Roy Christopher was his name – a spiritual prince, I would say.  Friday morning the Lord took him suddenly home to be in that presence of His in which he lived and served for so many years.  We were in close e-mail contact, and his thoughts and the struggles which he shared with me became part of my own life.  I wondered if we could meet again next year as we did two years ago in his home state Tennessee, but we´ll meet up yonder instead, may-be very soon.

For at period of time we grew up together in one of New Tribes Mission´s so called “boot camps” in Jersey Shore, Pa.  Our ways parted as he went to the mission field in Paraguay and I had to go back to Denmark.  We were both very young and very different.  It was in that boot camp, however, that he was best as far as I´m concerned.  This is a very subjective way of putting it, I know, but those were very dramatic and epoch-making days.  We lived together with a few other guys in the “boys´ dorm” and got very close.  His passion for the Lord was almost too unique to be spoken of here.    The apostle speaks about being “beside ourselves for God” (II Cor. 5:13).  That´s the way I remember him together with his many tears shed.

We had good speakers in the boot camp, but he was, as far as I´m concerned, by far the most captivating.  Again passionate, to the point, he shunned sophisticated, snobby language, but was simple, direct and challenging. The Lord rewarded him by letting him together with another co-laborer see fruit of faithful labors on the country side, - a place called Rock Run – where quite a few souls were saved in a small deserted church which Roy had re-opened and faithfully ministered in.

We met again in America.  In the meantime he´d been doing missionary work among the Indians in Paraguay, but soon came back to the States where he by the grace of God made a lasting impact among the children who loved him and to whom he had a special gift.  It wasn´t till we at a mature age met in the US that I realized that he was also unusually gifted as an artist.  He painted and made drawings to the glory of God.  He wonderfully illustrated his messages to the kids, and they squealed with  delight when he made a point and illustrated it in his typical humorous way.

In our very young days he had a powerful ministry in my life.  He was much more mature in many ways than I was.  In fact I was filled with a lot of theological head knowledge with little application, and Roy dealt faithfully with me.  “You are deceived, you don´t know the Lord.  You are a hypocrite…” were some of his blunt remarks.  And he was right.  I must have given him a hard time.  I was certainly a “late bloomer” spiritually.  But the Lord was very merciful to me too, and as the years went by, his dealings with me were no longer harsh, but vey gracious and I´ve had a more healthy laugh with him than with anybody else, I think.

When I visited him and his adorable wife, Dawn, two years ago, we had many walks and talks together.  We also talked much about the mystery of suffering and pain to which we couldn´t give each other a satisfactory answer, but we were together before the Lord about it, and found rest in the fact that some day, the Lord will give us His good answer.  That day has now  come to this dear brother and friend.  We´ll soon meet in the eternity.  We´ll laugh and cry again (for joy) as we with all His redeemed bow before the throne of the Lamb and joyfully shout  “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power…”

You went ahead, Roy, but we´ll soon be there too by His grace!

Jørn Nielsen, Denmark.

P.S.  Roy passed away on Oct. 8, 2008