[1]WINTER PARK, Fla. (BP)–Bill Rabun came running to help at midnight and worked until 2:30 a.m. the night his pastor’s water heater sprung a leak. A helper — that’s how members of Aloma Baptist Church remember Rabun, who was killed when the church’s van crashed July 16 after a mission trip to Marianna, Fla.
Rabun took a week away from his job with the Orlando Utilities Commission to be a driver and sponsor for the trip to Marianna, Fla., as well as being involved in door-to-door evangelistic visitation.
At the end of the week, Rabun acknowledged to youth pastor Brian Gilliland it had been a tiring week and that “I’m not sure if I’m cut out for youth work.” But he added, “I want you to know this has been the greatest week of my life.”
It was the last week of Rabun’s life, but his influence for Christ continues. At his funeral, four people responded to the invitation to accept Christ.
Five weeks after Rabun’s death, another man came forward to join the church. Some time back, Rabun had repaired his air-conditioner, which broke down just when the man’s wife was about to give birth to a child at home.
“He was a giver. He always wanted to do something for others,” said Anthony George, the Winter Park, Fla., congregation’s pastor.
When Rabun and his wife, Susie, joined the church a year or so ago, “they hit the ground running,” George recalled. “They were involved in every way conceivable.”
He began serving as an usher. Susie was placed on the church’s new member committee.
The couple became involved in the church’s youth ministry, in which their daughter, Mindy, was an active participant. When he learned that a new family in the church didn’t have a car, Rabun began driving to Orlando to pick them up on Sunday mornings.
The Rabuns typically were the last people to leave the church building on Sunday and Wednesday nights, George added. “They endeared themselves to the church in such a short time.”