A Day to Remember

22 A Day to Remember A friend of mine told me on Friday that one of our friends, Mr. Clark, had passed away. On Saturday, there would be a memorial service for him. So I went to the Kingdom Hall to pay my respects to the man I had met a few times. Mr. Clark died of cancer at age 39. Many people came to the service. The first floor was packed with people, so I was directed to the hall at the lower level. There were about one hundred people there. I took a seat in the front row. When the memorial was about to begin, one person stepped on the stage and started using sign language. That's when I realized there were deaf people in the crowd. It was my first time sitting with deaf people. While we listened through a speaker connected to the first hall upstairs, they listened too- but with a sign language interpreter.

During the memorial, I learned that after college, Mr. Clark worked as a computer technician in the municipal government. Because he wanted to have more time for bible studies with his students, he quit his computer job and took a job as a janitor. He worked the night shift, which gave him free time in the day to do his bible study work with others. A few years later, he went to Africa as a missionary. Though the drought and the medical conditions were a constant challenge, he was happy and content. Two years after he came back to Canada, he got married. They had a baby girl one year later. Last year, he was diagnosed with a very bad type of cancer, but he remained optimistic and continued his service until his last day. Everyone at the memorial was deeply touched by his selfless nature and his love and dedication to serving God. At the end of the memorial, all the people stood to pray and sing. As the music and singing began, I realized that I could hear only a few voices singing. When I looked around, I saw the rest of the crowd was singing with hand gestures. Most of the crowd in this room was deaf! They were singing in sign language! Watching these people signing passionately in unison, I was amazed. It's a day I will never forget.