital visitation, the flower team, the homebound care team, the pet therapy team, the rest-home communion team, the HopeKeepers Chronic Pain Team, retirement home golden fellowship, and our funeral/memorial service team…loyal servants trusting god, turning burdens into blessings, healing the sick and broken hearted people. We will never forget the love and dedication of the 70 people who serve these God-given teams.
Precious people you are…our entire congregation! Thank you for the multiple blessing that you have been in our lives! Ruth and I leave now…moving to Puyallup, Washington where we are Oma and Opa to our precious family of 36, including 12 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. We conclude: To God be the glory for all that he has done!