Lou and I met many years ago. From the very first we became fast friends. I have never had a better friend and will greatly miss him.
I got a call this morning that he had passed away. I still cannot quite believe he is gone. We usually spoke a couple times a week and adjusting to this will be a challenge. He was always there, always pointing me back to the Savior we both loved. We challenged each other. He was a great encourager.
Today heaven is sweeter and I am a little sadder. Friends like Lou are not easy to find. August 23, 2010 will be a day I will remember as long as I live.
Please pray for his wife Gayle and his son, Pastor Jonathan and Lou’s daughter, Julie. They have a big hole in their heart.
I have a set of interviews that I did with him a few months back that are posted on this blog. Scroll over and on the right side of the page and look for his smiling face.
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I was so shocked when I saw the e-mail of his passing. Last I heard he was getting better. So sad for the family. 🙁
Brother Hammet,
This is a beautiful tribute to the man that you had to love if you knew him. Your title summed it up in words we’ve been trying to grasp for days. I can hardly wait to share it with our 8 year old who is struggling with the loss his namesake and beloved friend. Allen and I look forward to reading the interviews on your side bar as time permits.
Regards,
Allen and Kathleen Wachter
Victory Baptist Church
Our former pastor, Louis A. Purks, “graduated to Heaven” on Monday, 8/23. He is missed after 59 years of life, over 30 years of ministry, over 25 years at Victory Baptist Church (since her founding), and being used greatly by God in many lives, including mine. I think II Timothy 4:1-8 describes him well. Even now “he being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4). Praise God for Pastor Louis Albert Purks.
Michael
Victory Baptist Church