Remembering a faithful friend.

If you have spent any time around Baptist Fellowship, you will have had the occasion to meet Gil Pepin.

Gil went to be with the Lord on Monday.

Gil was a faithful deacon at Baptist Fellowship.  You could find him passing out bulletins with a smile most Sundays at Baptist Fellowship.  He also faithfully served at the Foodshare event that Baptist Fellowship hosted every other Thursday for years.

Whenever I would ask Gil how he was doing, he always responded by saying, “outstanding!”

If I ever referred to him as Mr. Pepin, he would always say, “Mr. Pepin was my father.”

Gil could be readily identified by the railroad cap that he wore. However, that cap was noticeably absent for the last couple of years.

Gil served, alongside his wife, Penny, in the Samaritan’s Purse ministry, Operation Christmas Child.

When he would pray over the offering at church, he would read from a carefully written prayer that he had written (and maybe printed off the internet a time or two).

😊

Wherever the prayer came from, every word was a reflection of his heart.

For us, Gil was the small engine guru.  Gil has fixed more lawnmowers than I can count.  Gil also was the Keldsen family expert butcher.  If we weren’t sure about a roast, we’d call Gil.

These are just a few windows into the heart of a man who loved Christ, loved his family, loved his church, and was an excellent friend.

Proverbs tells us about the character of a good friend.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Prov. 17:17 ESV)

In the 15+ years that I have known Gil, I don’t think I have ever heard him complain.  He was a man of few words.  Gil let his actions speak for him.

He was a generous and faithful man who will be very missed.

But we will see him again.

The Bible reminds us that we will be reunited with Gil on the great day of resurrection.

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 ESV)

Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.

Brian