Dear Friends
Thank you for all your prayers, concern and love. My father died on the 21 December 2007. It was extremely traumatic as he was really well on the 14 December, on the 15 December he felt fluey and had a nose bleed in the middle of the night. Due to the severity of the blood loss, he was hospitalized. I chatted to him on the phone and was told that he had pneumonia. Praise God for the prompting of the Holy Spirit; I booked the earliest flight possible…19 December.
His condition deteriorated rather quickly and I felt extremely trapped – afraid that I would not be able to see him before it was too late. Ken and the children decided to stay as I was sure he would recover once I got there and flights to South Africa are ridiculously expensive. I arrived at his bedside on the 20 December at 2:00pm. It was wonderful to see him, even though he was connected to pipes and comatosed – I was able to hug and kiss him. I then started reading Matthew 25 to him - one of his favourite chapters. I then read Psalm 30 to him and he opened his eyes and said “Where is that?” I was delighted and the nurses were shocked because they had been nursing a corps until now! I then started to sing his favourite praise and worship songs: Guide me O Thy Great Jehovah; Blessed Assurance; Amazing Grace; How Great Thou Art; Jesus Love Me; Noel and many more. He started to hum along perfectly and for the next 45 minutes, my mother; sister and I experienced the most amazing worship session ever! Truly Extreme worship, every time we finished singing a song, my dad would start humming another and we had the privileged to sing along! We managed to take a short video clip (if you are interested) of Dad humming but did not want to focus on recording too much because really this was and is about God. We had two more “worship sessions” with Dad and this time the nurses joined in – surreal to see God working even in the hardest situations. Dad was growing weaker and we kept on telling him to hold on … for the children and his sons to come… Eventually on Thursday 20 th at 11:00 pm Dad opened his eyes… looked at me and said “I’m so tired.” I just knew I was being selfish, wanting him to fight; to live, when God has such a wonderful mansion prepared…. so I said ”It’s okay, Dad – rest – go home to Jesus…”
My sister, nephew and I, each had an opportunity to say goodbye and tell him that we loved him and are so grateful to have had a Dad and G/father like him. My mother spoke to him too and then he said ”Charney look after Bess.” I said I would – he slipped off quietly in his sleep three hours later on the 21 December.
Well his legacy did not stop there – we held a service for him on the 27 December at their home “Edenroc”, Durban. His last wish was not to have a funeral but to have a celebration of what God had done in his life. Everyone was to wear bright colours, no black – his best friend and pastor, (whom he lay preached for every other Sunday) was to preach a SALVATION message… giving hope and sharing GOD’S LOVE, at the celebration. It truly was a celebration - 25 people responded to the salvation message and accepted Christ into their lives! What a tremendous victory for the kingdom and I know that my dad would be thrilled! Heaven and Earth rejoiced.
We brought my Mum with us to spend sometime in Korea and hopefully become more independent – she has been married to my dad for 49 years – this year would have been their 50th anniversary. She is rather confused and still in shock so your prayers are appreciated; especially as she adjusts to her changed life. I know God will protect her and comfort her as HE has us. God is so faithful and true.
Love in Christ
Chantal and Kenneth McAllister.
Thank you for all your prayers, concern and love. My father died on the 21 December 2007. It was extremely traumatic as he was really well on the 14 December, on the 15 December he felt fluey and had a nose bleed in the middle of the night. Due to the severity of the blood loss, he was hospitalized. I chatted to him on the phone and was told that he had pneumonia. Praise God for the prompting of the Holy Spirit; I booked the earliest flight possible…19 December.
His condition deteriorated rather quickly and I felt extremely trapped – afraid that I would not be able to see him before it was too late. Ken and the children decided to stay as I was sure he would recover once I got there and flights to South Africa are ridiculously expensive. I arrived at his bedside on the 20 December at 2:00pm. It was wonderful to see him, even though he was connected to pipes and comatosed – I was able to hug and kiss him. I then started reading Matthew 25 to him - one of his favourite chapters. I then read Psalm 30 to him and he opened his eyes and said “Where is that?” I was delighted and the nurses were shocked because they had been nursing a corps until now! I then started to sing his favourite praise and worship songs: Guide me O Thy Great Jehovah; Blessed Assurance; Amazing Grace; How Great Thou Art; Jesus Love Me; Noel and many more. He started to hum along perfectly and for the next 45 minutes, my mother; sister and I experienced the most amazing worship session ever! Truly Extreme worship, every time we finished singing a song, my dad would start humming another and we had the privileged to sing along! We managed to take a short video clip (if you are interested) of Dad humming but did not want to focus on recording too much because really this was and is about God. We had two more “worship sessions” with Dad and this time the nurses joined in – surreal to see God working even in the hardest situations. Dad was growing weaker and we kept on telling him to hold on … for the children and his sons to come… Eventually on Thursday 20 th at 11:00 pm Dad opened his eyes… looked at me and said “I’m so tired.” I just knew I was being selfish, wanting him to fight; to live, when God has such a wonderful mansion prepared…. so I said ”It’s okay, Dad – rest – go home to Jesus…”
My sister, nephew and I, each had an opportunity to say goodbye and tell him that we loved him and are so grateful to have had a Dad and G/father like him. My mother spoke to him too and then he said ”Charney look after Bess.” I said I would – he slipped off quietly in his sleep three hours later on the 21 December.
Well his legacy did not stop there – we held a service for him on the 27 December at their home “Edenroc”, Durban. His last wish was not to have a funeral but to have a celebration of what God had done in his life. Everyone was to wear bright colours, no black – his best friend and pastor, (whom he lay preached for every other Sunday) was to preach a SALVATION message… giving hope and sharing GOD’S LOVE, at the celebration. It truly was a celebration - 25 people responded to the salvation message and accepted Christ into their lives! What a tremendous victory for the kingdom and I know that my dad would be thrilled! Heaven and Earth rejoiced.
We brought my Mum with us to spend sometime in Korea and hopefully become more independent – she has been married to my dad for 49 years – this year would have been their 50th anniversary. She is rather confused and still in shock so your prayers are appreciated; especially as she adjusts to her changed life. I know God will protect her and comfort her as HE has us. God is so faithful and true.
Love in Christ
Chantal and Kenneth McAllister.
Bess and Buzz 49 years earlier on their wedding day. 
