Pastor Charles Kalima

‘Pastor, I have been looking for a church to belong to and when my children brought me this book, I read it and was sure that this is the church I have been looking for’. These words were spoken by brother Paul a couple of years ago. He was referring to the little booklet we give out to new converts - My New Life in Christ. A few weeks later brother Paul gave his life to the Lord Jesus and remained consistent in his attendance of church.

One day I called on a men’s meeting to help the men have fellowship with one another and map out strategies of how they can reach other men for the Lord Jesus. In one of these meetings, held at KFC Kagiso, brother Paul was chosen as the chairperson of the men’s ministry. The key focus of every ministry department in our church is outreach. Brother Paul was in the forefront of inviting other men to church. One of his close friends was so difficult to get to church that brother Paul had to use a scare tactic to get him there. Pastor Ireen had just given him the ammunition for this in one of her sermons from Psalm 1. So brother Paul went and told his friend that if he does not come with him to church, that would be the end of their friendship because he was not prepared to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. The threat worked and this friend finally can to church and gave his life to the Lord Jesus.

One day I asked brother Paul to join me for lunch at Spur and he drove all the way from Swaneville to Westgate. We had a great time of fellowship where we got to know a little bit more about each other. The bond started to grow stronger and brother Paul became our property painter.

One day he came to church with slippers and I asked him what the problem was. He told me that he had a particular medical challenge that he was dealing with. As our habit is, we started to pray for his healing. Brother Paul was however not getting better. He would go into hospital and stay there for a couple of days and then come back again only to go back after a couple of months.

We had created a prayer chain among the intercessors and prayed for brother Paul every day. We asked God for healing mercies. We prayed and fasted and believed that brother Paul would make it.

Last week Saturday, I got the message that every pastor dreads- brother Paul had gone home to be with the Lord. In the week he passed, I went to see him on a Wednesday. I found that he had not eaten, he was weak and was not talking. I asked someone to help me get him into a sitting position so that I could feed him. He ate some yogurt and a shake but I could see that brother Paul’s energy was depleted. I left the hospital with so many questions in my mind. Three days later, on Saturday, I got the news I did not want to hear.

I went to the funeral house the same day, broken. I got there and everyone was waiting for a word of encouragement from the pastor. I felt that I also needed someone else to encourage me. I spoke a few words but asked one of my colleagues from the Pastor’s Forum to be the main speaker (he also agreed to handle the whole funeral).

Today we laid the body of brother Paul to rest. I am grateful to the Lord for Pastor Joseph who was on hand to help me when I could not step forward. The Swaneville Resident Pastor for our church was also excellent.

May the Lord continue to comfort brother Paul’s family.

Destined to Win - WhatsApp channel Follow Destined to Win's WhatsApp Channel. Motivations to encourage you and help you gain a head start over day to day issues of life. The author- Pastor Charles is the Senior Pastor of Life in the Word Ministries International and Overcomers Chapel.. Join 137 followers for the latest updates.