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I do miss my dear Brother Gan. He was a brother, father, friend to us all. My husband and I came to know of Bro. Gan in 1979-80. At that time we were moving from India to Oman. There were no End Time churches or believers in Muscat, Oman back then. It was just us and another brother's family fellowshipping together in the Word. My husband would write his doubts and questions to Bro Gan by letter. This was before e-mail. Bro Gan would send him back long handwritten letters explaining and clarifying each doubt, answering each question, so patient and kind. I remember the first edition mimeographed books he sent us which we treasured, read, and re-read. We had just come out of Catholicism and his books went a long way in schooling us in the Word. Thus began a long and loving relationship with this humble servant of God. Many brethren criticized him no end for going against the message, corrupting the message, and so on. Little do they know that he introduced Bro Branham's message to many, even circulated his books to those of us who were yet not acquainted with the Elijah ministry. Inspite of all the allegations against him, he would just smile and say, 'God knows it all.' Bro Gan, Sis Leena from Mumbai, India, and myself share the same birth year. Sis Leena passed away a couple of years ago and when I shared the news with our brother he said, "now only we 2 left Sis Hilda." And now he's flown away too. This man of God instilled in each one of us a better understanding of the 5 fold ministry and The Work of God in our Times. I still remember fondly the Nasrapur, India Convention of 1994, which my husband, Bro Vally, helped arrange. It was the first convention where End Time Believers from all over India gathered in one place to hear the Word preached. It was at that Convention that we understood better about The Logos, The Mystery of the Godhead, The Original Sin, and The Suffering of Christ. He came to us many times in the course of the next few years, each time with a new and wonderful gem from the Word, a new stimulating revelation which renewed our minds and rejoiced our hearts. His style of preaching always held us enthralled and his outgoing personality drew folks to him. In the few times we were blessed to have him stay with us, he was always so adjusting and courteous, always respectful of the country's culture, and forbearing of the inconveniences. He ate whatever was given to him without complaint and won a place in each one of our hearts. He always became a child when eating mangoes. He loved Indian mangoes, and I remember skinning and cutting them up for him, and him saying, "Oh Sis Hilda, you've taken all the fun out of eating mangoes. I like to get messy when I eat them. That's the fun of it". The last time I spoke to him was sometime in March. I told him we were all praying for him to get well. And he said, "Sister Hilda, don't worry about me. If the Lord calls me, I'm ready to go. It would be much better for me to be with Him than here. But I'm waiting on Him as always. If there's any more work for me to do, He'll keep me on. Otherwise He'll call me home. Either way, I'm ready." And ready he was. It is the end of an era for all those of us who knew this brave soldier of Christ. He bore the last days of his ailment with grace and dignity, smiling and praying till the end. His life was a well lived one, serving others with compassion, serving the Lord with great courage and fervour. I'm sure he'll be on Heaven's welcoming committee with the other saints of God who have gone on before and will come to meet us at our Lord's Coming.
Sis Rosy Hilda Serrao, |