The Rev. Mr. David Fannin, World Missions Ministries Regional Director for Eastern Europe/Middle East, died in his sleep early Monday morning, October 10, 2011, near Kiev, Ukraine.
Fannin was in Turkey last week for the Missionary Retreat, and seemed to be doing well. He and his wife Linda, along with Continental Director Bob Cave and missionaries the Miningers, had just completed weekend services in Xmelnitsky, Ukraine. Bob and our IPHC Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Kiev are with Linda.
Visitation will be Saturday evening, October 15, 2001 and Sunday afternoon, October 16, at Simpson Funeral Home 5160 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke, VA (phone: 540-366-0707 and website: www.simpsonfuneralservice.com).
The funeral will be held Monday, October 17, 2011, at 10 a. m. at New Life Christian Ministries PHC, pastored by Rev. Tony Atkinson, located at 5745 Airport Road Roanoke, VA (website: www.newlifecm.org).
The memorial service will be conducted by the Rev. Mr. Walter Lee Wood, the Rev. Dr. Doug Beacham, the Rev. Dr. Harold Dalton, and the Rev. Mr. Bob Cave.
Burial will be at the Appalachian Conference Cemetery at the campground in Dublin, Virginia, approximately 1 p. m, on Monday afternoon.
Please refer to World Missions' Facebook page for the up-to-date details. Please remember Linda and their three children in your prayers.
[Editor's Comment: When I think of young men and women dying in the prime of life, I am reminded of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam, his amazing tribute to his friend Arthur Henry Hallam who died as a result of a stroke at the age of 22.
They had met each other at Cambridge. Tennyson considered Hallam one of the most brilliant men of his day. After Hallam's death Tennyson went into deep depression and did not write again for 10 years. The writing of In Memoriam to his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, brought Tennyson out of his depression.
I minored in English literature at Furman University with a concentration in the Victorian Period of history, and was taught by Dr. Robert Bass, the author of The Swamp Fox, a story about Francis Marion and his men who outwitted British troops during the American Revolution, which was made into a movie by Walt Disney.
Now, here is the famous quote . . . Tennyson's love for his friend Arthur Henry Hallam:
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
I am glad we got to meet and know David Fannin. To know him was to love him. We are grateful to God for his life, his call, and obedience to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. We have not lost him forever; for we shalll see him again in heaven.
Posted on
Wed, October 12, 2011
by Hugh Morgan