This past weekend, one of God’s greatest servants left this earth and is now sitting above. When I was growing up, I had the same preacher at my church in Fort Smith all 20 plus years. He was an amazing person and, still to this day, the finest Christian I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Rev. Dois Kennedy has forever impacted the people of Goddard United Methodist Church and the community of Fort Smith, Arkansas. If you ever had the pleasure of knowing or meeting him, you are blessed.
Some people think you are defined as being a Christian based on if you go to church and how often. Yes, Dois was a Reverend so he was at church every day and preached almost every Sunday. He was always available, even after he retired. He spent many a day at the hospital, at local nursing homes, and visiting homebound people. He showed me and the community being a good Christian is much much more than going to church or preaching to the congregation. He proved it is a way of life. It is helping people before they have a chance to ask and providing a shoulder or a hand. It is being there when no one else can make it. Sitting at a hospital for hours and hours without saying a word or listening to a family ramble to avoid thinking about their ill family member. He always started his visit with a prayer and ended it the same way (“Let us Pray”). Even when he was ill himself and not a 100%, he went to the hospital every single day- dropped off in the morning and sometime during the day got a ride home.
Dois taught me a lot about being a good person. He was there every time one of my grandparents or other family members were in the hospital. Sometimes I thought he must be psychic or have a connection at the hospital that called him and told him we were there, because he always appeared. I will forever remember when my grandpa was in the hospital. Dois was retired at this point, but he was at the hospital sitting with us every single day of the three weeks before my grandfather passed away. My Dad spent most of his time at the hospital during the day, and Dois was sitting next to him each of those days. Dois was the only one at the hospital with my Dad when the time came that my grandpa finally passed. He was there supporting, praying, and comforting. My family has felt Dois’ love in his 21 years as our preacher and even after. We are not the only family Dois has touched, and our story isn’t the only one where he was present.
I wonder how he was so remarkable. He could relate to anyone young or old. His life wasn’t easy, and maybe that’s how he related. He knew what hard times felt like and he knew love and happiness. I always loved listening to him preach or speak, he did it with such ease and grace, making it seem natural. His sermons always had a story to which everyone could relate or laugh. I spent my youth learning that to be a good Christian, one must be involved. I love my church family, and they as a whole have taught me what life is really about; but that church family was guided by the same great man. He was so great because he was what a Christian should be. Forgiving. Listening. Helping without a second thought of his life or his time. Uplifting. Loving.
Dois spent his life and years helping families cope with the loss of a loved one here on earth, and now he will be able to greet our loved ones in heaven with open arms. He was a great man, a great preacher, and an even better friend. He will be missed by many, but his life will be celebrated by all those he has touched.
(If you have a Dois story, please feel free share below.)
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