A couple of years later, I'm babysitting three of his kids, including a newborn, and the only instructions are "As long as everyone's still alive when we get home, you get paid."
And, then, I'm a junior in high school, and I'm in a car full of church kids armed with a trunk full of toilet paper and up to no good. As we, and the three cars behind us, pile out into the Fechner's front hard to begin draping it in toilet paper, the sprinklers unexpectedly come on (it was 11:00 o'clock at night!), and from somewhere in the bushes, Mike appears with a water hose and douses those not quick enough to get out of the way.
Of course, there were also the Monday nights spent volunteering with Bridge Builders, the ministry Mike and his wife founded to serve one of the poorest areas of Dallas. There were the pre-mission trip concerts staged in those very "depressed" areas -- where joy abounded. There was my first mission trip roommate, Velma, Mike's sister in the faith and partner in ministry at Bridge Builders.
And, throughout those very impressionable years, there were countless conversations about life and faith and making your life match your talk coming from a man who'd left a lucrative business to pursue God's call on his life into full time ministry in some of America's most downtrodden neighborhoods.
15 years later, I was sitting in my office at Cornerstone Assistance Network, when my boss brought through a tour from another local ministry. I hear him say "And this is Kristen Horton, our director of volunteers," and I looked up to see three precious faces peering through my door: Velma, Mike, and Laura! There were the warmest of hugs and the sweetest words of encouragement.
Mike battled cancer for nearly 5 years, fought hard, and glorified Jesus every step of the way. There are men and women who are worshiping and will be worshiping Jesus alongside him in heaven because he turned the cancer ward of MD Anderson Medical Center into what he called "Chemo Church" a place where people were prayed with and for, heard the Gospel, and met Jesus afresh.
He was funny. And joyful. He was faith-filled and faithful. He was honest and consistent. And he loved with a genuine compassion that is difficult to put into words.
This morning, as I absorb the news that Mike is no longer alive on this earth, but is worshiping in the very presence of the God he loved and served, as all of these snapshots of memories flood my heart and mind, and one sentence persists: Mike Fechner was the real deal.
I am grateful to have known Mike. I am thankful that his life and legacy will continue to impact this world for generations to come.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. Luke 1:50
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