Friday, March 4, 2011

We Will Miss You Larry!!!

Wow! I just received news this morning that Larry Hollstein, one of our long time, tried and true men's retreat friends has died. He will be missed. I'm sorry I don't have a better picture of him on my computer than the one on the left. You can see him being goofy in the Men's Retreat video below at 34 seconds.

Here is the e-mail I received this morning: "Larry had a very aggressive form of cancer, he had intensive radiation and chemo, but lost the battle.  He was diagnosed in August and passed on February 24th.  Our Pastor Vic Powell spent time with him, close to the end, Larry told him he was ready, he was confident where he was going.  He was a pillar at First Baptist, and a wonderful friend indeed.  Your prayers not only for Jan but for the rest of the Church family are much appreciated.  God Bless"

Larry was an amazing man and a great friend to all of us. No matter what ever happened to be happening with him he was always pointing back at Jesus. When he first told me he had cancer he concluded his letter with his typical closing, "My God is an awesome God." As the cancer progressed he concluded each update the same way, never doubting his Savior and always focused on Him. He even recently mentioned how thankful he was that his trial had helped him reach out to his neighbor who had been going through a similar trial. Larry truly was always thinking of others. He kept saying not to worry about him but rather to support his wife, Jan, through this. You can leave her a message by clicking here and view the obituary by clicking here. We'll sure miss Larry's bright smile, contagious laughter, enthusiastic sense of humor and constant example of godliness. We're excited about the hope we have in Jesus though and look forward to the day when we're all united in heaven for eternity! Please check out the e-mail Larry sent me to read to the guys at the last retreat which he couldn't be at because of his treatments.

"Sorry guys, I'm am not going to be up to being with you this year. If I can somehow petition God to relieve me of this pain I'll be knocking on your door that evening. Could you please tell each one there how much I (we, Jan included) appreciate their prayers and emails of support. It only goes to show the faith and strength of wonderful Christian men born from The Master Plan Ministries gatherings. I believe that your well wishes and prayers for me are also advertisements for your strong faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. By the time you gather for this retreat I will be well into my radiation treatments and with God's blessings and your prayers I'll be mine old obnoxious self for our spring retreat. Please do not give up on me and never give up on God and His powers to help us overcome. I love all of you and wish you a fine retreat as well as a truly blessed Christmas. My God Is An Awesome God! Larry Hollstein <><"



We'll sure miss you buddy.

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