Saturday, March 13, 2010

We had a death in the congregation yesterday--Carolyn Blight.

With a young congregation averaging about 40 plus baptisms a year, deaths are much more uncommon--between 6-10 a year.  When they come, it jolts us as a family of believers.

You may not know Carolyn.  I suppose that's the danger of moving after retirement to live closer to your children who are in Charlotte.  Another danger is that you lose your community when you move that late in life and, in many ways, your sense of identity.

Carolyn and her husband, Ed, were both physicians in California.  Ed was a urologist and Carolyn often worked in the E.R.  They were very active not only in the healing ministry (which both really saw as their calling) but also in their church.  Both of these calling came together as they developed and organized medical teams going to Albania.  These teams were less about going into the field to do medicine and more about identifying, empowering and training Albanian physicians.  Following the fall of communism, the Blights and their ministry were able to enter in and make significant medical advances in a world that was truly third world in their medical practices.

Why Albania?  Certainly because of the medical need but also because of the religious need.  The Albanians today grew up with no church understanding, experience or belief.  It was really a blank canvas.  So as the Blights helped with the medical education, they made sure the doctors with whom they trained knew in whose name they came.

To those who met Carolyn, she was that older lady who came to Bible Studies with her husband and could run circles around anyone in the room with a mental acuity, biblical knowledge and deep faith.  She never flaunted her education or experience so you probably heard her and wondered, "Who is that woman?"

You had no idea in whose presence you sat. . .but God did and now, with arms wide open, is saying the words Carolyn waited a lifetime to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant. . .well done!"