Milestones, May 2018

Special Request

Bryan Perrin

No. 1 on Mayo’s heart transplant list —Bryan Perrin! After much prayer and six major surgeries, Bryan has come from Kentucky to Minnesota to await a heart transplant at the Mayo Clinic. Because of Bryan’s rare blood type, it may be months before he receives a match.

Bryan’s family has had to make some major life changes, renting a “transplant-approved house” in Rochester, while his wife, Angela, focuses on Bryan’s needs that require 24/7 care and homeschooling their two children. Their only income is Bryan’s minimal social security disability check. This medical journey has left them with no extra money.

The Rochester Church of Christ asks you and your church family to pray for the Perrins and help them financially. If you need your check to be tax deductible, please write it to the Rochester Church of Christ with a note indicating that your gift is for the Perrins. Otherwise, write your check to the “Perrin Family Benefit Fund.” Mail gifts to: Rochester Church of Christ, 632 2nd Street SW, Rochester, MN 55902. For more information, email [email protected].

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Legacy

Mary Moudy

For nearly 36 years, God’s magnificent handiwork creating memories in his Kingdom has been carried out via the Happy Church of Christ and two humble members, Alvin and Mary Moudy. Members of the Moudy family are currently gathered and await the passing of Mary, a mother of four and countless many in the faith.

I have been a part of the Moudy family story for nearly 36 years. For that time span, we’ve known each other for 12 years through Bible correspondence and for almost 24 years in person. According to her records, I was her 16th student from Ghana in this evangelism effort by the Happy congregation.

As Mary tells the story, my name, Philip, caught her attention, as her grandfather was Phillip King. This started a faithful work of God that continues today and has the Happy congregation supporting a preaching school and several faithful preachers in Ghana.

Read the full letter from Philip HERE.

(Philip has been a faithful member of the Lord’s body for almost 35 years. He is the author of “Examining the Great Commission, A Call to Study.” He worships with the Lakeview Church of Christ near Tacoma, Wash.)

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Memorials

Joe Betts, 1922-2018

Ruth Betts, 1932-2018

“Wilma” Ruth Betts, age 86, died March 20. Eleven days later, on March 31, her husband Joe Delton Betts, age 95, also finished his race and received his crown.

Born in Fairy, Texas, Joe Betts joined the U.S. Navy and served as a sonar operator during World War II. He survived a Kamikaze plane attack that killed many of his shipmates, and his was one of the first four ships into Nagasaki after the bombing to rescue U.S. prisoners of war. Witnessing the bodies of Japanese women and children floating in the water, he realized he had been fighting a government, not the people. After the war, he was stationed at Treasure Island, Calif. While attending the Berkeley Church of Christ he met missionaries from Japan and was encouraged to become one himself. He attended Harding College in Searcy, Ark., to train for ministry. There he met his future wife, Ruth Majors.

In 1956 the family settled in Ibaraki prefecture, where Joe Betts taught at Ibaraki Christian College and preached. Fifty years later, the couple moved to Abilene, Texas, and worshiped with the Hillcrest Church of Christ. Joe Betts preached his last sermon on Sunday night, March 4, with Ruth sitting in her wheelchair on the front row.

Read full story HERE.

Frank Farr

1942-2018

Franklin Farr, 75, of Shenandoah, Texas, passed away March 7 following complications related to heart surgery.

Frank was born in Abilene, Texas, on June 5, 1942, to Norman and Loneta Farr. Upon graduating from high school he served in the U.S. Army and went on to graduate from Sunset School of Preaching in Lubbock, Texas.

He was married for 53 years to the love of his life, Karen. Farr lived a life of exemplary devotion as a husband and father. After his military service, he responded to a calling to ministry and faithfully served the church for his entire professional life. Frank and his family served briefly in the Houston area before moving to New Hampshire to establish a church. The family then moved to California, where he worked with the Walnut Creek Church of Christ. He completed his professional ministry back in the Houston area and served as president of Eastern European Mission while he and Karen cared for their aging parents.

In retirement, Frank lived his life as a ministry, remaining active in church work and devoted to his family and friends to the end.

Alaor Leite

1942-2018

Alaor Leite, a longtime church leader in Brazil, died April 20 following complications from surgery. He was 75.

“He was the key to Churches of Christ being allowed to send missionaries (to Brazil) in the 1980s when every other religious group was refused,” said David Duncan, a former missionary to Vitoria, Brazil, now minister for the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston. “He was dearly loved across the country.”

Read more on Alaor Leite HERE.

Loyd Eldon Koch

1928-2018

Loyd E. Koch, 88, passed away Sept. 8, 2017, at Central Kansas Medical Center.

He was born April 2, 1928, to Guy and Pearl Koch in Arkansas City, Kan. He worked for the Santa Fe Railroad 43 years, retiring as an engineer in 1995.

Loyd was a member of the Arkansas City Church of Christ for 76 years. He served as a deacon, song leader and treasurer and oversaw the benevolence, singing, and mission programs. The congregation sponsored four missionaries in New Zealand and Ecuador. He conducted song-leading classes, and he and his brothers and sister formed the Koch’s quartet. Loyd is survived by his wife, Charlene, and was preceded in death by his son, Kirby.

Jack Strachan

1941-2018

Jack Strachen, a longtime minister for Churches of Christ in Scotland, died April 8. He was 77. He preached in the Scottish cities of Edinburgh, East Kilbride and Cumbernauld, where he moved in 2010, and Brandon, Fla. He served as an elder of the East Kilbride Church of Christ. He and his wife, Maureen, were dedicated “to building the body of Christ,” said supporters at the Riverchase Church of Christ in Birmingham, Ala. Jack Strachan “has been a model of mentoring younger Christians so that the work has a foundation to continue beyond his time.”

Jim Woodroof

1933-2018

Preacher, theologian and author James “Jim” Simrell Woodroof, 85, died March 22 in Searcy, Ark. Born in Obion, Tenn., he graduated from David Lipscomb High School in Nashville, Tenn., and earned religion degrees from Lipscomb University and Harding School of Theology in Memphis, Tenn.

He and his wife of 64 years, Louine, were married in a double ceremony with Louine’s sister, Racine, and her groom, Bill Kritz. The Woodroofs had five children. Jim Woodroof preached for Churches of Christ in Tennessee, the Carolinas, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Massachusetts. He also served in New Zealand as a missionary and minister for the Bryndwr Church of Christ in Christchurch, New Zealand.

He wrote books addressing issues relevant to Churches of Christ or focusing on favorite biblical passages. At a time when the fellowship struggled with sectarian and reactionary tendencies, Jim Woodroof stressed the centrality of the person and work of Jesus Christ, the priorities of love and unity over doctrinal divides, and the need for personal transformation by the power of the Gospel, friends said, adding that many who read his writings testify to the influence of his Christ-centered teaching on their own understanding and practice of faith.

Bertha Mae Babers

86

March 18

Palm Bay, Fla.

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Memorial Gifts

The Christian Chronicle appreciates and acknowledges generous gifts received in memory of Adrienne Abernathy, Brian Gibbs, Terry Pratt and Elizabeth Ann Springer.

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Filed under: Milestones Milestones Obituaries Obituaries People