Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones.
Yesterday was one of those days that you do not expect. My phone rang early yesterday morning, and I learned to one of our church staff members was in crisis. When I made it to their home, I learned that he had passed away.
Michael Allen, Mikey as many called him, came to our church several years ago with a friend, and when his friend left, Mikey stayed. He didn’t just stay. He got involved.
He became our receptionist and was part of many of the ministries of our church almost every day of the week. If something needed to happen or someone needed help, he was willing to stay longer, work a little more, lend a hand, make a call, give an encouraging word… you get the point. Many people called on Mikey when they needed someone to join in.
For me there are many things that I am grateful for in Michael’s life. But I tell you the most important and the one I will is when he would come to my office and we would talk about what he had read in the Bible. In the online Bible classes he took or something that stood out to him. He was genuinely in love with Jesus and the small grin on his face was evidence as was his hand in serving those who had a need.
Romans 10:13 NASB
for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
He loved working in the children’s ministry and making sure everything was set up on Sunday mornings. My wife will miss Mikey’s help and his big heart. The children will miss him too,
Most likely the closest person to Mikey is Bonny Burnett who leads our clothing ministry. They both are early risers and would meet early many mornings for breakfast and just to talk. They would also prepare our outreach meal together the first Saturday of every month. Pray for Bonny as she will greatly miss her ministry partner and friend.
Many week days you would come in the church and see Mikey sitting with our ministry assistant Gloria and working on a project or talking about family. Mikey loved his family. You might find him chatting with Cindy or Carrie or one of our community service workers. This man, Michael Allen, was a friend and encourager to us all!
Among the many things that Mikey was part of he was simply a servant. He would organized and prepare food bags in our feeding ministry. He made sure there were envelopes in the chairs for Sunday morning. He was the check in person for our second Saturday meals and clothes closet. And on this list will go of the times, places, things and stuff that Mikey enjoyed doing, and he will be missed by us all.
I am grateful for God sending us a gift in Michael Allen. Please join me in praying for his family and for his friends. We all will miss him.
Mikey’s funeral will be Thursday at 1pm at Bassett Funeral Service with the visitation beginning at noon. Many God continue to bless our church and to comfort those who called Mikey friend!
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