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Cover Article
Memorial Service for Mike Kooker
 Mike
Kooker arrived at the Peninsula Rescue Mission in April of 2000. He was referred
to us by a stranger whose name we do not know. His conversation with
"that someone" was a divine
appointment, for there was "Someone else"
Mike needed to meet, but more about that in a bit. Mike came to us with loads of
personality, a great sense of humor, a love for people, winsome ways, a great
big friendly smile, and much more that would just make a person like him at
first meeting. Though at the time estranged from his family, it was seen right
off that Mike loved them deeply. He would often write or call home to see how
his Mom was, and to check on the rest of the family, too.
His affable, jovial, kidding ways won the hearts of the
Rescue Mission Board, staff, and residents. Mike was universally loved, and he
became a family friend to many of us connected with the Mission. He loved to
cook and make people happy with food. So often he would say of a dessert he had
prepared, "It won’t make you fat, it’s diet free." Humorous greeting cards, gag
gifts, and practical jokes were part of who Mike was, and people loved him for
it all.
With all of that said, Mike was not good enough to go
to heaven on his own - nor is anyone else. We all need help, and Mike needed
help if he was going to get to heaven. In the Spring of the year 2000, Mike got
that help. He met that "Someone else"
he needed to meet - the Lord
Jesus Christ - and he received Him as his Savior
through the ministry of the Peninsula Rescue Mission. In a Christmas card
Barbara and I received from Mike several years ago, he related to us that since
he had become a Christian, he finally understood the meaning of the hymn phrase,
"God and sinners reconciled." Mike went home and witnessed to his entire family,
helping several of them find the Savior he had found - including his Mom, who
went to heaven 2 ½ years before Mike did.
The message that changed Mike’s life and eternal destiny was
the simple Gospel of Christ. It goes like this:
We are all sinners - born that way - and sin separates us
from God. Rom 3:23
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"
Jesus came to earth and died for our sins - He paid the debt
we could not pay. Rom 5:8
"...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
His resurrection showed that he won the battle over sin, won
it for us! Rom 1:4
"...declared to be the Son of God with power... by the
resurrection from the dead"
If a person will trust Jesus, and Jesus only, their sins will
be forgiven. Acts 16:31
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"
Jesus brings us back to God - remember? "God and sinners
reconciled." Rom 5:10
"...we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son"
Mike is in heaven today because he trusted Jesus as his
personal Savior.
Your only hope for heaven is in trusting Jesus as your
Savior, too.
"Come every soul by sin oppressed, There’s mercy with the
Lord;
And He will surely give you rest, By trusting in His Word.
Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now;
He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now."
Superintendent's
Corner
A Note From Alan
Farewell to a Dear Friend
 On
Wednesday, January 28, 2009, Mike Kooker departed this world and entered the
presence of His Savior. He was a dear friend who touched many lives while
working in the kitchen of the Rescue Mission. A memorial service was held for
Mike on February 4, 2009, and I was privileged to share Mike’s story with those
who gathered to remember him. I would like to also share that story with you.
I use three simple questions to tell Mike’s amazing
story: 1) Who was he? 2) What happened to him?
3) What did he become?
Who Was Mike Kooker? Born on October 2, 1957, in Somers
Point, NJ, Mike was the fourth of five siblings. He spent his summers playing on
the famous Ocean City Boardwalk and in the Atlantic Ocean, which was only blocks
from his home. He was a mischievous little guy who often talked Missie, one of
his older sisters, into things that got her into lots of trouble! His younger
sister, Marcia, also tells stories of how Mike loved playing pranks on his
siblings. For those of us that knew Mike well, this is not a big surprise... he
was always a big kid!!
Mike’s family, while solid, suffered a great deal of hardship
through the years. Mike’s Dad, the fire chief of Ocean City, died of a heart
attack when Mike was only fourteen. Mike’s older brother Roddy died at the age
of 34 from lifelong complications resulting from juvenile diabetes. Six years
ago, Mike’s oldest sister died from cancer. In 2006, Mike’s mom passed away.
Mike’s adult years found him working as a cook on the fishing
boats around the Ocean City area. He told me two things were possible while
working those boats: 1) you could make really good money, 2) you could develop
some really bad habits. Both of these were true for Mike. He would come off the
2-3 week trip out to sea, be handed a large amount of cash, and head for the
bars. He would drink, cuss, fight, and celebrate the fight with more drinking.
Mike would avoid contacting his family for years at a time.
In April 2000, during a fairly southern port stop in Seaford,
VA, Mike Kooker, for reasons he could never quite explain, decided he was
finished working the fishing boats. He walked off that boat and never went back.
Someone noticed him walking, and could clearly see he had nowhere to go. They
directed him to the Peninsula Rescue Mission, where he walked through our front
door and into our lives. Over the next few days, while hearing the preaching of
God’s Word, Mike fell under conviction of his sins.
Sitting in Rev. Poteat’s office, Mike was introduced to his
Savior!!! This leads us to the second question...
 What
Happened To Him? As I just said, Mike met his Savior, and his life began to
radically change!! After years of bad habits, hurting his family, and having no
real friends, God began to transform this once very hard man.
The bad habits were replaced. Those that met Mike at the
Mission have trouble imagining filthy language and drunken brawls. God had
replaced those things in Mike’s life with much better things.
Mike was also restored to his family. After getting saved, he
began to make regular contact with his family. As you might expect, they were
hesitant to believe that their brother had been so remarkably changed. Mike
eventually decided to make a trip home to visit his family. The trust had been
so firmly re-established that Mike’s sister provided him with her credit card
number to purchase his bus ticket. I love to imagine what that reunion must have
looked like as Mike’s mother saw her son for the first time in years. All the
years of praying for and worrying over Mike and his wayward life had been
answered. Mike’s big burly arms embracing his mother’s frail frame must have
been joyous beyond words!!
The drinking buddies that Mike used to call his friends were
also replaced – with his brothers and sisters in Christ. So many people loved
coming to the Mission to volunteer in our kitchen because they loved to see Big
Mike. He was so unashamed of his past because it pointed so strongly to the work
God had done in his life. Mike was a powerful witness for what God wants to do
in anyone’s heart if they will surrender to Him. Mike now had two families – one
in New Jersey and one in Virginia!!
With all the changes that took place in Mike’s life we move
on to the third question...
What Did He Become? We all know the answer to this
question, and there are many ways to declare it.
– Mike was a sinner, but he is now forgiven.
– Mike was a worldly man, but now he is a new creation, the
old has gone, the new has come. (2 Cor. 5:17)
– Mike became a believer in Christ. He placed his faith
in Him for the forgiveness of his sins, and along with Timothy Mike claimed,
"...for I know whom I have believed and am
persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day."
2 Tim. 1:12 (NKJV)
We will all miss our buddy terribly, but rejoice that Mike is
with Jesus. We praise God for leading him to us, so that we had the chance to
know Mike, and that Mike had the chance to know Jesus!!!
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