When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.
(Acts 20:36-38 – NASB95)
As you can see in the passage above, it is painfully difficult to say goodbye to people who have made a profound impact in your life and in the life of your church. The elders in Ephesus were brought to tears as they said goodbye to the Apostle Paul because he had given his life to teaching, admonishing, and training them to serve the Lord and the local church. They knew how tirelessly and whole-heartedly he gave himself to serving them and the thought of not seeing him again was overwhelming to them. They accepted it as the Lord’s will, but it was hard.
We have experienced this several times in recent years as faithful members of our church family have moved out of the area (or out of the state). We are going through it again right now with the Peters family as they will be moving to Oklahoma. They have served our church faithfully. Dean has been the Church Maintenance Director and Kim has been serving in the Children’s Ministry for many years, but they have served in so many other areas that only the Lord can keep track. And their kids have been doing a myriad of things as well. I have seen some or all of them here at the church joyfully doing difficult jobs at all hours of the day and night. Their rewards in heaven will be great!
This Sunday morning, we will be saying goodbye and commissioning the Peters family to go be a blessing in Oklahoma like they have been here. It is my understanding that all 8 of their children will be with us this Sunday (including the 3 oldest who will be staying in California at this time). Please take the time to express your love and gratitude to them and find out how you can support them in the days ahead.
And please pray for the Lord to raise up laborers to take over the significant responsibilities the Peters family members have handled for so many years. There are several giant holes that need to be filled by faithful volunteers.
Dean, Kim, Dominic, Vincent, Belle, Giovanni, Antonio, Roman, Annasofia, and Maximus, we love you and praise God for you. You have permanently impacted our lives for good. You will be missed!
“The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.”
(Numbers 6:24-26 – NASB95)