Thanks a Trillion Times

Today, Mickey and I are listening to many who are honoring a beloved Pastor and friend, Wilson Okotie. He is now with Jesus—no doubt dancing and singing with great enthusiasm!

Two years ago he and his wife, Pastor Praise, stayed with our family on a visit from Nigeria. We shared many meals together, visited the Florida Aquarium and celebrated my daughter, Myla’s 9th birthday. One evening we were talking about the things of God, how he works, and what faith means. At one point Pastor Wilson quoted from memory an entire chapter of John. He had me keep reading beyond what he had quoted. As I read, he continued to utter every word by heart. I’ve never met a man who had committed the Word to memory like him. Similarly, I’ve never seen anyone live it out with such deliberation and passion. I am certain the two are inextricably linked. He lived like he was a man set on fire by the Holy Spirit. And that changed everything in the Egbema Kingdom, and for all who knew him.

Pastor Wilson sang loudly and spoke boldly! And he Also had a great tenderness and affection for others, just like a good father. We said "yes” to Nigeria, in part, because this was so evident. We knew he was trustworthy. There were very tense moments of real threat while we were there. But we had all committed ourselves to each other. Our lives were very much in his hands. And carting around four white people in the middle of civil unrest put his life in our hands too. Deep trust is built in times like these, Great Respect too.

I would frequently get texts from Pastor Wilson during the year leading up to our trip. Always a person of integrity, he would share any issues or updates as they came up—“You need to pray we get government approval for passage to the villages”, “The final documents for travel have not yet been issued, without this we could be retained by the army”, “You must tell them that you are a missionary with me. Do not joke about this or they will kill me”, “We have had no kidnappings in many years and those were because of oil.” These types of texts would almost always come at 4am, and would ALWAYS end in, “You are safe.” And we were. God met every need. He always does. He will again.

Though we only knew him a few years, the impact of his life, his legacy, his love has become a hinge point of Mickey and I’s mission and passion to preach the Good News, set the captives free, and heal the sick. We have countless pictures, texts and memories with Pastor Wilson. In nearly every message he would end by say to Mickey, me, or Overflow Church, “Thanks a trillion times for everything.”

Today, I echo his words back to him:

Thanks a trillion times for being the last to shut our door and the first to knock in the morning to make sure we were indeed “safe” each night.

Thanks a trillion times for introducing us to the Ijaw people. We fell in love with them because of you.

Thanks a trillion times for your many prayers of blessing and protection over our family.

Thanks a trillion times for your passionate faith that emboldened mine.

Thanks a trillion Times for your God-sized dreams and your holy pursuit of them.

Thanks a trillion times for your sacrifice.

Thanks a trillion times for your testimony of the life-saving power of Jesus Christ.

Thanks a trillion times for all you’ve done, Pastor Wilson. Only heaven was able to count how many came to know Jesus because you lived your life as his faithful servant. The celebration in heaven today eclipses our sorrow, for we know our pain is temporary. Your joy and union with Jesus is eternal. What a gift!

To Pastor Praise and the rest of the Okotie family, the churches he planted, the disciples he made, and thousands in the villages who are grieving and suffering. We love you; we weep with you; and we see you in your suffering. You are not forgotten, not for one day. I still see you in my dreams, as I did before we met. Our hearts are knit together in Christ with a love that is deep and crosses every earthly boundary.

In this time of mourning, the Lord brought me back to a verse that I had marked when I arrived back from Nigeria and my heart ached for us to be together again.

1 Thessalonians 3:9

How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.