Dear Friends

[caption id="attachment_4085" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sam and Lorraine on their wedding day"][/caption]

Today we are mourning the death of a beloved brother in the Lord, Sam. Sam died yesterday from Meningitis which, because of his status, became more critical than usual to control.,  Sam leaves a widow in Loraine and 4 children. But what can we say about Sam? I have used Sam many times in sermon illustrations on the subject of Redemption lift. The brief time we knew him was an example of how Christ can indwell and transform a life. His life went from unsaved to saved through the witness of his wife and also his daughter who came to faith. Because of this, Sam began coming to church and then committed his life to Yeshua. Then we saw what God did in his life as he was found outside his home most evenings reading scripture and even later on in his walk holding bible studies with others around him. He was a firm man, with lots of character and a great sense of humour and also with lots of determination to see Jesus lifted up. This led to him spending hours with Salvador learning to read scripture in Zulu, one of the languages he spoke, as he initially did not know how to read. When he had the offer of being taught to read in Zulu he grabbed it with both hands, and what was the reason? So he could read the bible for himself! But Sam wasn't content with that, he also desired to read scripture in English too.

As a member of Aletheia fellowship Sam was a stalwart. Always helping; even young in Christ he would pray in public. He had a servant's heart. Even when ill, he would show up with Loraine and the kids to worship. A memory I have is just a month or so ago when we were building the church area. ‚   Sam stripped to his waist moving sand, mixing cement; he was a real example.

As an employee at Ebyown, Sam had the job of security and keeping us safe at night. This is a job he did ‚  diligently ‚  and the reason why we asked him to take the job was because he was honest, trustworthy and dependable. An example of what Christ can do with a man who is willing to be obedient to Him.

Sam wasn't an angel. Like all of us he had faults, he could be stubborn. And yet when members of Aletheia visited him at hospital with his wife, they saw him there responding to the truth of God's word and calling out to the Lord. He loved his Lord, he loved his wife, he loved his kids. What more can we say, apart from we loved him and that we will miss him to bits? As the Word of God teaches, Sam is not dead but with the Lord seeing what no eye has seen and hearing what ‚   no hear has heard; So good bye for now Sam - we pray that we will see you soon.

In Jesus

Dave, Lyn, Chris, Sal, Di, Zak, Nosipho and everyone at Ebyown

Psalm 68:5-6