Information Related to "A Message of Hope Following the Death of a Loved One"
| Audio/Video |
A close friend of mine lost his son last December.
Although Richard and I first met some years ago, it wasn't until February of last year that we really got to know each other.
Every February I spend three weeks at the Ambassador Bible Center (ABC) where I teach classes on the books of Daniel and Revelation and give an overview of where we are now in Bible prophecy. ABC is located at the home office of the United Church of God, publisher of The Good News, just outside Cincinnati, Ohio.
Although I am a regular writer for the Church's publications and have to use a computer almost every day of my life, I must confess to being somewhat technologically challenged. So I needed Richard's help (Richard is the information technology manager for the United Church of God).
My two one-hour classes began each weekday at 8:30 a.m. I usually turned up at Richard's office an hour earlier desperately in need of technical support just so I'd be able to give my classroom presentation. While he was helping me, we would talk. A mutually rewarding friendship developed.
Traveling to Africa and England
It turned out we had a great deal in common. We both came from families with six boys and no girls. I am the oldest of the six in my family; he is the fourth in his. We both married about the same time, and he had three children who arrived in the same birth order as my own—girl, boy, girl.
As I got to know Richard, I learned that his wife Emma also worked in the church office, in mail processing. I learned, too, that Richard and Emma had just gone through a severe two-year trial battling Emma's cancer. It was only then that they were emerging from that ordeal with greater hope for the future.
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Table of Contents that includes "A Message of Hope Following the Death of a Loved One"
Other Articles by Melvin Rhodes
Tragedies: