The Rev. Louis H. Evans Jr. joined the Church Triumphant on October 28 after an earthly struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  As you can see from the L.A. Time article, he had an impressive lineage and resume.  He was the organizing pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church here in L.A. and was the senior pastor at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.  He provided great service to the Lord Jesus Christ through his work in the church and there are numerous articles testifying to that effort.  And Ken Malloy, one of the TV news anchors in Fresno where the Evans’ lived, has a tribute to Rev. Evans on his blog.

But I want to share my one experience with Rev. Evans.  Several years ago our church invited Louie and Coke, as Pastor Evans and his wife Colleen were know, to lead a couples retreat for the church.  It was a wonderful weekend, they were warm, charming, entertaining, informative and challenging.  They did not have a hint of pretense but were “down to earth” people and meshed with the folks from our church right from the start.  They did have stories, mostly told on themselves, and that just added to their charm and familiarity.

I got to sit next to Louie at one of the meals and discovered we were both “GA Junkies” of another type.  That would be G.A. as in “General Aviation,” the technical term for private pilots and non-commercial aviation.  I am not a pilot but have a great interest and follow the field.  He had his private pilot’s license and once he found that he had an interested party to listen to more of his stories he was more than eager to swap tales.

It was a delightful weekend and I thank God for the two of them and their ministry which was continuing even at that point in their lives.  May God comfort his family with the knowledge that he is surely in God’s presence.  “Well done good and faithful servant.”