Love For His People: My dad, Louis James Martin. Went to heaven 20 years ago on July 18, 1999.

My dad, Louis James Martin.

Went to heaven 20 years ago.

July 18, 1999

July 18, 2019

Twenty years ago today my Dad (pictured in the photo, bottom right, with his two older sisters Esther Martin Lyons and Jean Martin Schultz, and his older brother, Bill Martin) went to heaven, after having lymphoma cancer. He would have been 70 three days later.

Mom (Lila Martin Parker) and Dad had moved here in Charlotte, North Carolina just 4 years prior, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to be with several of the 8 kids who then lived here, and to assist me with the ministry I worked with at the time. Being a "do-whatever-it-takes" kind of guy, and knowing much of the construction and electrical trade, he was quite the one to have around.

I remember one specific time when he and I took out the horse barn doors in that barn to make the place into a House of the Lord at All Nations Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Also the time he worked on the Heritage USA amphitheater in Fort Mill, South Carolina, upgrading the electrical wiring, so the show could go on - "The Passion Play." (That same piece of ground is just a few hundred yards where I now work at Antioch International Church.)

Dad was a hard worker, often more than 60 hours a week with his maintenance job at Viking Pump Foundry in Cedar Falls, and his own electrical business called Martin Electrical Services. He would rewire churches at no cost to them.

He did not say a whole lot. Most often what he did was enough to show his concerns for being responsible, diligent, and providing for his family - Mom and the 8 kids.

I know Dad is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now. He professed faith in the Lord after a Bill Gaither Trio concert. Maybe he did before he reached 50, but at least at that time, it was for certain.

Thank you, Lord, for my Dad. He was a true example to me!

With my love,

Steve