A Precious Saint gone to be with the Lord

Charles watches as his wife cindi
Signs the Emancipation Proclimation

Our precious brother, Charles Ritchie, went home to be with the Lord at 11:00am on March 19, 2002. Charles had complications with his diabetes. From what we understand, he died of cardiac arrest. Although his body went into toxic shock and could not be revived, he is alive with the Lord and has finished the race marked out for him. Charles finished well! He and his wife, "Miss Cindi" have become very dear to our hearts in these past months. Though our courses have not paralleled long, our hearts were knit together with the same passion and vision that comes from engaging in our Lord's great battle.

Charles and Miss Cindi are well known by those in Fayetteville, North Carolina who have needed to know the love of Jesus. The poor, the fatherless, single moms, and pre-born children have all been touched by their lives. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world," (James 1:27). Charles and Miss Cindi are living parables of this Scripture.

Please keep Miss Cindi, the children, and grandchildren in your prayers. Charles has left a secure fortress for his family. His life will be a refuge for his children and his children's children, because He served the Lord Jesus with all of his heart. The memory of this blessed saint will serve as a goad for all of us, who are following hard after Christ, to run the race marked out. He has left a sure foundation for those coming behind him.

"Miss Cindi, you are a lady of tremendous faith in the Lord. You know your strength lies in our faithful Redeemer Jesus, and that your lap of the race is not yet finished. Run hard the race marked out for you! Remember the Lord Jesus Himself is holding you up and will bring you all the way to the finish. Charles has joined that great cloud of witnesses to cheer you, the children, the grand kids, and the rest of us home. We love you!"