In Memoriam - Dennis Fong

On April 6, 2005 at approximately 6 pm, the world to me became a little less salty and a little more dark. At that moment a light quietly faded to black when Dennis Fong breathed his last. In that moment, we lost something – a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and in my case – I lost my friend.

Lately I have come to see that one of the most precious gifts God gives his children is the gift of friendship. God knows how lonely life on earth can get and in his wisdom he has created this awesome phenomenon that we so casually refer to as ‘friendship’ but which because it is so precious is also very rare. I can count the number of friends I’ve had in my life with the fingers on one hand. I have a rather simple test to determine who a true friend is: a true friend, for me, is that person in your life that when you think about something happening to them, a pit forms in your stomach and you feel nauseous and disoriented. Dennis was such a friend to me. In terms of time our friendship wasn’t long, but it was deep.

In Amos 3:3 the prophet asks the question, “Do two men walk together unless the agree?” The answer is of course, no. Dennis and I had a deep, agreeable fellowship. What bonded us together were two things: our deep love for God’s Word, and our deep passion to promote that Word in any and every way possible.

Dennis had a very important gift. The gift to be able to see the gifts in others and convince them to use those gifts in the church. Every church needs people like that. Dennis was such a person. And he served the church well -- doing an enormous amount of work quietly and in the background.

In our Sunday School class Dennis did not mind standing back and letting me have the front place as teacher. I know that took great humility. He too was a Regent graduate and always kept up to date in terms of scholarship. But he also new that teaching was not his strongest point. So he did what had to be done—he ensured that those who did have that gift would use it. He did everything he could to promote the Word of God.

And because friends know absolutely everything about each other—the good stuff, to laugh about; and the bad stuff, to weep about. There was no need for masks between Dennis and me. For me it was a great comfort to know that standing at the side of the class as I taught was someone who knew me in my sin and weakness.

I don’t know why God took Dennis so soon. I have always believed with Matthew Henry that you are immortal until your work is done. But that’s what doesn’t make sense to me. To me it appeared that Dennis had a lot of work to do – at home with his family, here at church, at the company he worked for, and with me. But in God’s estimation Dennis had completed his work. I must accept that. And rather than let it depress me, I’m going to celebrate. Celebrate the life that God gave Dennis and how he used it to bring glory to God. I’m going to celebrate the fact that in death Dennis has received an upgrade, a promotion.

* Dennis Fong was one of Regent’s “Marketplace MDivers” (as Paul Steven’s likes to phrase it) since his was a person from a business background who returned to his profession business career after his formal Regent studies. Please keep Dennis’s immediate family in your prayers: wife Joan Fong (Children’s Pastor, Burnaby Alliance Church) and daughters, Jemia (Teens Program Coordinator) and Ariella. – AW Editor