Fwd: [Baptist Prayer] Missionary Harold DeVilbiss memorial Service

[Billy Hamm]

BBFI NETWORK NEWS

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Arnold <jarno...@aol.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 1:06 PM
Subject: [Baptist Prayer] Missionary Harold DeVilbiss memorial Service
To: baptist...@googlegroups.com

Born in San Antonio, Texas December 22, 1926 and originally given the name Curtis Lee because his mother didn't think he would live very long, a few months later she changed his name to John Harold.  It was at the age of 12 that God transformed his life because he realized that only Jesus Christ could save him and so he put his faith and trust in the Son of God.  From that moment on, all he wanted to do with his life was serve God.  One day as a boy in church he told his mother after watching a man lead the congregation in singing:  "Mom, I want to do what that man is doing."

At the age of 15 he preached his first sermon from Ephesians 6 on the Armour of God.  At 16 he was licensed to preach and at 17 he was ordained as a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ (which is what he did with his life for almost 70 years).  At the age of 19, in May of 1946, he was sent by the Kansas City Baptist Temple (pastored then by Wendell Zimmerman) to preach the gospel in the land of México as a single missionary.  In 1950 he and his life-long friend Jimmie Combs were present in the Texas Hotel when the BBFI began and he was adopted as one of their first missionaries.

July 26, 1949 he married Concepción (Connie) Muñoz and they served God together for over 64 years all over the country of México preaching and teaching the Word of God, winning souls, discipiling new believers, baptizing, planting churches, and training future leaders (over 70 are now serving in full-time ministry).  God gave them 4 children (John Wesley, Thomas Gifford, Mable Annita, and Harold Daniel), 13 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren (with another 2 on the way).

On Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 2:45 PM, God called him home.  We can truly say that he served his God right up until the end testifying to the nurses that would come to care for him at the house and ministering, counselling, and encouraging the pastors that stopped by to visit him.  The next day, Sunday night, at the last church that he planted in México City a memorial service was held in his honor where over 330 people showed up from all over México and many shared how that Harold DeVilbiss was a kind, patient, caring, loving, giving, wise, humble, personable, and brave servant of Jesus Christ and how he had impacted their lives to be faithful to the Master.  Monday morning the 16th of December another memorial service was held with about 12 others joining us that had traveled all night long to arrive.  During that time, 11 of his13 grandchildren shared with the congregation by letter or in person what their grandfather meant to them.  That afternoon his body was buried in a cemetery in México, the land and people that he gave his life for (over 67 years).  To God be the glory for all that He did through the life of another of His servants, John Harold DeVilbiss.  He will be missed, but we will carry on with the work of our Lord.

The DeVilbiss & Hoagland families

Sent from my iPad

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