Thank You Doc!
Ronald William Reoch
1946-2013
This is not the first time I have sat down at my desk to try and write this newsletter. I know I need to do this, but it doesn’t make it any easier. The reason for my difficulty is that I am trying to find the words to honor my dearest friend and board chairman of Empty Tomb Ministries, Ron Reoch. Ron, better known as “Doc”, battled ALS for almost 9 years until he finally won the battle and the Lord called him home on April 14, 2013. Men can live a lifetime and never have someone they can call their closest friend. Doc was my closest friend and for that I am a blessed man. There have been many days I have asked the Lord, why? Why Doc? Why this? Why now? One thing I know for sure, the God who created Doc, the God who gifted Doc, the God who blessed Doc and the God who loves Doc can be trusted. His ways are so much higher than ours, His plans so much deeper and His amazing love for each of us always reminds me that He knows what is best and because of that we must trust Him. Doc departed this earth for Heaven because Heaven is a real place and Doc had a personal relationship with God’s one and only Son Jesus. No one knew this better than Doc! As good a man as he was, he understood good works doesn’t get you to Heaven. Doc was an endodontist by trade, he worked hard and the Lord blessed him financially. Doc knew money and things can’t get you to Heaven. Doc knew the importance of showing others what Jesus looked like, so he lived his life for Christ. Doc knew that each person needed to make a personal decision to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That is one reason Doc was so committed to helping and supporting Empty Tomb Ministires.
As I look out my office window, I am flooded with memories of all the years enjoying family and ministry together. At one time, we even lived on the same street, spending time together and watching our children grow and eventually establishing their own families. Doc and his wife Karen have five children; it was a great honor for me to officiate at each of their weddings. It was so special taking vacations together, growing in our faith together, praying together, laughing together and facing the challenges of life together. I have learned over the years that having a friend like Ron was simply a gift from Heaven. As Doc progressed with this disease, time and time again I was moved by his faith, hope and love. Each time we would talk, it always seemed like he was the one encouraging me. As I would hang up from our calls I would just sit there and thank God for this man and his faith. We would always talk about what we were going to do once God healed his physical body. We would dream about Doc traveling with me and being able to share his story of how God healed him and restored him. Doc really did show all of us how to live for Christ on this earth. And now he has added one more thing that he has taught us, how to die for Christ. What I mean by that is, he remained the same man in the midst of the most challenging season in his life. He never stopped trusting God; he looked for the positive in all of his circumstances and believed till the very end that at any second, the God of the universe could heal his physical body.
Saying goodbye is never easy. Death wants us to believe that we have lost something! But wait one minute. When you lose something you don’t know where it is! “So death, where is your sting?” We have not lost Doc, we know right where he is in HEAVEN! Doc, congratulations you beat us home! Our Father in Heaven needed you and so you went, trusting Him with every day of your life. You were always a shining example of being a Kingdom Ambassador for Jesus! Your words matched the way you lived, Doc you were the real deal and because of that you touched our lives! You reminded each of us that a life well lived is worth all the sacrifice. Your faith was as real as that white hair of yours. I am going to miss you my friend! Thank you Doc, for everything and for every minute you invested your life in me.
Doc, I would like to end with a scripture we talked about a lot. It was the Apostle Paul writing from his Roman cell where he was about to be executed for his faith. He knew his time had come, he wasn’t going to die, he was going to depart for his eternal home, a place called Heaven. Welcome home DOC!
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:6-7
Pastor Fred in Fort Collins
This past March we had the honor of hosting Pastor Fred Muyimba from Kampala, Uganda. It is always a real blessing to have Pastor Fred with us and to be able to minister with him in different places here in Colorado. Many years ago God joined our hearts together for ministry and it has been an amazing journey so far. I have had the privilege to travel to Uganda nine different times and each trip has been so fruitful. We have worked together to help build leaders in Pastor Fred’s church in the capital city of Kampala, as well as in many of the villages where the Lord has planted churches where there has never been a church before. We have seen the power of the Holy Spirit setting people free, healing the broken hearts and restoring health to the human body. We watch people take God’s word into their hearts and it literally changes them for all eternity.
We have also been helping Pastor Fred fulfill a vision God placed in his heart many years ago, to build a school and an orphanage in the very village where he grew up. That vision is becoming a reality and is getting closer to completion. In June two young ladies from our church, Izzy and Emily, will be traveling to Uganda to spend three weeks with Pastor Fred and his church. They will be helping in a number of different ways. And finally, I will be back in Uganda the first part of November. We will be doing leadership training and outreach in the city of Fort Portal. Please keep Pastor Fred and his wife Grace in your prayers. God is using them in mighty ways to touch the lives of people wherever they go.
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8