Death Doesn't Win

In November of 2008, I had the privilege of sharing at Evangel Assembly in Wilbraham. The vantage one has from the pulpit is the ability to watch the faces of everyone seated in the congregation. And so, when it was my time to speak, I had the opportunity to view everyone and watch their expressions as I shared.

I've watched as people sat forward in rapt attention, and truthfully, I've watched while others fell sound asleep. That morning a woman caught my attention because she was seated in a wheelchair in the aisle, quite clearly in the end stages of cancer. Her husband was beside her as well as her son. I didn't realize the young woman who had been assisting me for much of the morning was her daughter. The name of the woman who was sitting in the wheelchair is Laurie Poulin. I say "is" because Laurie, though not in our midst, is very much alive and her testimony continues to impact others.

That morning as Laurie listened intently, I could not help but notice how fully she participated in worship. It was early in December that she moved on heaven to wait for us and her funeral was extraordinary. People were crying openly, sharing freely, and remarking how encouraging it was to be with Laurie, how deeply she would be missed, and how great had been her suffering. And we sang songs, chosen by Laurie, about the Lord who ransomed her from death, has healed her completely, and with whom she is celebrating even as I write. I have been to many funerals over the years, but this was truly a celebration of Jesus and Laurie's faith in Him.

In keeping with her wishes gifts given to her family were designated so that Evangel Assembly now joins us as we prepare to return to Papua New Guinea to resume ministry among the Mesem. Laurie's husband Mike, is seen here next to Neil, along with the rest of the Poulin and Vanaria crowd. We'd been together in December to say good-bye to Laurie, but though her time of pain on earth is finished, the days of her testimony are not. Her work for and in the Lord will live on till He returns. Generations of Mesem will know Jesus better, because a woman who lived in Wilbraham, MA prayed for the Mesem even as she fought her own battle with cancer.

Laurie was 45 when she shed her earthly body. In the eyes of many that is a life "cut short". Laurie didn't just live a full life, she lived a complete life. She knew where she came from and she knew why she was here and she knew where she was going. Death didn't win. Jesus did. Laurie did. The Mesem did. And for Mike, and his children, who have shown their faith in the midst of tremendous sorrow (for faith does not diminish our sense of loss) there is the certain expectation of reunion in the future.

Death where is your sting? Grave where is your victory? Taken from you by Jesus and all who believe. We don't just win, in Jesus, we triumph.