Pastor Daniel Waid said as his church — Central Baptist in Albertville — has been studying the doctrine of Hell on Wednesday nights recently, the words of his good friend Mike Benefield have stuck with him.
“Mike exclaimed that understanding the truth of the Bible and about Hell should motivate us all to not want anyone to go there,” Waid said. “If we don’t want people to go there, he said, we must go where they are now.”
That’s the way Benefield spent his life, and that’s the way Waid said he wants to remember his friend, who died March 2 at 77 years old after he fell off a ladder at church.
“He served with Disaster Relief, deployed 12 times with them, served in VBS, drove for our bus ministry, served the elderly, was a friend to all and ministered to many in our community,” Waid said. “I was hearing stories of how Mike brought kids to church who still come to our church but are now 35 or 36 years old. His children have served Jesus in their communities, and his daughter has gone on the missions field.”
One of many testimonies
The day after Benefield died, a young girl from Haiti was baptized at Central Baptist — Benefield had been picking her up for church on the bus.
“I believe that the Lord uses people to reach people, and this is one of the countless grains of sand of testimonies of this servant’s heart to love the Lord and to love people,” Waid said.
Connie, Benefield’s wife of 47 years, has also served alongside him at Central Baptist since 1987. It was tragic how Benefield died, but Waid said he wants to remember his friend by the way he lived, not by the way he died.
“Mike and I shared a great friendship from fixing toilets at church, to serving on the chainsaw crew with Disaster Relief, and from spending time in committed prayer to exploring the depths of Scripture,” Waid said. “He was truly a servant for the Lord. His aim was to make Jesus known in all things.”
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