Our hearts were truly blessed as our friend, Paul Burkholder, entered the warm embrace of his Lord.  It was all very sudden.  He suffered a stroke from which he did not recover.  Paul was a brother in the Lord who blessed us beyond measure.

I recall, when moving to New York City in 1960, Paul and his dear wife Miriam were newly sent missionaries to that great city.  At the time I think there were several church planters sent by Eastern Mennonite Board to the City.  It was all very new.  Among them were Paul and Miriam.  We got to know them when we lived there, studying at NYU.

Paul, along with Glenn Zeager and John Kraybill, earned their living as taxi drivers.  So, they were more or less self-supporting.  I thought that to be quite admirable.  None of those workers had any special training for what they got into, so they did their best to support themselves.  I was impressed.  Anna Ruth and I were blessed as we got to know that amazing group of people, among whom were Paul and Miriam.  That was almost 58 years ago!

We kept in touch, sort of, through the years and felt a unity with the Burkholders because they embraced the message of revival that we also loved.

After many fruitful years of ministry, they moved to Landis Homes where we reconnected.  We joined hands in the ministry of revival and felt the life and blessing of Paul and Miriam.  Eventually Paul, who was a member of the Forest Hills Mennonite Church, got the blessing of the congregation to have our revival group to meet there on a quarterly basis, which we did for many years.

When Miriam went on to glory we felt a bit bereft but Paul pushed on and lived a fruitful life as a single man, giving a good deal of attention to his growing family, scattered far and wide.

If there was ever a man who rested absolutely in the arms of Jesus, it was Paul.  His love for his Lord gave meaning to his life, blessing many and encouraging all who desired a deeper life with Jesus.  He remains in my heart, a brother indeed.  I felt his love until his death, and after.  Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings I received as we shared life with Paul and Miriam.