Many who read this will know just who I mean when I say "Uncle George". No last name is necessary to those of us who have known this man. Today George Black went home to be with the Lord at the age of 102, less than two months shy of his next birthday. I can guarantee there was great rejoicing in heaven today at the homecoming of one of their faithful saints.
When I first met him he was merely in his late 70's and one of the many missionaries that I grew up under who were spiritual giants in my eyes, none greater than Uncle George. Since their 30's he and his wife, Aunt Letty, served with Gospel Mission of South America. He took his last furlough decades ago as he was beginning to get older and traveling was becoming more of a chore. And yet he never retired....he wanted to go still serving. He's well know for saying that believers need to "get off of the benches and into the trenches". From when I was about 10 years old and on he no longer called me Alisha, but instead Sunshine Suzy - nothing makes me smile like remembering that! Having no children they dedicated their lives to encouraging their fellow missionaries and their families not to mention the Chilean people themselves, who they literally spent and gave their lives to. I remember one furlough my Mom would end her slide presentation with a picture of the Blacks....saying that while many people would end with a sunset she chose to end with people in the 'sunset of their lives' and said that she wanted to live as faithfully as they did. Many of us who knew them would echo that same statement.
But lest I seem to be praising a man let me say this: THE GOD THAT HE SERVED is greater still! Uncle George served a faithful, loving, caring God - the same one that we serve today. It is to His glory that Uncle George lived a long, faithful life. At the same time he would be the first to say that he had a long ways to go in his spiritual walk. About two years ago he mentioned that he was in the middle of a 5 year Bible memorization program to commit to memory the entire book of Romans!!! He never stopped learning.
So I will close with this picture of Uncle George celebrating after blowing out the candles at his 100th birthday because that is how I've been thinking of him today - in celebration as he finally went home.
When I first met him he was merely in his late 70's and one of the many missionaries that I grew up under who were spiritual giants in my eyes, none greater than Uncle George. Since their 30's he and his wife, Aunt Letty, served with Gospel Mission of South America. He took his last furlough decades ago as he was beginning to get older and traveling was becoming more of a chore. And yet he never retired....he wanted to go still serving. He's well know for saying that believers need to "get off of the benches and into the trenches". From when I was about 10 years old and on he no longer called me Alisha, but instead Sunshine Suzy - nothing makes me smile like remembering that! Having no children they dedicated their lives to encouraging their fellow missionaries and their families not to mention the Chilean people themselves, who they literally spent and gave their lives to. I remember one furlough my Mom would end her slide presentation with a picture of the Blacks....saying that while many people would end with a sunset she chose to end with people in the 'sunset of their lives' and said that she wanted to live as faithfully as they did. Many of us who knew them would echo that same statement.
But lest I seem to be praising a man let me say this: THE GOD THAT HE SERVED is greater still! Uncle George served a faithful, loving, caring God - the same one that we serve today. It is to His glory that Uncle George lived a long, faithful life. At the same time he would be the first to say that he had a long ways to go in his spiritual walk. About two years ago he mentioned that he was in the middle of a 5 year Bible memorization program to commit to memory the entire book of Romans!!! He never stopped learning.
So I will close with this picture of Uncle George celebrating after blowing out the candles at his 100th birthday because that is how I've been thinking of him today - in celebration as he finally went home.
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