Vantage
point
An
extraordinary MAPS RVer
It was 1991. Ken Parker
and I were part of a group spending a week in Baja California
fishing for billfish, dorado and tuna. We alternated the use of
larger cruisers and a panga — a skiff that holds two fishermen
and a guide.
One morning Ken and
I took to the panga. Our guide, Geronimo, fearlessly navigated
the small craft into prime marlin territory. But soon, a squall
arose that drove us to race for shore. The rapidly moving storm
caught us, slamming us repeatedly against the whitecaps, the threat
of capsizing very real.
We prayed the whole
way in and, of course, we made it. After that, I always introduced
Ken as the man with whom I felt closest to God.
A few years back, Ken
and his wife, Kathy, took to the road as MAPS RVers, pouring their
time and energy into church projects. (Ken was a craftsman par
excellence.)
We both faced death
again this year — in the form of cancer. (Ken told me, “It
looks like another panga ride.”) God intervened for me,
and it looked like Ken was over the hump as well, when things
turned … rapidly.
Not long ago, Kathy
called and held the phone up to Ken’s ear while he lay comatose,
and I said good-bye to my friend.
I don’t know
why God chose to deliver one Ken and not the other. I do know
that Ken’s example will challenge me all my life. All Ken
wanted to do was build churches. When discussing selling some
of his equipment, he told Kathy, “But if God heals me, I’ll
need that to work on churches.”
Ken and Kathy’s
MAPS RV calling card includes these words from Acts 20:24 (NIV):
“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may complete
the task the Lord Jesus has given me.” Ken has completed
his task.
Instead of flowers,
Kathy asked friends to send donations to the building fund of
the church Ken was planning to work on. Even after death, Ken
was still building.
I will think of Ken
often, and every time I do, I will think of a great friend and
Christian, who built churches and built up people. What a legacy.
— Ken Horn
E-mail your comments
to pe@ag.org.
