In Memory of Wes and Frances Van Nattan
Missionaries in.....
Oklahoma, Arkansas, The Mojave Desert,
California,
Tanzania, Kenya, England, Ireland and Arizona
Parents of Steve
and Tim Van Nattan
How
do I remember my father?
First
and foremost, looking eagerly for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to gather
his saints, and my Dad,into the Glory. Next,
I remember my Dad walking out the door daily to be busy as a pastor, missionary,
truck driver, welder, hunter, teacher, fire fighter, and helper to someone stuck
in the mud-- AND, I remember my Dad coming home every night tired, sometimes very
tired. He did this to be faithful to God, Mom, and to me. Dad made sure I never
went hungry. And, Dad never let anyone exalt me above measure. He taught me to
respect the poorest African who was my elder, especially a man of the Lord's church. When
Dad gave me a few with the belt, he sat down and made sure I understood he did
it because he loved me. Dad also showed me how to stand alone when the rest of
the folks around wanted compromise. I
recall something very special in my Dad. When all the other missionary's sons
were hunting the driving without a license, Dad would not allow me to, even when
we were far away from civilization on the plains of Africa. Dad stopped for stop
signs in the middle of the desert when there were no cars in sight for twenty
miles. Dad did not make laws for me about dress and hair and girls. Dad showed
me, by the way he lived and treated Mom, what he expected of me. Dad
is with The Father in heaven now, and I miss him sometimes when I need to talk
to a man about things. In heaven we will not have family relationships as we do
now. We shall have friendships with one another as the angels have friendships.
Matthew 22:30 We
shall all be changed, for we shall be like Jesus in appearance. So, my Dad's hands
will still look right, for my Dad was also a carpenter. One of my choicest memories
is of my Dad showing me the right way to use a tool. Even something as simple
as how to use a shovel needs instruction. Many times I have seen a man wearing
himself out with a shovel because his Dad was never there to teach him how to
use it. You
can learn a lot about a man by looking at his hands. Preachers with soft dainty
hands are a curse to the Lord's Church, for, you see, the Lord of the Church had
hard working man's hands. The nails did not go through his hands easily on Calvary. There
is one thing about Jesus' hands that will be very different than your hands and
my hands-- the print of the nails-- the only man made thing in heaven. To
you who did not have a Dad who lived for Jesus Christ, maybe a Dad who was a drunk
or unfaithful to your Mom, do not feel ashamed my friend. Just dedicate your life
to give your kids memories that will be a memorial to your life after you are
gone, and see if you too can have hands that already look a lot like Jesus' hands
when you arrive in the Glory. |
WES
VAN NATTAN
Graduation
Day One
Into a life of work for Jesus
Graduation
Day Two
Into the Presence of Jesus himself
Daniel
Wesley Van Nattan
Born in Grand Junction, Colorado--
April 17, 1919
With The Lord Jesus Christ--
July 18, 2003
His
soul and spirit are with Jesus
His body is planted ready for the resurrection
at the Veteran's Cemetery at Fort Huachuca, AZ
"He cannot come to me
But, I shall go to him"
Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
Thanks
to Ben Leiendecker and Jerry Smith who
ministered a Christ centered grave
side service.
A surprise to all was the arrival of Paul
Beverly who
worked in Tanzania as a missionary with Dad.
Thanks
to my brother, Tim, who made both the joy
and the heart ache of my Mom an
easier yoke.
Thanks to cousin Rollie and Michalene
and cousin Karen who
comforted
The
Campbells and the good folks at Quiburi...
Many more I missed, who were a
close and
godly comfort to Mom.
Most
of all, thanks to The Lord Jesus Christ
who saved my Dad, Mom, and me, so
that
I am not without hope of seeing my Dad again.
Dad
asked for the Hallelujah Chorus at his memorial service.
This
old warrior for Jesus, in the photos, last Friday went to be with the Lord he
loved and preached.
This
saint became the man of the house for his Mom when he was in ninth grade and his
own Dad died. At eighteen years of age, he worked on the WPA on the Big Tujunga
dam project north of Los Angeles with a "Mexican drag line"-- The only
Anglo who could keep up with them and earn their respect-- chipping bed rock with
a pick all day! He never babied himself as long as I knew him, though he could
have a good time with my brother and I when the opportunity arose.
This man was stationed
in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) during WW II,
Went to Bible Institute,
Was a street preacher,
Pastored poor folks on the river bottom land
of Briartown, Oklahoma,
Pastored three churches at the same time in the Arkansas
Ozarks,
Drove truck so he could pay the bills while pastoring in the Quartz
Hill, California,
Went to Africa in 1954 with his family,
Where
he built a middle school,
Preached in the villages,
Hunted lions that
were killing his African neighbors' cattle,
Doctored the sick,
Fed the
hungry,
Rebuked the unrighteous,
Defended the King James Bible when all
around him mocked,
Discipled new believers,
Brought in strays whom others
abandoned,
Lived with the Masaii,
Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania,
Preached and did the Lord's Supper in sheds, under trees, in cow dung houses,
Made Bible based African records of Gospel songs which topped the charts in Kenya
with the Gospel,
Never quit looking for the coming of Jesus Christ,
And,
never quit telling me, until he died, "Keep looking up."
Not
content to quit,
he later pastored in the Northhampton, UK,
was a missionary
with his wife, Frances, in Killarny, Ireland,
and planted a local church
in his old age in Sierra Vista, Arizona in a hotel side room.
He
is seen above in a recent photo still chugging along and dreaming of again doing
some new thing for Jesus Christ.
He
did just that-- The new thing we all do only once....
July
18, 2003, my Dad, Wes Van Nattan, went into the presence of Jesus.
I
feel sorry for those sorry scholars who imagine the saints go to sleep when they
arrive in heaven. Imagine millions of saints of all the ages laying around God's
throne sleeping when they could be rejoicing in their salvation. My Dad, for one,
would not sleep long, what with his zeal to see what Jesus looks like. We have
a blessed promise in this regard:
2
Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that,
whilst we
are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith,
not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body,
and to be present with the Lord.
There
was no shame as Dad arrived in the Glory to see the Living Word. He was a friend
of the Word. Once he took up the King James Bible long ago, he never turned to
any other mongrel bible. He ended the way he started-- faithful to the end-- "looking
for that blessed hope"-- recently, talking a lot about going to be with his
Lord. Deliverance has come.
Dear
Lord Jesus: I pray that you would use me in some way to honor the memory of your
saint and my Dad. And, my dear Jesus-- Thank you for the memory of my grandmother
Laura who showed my Dad how to love you, Lord. And, thank you Lord for Bill Linshied,
the good Mennonite brother down the street, who hauled my Dad to Sunday School
every Sunday morning when he was a kid.
A
funny thing happened today-- We bought a tray to put under the washing machine,
and my son Mike asked how we would get it under the machine. We would have to
do it in place in a hole. My Daddy long ago showed me the ways of Archimedes and
his lever, and I used the skill my Dad gave me to lift the machine up while my
son slid the tray under the machine-- in about two minutes. Does your kid have
a Dad who teaches him how to survive the life here on earth and the life to come
in eternity? My Dad did this for me. He and my Mom also showed me how to love
Jesus, and I love my parents for that.
So
many times Dad would go off hunting for game in Africa so we could eat, fetching
building materials, and taking a sick African to the hospital. Would he come home
OK? Mom must have wondered many times. He always came home. But, this time Dad
went away on business with Jesus, and he will not be coming back.
Dear
saint-- don't put off the things you dream of doing with those you love. This
life is short.
Thanks
for praying.
Steve
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
This
letter was composed by our daughter Mary,
and I decided to post it just as
she wrote it.
March 24, 2004
Frances
Edwina Van Nattan
Born
in San Antonio, Texas
April 4, 1918
With
The Lord Jesus Christ
March 22, 2004
Dear
friends and family,
Praise
the Lord, deliverance has come! Grandma is with the Lord!
The
doctor went in at around 11:30am or before, Monday the 22nd, their time, and took
off the breathing machine. Grandma's body quit at 12:06. The doctor, a Bible believer,
told my Dad (Steve-- your Editor) that he stayed there and talked to her during
that time so that she would not go to Jesus listening to the ongodly chatter.
Thank the Lord. What a deliverance for her!
Many
of you know how very much she has suffered over the last few years. She has actually
had pain quite a lot in the last 20 years my Mom says. Her body was literally
worn out and used up. She had parts missing and artificial parts added. What a
blessing that she is free from all of that now! Glory to God!
Steve
here: Mom and Dad joked about how that, at the Rapture of the Church, she would
leave a log of spare parts behind and a big clatter.
We
will miss her very much, but what a wonderful day today was for her! During her
agony and trouble last week she was crying out for Grandpa. Now she is with him!
Please continue to remember us as we deal with the sense of loss that still will
accompany this.
Even
more, I would ask that you remember my uncle at the throne of grace, that his
every need will be met in Jesus Christ.
Steve
here: Time has passed on. I never heard of any repentance to the end. It hurts.
Thank
you all so much for praying for us! The Lord is good. My Dad and uncle seem to
be doing fairly well at this point. Of course, Uncle Tim is very busy right now
with the end details. There will naturally be hard times.
The
grave side service will be at the pavilion at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Friday,
10 AM, and Grandma will be buried next to Grandpa.
In
Christ Jesus our Lord,
The Van Nattans
2
Cor. 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home
in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and
to be present with the Lord.
DELIVERANCE
WILL COME
DEATH
Psalms
116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Revelation
7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are
arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir,
thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in
his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light
on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
What
was Mom's deepest quality?
Answer: After her faithfulness to Jesus Christ,
her greatest strength was that she never left Wes Van Nattan
uncertain that
he was her best friend and hero. As she lay in pain and confusion in the hospital
in Tucson,
Mom kept calling out to "Wes." She has since found him
with Jesus.
Every
heroic and godly quality in Wes Van Nattan, found below, was a joint venture with
Mom.
Dad
and Mom, sadly, but with my deepest admiration, stood alone many times when all
those around them
plead with them to compromise on their stand for Jesus
Christ and the King James Bible. I cannot tell
God what to do at the judgment
of our works, but it seems to me that Dad and Mom will be wearing
matching
crowns.
The
following photos were poster here in the past:
Frances Van Nattan
was a faithful help meet to Dad and a loving Mom to me and my brother..
Mom
told me after Dad passed on that, when Dad was pastor of Quartz Hill Baptist Church
in the California High Desert, he would study all week for his sermons on Sunday.
But, on Saturday night he stayed up all night praying and reading the Word of
God. Today, Quartz Hill Baptist Church is still on the narrow way, using the old
King James Bible, and zealous in soul winning. I fully believe this it the fruit
of Dad's zeal. Dad always thought he was poor at Bible study, so he studied long
hours. His low view of his abilities were the perfect vacuum into which the Holy
Ghost poured his power. Oh my dear Lord Jesus, I want that power for what I do
for you.
Mom
got into computer surfing when she was in a nursing home. Dad never did quite
understand the usefulness of the computer.
Frances
long ago. Mom said that, as a young girl, she never felt the sting of the Great
Depression because her Dad, Frank, though not rich, could always find work. People
would hire her Dad in a flash because he was known to be so dependable.
