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We live in a world where people move in and out of each others lives and real connections are seldom. Leaders are busy building Kingdom empires, but rarely connect in meaningful ways to people. I'm not sure that the Kingdom was ever intended to be a place where empires were built to the King. Men sit perched atop these empires pointing the way to Jesus and overseeing ministries that try to show the world a servants heart.
Mother Teresa said, "We are not called be to successful, but to be faithful."
Alvin stood apart a leader among men who invested in people and not an empire. This may sound terrible since Alvin was a preacher, but I don't remember one sermon that he preached. Instead I learned by watching. It has been said that we are not what we say we are, we are what we do.
Alvin never asked anyone to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself. In fact he always worked twice as hard as anyone else. He saw the value in labor and if there was a job to do he did it. If you worked alongside Alvin he told the most hilarious stories. Many of them miracles that God had done during his many years on the reservation. He was always interested you in as a person. He'd be working alongside you and without hesitation he'd just begin to pray. He believed that it didn't matter what the problem was God could and would handle it.
Alvin didn't boss or manage people. He simply served and in watching him you felt compelled to join him in loving others. He was not a leader saying do "this". He simply loved Jesus and the outpouring of that was serving. As you watched him you were inspired to love Jesus too. He led by example, relying fully on God's goodness, always willing to do one more thing.
He served in ways most leaders will not. He went out of his way to serve people often overlooked. He had a unique habit, after a meal while everyone was still laughing and talking he would quietly leave the table as if to go to the restroom, but you would find him in the kitchen washing the dishes; serving those who quietly served others.
He was like that in so many things, loving, serving and in the next breathe changing out of his work clothes to preach the evening message with power and boldness. The joy and power of the Lord were his boundless strength.
I saw all of this when he would have been in his late 50's early 60's. At a time when others were slowing down. Many had built their empire and had people to do all the serving for them. Alvin continued to invest in people.
There are many more things, but for tonight here is the last. He had a desire to name the good in others and call it forth. I saw him notice the calling on peoples lives and work to build it in them. He did this in a unique way. He maintained connection. When I got home from that first trip at 15 till about a month ago I got letters from him. Some years there was only a letter or two and other years much more. He saw God's hand on my life and fed that stream. For over 25 yrs. I got letters. I called him Grandpa Alvin and he talked to me like a grandpa would. In fact the last letter he sent me was one of those. I had been praying about a situation in my life asking God to bring change. I didn't even know what needed to change, just that it did. That last letter was a long one on the exact subject I had been praying about. It had a list of verses and his thoughts on the subject.
I would have thought that perhaps I was the only one to receive letters through the years until I went to his Oregon funeral. There as each person got up to share many of them said they had gotten letters throughout the years from Alvin. Each of them referred to him as their Grandpa or Dad. What a legacy, a spiritual inheritance.
Mother Teresa said, "We are not called be to successful, but to be faithful."
Alvin stood apart a leader among men who invested in people and not an empire. This may sound terrible since Alvin was a preacher, but I don't remember one sermon that he preached. Instead I learned by watching. It has been said that we are not what we say we are, we are what we do.
Alvin never asked anyone to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself. In fact he always worked twice as hard as anyone else. He saw the value in labor and if there was a job to do he did it. If you worked alongside Alvin he told the most hilarious stories. Many of them miracles that God had done during his many years on the reservation. He was always interested you in as a person. He'd be working alongside you and without hesitation he'd just begin to pray. He believed that it didn't matter what the problem was God could and would handle it.
Alvin didn't boss or manage people. He simply served and in watching him you felt compelled to join him in loving others. He was not a leader saying do "this". He simply loved Jesus and the outpouring of that was serving. As you watched him you were inspired to love Jesus too. He led by example, relying fully on God's goodness, always willing to do one more thing.
He served in ways most leaders will not. He went out of his way to serve people often overlooked. He had a unique habit, after a meal while everyone was still laughing and talking he would quietly leave the table as if to go to the restroom, but you would find him in the kitchen washing the dishes; serving those who quietly served others.
He was like that in so many things, loving, serving and in the next breathe changing out of his work clothes to preach the evening message with power and boldness. The joy and power of the Lord were his boundless strength.
I saw all of this when he would have been in his late 50's early 60's. At a time when others were slowing down. Many had built their empire and had people to do all the serving for them. Alvin continued to invest in people.
There are many more things, but for tonight here is the last. He had a desire to name the good in others and call it forth. I saw him notice the calling on peoples lives and work to build it in them. He did this in a unique way. He maintained connection. When I got home from that first trip at 15 till about a month ago I got letters from him. Some years there was only a letter or two and other years much more. He saw God's hand on my life and fed that stream. For over 25 yrs. I got letters. I called him Grandpa Alvin and he talked to me like a grandpa would. In fact the last letter he sent me was one of those. I had been praying about a situation in my life asking God to bring change. I didn't even know what needed to change, just that it did. That last letter was a long one on the exact subject I had been praying about. It had a list of verses and his thoughts on the subject.
I would have thought that perhaps I was the only one to receive letters through the years until I went to his Oregon funeral. There as each person got up to share many of them said they had gotten letters throughout the years from Alvin. Each of them referred to him as their Grandpa or Dad. What a legacy, a spiritual inheritance.
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