I received a report about an hour ago that my African father, Bishop Ben Bahati, has transitioned from this life to the next. He was in a car accident a couple months ago near his hometown of Eldoret, Kenya. He has been in the ICU at two different hospitals ever since. I am very saddened by this. As I told Amy her eyes welled up with tears. We originally met Ben on our first mission trip to Kenya in 2002 (picture below). We went back in 2004 to adopt Malachi and Faith, and this man moved all his girls into one room so we could stay in the other ... for nearly 6 months! It was during this time that I really bonded with Ben as a father figure in my life. I had always dreamed of being a missionary in the bush and he became the tool of God that would send me all over rural Kenya and northern Tanzania preaching in crusades, revivals, market meetings and mud hut churches that were affiliated with his ministry, Global Field Evangelism. He even fed our family night after night and when our savings ran out back home, he gave us money to go to town or check our emails at the local Internet cafe. I loved that man. I could go on and on with stories about him. He was truly one of a kind. I will miss his smile I think the most. Ben was the embodiment of Love, Gods Love in the flesh. Grief is not only sweeping across East Africa, but even America right now. Within an hour of hearing, I was contacted by people here in Arkansas, Kenya and Uganda. I will end this by saying that he was not afraid of death. He knew death had lost its sting. He knew life was meant to be lived to its fullest and beyond. He knew the victory of Christ would have it no other way and he knew that all mankind deserved to know the Love of God. I think right now that his greatest delight would be to see the musicians of Kenya, of which he was an intricate member of, unite for a celebration concert of Life; a televised concert that would see unity destroy the walls between the tribes of men and Love to win all. In spirit he is now with us, I think I already feel like smiling even more than I already do. His genuine happiness will always be with me, in me. Goodbye for now my dear friend. I love you, your American son, Bill W/ Amy Fechtelkotter, With condolences, love and prayers to Mary Bahati, family and friends.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 00:10:39 +0000
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