Memorial service set for Kenya missionary Berkeley Hackett (updated)

Pallbearers carry Berkeley Hackett’s casket at the Eastleigh Church of Christ in Nairobi. (Photo by Jon Hackett)

(Update: Photos from Kenya memorial service added.)
Christians in Kenya and visitors from the U.S. celebrated the life of Berkeley Hackett during a May 25 memorial service at the Eastleigh Church of Christ in Nairobi.
A U.S. memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Woodson Chapel Church of Christ in Nashville, Tenn.
Hackett,70, died of a heart attack in Nairobi May 21. He was 70.
For more than 40 year, Hackett and his wife, Charlotte, served as missionaries in Kenya. (See remembrances from U.S. and African Christians in our previous post.)
Berkeley Hackett’s family released the following obituary:

Berkeley Hackett, right, prays alongside ministry trainers at the Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute during a graduation ceremony in December 2011. (Photo by Erik Tryggestad)

Berkeley North Hackett, 70, died of a heart attack on May 21, 2012, while in his beloved city of Nairobi, Kenya. Berkeley was known by many names: son, husband, father, uncle, cousin, minister, and friend. He was deeply loved and respected by the people he served.
Berkeley was born in Detroit, Michigan on Dec. 26, 1941. He graduated from Milford High School in Milford, Michigan; was a graduate of Rochester College (formerly Michigan Christian College), class of 1962; Harding University, class of 1966; and University of Alabama, class of 1969. Throughout his college career, he taught Bible classes and worked in the ministry throughout the United States. However, in 1970, on a mission trip to Kenya, Africa he fell in love with the area and the people and decided that this was where he could do his greatest work, which he continued until his death.
Berkeley worked with the Eastleigh Church of Christ in Nairobi and was the founder and chief administrator of Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute (KCITI) for nearly two decades.
He is survived by his wife, Charlotte Myers Hackett (Kenya), daughter Francis Hackett Morrissey (New York), brother Jon Duane Hackett (Alabama) and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents Berkley North “Bill” Hackett and Florence Rose Hackett and his sister Elaine Hackett Pruse.
Donations may be sent to the Saturn Road Church of Christ, 3030 Saturn Road, Garland, TX 75041, 972-271-2444, where they will be used to continue his work in Africa.

Mourners at the Kenya memorial include, from left, family friend Lynn Nelson, wife Charlotte Hackett, daughter Francis Hackett and nephew Jon Hackett. (Photo provided)

Berkeley Hackett’s casket in Nairobi (Photo provided)

• Feedback
  May the lord gave eternal peace and his legacy live on, we have dearly missed him in this untimely death, he was my mentor, my brother,and my father during the last decade,before my departure for training in S.A. the gap left his wide, but the Lord had a great plan for him, Rest in peace.

  Geoffrey Kirima

  May, 26 2012

  One thing that inspired me most from BH�s life for the 15+ years that I knew him was his OPTIMISM. He always saw the glass as half-full! Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative and more happiness. The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. That was Berkeley Hackett! I commend his US supporters for having sent him to Kenya and urge them to keep up his good work. I minister in KISII, several miles away from Nairobi but I learnt alot from BH.
  In our mission efforts, we must always have a potitive attitude. Attitude is more important than the past, than circumstances, than what other people think or say or do. It will make or break our churches and ministries. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is to play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude – [email protected]

  David Marube

  May, 27 2012

  “And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NASB)

  Many people search for life’s answers by looking within. The Bible does not tell us to look within ourselves, but rather to look to God, who works within us the things that are pleasing in His sight.

  From the day he was born again of the Holy Spirit, a great work of God began within him. The Bible declares that Christ lives in us, and if Christ lives in us, the kingdom of God is within us. Because Christ lived in our brother, the Living Word of God was alive in him.
  Wherever Jesus goes His Word goes with supernatural miracle working power, transforming hearts and lives, changing situations and circumstances. Wherever His Word goes change takes place, light enters and darkness disappears. His Word will perform a mighty work within you, bringing truth, light, and wisdom; purity, holiness and righteousness; nourishment, encouragement and fruitfulness.

  The Bible declares, “With God all things are possible”, and “Nothing is too difficult for the Lord.” Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)
  Moses

  Moses Otieno Rawago

  May, 30 2012