'Weakened witness' stayed on mission to the very end
EDITOR'S NOTE: Paul Koonce, who is featured in this story, is the father of Pathway Assistant Editor Brian Koonce.
CHIFUNGA, Malawi (BP) -- Paul Koonce was weak and exhausted. Barely able to stand, it took two assistants to get him from the truck and into Avant Baptist Church at Chifunga in Malawi, Africa. Though unable to get in and out of the rickety chair on his own, he still sat up straighter and grew stronger as he began to preach to the people gathering on the dirt floor.
Through Koonce's favorite Chichewa interpreter, he began to tell the story of Job.
He started out strong, but as each day passed Koonce got weaker, and he needed more help. As Koonce began to speak at Chifunga, Michael Vallandingham, pastor of Eastern Heights Baptist Church where Koonce was a member, pulled out his iPhone and began videoing what he felt might end up being the man's final sermon.
"It was like he was getting to preach his own funeral," Vallandingham said.
The Anchor holds
In the months leading up to the trip, Koonce guessed it would be his final journey to Malawi. Though he was adamant to his family he was not giving up and planned to return home and continue battling cancer, he knew God may have other plans.
"I'm heading to Malawi as a poor, weakened witness and if I don't return, I'm going home to see my Savior," Koonce wrote in a letter to friends before his trip. "This battle with cancer is the biggest storm I have faced but I am at peace and confident that the Anchor that has sustained me all my life will continue to hold no matter what comes. I believe the Anchor will continue to hold until I complete His will.
Koonce grew weaker as the trip drew to a close. More than 100 lbs. lighter than he'd been on his visit the year before, he had to be carried up the stairs to board the plane home. Once back in Oklahoma, his physical condition continued to go downhill. He was in and out of the hospital a few times, but never fully recovered from the trip. He died at home July 10, a month shy of turning 62. Three days later, before a crowd of 500 people, his wife, son and daughter asked that the video of him preaching at Chifunga be played. He did indeed get to preach at his own funeral.
'It has been an honor'
It was a fitting capstone to a ministry that lasted 40 years. After graduating from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Koonce pastored several churches in Oklahoma and Missouri before accepting the call as Washington-Osage's director of missions in 1998. He led the association to Malawi the first time as part of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma's partnership with the International Mission Board there. He instantly fell in love with the "warm heart of Africa" and continued going long after the official partnership ended. He led mission trips to Leon, Mexico and other locales, but it was Malawi that captured his heart.
The love was mutual. At least three churches in Malawi held simultaneous funerals, and Charles Malekano, Koonce's interpreter for 18 years, sent a letter to be read at the "official" funeral.
"Paul was not just a friend, he was part of our family; we shared ideas and planned together how we can serve the Lord in Malawi," Malekano wrote. "Malawians will remember him ... Paul Koonce counted lost people more important than himself up to the last time of his life."
Three Chiefs
Koonce's reoccurring presence in Malawi made him somewhat of a celebrity there, and the news in October that he was sick and might not be able to return spread quickly throughout many churches. One group dedicated themselves to praying for his healing once a week on top of a mountain. Three chieftains at the base of the mountain observed the constant praying, and began asking questions; they were curious about the Gospel, but said they wanted to hear it from Koonce himself.
"These chiefs represent hundreds of their people who refuse to hear the gospel unless I come and share it," Koonce wrote in his letter. "This is why I must go. God has called me to go. The people have been so faithful to pray for me, and I must honor their prayers and go share with those who do not know God."
He met with them, and in answer to prayer, each of the three accepted Christ and gave permission and land to plant churches in their villages.
"It was a honor to get to be with him on his last trip to Malawi," Vallandingham said. "It was hard. Why would someone leave his family and modern medicine while he was fighting cancer? I wondered if he really understood the risk he was taking. But God allowed him to go through that difficult time for more than nine months to help us be strong in our faith. When part of the team he brought to Malawi went to the mountaintop, Paul was with me at the bottom of the mountain. He cried, he cried for us not for himself. He kept saying 'God is good all the time.'"