Remembering Stephen Maines

We Grieve . . . Together

We came home yesterday morning from church and I had noticed that I missed 12 calls and had been text messaged 7 times. The first text message looked like this “Emergency – Call me. Stephen Maines was killed in a motorcycle accident this morning and his sister is in the hospital.” Stephen Maines (21 years old) was one of our team members this past year and was planning on coming back for another year on the road. He was our truck driver, handy man (absolutely critical on our team), computer guru, a children’s minister, and all around default “go to guy” for the team. If you needed help with something, you just went to Stephen.

My heart broke as I read the messages on my phone. It was one of those moments where you automatically just sit down in dismay. As Jennifer and I processed this with the kids, we felt as though we had all been punched in the gut. How could this be? The reality of the situation was almost too hard to grasp. He was headed for a morning church service preceding a charity drive for burn victims, partially motivated because his younger brother had been burned a few years ago.

As Jennifer and I went to the hospital in South Bend, we could only weep. As we entered the hospital and saw many of our returning team members, the reality sunk in even more. Words seemed shallow. So we just hugged and grieved together.

This morning, not much has changed, every word still seems thin in light of the thickness of such loss. There is a stinging reality that hits hard when waking up the morning after life takes a horrific turn. The reality of knowing nothing will ever be the same again.

Deborah (Stephen’s sister who is 15 and was on the motorcycle with him) is doing well. She returned home yesterday evening in a lot of pain, but miraculously she was not seriously injured. We rejoice with her parents over the protection upon Deborah.

Stephen’s parents have been part of Life Action for his entire life and in addition to a tenured staff couple losing a godly son, Life Action lost its first team member ever. Stephen was an exceptional team member . . . in every way. So pray for our team as we walk a journey of trying to comprehend the ways of God.


We Grieve Differently . . .Together

The Maines’ are very aware of Stephen now being with a person he absolutely loves. Death is painful and yet for those who know and love Christ we grieve differently. It is a celebration of a home-coming. . . not just a home-going. For those of you who did not know Stephen, he was the “real deal” in his walk with the Lord. Authentic. A servant. As the television reported last night, “he loved the Lord.”

Stephen was also an admirer of the cross. He loved the cross and the power it represented in his own life and the hope it offered to others. This past March he built a wooden cross to be used at our Vision Gathering in San Antonio. I will never forget watching him cut the wood in the rain and assemble the pieces. The sense of joy he had on his face when he finished it and was able to see it used to inspire others to embrace the cross.

He was a man of the cross. And that was no better illustrated than through the way he served others. He laid down his desires and dreams to be a servant. Many were the recipient of that service, all of us on the road, those in the churches, the kids clubs, and at the host homes. We benefited from his servant’s heart. Authentic servanthood may be Stephen’s great legacy.

Ironically, the cross is a picture of redemption. God uses even the hard things for redemptive purposes, so pray that even during these dark days, Stephen’s witness would continue in powerful ways

So as we knit our hearts with his parents, and the remaining eight children to grieve, let us also celebrate a life lived for Jesus and a life living with Jesus and a life that will continue to be redemptive in the lives of others.

We Commune . . .Together

One of the joys of being a part of Life Action Ministry is the mutually supportive community that transpires as we share dreams, responsibilities, possessions, and losses together.

Yesterday, I watched the Life Action family respond as a huge community of love, care, and concern (The hospital finally asked us to clear a path in their emergency room hallway).

Two Triumphant Truths
God is Sovereign & God is Good

On two occasions yesterday I heard the phrase, “when trials come, it is not the why but the Who that really matters.” God knew I needed those reminders. In times like these, there are many attributes of God that we call upon for help. His love. His compassion. His grace. His strength.

But the two attributes that protect from bitterness and allow me and my family to go forward with biblical perspective and confidence in Him are simply His sovereignty and goodness.

These two triumphant truths take away the sting of death, because for the believer the grave is never victorious. They remind us that death is really a doorway to Heaven and a pathway to seeing God’s ultimate redemptive purposes fulfilled.

Clinging to Him, Together

Ben, Jennifer, Christian, and Elizabeth