Last weekend, Don Gillman, the man pictured above went to be with Jesus. He was traveling and teaching internationally and stopped over in San Francisco to visit his mother. He went out for a run as he does so often and on that run suffered a heart attack and ran straight into the arms of Jesus.
I found this gem of a photo as I've been processing and grieving the sudden death of a man that has literally impacted the lives of thousands of people all over the world. He truly was someone that I have leaned on for wisdom and insight. When I came to Taiwan three years ago, so many had told me "it's so great you get to be under Don's leadership" and three years later, I can testify to that it truly has been great.
Don was a leader that didn't lead by position and power but from passion and a heart that loved, loved, loved Jesus and recognized that everything in his life was solely by the power of Christ to transform a life. He was a gifted teacher that could bring the scriptures to life and cause you to take seriously the challenge live out what they teach. I have been so blessed to sit under his teaching in my own SBS (School of Biblical Studies) as well as in base meetings, other teachings, question and answer sessions, staff development times, and just impromptu casual conversations. Don was a gifted storyteller and could take anything that happened to him or anyone else and transform it into something that was a powerful lesson to learn, a funny anecdote that had us all rolling in laughter. So many of his stories will forever live on in my memory.
One particular gift I walked away with from my time with Don was one particular meeting I had with him about a year after I had moved to Taiwan from Central Asia. I had arrived in Taiwan as a weary worker, full of questions and just needing to rest. After some physical and spiritual rest I sought out Don to dialogue with him, one frontier worker to the other. I remember in that meeting I voiced some ugly things in my heart, asked some tough questions about missions I hadn't realized I even needed to verbalize, and Don sat listening and offering wisdom and spoke to me not as one speaks to a child but as an equal. He gave value to me as an individual, heard my questions and offered answers that I will treasure as I continue to serve the Lord on the frontiers. As others have stated about him, Don was a man that could impact your life with one conversation. I'm thankful for not only this one conversation but many as I have been blessed to work with him in Taiwan.
I've been so privileged to "run the race" alongside a man of God like Don. He has set the pace for so many others. His exit from this earth has been so shocking for all of us, but one thought I've been having since Don left is that he is a man who had a reason for living his life 100% committed to the Lord. As I spent this last week doing some of what Don has done for so many years: teaching, challenging young people to keep running the race for Jesus in the cause of world missions, it has inspired me to keep committed in my own race. Like a friend who comes along during a long-distance race and cheers you on and keeps pace with you, I feel Don's example in the way he lived his life is cheering me on to keep putting one foot in front of the other towards the finish line.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2
