"A Tribute to My Best Friend" by Pat Morley

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A Tribute to My Best Friend
Volume 337
August 31, 2009
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My best friend, Ken Moar, died August 19, 2009, according to his obituary, "from complications of a long and happy life" -- his own words. His body was 90 years old, but his mind was as lithe as any man half his age.

Ken was a World War II hero, piloting Lancaster Bomber missions for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Of 17 pilots who went to England in 1943, he was the sole survivor.

I first met Ken when I was a freshman Christian and he was a sophomore. Our church was starting a new program of evangelism and discipleship. They asked Ken and his wife, Lee, to head up the evangelism program. They asked my wife, Patsy, and me to head up the basics class for new Christians. And, wisely, they stuck all of us together in a leadership Bible study together.

I soon found myself at a men's retreat at Windy Gap, North Carolina. Tom Skinner was the main speaker. He said if you want to change your community, become to someone else what you want your community to become, and that will create a model that is so powerful that others will be attracted to it.

The next Sunday, I saw Ken standing in the hall at church. His usual sanguine self, he cut a striking, masculine silhouette against the ordinary men who listened in rapt attention to one of his tall tales -- he loved to laugh and make others laugh. When he had a moment alone, I told Ken what Tom had said and asked if he would like to meet once a week for lunch.

"Sure!" he said, and we did that for the next 32 years.

Someone once asked, "What do you talk about?" We talked about our spiritual journeys, our families, our hopes and dreams, our troubles, and an occasional gripe about the direction the world is headed. But most of all we talked about Jesus, and we prayed for all who needed help or salvation. I don't know how much we changed our community, but I know we changed each other.

So long, Ken. You were a great, irreplaceable friend, and I will always love you.
Yours for changed lives,



Patrick Morley, PhD
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