A Celebration of Life. Allan Mark Tibbels. March 18, 1955 June 3, Come, Let Us Rebuild!

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1 A Celebration of Life Allan Mark Tibbels March 18, 1955 June 3, 2010 Come, Let Us Rebuild!

2 June 14, 2010 Dear Friends, Thank you for being here this evening to celebrate Allan s home going. For those who haven t heard, Allan was admitted to the hospital on May 28 th the same day that our beautiful new grandson, Malachi Stephen entered this world and joined his big brother, Nehemiah Moss. At first we thought that Allan had another infection that was like many that had sent him to the hospital in the past. This time was different, though. Allan s body had been getting weaker over the past year, and he did not have the physical resilience to fight this last infection. Several days before his death, he told me that he was not ready to leave our family or our work in Sandtown. His spirit was strong and in his words, he wanted to keep at it. By June 2 nd, after many setbacks, it was evident that Allan s body was worn out, and he told me that he was ready to go home to heaven. With our lifelong friend, Mark Lange at our side, I had the privilege of holding Allan s hand until Jesus took it from me. He was at peace and anxious to go on to a place where he knew there would be no more suffering and no more tears. I am grateful to the doctors and nurses in the Critical Care Unit at Mercy Hospital who filled his room with compassion and gentle care. My prayer for you tonight is that you leave with the same joy that I have in my heart knowing that Allan is free from the wheelchair and physical pain that was so constraining to him, even though he rarely showed it. So many of you have expressed your own sorrow in both word and deed to our family, and I cannot begin to express our appreciation. While we can rejoice for Allan because he is experiencing a welldeserved eternal reward, I know you share my family s deep sense of loss that he is no longer present among us. At times like these, our words seem inadequate; yet, I can assure you that they are not. They re what we use, however weakly, to communicate feelings that spring up from our eternal souls. And since we are all bound by the same human limitations, we get it. I get it when you say that there is a hole in your heart or that your feeling of loss is too profound. And in some way, that resonates with my own loss and gives me comfort. So thank you for grieving, laughing and loving with us because it feels good to love one another the way God always intended. Please call, visit or write whenever you like you won t be a bother. Allan and I have been abundantly blessed with friends from our time as teenagers at St. James Church, to our first years of marriage spent with our Youth for Christ family, to our years where we were generously served by our church family at Grace Reformed Presbyterian, to the many wonderful people who have inspired and supported our work in Sandtown, along with our New Song/Sandtown family. I wish I could hug each of you and thank you by name, but there s not enough time or paper for that task. I would be remiss, though, not to thank Dr. John Perkins, whose faithful service to God and to his neighbors provided the model of Christian Community Development that Allan so tenaciously fought to establish and sustain in Sandtown. I know that Allan would be humbled and honored to know that Dr. Perkins attended his funeral.

3 I also know that Allan would want me to make it clear that a strong foundation has been laid for our work in Sandtown upon which we will keep on building. New Song Urban Ministries is now headed by Antoine Bennett and Patty Prasada-Rao. They are well equipped to carry on the work that Allan started. Allan would tell you that he was not the originator of the vision for shalom (nothing missing, nothing broken) in Sandtown. God, alone, gets credit for that. So by His grace and His strength New Song Community Church, New Song Urban Ministries, Sandtown Habitat for Humanity, New Song Community Learning Center, EDEN Jobs, New Song Family Health Services and Newborn Holistic Ministries will continue to grow and prosper. You will see evidence of that when we launch our capital campaign this August for a new facility that will allow for the expansion of our work at New Song Community Learning Center. In closing, I offer this book to you as a gift so that you can be reminded of and comforted by the powerful testimony of Allan s life. I know that God will grant each of us strength, peace and joy as we continue writing the stories of our lives to His glory. Feeling blessed and thankful for your presence, Susan For more information on the life work of Allan Tibbels, go to or

4 Allan Tibbels June 22, 1978 My life is yours. I want to forsake all for you. I don t know all that this means, but I make this a sincere promise. Take all I have to offer it is yours.

5 Lord of the Starfields by Bruce Cockburn Lord of the Starfields Ancient of Days Universe Maker Here s a song in your praise Wings of the storm cloud Beginning and end You make my heart leap Like a banner in the wind O love that fires the sun Keep me burning Lord of the starfields Sower of life Heaven and earth are Full of your light Voice of the nova Smile of the dew All of our yearning Only comes home to you O love that fires the sun Keep me burning

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7 Christy Lewis As I continue to lift you and the family in prayer, I also am thanking God for the wonderful marriage ministry that you and Allan shared with all of us. Your marriage truly showed us God s love and that is real inspiration. Chris and I can only hope to experience a portion of that. The fruit of your marriage will be around for years to come.

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9 Jessica As I sit here I am in awe and wonder of how amazing my father was. He lived his life trying to be like Jesus and succeeded on many levels to do that. He touched so many people s lives, including mine. Daddy was a man of great power and social status, but to talk to him you would know that those qualities were ones that he didn t believe he had. He was a very humble man. My father meant the world to my family and not having him here is impossible to even imagine. Taking it one day at a time, with him not being here, takes on a whole new meaning. Our lives revolved around Dad and we really didn t think about it. You take things for granted when they re in front of your face, then when they disappear you don t know how to go on. My newborn baby will never meet his Poppy and I don t think that I will ever be able to handle that. My 3-year-old bonded closer to my dad than to anyone else in the family. My dad was Nehemiah s best friend and how do you process that? My love for my Daddy goes far beyond comprehension. Two of the memories I hold close are going to McDonalds and getting French fries and ketchup and putting salt in the ketchup and eating them in the van. The other is when we went to Bennigan s, and since we were never allowed to eat meat without cutting it, we got steaks and picked the whole thing up on a fork and ate it while laughing the whole time about how mad Mom would be. Anyway, there are no words to express how much I will miss him or how much he was loved, but now he s in heaven with Mom-Mom and Pop playing basketball and smiling! ~ Jennifer My earliest memory of my dad is perhaps the best illustration of my life with him. When I was about 3-years-old and we lived in Howard County, there was a playground down the street from our house called the tot lot. Our favorite thing to do was take a walk on a sunny day and get on the swings together. I would sit in his lap, and when we had swung as high as we could go, we would shout Yaa-hooo! at the top of our lungs. Throughout my life, my dad has always worked as hard as he could to make sure that I was safe, happy, and loved. He instilled in me a sense of adventure that came from knowing I could take risks because he would always be there to take care of me. This sense of adventure has taken me to South Africa, San Francisco, and now New York, but his love for Sandtown has made this place home no matter where I go. As I walk these streets now without him, I can t help but see him in everything the trees we planted out front, the houses he has built, the people who wave at me from what seems like every door and window. We miss him terribly. But he has taught me how to see the world, and that is a gift I will never lose. He taught me to look at a block of condemned vacant houses and see homeowners sitting on the front steps of their new homes. He taught me to look at the newspaper and read between the lines. He taught me that even though we may experience hurt and struggle in this world, God is with us, and God is sovereign. This gift of vision has enabled me to pursue a life of art wrestling with the angels to create something beautiful that wasn t there before. I was often frustrated by how protective my dad would be, but I now recognize the gift of his protection. He gave me freedom to fly, to reach for the top of my joy and when I found it, shout together with him, Yaa-hooo!

10 Allan Tibbels June 10, 1982 I m well past the depression of dealing with being in the chair. I really don t see it as a handicap, but rather as the place in which God wants me and the means by which he wants to sanctify me and use me to minister to others. I actually see my ministry opportunity enhanced greatly and not adversely affected at all. How wonderful God is to fill such an undeserving sinner with so much joy and for choosing to place me in such circumstances! January 23, 1983 A leper approaches Jesus and says, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. And Jesus replies, I am willing; be cleansed. And he healed him. Why is he different in his dealing with me? It is difficult to live with what I cannot understand. I know that God can indeed heal me if he is willing; why are you not, Lord? I trust you; help me in my doubt and unbelief.

11 August 6, 1983 I have again been sick, hospitalized from July 18 th until August 2 nd and still sick even though I m home. Test after test revealed nothing at all, and yet there has to be a source for the problem somewhere. For two weeks, I lay in the hospital trying to exist, too sick to eat, read, or sit up. What I will gain from all this, if anything, is unclear. I have basically stopped analyzing the problem and have more or less instead been just attempting to deal with it. I don t even know if I learned from this latest experience or if I responded in a good or bad way; I don t know. Nor do I know what s ahead. I only know that God knows all and loves me as his child and is therefore sanctifying me. November 23, 1983 I ve recently considered that it should probably be as though I am always living my final day, or better yet, it probably should be irrelevant. Is God sovereign or not? Does he not provide every breath, determine every second of life? Has he not scheduled my days? These are freeing truths indeed! And yet I still fear pain as I lay in bed each night. I need grace here.

12 Dan Broadwater Allan and Susan were members at Grace during the time of his accident, and later Allan served as an elder. However, his heart was burdened for the city. The rest of the story is Allan s incredible legacy, which no doubt, will continue to grow and will serve as a profound source of inspiration to any who ponder Allan s life. Wayne Mills When I was in Club I was a lost teen. Allan was the type of person you could talk to. Allan brought together teens from all walks of life and opened his home and his heart to them and taught me that no matter what happens in life, God is there for you. It took several years for me to realize what he meant. Allan brought God back to my heart when I needed Him most.

13 Sing to the Lord a New Song for he has done marvelous things! Psalm 98:1

14 Charles Marsh Allan Tibbels, dear brother, you gave us a glimpse into the New Kingdom. More: you made it real. You showed us how to act and to think, to read and to interpret, to organize and to vote, out of the new light springing from the Gospel. You sang a beautiful song. Save a place for me on the team.

15 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6

16 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

17 Sean Price There s very few things in life that words definitely can t explain: witnessing birth, being in love, and the impact and contributions of Allan Tibbels to our community. Thank You. Pastor Thurman Williams One of the things Allan did for me was take Bible verses and put flesh on them, such as Galatians 6:9, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Whenever I ve been tempted to give up over these last 10 years I ve been at new Song, he would have reassuring words to share. More often than not, it was just his reassuring life how could I give up when I saw him not doing so? Sarah Stevens Rayburn AT walked with the Lord every day of his life, and now he is dancing in the heavenly court. Death is but a horizon beyond which we cannot see, but on the other side of that horizon, he is shooting hoops and explaining to God how heaven ought to be run! Nina Anderson Allan showed me something so profound that set me on my path to my personal relationship with God. We were talking about being messed up and God s love, he drew a scribbled line and said that is all of us and then he drew a perfect circle around that line and said that is what God sees when he looks at us because of Jesus Christ. He always said I was great and he really meant it. Brad McDearman I have such great respect for people like Allan because he was not in any hurry. He had faith that what they were doing in Sandtown was right and that, while change may not come in the form of many new commercial and revitalized buildings and more visible things, it will come over time in the lives of people. And that will transform the neighborhood house by house. Mike Barb This quote from none other than Winnie the Pooh reminds me of Allan: "You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." AT would have laughed and called me a renaissance man if I had told him that. Steve Smallman Allan is a giant of a man who, without having to instruct or train me overtly, in some way reshaped how I do just about everything including the simple act of carrying on, working through tears and pain during these past few days. He is a man who staked everything on the Gospel of Jesus, to the very end. I can only thank God for the privilege of having been close to him, a privilege that puts me in a life fraternity with others who knew his charisma and influence. Indeed, I owe him a life debt for his embodiment of grace and forgiveness, and his connection to the author of these things. Bob Arnold In the 70 s, Allan and I met on a weekly basis. One week he was talking about his willingness to follow Christ wherever he was led. He mentioned that he and Susan had been talking about it and they had concluded that God was going to ask a lot of them take them to very deep places. I think that this willingness to do and go wherever God led him is the reason that Allan became one of the great leaders and models of Christian leadership in the Baltimore area! Kay Broadwater Allan was always a friend and never too busy to share a word of encouragement and compassion with anyone who had need. No problem or person was ever too big or small for Allan. He had the capacity to see through to the heart of a person and helped us all strive to be the best we could be. Sonia Street Cool Cat! Without him, I wouldn t be where I m at today. The last thing he said to me was, Make sure you see Jimmy Carter in October! Wherever he s at, be there! And that s what I m gonna do. I m going wherever he is. The work he left for me, I want to fulfill it for him. David Wunderink Allan was a giant. He was a visionary who did great things, concrete things, and affected thousands upon thousands of people in real and remarkable ways. He once convened a construction staff meeting in the face of deadlines and crises and simply told us to love one another. I often felt that he operated on an entirely different (and higher) plane than the rest of us: a couple of times I brazenly questioned his methods, only afterwards to feel like Job after speaking to the whirlwind. Simply put, he was wise. He loved people. He trusted God. Examine those words and concepts, so easily said and so hard to achieve. That is the way Allan lived his life.

18 Antoinette Rooks Mr. Allan, a legend of the Sandtown community, was a great man who allowed God to use him in so many ways. The news of his death instantly made me say to myself, What has God called me to do on this earth before he calls me home? What will I be remembered for when I am gone? We all have to return to our maker one day. Why not make the most of the life we have while we still have it? Robert Embry At a time when religion is blamed for so much evil in the world, Allan s personification of what Jesus taught was particularly inspiring. Of all the wonderful people I have met in my life, Allan demonstrated most dramatically the best of what mankind is capable. Mark Lange How do you replace a friend you ve gone through hell and back with over a span of almost 40 years? A friend who s always been there, always loved you and let you love him. A friend who at his most vulnerable said I trust you to take care of me. I think I may just be one of the most blessed human beings that ever lived because I knew Allan Tibbels and Allan Tibbels was my friend. Jane Johnson We pass through life only once, and AT traveled through it with an amazing purpose for living. He lived for others so that they in turn can live for one another and created a life that allowed him to be happy by being compassionate, loving, giving, supportive, empowering, encouraging, and motivating. He worked with many to make a difference in the community he lived in. Although he never wanted credit for the changes, he deserves credit for being who he is a man of Christ. Paul Smallman I ll ask God for the grace to be half the man you are. Jim Gorman Allan s impact on my life went far beyond friendship. He taught me about faith in the midst of doubt, mercy and grace when I lost my way, laughter in the face of pain, being real when so much around wasn t, and love when you least expected it. Nancy Waid How can you ever forget the person God used to imprint the words of the Gospel onto your heart? Antoine Bennett Allan was a man who treated you like you were deep and truly philosophical; even if you weren t deep and really philosophical. But he looked for the best that was in you and he spoke to that each and every time he saw you. Some of us can really communicate with words but many of us can t do it with love in action like Allan did. Mike Yerrid Allan and Susan took me in when my parents had given up on me, and they put up with an awful lot from me. I guess that was the thing about Al. He found the secret of life in Jesus Christ. He loved others recklessly and spent himself completely. Asaan Glover Mr. Allan was such an outstanding leader, mentor, and role model through my eyes all my life. As I grew up, I found out how important he was to this community more and more. We suffered a loss, and that s why we have to hold hands and pray to strengthen the parts that seem broken during this rough time. Mr. Allan planted something in this community, and it was love. Now it s time for us as a community to grow on that. Jack Gibbons When I met Allan, there was an instant connection. We talked NBA and movies, and we both seemed to like bad jokes. But I was more struck by something less tangible, his faith. It was real. It had remained intact after he broke his neck, even though he already seemed to be answering God's call for his life. He questioned God, but he still believed in God; he still loved God. That's when I realized I wanted a faith like that, one built on solid rock, one that could weather the worst storms of life. Chris Rice But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul expresses here the profound mystery of God s ministry of reconciliation: God puts good news for a broken world not with the qualified, the competent, and the strong but in earthen vessels, jars of clay. In unlikely, faithful vessels of fragility, God puts the good news and inserts power to show that the way things are is not the way things have to be. What power God revealed to so many through Allan in his fragility, his faithfulness, his wounds, his transparency, his wheelchair which moved as a long obedience in the same direction on the streets of Sandtown.

19 Lamar Prilliman I will miss seeing Mr. Allan roll down the street with the biggest, warmest smile and ready for life s toughest obstacles. Keep at It:

20 Keep At It: A Eulogy for Allan Tibbels I have come to say thank you to Allan Tibbels, fellow worker in the gospel. The entire course of my ministry has been in fellowship with him. So the only way I can talk about Allan is by starting with our friendship. It was a rich journey that we traveled together, one filled with honesty and vulnerability. We shared our lives, our struggles, our hopes, and growth together in understanding Christian faith and practice. It is out of this friendship that I am here to testify that the light of God shown brightly through Allan. It was a magnificent light. The Spirit flowed through Allan as he lived in community and family, as he went about helping to rebuild a neighborhood, and as he extended himself each day through the words and gestures of friendship, encouragement, and generosity, especially to those most vulnerable. And let us not forget his laugh, sense of humor and impeccable sense of timing. Because he loved so much, and we loved him, we grieve deeply. Such pain is the risk of love. And so while our tears still run as we feel his loss, and especially the loss he is to his wife Susan, daughters Jennifer and Jessica, and all his family, we confess our faith in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting, giving thanks to God for Allan s presence among us. But we don t want to just remember what Allan did or the gift that he was to us. We are called to pick it up and imitate his way of life, as Christ abided in him. To think about how Christ was formed in Allan, and how Allan s life is an example for us, I want to read from Paul s Epistle to the Philippians, beginning with chapter 3, verses My aim here is that I may know Christ, both the power of his resurrection and the sharing in his sufferings, with the goal that I might somehow attain the resurrection from the dead. It is not that I have already attained this, nor have I reached my end. Instead, I press on to grab hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. My brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have already attained this end; but this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the finish line so that I might win the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 1 The Apostle Paul s aim in life was to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and to share in his sufferings. Paul is encouraging the Christian community to follow his pattern of life, but there are other examples as well, as he states a few verses later. Join together, brothers and sisters, in becoming imitators of me and attend to those who walk according to the example you have in us (v17). It is an understatement to say that Allan is one of those examples. Having been taken hold of by Christ, Allan learned to grab for that which Christ had set before him, to love those things that Christ loved for him to love. He loved his calling to serve Christ through seeking the peace of Sandtown and the city, to create and live out a grassroots model of community development stitch by stitch and home by home. He loved the details, the end result, and everything in between. He was passionate about seeing the fabric of community restored. Most of all he loved people, and he embraced their joys and pains. This is the calling that God set before him, and he grabbed hold of it. We are all witnesses to the results. What made such a way of life possible was his life in community. Allan was open to others. He was dependent upon others, upon a community. Who could be more vulnerable? He needed friends and neighbors to move him forward in his calling, sometimes quite literally, and this in turn formed Allan as a follower of Jesus. Allan s life exuded the power of calling and the strength of conviction. This was rooted in his disciplined approach to reading Scripture and the life of prayer. If at times this quality of conviction may have been named stubbornness, this was simply whom God made Allan. If you spent enough time with Allan, you saw the frailty of his body, but it never stopped him, and only rarely slowed him down. A wheelchair never defined him: Christ was exalted in his body, in life and in death (1:20). Allan s life was a prayer, a song of joyful worship unto the Lord. Earlier in Philippians chapter 2, Paul asks of the community to make his joy more complete. Therefore, if in Christ there is any encouragement, if any solace of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any compassion and mercy, as, of course, there is, then make my joy complete by manifesting a common pattern of thinking and acting, having the same love, being bound together Do not attend to your own interests but rather to the interests of others (2:1-2,4). 1 Translation of the text is drawn from Stephen E. Fowl, Philippians (Eerdmans, 2005).

21 Shine as lights in the world, Paul urges the community, hold fast to the word of life, in order that I may boast in you on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or work for nothing (2:16). Paul is calling upon the church in his absence to maintain a common life worthy of the gospel. In Allan s absence, our task is the same. Continue to be bound together as a community, loving one another, being compassionate and merciful, and holding fast to the word of life. This is how Allan would have wanted us to remember him. This is how the community will continue to be a light in the city and world. When we think of Allan s life, we are so powerfully struck by the manner in which he looked to the interests of others. His believing in us when perhaps even we ourselves did not, his giving away his last dollar, his always finding a job for someone, his never judging, these are the stories we will tell for years to come. And as we share these stories, may they encourage us to continue to live in the self-giving way of the cross. It is right that we want Allan to be able to boast of us. In the economy of salvation, our lives are tied together. The resurrection is stronger than death; all things, including our relationships, will be restored in God s new creation. Until that day, it is through continuing to live out the gospel that we will find joy and experience the presence of God. Let me pause here to state the obvious. Allan s life was a gift from God, but in this life, Susan Tibbels made the gift of Allan s life possible. Allan s physical challenges became hers, and with unfailing commitment she stood by his side. We honor you, Susan, for who you are, for the pattern of your life, and for your calling. We are with you. And we honor your family, for Allan s journey has been a family journey. We are also with you as a family. In the 11 th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read of the great exemplars of faith in the story of Israel. And yet, the writer tells us, the pilgrimage of faith is not finished, the roll call of the faithful is not complete without those who follow them. Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, but the process of redemption continues. We are part of that story. To accompany us on this journey of faith, the writer to the Hebrews tells us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The cloud of witnesses is the communion of saints who have walked alongside of us, showing us what the Christian life is at its best and the hope of what our life can be. Allan is the most immediate member of that cloud that we know and have seen. He is our witness to God s peaceable kingdom, to a common life of love, to life at its best. For many years, I thought that in the life to come, Allan would become more like us, namely able to walk. Yes, in Christ, he has now experienced newness of all of life. But I have also come to see the reverse. It is we who need to become like Allan. To New Song and Sandtown, to all who have joined in and will continue to join in the work of rebuilding and sustaining a community, I remind you of the promise that is offered at the beginning of Philippians. The one who began a good work in you will carry it through to completion. Keep at it was a favorite phrase for Allan, his encouragement to persevere in the long distance race of faith. Allan Tibbels made it to the finish line, and has received the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. The rest in Christ to which he has now entered is well earned. Now it is our turn to keep at it, to be steadfast in the Lord. Together with LaVerne and the team we will continue working until there is no more poverty housing in Sandtown and until we all sing a new song of justice and reconciliation. But honoring Allan s legacy means not just completing the work he started together with all of you; it entails seeing and going forward into ever new visions and possibilities. We give thanks to God for the life of Allan Tibbels. We cannot imagine our lives without knowing him. We are glad Allan could imagine all of us as friends. Imitating Allan s way of life in Christ is part of our movement, shared with all the saints, Until the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord (Revelation 11:15). Amen. The Rev. Dr. Mark R. Gornik June 14, 2010

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23 March 28, 2005 Dear Friend, On March 19 th I arrived at Cathedral of the Incarnation with two cards and a gift for Don & Sarah Stevens-Rayburn s surprise anniversary party only their anniversary is in December. Rather, it was a surprise 50 th birthday party for me. And I was totally surprised! Shocked might be a better word, because I have no idea how so many people pulled this off without my finding out. Anyway, while I was certainly surprised, I was also deeply honored that so many of you would spend a Saturday night in celebrating my birthday, and I felt humbled and loved and utterly blessed. I have now been living in Sandtown for 18 years, have been in the wheelchair for 24 years, have been married to Susan for 31 years, and have now reached the age of 50, which seems like a monumental achievement. And while I am daily virtually every second of every day analyzing how I am expending my life, I am sure that I want to expend all of the years God has ahead for me in trying to love people and make a difference in the world. There is so much pain and suffering in the world, so much oppression and racism and systemic injustice, so we are tempted to ask, What difference can one person make? Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard graduate who expends so much of his life treating poor patients in rural Haiti, when asked why he works so many hours, said, The problem is, if I don t work this hard, someone will die who doesn t have to. And I feel the same way. And Howard Zinn says, We don t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. And as Martin Luther King Jr. stated in 1968 in his final Sunday morning sermon, We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. As a Christian I believe that we can make a difference and that every act has eternal significance, that every cup of cold water given to a thirsty child matters, that every home provided for an oppressed family matters, that every orphan and widow loved and cared for matters, that every act performed to love someone who is lonely, depressed, sick or dying matters immensely. And perhaps my favorite verse of Scripture, I Corinthians 15:58, says, Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Pray for me that I may grow in love and caring for others every day of my life, that my every act would reflect God s abundant love to me and to the world he so deeply loves and cares about and would contribute to increasing justice and shalom. Thank you so much for your love shown to me through your attending my birthday party or contributing financially toward my purchase of a new van. How blessed I am because of your love towards me! Allan Tibbels

24 Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.