Dear Friends of Torch
It is with a heavy heart and a sense of profound loss that we announce the death of Mike Townsend, Torch’s Chair of Trustees who was called to his eternal home on November 28th. He and Edith had been on a cruise in the Caribbean when Mike developed a bad cough and collapsed. He was taken to a hospital in Antigua where they found he had a repeat of the pneumonia that he had suffered with a couple of times in recent years. They also found that he had had a cardiac arrest and that his blood pressure was very low meaning that some of his organs were beginning to shut down. He was too ill to move to another island with more of the facilities he needed and despite a brief increase in his blood pressure earlier this week, his body finally succumbed, and he died yesterday (28th November).
Edith has been with him in Antigua and thankfully her sister was able to fly out to be with her before Mike died. Our thoughts and prayers are with Edith, their daughter Christine and the rest of the family as they begin to absorb this news and start their journey of grief. Please do pray for them and particularly for Edith as she has to make arrangements to return to the UK and all that entails and all that will follow it in terms of plans for funerals etc.
We mourn Mike’s death. We grieve the loss of someone who has been so involved in and committed to Torch’s ministry almost since its start. Mike touched the lives of many many people both directly and also in the many contributions he made through Torch and other organisations that he was involved in. We will miss him.
And yet knowing Mike, we’re pretty sure that he would also be wanting us to rejoice. Mike’s faith, his love for Jesus, his desire to help other people encounter Jesus, clearly and unambiguously speak of the hope that he had that death is not the end. And so we rejoice, knowing that Mike has passed on into something far better – being face to face with the Lord he spent his life serving. As we mourn, let us also bear witness to the hope we have in Jesus, that death does not have the final word and that Mike is now free of pain, of tears, of the restrictions of this life.
These words of Jesus from Matthew 25 come to mind: ‘His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”’
We thank God for Mike’s life and his faithful witness to his Lord and Saviour. We will be setting up ways for folk to express their thanks for Mike and share their memories of him: more news to follow as we get those things in place. Tony Brown, a long-standing trustee has agreed to step in as Acting Chair of Torch as we go through a time of transition.
Thank you for your faithful support of Torch and for your prayers for Edith, the family and the wider community of those who knew and will miss Mike.
Yours in Christ
Tim Jeffery (CEO) and Tony Brown (Acting Chair)
Client Services
Torch Trust
Torch House, Torch Way,
Market Harborough, Leics. LE16 9HL, UK
Tel: +44(0)1858 438260
Email: info@torchtrust.org
Website: www.torchtrust.org
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Twitter: @TorchTrust
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Charity No. 1095904
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