StoryFrom Pastor Steve Freeburne, Associate Pastor, Grace Fellowship Church* Officially Liz died Saturday August 11th at 9:30 am London time (4:30 am Eastern Daylight time). She was struck by a car on Thursday afternoon (5:25 PM London time) August 9th and did not regain consciousness before she died. Rick, Andrea and David and Liz' three sisters and aunt were at her side when she died. Please continue to pray for Rick, David, Andrea and the rest of the family. Even in this time of sorrow and grief we can look to Him who is the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. I have spoken with Rick a number of times and the Lord is extending His grace to Rick, David, Andrea and the immediate family as well as to all of us who have come to feel a deep love for the Wernz family and a great appreciation for the passion with which Liz served her Savior. The body of Christ around the world has embraced Rick, Andrea, David and Liz’ three sisters Deb, Lu, and Becky and it has been a practical demonstration of the message found in Psalms 23 where David said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." Rick needed to obtain a new passport before he could travel to London to be at his wife's side and so one dear brother in our congregation drove Rick to Chicago to get an emergency passport issued by 9 am Friday morning. Another dear lady in our congregation worked with several others in our body to secure tickets for Rick, David and Andrea so that they could be on the same flight which left from Chicago for London Friday afternoon at 4pm. The family arrived in London after midnight (Kentucky time) Saturday morning and they were able to spend time with Liz even though she was unconscious. A pastor in Wales stepped forward to arrange for pastoral care for the family while the Wernz's™ are in London. One of these contacts helped Rick, Andrea and David get to a hotel for the night and then the next morning helped them get to the bed & breakfast where they stayed the rest of the time. A friend in Thailand was notified where a conference was underway. This friend sent out a worldwide announcement asking for prayers on the behalf of the Wernz family and the conference in Thailand suspended their daily activities to take time to pray for the Wernz family. A special prayer service was pulled together by two of the small groups at Grace Fellowship Church and a larger number of people gathered at the church to pray. Also, three church groups in California gathered together at the Jimenez home to intercede for Liz and later to have a memorial service for her. I share all of these details not to draw attention to any of the people involved but to illustrate in a very practical way of how the grace of God operates in a time of need. Peter reminded us in 1 Peter 4:10 that “Each one of us should use whatever gift we have received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. I am reminded of the words of Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-7: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade “ kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith "of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire" may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. On a final note I cannot help but reflect how amazing our God is in the arrangement of all the details of His ways (even those we don't understand like the death of Liz Wernz). What he desires in these situations is that we turn away from ourselves and cry out to him, putting our hope not in ourselves but in Him. 2 Corinthians 1:9-10: "This happened that we might not rely on ourselves put on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers."
*This article contained some minor factual errors and omissions in it's original form. It has been and may continue to be updated and corrected as more accurate details become available. |
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