On this day many years ago, a beautiful baby girl was born. She grew up on the farm, learning to love life and animals. Once, she even escaped death on the farm. As a sincere young girl, she dedicated her life to God and learned to walk with Him and follow His will for her life. She was many times a hidden servant, but her service was not hidden from her Lord. He knew exactly what he was doing as He lovingly shaped and molded her more and more into His image.

As her life progressed, she caught the eye and the heart of a young man, and God brought them together at last. As a mother, she labored valiantly to bring her children into this world, then tenderly raised and nurtured them in the fear of the Lord. Through various and difficult circumstances, God continued His work in her heart, teaching her to love as He loves. Many, many people have been touched by Christ in her, and I am humbled and amazed to be her husband today and forever. I love you, honey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEENY!!!

God’s faithfulness remains …

Most of the group from here in NC that went to Honduras last week has returned safely.  Their presence is welcomed and brings comfort to our hearts as they share pictures and stories of the sweet ways God used this time to bring healing to their hearts.  Reality came home for me a little more as I saw pictures.  You can see some at Matthew’s blog. 

I thank God for giving us tears.  Isn’t it amazing how He made us with all these emotions, but knew that we would need a release for them so that our hearts can find healing?  I remember once when it was bugging me how easily I would cry during the time God did so many deep things in my heart as a result of the privilege He gave me to know and love Isaac.  He teased me about being emotional that day just a couple of weeks ago, but I’ll never forget how he emphatically assured me, “By the way, I think emotions are just awesome creations!”

 You are so right, Isaac.  And if you thought I cried  a lot then … 

But it’s ok.  They are still good tears.  Thank-you, Lord.

 The memorial service is planned for Sunday, April 6th.  You can see more details about that on Isaac’s Memorial Site .  We rejoice with Daniel and Melissa that they got Weston’s passport in only a few hours, so they will be able to be here for the service as well.  In Honduras, that was a miracle!! So thank God with us.

Today is the day when many of Isaac’s friends will return from Honduras, Lord willing.  This does not include his immediate family … only those who flew down to be with the family this past week.  Pray that God will keep them safe, uphold them and continue to comfort them.  Also pray for Joy, Shanna, Briana, Greta, and Amy, as well as Daniel and Melissa and Weston.  Things will be much quieter there now. 

Thanks for all the prayers and love you have poured out on the family and all of us.  It means more than you can know.  It was so important to Isaac that each person be loved and respected.  He would be so grateful to every one of you for the love you have shown to his family and friends.  God bless you.

 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;  the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort …”

As the days pass by, I am constantly in amazement of God.  There are so many little things that have happened and continue to happen, that prove to us God’s sovereignty in this experience.  He has ways of comforting us in our grief that can only be His ways. 

Yesterday morning, the phone rang, and when I answered it, I heard the beautiful sound of new lungs serenading the arrival of life, and the voice of a Daddy that was too happy to even be tired.   I knew … it was our dear friends, Daniel and Rosalyn.  They called to annouce the arrival of their darling baby boy, Brian Eric.  This call brought another kind of tears, tears of joy that have deeper meaning than those shed at other births.  Brian’s big sister, Janelle Dawn, is celebrating the streets of gold with Isaac today.  She left this world in December of 2006 at just three months of age.  

 I was in awe of God.  Daniel and Rosalyn, who well know the path of tears and pain that death of a loved one brings, as well as God’s overwhelming grace during such a time … they are privileged to be an instrument of joy and comfort right now.  That is just the way God is.  Thank-you, Lord.

Below is a picture of my little girl’s reaction to the news that Rosalyn’s baby had finally arrived.  She loves the Bylers dearly, and has been very anxious to see this little one that she knew was growing inside his mama.  Her expression mirrors my heart.

                                                               

                                                                 

Many of you have been wondering if or when there will be any sort of memorial service here in NC for Isaac.  This is just to inform you that there will be one here, Lord willing, but not till the Coates return from Honduras.  All we know right now is that it is planned for the first weekend in April.  The final dates have not been announced yet. 

More later …

It’s Sunday morning in NC.  The loss of little brother weighs this morning.  Isaac’s friends and loved ones all have different ways of grieving, of handling the staggering loss.  For me, thoughts of his gain have given so much comfort every day even in the midst of pain. This morning I woke up, though, and the realities hit me with much sadness.  Church was always a special time to see his face and exchange a few words, give a hug, invite him home for lunch when his family was gone.  While we know that he would have still been in Honduras, today we will know that he is not ever coming through those doors again.  Maybe his family is thinking those things this morning.  Pray for them.

Here, the grieving continues with so little to bring closure of any sort at this point.  A number of Isaac’s closest friends are sweetly gathered with his family in Erandique today.  But another great number are gathering here today to try to have a church service. Moderators, song leaders, and preachers feel a certain burden today that is different than usual.  May we request special prayer, that God will be glorified and that He will show us how to comfort each other?

Thanks so much to the hundreds of you that have prayed and supported Isaac’s mother and sisters and family this week.  It means so much to them.   Hearing a few voices from Honduras yesterday was so encouraging.  They are experiencing what we are, God’s grace and comfort in the midst of tragedy that is only ours on earth, for now.

The second group who traveled down experienced some delays with a missed flight.   They may still be making their way toward Erandique this morning.  Among them are three of Isaac’s best friends and also one of his mother’s closest friends.  A memorial service will be going on down there today, too.  Do carry them on your heart.

And one more thing … one of Isaac’s best friends is in Mexico today, without others who loved Isaac surrounding her. The past few days have been really difficult for her. Please pray for Isaac’s ‘big sis’, Linda. 

How can one person have so many best friends?  I tried to think if I am using that term incorrectly somewhere, but every one of those I mentioned are really his best friends, and I have only included some of them.

I just received this email from my brother in Honduras, with more detail of what happened.

Thanks so much to all who have been lifting us up in prayer. We had a safe, though extremely tiring trip. We arrived in Erandique a little after 7 PM local time and were greeted by the Troyers, most of the Coates ladies, and many of the others who’ve been here. Some were just waking up from afternoon/evening naps and soon everyone had come by. There were a lot of long hugs, tears and more hugs. What do you say? What do you do? How do you comfort? Throughout the evening we looked at lots of pictures, shared stories from each point of view, and just talked. I asked many very specific questions. I needed it for healing. And I knew some of the ones here needed the same. And I also wanted to be able to share some of those details with so many of you who’ve been carrying everyone here on your hearts. I’m planning to have the boys who were present recount, on video, the entire story so we can share that with you all. Until then, I want to share a few things that touched me deeply and I know you’d like to hear. First of all, just let me say that Joy is being held up by the Father in an amazing way. Wednesday night as they waited through the long hours until they could resume their search in daylight, the boys told me she was the one who went from person to person as different ones would be crying, and shared comfort and strength with them. It’s so obvious to anyone observing that she’s being poured into in a divine and astounding way. I know times will come yet where the reality of Isaac never coming back will hit her in fresh and excruciating ways. Please keep praying for the grace of God to continue flowing into her.

Second, I would specifically plead for intercession on Caleb’s behalf. He was the one who was right beside Isaac in the water. He has so many ‘reasons’ to feel responsibility and guilt. He says so many times it feels like this whole thing is his fault. Caleb was the one who wanted to get into the water and ride the rapids down-river through this swift section. And he asked Isaac to go with him. He told me last night, during a very long talk the two of us had, that one of the haunting images in his mind is the indecision he saw on Isaac’s face when he asked him to go.

Daniel was up on some high rocks watching as the two started down the river and the rest (including Philip) were looking for a place with calmer water where they could swim. Michael was standing at the point where the two entered the water and was watching, but from his low vantage point, all he could see was two heads bobbing down-stream. When Caleb got down to the point where he decided to swim to the shore again, he turned back and saw that Isaac had flipped onto his back and was back-paddling through the last two big rapids. Caleb saw water swell in from both sides and hit Isaac in the face and push him underwater. As soon as that happened, Isaac flipped back onto his stomach and started swimming toward shore, in Caleb’s direction. That was when he first noticed that Isaac was struggling, and he called out “Are you gonna make it?” (Isaac was 10-15 feet away from Caleb at that point, but was still in mid-stream and so was quickly moving down-river) Isaac looked at Caleb but never answered. Caleb noticed that Isaac’s face looked pale and he seemed really worn out. At that point Isaac turned and began to swim down-stream with the current rather than toward shore. Very soon after this is when he initially went underwater and struggled to surface again. In about 10-15 feet he went under again but then all they saw was his hand come out of the water. It wasn’t a panicked, struggling hand, but rather simply showing the guys where he was. He went completely under and that was right before the last, large rapid he had to go through. On the other side of that last rapid, Caleb saw his hand surface one last time. That was the last anyone saw Isaac alive. They said there was no panic. No screams. Nothing but calmly trying to swim and simply not being able to stay above water. There’s definitely a chance, although nobody will ever know, that he hit his shoulder on a rock and re-broke it and that was part of the cause of his inability to stay above water. The bruises on his shoulder and neck would tend to support that, but the body, when it was found, was not in a condition where any of that could be positively confirmed.

Caleb was very close to a large rock out in the water where he was headed for a rest, when he last saw Isaac’s hand. At that point Caleb knew he needed to get out quickly because he was so tired. There was a fleeting thought, when Isaac last went under, for him to swim directly toward where he’d last his hand, but he knew he couldn’t survive either at that point, so rather he headed for shore and ran/crawled (extremely rocky, rugged terrain) down-river to where he thought Isaac would appear again. There was a much calmer looking section of river there and Caleb swam in trying to find him. He very quickly realized that there were extreme undercurrents and whirlpools, and he needed to get out before he, too, got pulled under. As soon as Caleb got out of the water, he ran to the high vantage point where Daniel was, and they watched for Isaac from there.

When he didn’t resurface, the two of them started crying out to God for his life. And Daniel shouted Isaac’s name in the chance that he could hear. Within about 3 minutes, all the other guys joined them. Very quickly Daniel made a call to his dad to notify the rest of them what was going on. There were other calls made, including one to the USA. When the guys realized it had been too long, and there was no way Isaac could still be recovered alive from underwater, they went a few different ways. Daniel went for the police and a few others went downstream farther to watch for Isaac. Junior and the rest of the Coates got to the area (although they didn’t even go to the river that evening) about 8 PM. There was a lot of hugging and tears… They got to stay at a local church that night.

There’s something that I was told about that evening that I wanted to share with you all. This was the most touching story of all to me. Some of the people who were there together that night hadn’t known each other well before, but very quickly became family. At one point Michael went to the 3 ‘little’ Coates girls, one at a time, and held them and talked to them. He spoke as if he was Isaac and he was telling them goodbye. He told them how very much he loved them. How beautiful he thought they were. How beautiful their hair was. And their eyes. He told Amy how he remembered when she was born. How cute she was. He talked about heaven and how beautiful it was. That he was with dad now. He talked about how he believed in them and what lovely ladies they were all going to be. I’m crying my eyes out as I write about it even now. What a beautiful ministry of life and hope. Please pray for Michael. He’s had a tremendous ministry here, but he’s pushed himself in every way for those around him. Pray that Jesus would keep upholding him, too.

I’ll write more details about when the body was found, etc soon, but I’ll just say that it was 3 locals, Daniel and Caleb who were in the boat when they spotted him. That was about 9:15 Thursday. They rowed over to where it was, and Daniel tied a rope around his body and they gently pulled it toward shore. They had to notify the police and have them present before they moved his body. That wait was about an hour to an hour and a half wait. The police and national guard showed up then and did a lot of the work from there on. A few of the boys helped actually moved his body out of the water, etc but others didn’t want to be involved in that. They took the body to San Antonio and put it in a coffin. As soon as they could, they left and headed for Erandique. They got here about 6:30 AM and by about 1 PM, his body was buried on the mountain up close to the clinic. We’re about ready to head up there now, and they will finish covering the grave. I want to get some video of that, and they wanted to give us visitors the opportunity to share in burying our dear friend and brother’s body.

I’ll have more details about the burial to share after I’ve been there and had the opportunity to talk more with those involved. There were a lot of pictures taken during that time, so I’m sure you’ll get to see those as soon as there is access to an Internet connection fast enough to transfer files. There’s a memorial service planned for tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon here in town. Thanks again for your prayers and blessings.

Matthew Weaver

Thank-you to all who have been praying for Isaac’s family and friends.  Your concern and care means so much in a time of unspeakable grief. 

I would like to give you a few names to especially bring to God today.  I understand there were 6 other young men with Isaac at the time of his accident.  While we know God’s grace has been with them, this tragedy has gone deep into their hearts.  Would you please pray for them especially today, as the searching and burial is now past, and they are left with a lot of difficult memories to deal with.  I talked to one of them just after Isaac disappeared, and I felt the terror and helplessness in their hearts.  This is very real.

Daniel Troyer (Isaac’s brother-in-law and friend), Micah (one of Isaac’s best friends), Philip (Daniel and Micah’s little brother),  Michael Brubaker (another very dear friend who really loved Isaac), David Walker and Caleb Kanagy, whom I don’t know well, but were there, too, and I’m sure were touched by his life as every person who knew him was.  I hope I didn’t miss anyone.  If you would carry these dear ones on your heart to God today, you will be doing a great service to Isaac’s mother and family as well as the families of these young men. 

Thanks so much and God bless you.  Also pray for the ones who traveled down in the last two days (some are still enroute) to be with the family.  Among them are friends who were very close to Isaac’s heart.  They will need mega doses of God’s grace in the next few days especially.  I believe God will use each one of them to be a minister of comfort and grace to the Coates family.