After almost two months, I'm still in mourning. My good friend, Joao Keidann was called to the presence of God on June 28. We were expecting him to pass away because he had been going downhill for several years. He had been at home under special care for some years and then he became less and less responsive. When he stopped eating and drinking, the end was near. Nevertheless, when Beth let us know he had passed, it came as a shock.
Joao came to Canada from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a student at the Baptist Seminary in Rio, he was the student who inevitably had the widest scope of questions. Underneath his arm, he carried a ton of books. He was outgoing and spoke with anyone and everyone. His interest in human nature was only matched by his desire to lead all the people around him to the Lord through salvation in Jesus Christ.
When he heard about the opportunity to reach Portuguese speaking people in Canada, he applied to be a missionary with the International Missions Board of the Brazilian Baptists. His new home was in Toronto, Ontario. Immediately, the breadth of this young pastor's vision became apparent. The English-speaking local congregation supported him. Over the years, while working in Toronto, Joao heard about other Portuguese speaking persons in surrounding cities.
Soon, new congregations sprang up in these cities: Cambridge, Kitchener, Guelph, London, and several other cities. Today, there are nine congregations that make up the Portuguese speaking portion of the Canadian Baptist of Ontario and Quebec. Joao is intimately connected to the birth of these churches.
I loved the way Joao endeared himself to people. He spent hours on the telephone encouraging people. He invited me to his home and each time he had new books to place in my hands about evangelism. He recorded a phone message each day, making sure that the listener would be encouraged and would always be challenged to live his or her life for God. He pastored several churches in the Toronto area as well as founding new congregations.
His two daughters in the USA, and his son and daughter in Canada are examples for Christ. Young Jonny's words at the Zoom-YouTube Memorial Service showed how his father's life is going to live on in the work in British Columbia.
Dear Beth, we too miss Joao. I don't know how he managed to get everything done in a 24 hour day. He always seemed relaxed, even when problems were causing him to lose a heartbeat or a night's sleep. He was a dear husband and his was a life well-lived.
No comments:
Post a Comment