Welcoming Address to Larry Schellenberg’s Memorial Gathering
Thank you for inviting me to participate in this memorial gathering for
Larry Schellenberg. I am honoured. I confess, I did not know Larry very
well, but with having had some interaction with him and hearing from his
family and friends, I have gained a great appreciation for who Larry
is, and his impact on those he came in contact with.
It was fun to visit with Larry, sometimes at funerals. He was interested
in what you were doing and usually had something unique to share. He
would ask about the people we both knew.
It is no secret that Larry faced many challenges, many struggles. He
found expressing himself in writing difficult. When asked in school on a
test by Melvin Epp to write a long answer to a question, he wrote a
sentence and then in large letters -HERE I QUIT!
Larry was a good driver. I was told of a passenger in a vehicle
mentioning how this "guy" he was riding with was driving quite fast down
the road in a snow storm talking on the cell phone -and he had only one
arm!
This same driver had the determination to shovel the snow off a complete
parking lot in Delisle -with only one arm. He did not sit and feel
sorry for himself. He persevered.
Larry grew up in a family who know how to serve. His parents spent many
hours, years working for the poor through MCC and serving in the church.
He had a servant heart like his parents and like his siblings, Randy
and Pearl.
The neat thing about Larry is that he is one of God's children and is
very loved by Him. I'm going to read you parts of Isaiah 43, one of my
favorite chapters in the Bible.
"But this is what the Lord says -he who created you ..... Fear not for I
have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name, you are mine."
LARRY -you are mine.
"Do not be afraid for I am with you .... I love you"
"I created you for my glory"
Larry knew and recognized that. He was created for God's glory. We are
created for God's glory. And our lives are going to reveal God's glory
when we recognize we are loved by God. Then others will see His glory in
us. In the things we do and the things we say. In the way we make
people feel. In the love we share with others. God longs to have
fellowship with us, to commune with us, to embrace us and to be loved in
return.
One of his friends, Doug Martens, said, "He was a closer friend to me
than you might realize. In conversation with him in his last days I told
him to trust in God" -and Larry said, "That's what I'm doing."
People were impacted by Larry's testimony of faith. He had a quiet,
personal relationship with Jesus Christ and service to others is how he
expressed it.
To you, family and friends, Randy and Pearl and your families, all the
uncles and aunts and cousins and your children, may God comfort you in
the loss of a special brother and friend. He will be missed. Let's pray:
Lord, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all
our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the
comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Cor 1: 3,4
Thank you for the life of our friend, Larry, and the lessons he taught
us. Bless this service in honor to you. In the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.
God has chosen now as the time to call Larry home. I'm sure there will
be quite a reunion as he meets with his Lord and with his parents Beno
and Reanetta, and of course his younger brothers, Murray and his twin.
Can you just see them sitting around the table and having supper
together? One day the call will come for all of us to join our Lord for
the greatest supper time of them all. We anticipate that invitation!
Dan Siebert