Lucky's Funeral

I received an email from Phil Carmichael last night. Yesterday was the funeral for Lucky, and Phil was gracious to attend in my place. Here are the details:
The service was 3 hours long. This is pretty typical, as they have singing, speaking, preaching, singing some more, and various other events, along with more singing. Phil said the church was a tin building about 60 feet square, but there were stacks of bricks nearby, indicating possible expansion or improvement in the near future. I'm not sure what the name of the church is, or what type of church. There were 250-300 people inside, with more standing outside. Most westerners would be uncomfortable with that tight of proximity to one another, but that is also pretty typical in South Africa.

Lucky was buried at the same cemetery that we normally visit with teams when they are in Welkom. Phil informed me that one of the boys publicly affirmed that Lucky had trusted Christ as his savior, and that they were all looking forward to seeing him one day again in Heaven. To use Phil's words "What a wonderful testimony" of what God can do in the lives of young men and women when the good news takes hold of their lives.

Most of the photos you see were sent by Phil and were taken at Lucky's funeral. The first one is of Lucky with Chip Thompson, a missionary in Utah who visited us with a team in August. Chip had left his own Bible with Lucky. What a great witness to the saving and transforming power of God's Word, as Lucky accepted Christ as his savior just a couple weeks before God took him home.