When you stand before Jesus of Nazareth, your resume is going to include scores and hundreds of names of people whose lives were changed by the...

Dear Lawrence,

I usually simply delete email that gets caught in my "spam" folder, where I found this very classy letter from you "after the fact" of his death. Something told me to scan that folder first this morning, before deleting the 240 messages collected in there over time. So glad I did check out that list - it was the only one I saved, but what a keeper! (And I imagine my father knew about your wonderful sentiments and intentions long before I did.)

I continue to add things to the website I set up at http://deanhochstetler.blogspot.com and this, along with several other messages that came in over the weekend, will be posted there now, as well.

Clair
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On 10/23/06, Lawrence E. Burkholder of Ontario, wrote:

Dear Dean,

Clair invited us to send you any final messages and so here is my word to you. I want to say first that you have been a tremendous influence and help over the last ten years as I have struggled with the ministry of deliverance and its theological setting. You have unstintingly sent me many, many papers and meterials, some of which I directly reference in my writing and others which simply primed my pump. In our personal meetings, you treated me collegially even though you are the one with the far greater hands-on experience. I
am sorry that you won't be here for the launch of my book (whenever that is!) but a part of you is certainly in it.

I don't know, Dean, how much you actually know about me. I suffered kidney failure in 1987 after a long deterioration. There were 26 months of self-dialysis and then in November, 1989, a kidney transplant was performed which has been functioning ever since. As I read Clair's story of how you have transferred leadership responsibilities and have a deep sense of complete fulfillment of your life's mission, I found myself thinking how great God's grace for me would be to be taken in similar fashion. What a blessing of Almighty
God to reach the end and know that you have won the race! Not bad for a farm [equipment] welder.

Dean, they say we can't take anything with us when we leave this world. This isn't true. We take with us our inheritance built up over the years of faithful service to God. When you stand before Jesus of Nazareth, your resume is going to include scores and hundreds of names of people whose lives were changed by the touch of Jesus' hand through you. Praise be to God!

I'll be seeing you one of these days.

Lawrence E. Burkholder