As of now, many of you may have heard that my brother, Luther Fank Havens Jr., age 70, passed into glory early Wednesday morning, April 19th, 2023. He was not only my biological brother, but He was also my brother in Christ, and he has become my hero.
Brother Frank was also a silent partner of Wholly Yours Ministries and my personal confidant as I navigated through unknown territory in the ministry. We spent countless hours discussing what God was doing and we were always amazed that He chose us to do His work. He never discussed his involvement in Wholly Yours Ministries with others but was a faithful monthly supporter and regularly donated money to buy bibles. His heart's desire was for everyone who needed a bible to have one. Once, he gave me $600 just for bibles, and 60 families in Kenya and Uganda were able to have a bible because of him. I am so grateful he was on our team, and many were blessed because of him.
As I said, brother Frank has become my hero. Our faith is tested in extreme circumstances and life challenges, and we either stand strong or we start complaining and blaming God for things outside our control, and we become bitter. Brother Frank had many challenges after his retirement at age 67, including prostate cancer, esophageal cancer, and spent the last couple months in the hospital where he couldn't keep anything on his stomach, not even water. They also suspected he had stage 4 bone cancer but couldn't confirm it because he was too sick for them to do a bone biopsy. Needless to say, a lot of pain and suffering, but I never heard him once blame God. He stood firm in his faith and his belief that God was in Control.
Once Frank was presented with the facts of his health from the doctor and health care workers, he made a conscious decision that he did not want to continue with any life support systems. That decision, and his actions after that, is why he is my hero. Never once did he waver from that decision, even though some didn't agree with it, and he knew without a doubt in his heart that he would be face-to-face with Jesus in just a few days, and he was EXCITED. That, my friends, takes true belief and faith.......to consciously make a decision to go on when you could continue living with life support systems. He had absolute perfect peace. One night he asked me how much time did I think he had left, and I said, according to Google, a person can live about five days without liquids. He looked at me and said, well, it's been two days, I think I can suffer three more days. That takes courage, and only heros have that....he is a HERO! He taught me what it is to have faith and grace at the end. I only hope that I can be half as brave when my time comes.
Brother Frank, we love you and we miss you, but we rejoice with you. You're a hero and a faithful soldier of Christ. Now you're there, in your forever home. You fought the good fight of faith, you ran the race set before you, and you won! How can we be sad when you were so happy. Until we meet again, hold a place for us.
As I mentioned earlier, brother Franks heart was to make sure everyone that needed a bible had one, those around him, those he met, and those we minster to through Wholly Yours Ministries. We have received several donations for bibles already in his honor, and we really appreciate those and Frank would be extremely proud to know even in his death, others get to read the Word, That was Frank! You'll notice the red casket, a symbol of the blood of Jesus. Even in death, reaching out. He was always asking people if they knew Jesus.
If you would like to honor Frank by donating funds for a Bible, each one is $10 in the native language of Swahili or Luganda. If we get enough funds we may buy in bulk and get more. You can send through our PayPal account whollyoursministries@gmail.com, CashApp account, $WYM59 or through the mail to Wholly Yours Ministries 483 Oak Hill St. NE, Abingdon, VA. 24210. There is also link on our website, wholly-yours.ccom
God bless each of you. Be a Frank, be a hero!!
Wholly Yours in Christ
Rev. Paul Havens
Wholly Yours Ministries
Founder and President
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