“The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh – Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
We used this same quote from Job nine years ago at our son Dale’s funeral. Many things we don’t understand, but we know God holds our hand.
It only seems like a short time ago that our baby Kenny came into our lives. What a joy! From a very young age he was always very industrious, and that follow him throughout his life. At a young age his older sister Joan and he had a big disagreement about who was to play with a toy carriage in front of the house. I don’t remember exactly what the disagreement was about, but they yelled at each other for a while. Finally, Kenny, who could not speak very well yet, told his older sister that when he gets big, “I buy my own do-cart.”
When he was young he nearly always carried a small toy elephant with him. He couldn’t say elephant, so it was his “nec-a-no.” We have no idea where that came from.
Another time, his older brother Carl and he decided to build a boat. We don’t know where they came up with the idea, maybe they were helping Noah build the ark. It was in the stream near the back of our house. We don’t know where they found the lumber, or the nails, but it took a long time to build and a lot of hard work. When it was finished, we all gathered in the yard to see the boat go down the stream. As they both stepped into the boat, it sank straight to the bottom of the stream. What a disappointment for them!
Throughout high school, Ken worked his uncle’s garage, Witmer Motors. Then came the Vietnam War. So, to fulfill his military obligation, he went with Mennonite Central Committee to the heart of Vietnam. A young 19 year-old working in Vietnam, a worrisome time for a mother. He would spend the next 7 years there. The first 3 years fulfilled his military obligation, but Ken wanted to stay there for another 4 years as a volunteer. No phone calls, only letters or tapes, which were very scarce. What a blessing to see our Ken return to the states after 3 years! Little did we know that he planned to return to Vietnam. After returning, the TET offensive occurred, and we heard the news that 8 Vietnam volunteers were missing. We prayed for days and days. Finally, the news came that the 8 volunteers were found alive. More on that from Harley Kooker, he was one of the 8.
After a number of weeks, Ken came home for a short time only to return to Vietnam, taking his younger brother Dale with him. Now we had 2 sons in Vietnam. As time went on, the boys decided that we should come over and see their work. What an eye opener to see the work that was going on at the vocational farm, where pigs were being raised and auto mechanics was being taught.
The missionaries who lived there also worked in a large hospital. We were at one of their prayer meetings. We could sense the power of the Spirit even though the service was all in Vietnamese.
Sometime later, he was in a gasoline explosion at the hospital, and had a large portion of his body badly burned. Through much prayer, and much care, he was nursed back to health without a scar on his body. Finally, after 7 years Ken decided to return to the United States.
Time went by, and Nancy came into his life, along with his children. Together, they all moved to Georgia to work with Habitat for Humanity, and then back to Pennsylvania, working and serving his church.
His time on earth was so short, and we will miss him deeply, but he was a wonderful son who worked and served the Lord to the best of his ability.
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