Eternal Joy!

Over the years I have always felt at ease about sharing my grief when one of the orphans in our care dies, and you have always responded with great amounts of compassion. You have reminded me that I am not alone in this battle, and that you are out there praying for me, and especially for the children who remain with us. On May 31st another precious soul went to be with the Lord, but this time it wasn't one of our children, it was one of you faithful supporters...

Mark MacAlpine ran his first race to raise money for Christian Action's work with orphans in 2008, and went on to run several more races, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the precious children in our care. Last year Mark pulled out of the Mt. Butler race at the last minute when doctors discovered he had a tumour that was about to burst. Ever considerate of the needs of others, Mark and his wife Elinor were very concerned about completing his mission, so a substitute was quickly found. Fireman Hong took Mark's place and ran the race.

Mark and Elinor were members of Resurrection Church in Sai Kung, where my husband Marlon and I fellowship. We knew Mark was very ill, and that his condition was life threatening, but he didn’t simply drop out of circulation, he continued to serve as always.  Each Sunday he would be there, continuing with his duties, seemingly without a care in the world. He always saw the humorous side of life, and he frequently helped all of us to see it too. Mark remained a fully active member of our church family until he was physically unable to serve any more. We could all see the truth of the words in the Bible - Paul wrote to Timothy "the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim 4:6)

As a Christian, I find great comfort in knowing that the end of Mark’s life was actually his beginning!  I believe that he is now in Heaven, and so, in the words of the writer of Psalm 30, my mourning has turned to rejoicing! One of the members of our Bible study group had a wonderful vision of Mark in heaven, holding the hands of some children. It's as if they were sent to greet him. I believe they were children from our orphanage and I can only imagine their joy at this final reconciliation which will last for all eternity!

Everyone at Christian Action, especially the children who Mark loved so dearly, join me in saying:

We won’t forget you Mark, and we will see you later!