An Early Homecoming
					Marilyn Lewis May 30, 1951 * February 20, 2000
			- MF Staff

As we talked and laughed and ironed out details that Thursday afternoon, there wasn't a hint of foreboding that her time on this earth would end in less than three days. On Friday, she was back in her teacher's seat at Pasadena's John Muir High School where this "lover of history" taught AP students. Saturday, again, she was at John Muir for a conference. Again, there was no warning of the heart attack that took her life that very night.

Her principal at John Muir describes her as "a real solid lady, she stood for something. She had integrity and a commitment to do the right thing." Marilyn had taught at John Muir since January of 1998--a position she took at least in part to prevent incurring debt while doing doctoral work at Fuller Theological Seminary's School of World Mission.

Marilyn certainly stood for something. She poured her life into the work of the Kingdom. "No doubt, she was a very sacrificial woman, willing to live on next to nothing," recalls Dr. Michael Pocock, Professor and Chairman of the Department of World Missions and Intercultural Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, where she did her Master's degree.

This sacrificial passion drove her and kept her plate more than full. In addition to her teaching commitments and her graduate work, she was the founder and director of the Pasadena Institute of the Bible--designed for training lay workers in the African-American community. Apparently, Marilyn also generously funded this institute with her teaching salary. She had also joined the staff of the U.S. Center for World Mission and was laying the groundwork for the Center's long-desired African American Mobilization division. She also spoke of one day serving as a missionary in Brazil reaching descendants from Africa.

When she was dropping off some material for the magazine earlier in the week, she passed on a document entitled "Food for the Soul." "It was in here," she said, placing her hand on her chest. "I had to get it out. Use it however you want, but I had to get it out." Her words, on the adjacent page, leave us a window into her heart.

Marilyn's contribution to the Kingdom in her 49 years was certainly substantial. But the sadness of many was heightened by the fact that her future looked so very bright. Ray Carlson, the Director of International Films and a co-laborer for career development in Marilyn's classes, admits to being set back by her loss. "When I heard, my first thought was 'why, Lord? She was doing so much and had such great plans and everything.'"

Rick Wood, Managing Editor at Mission Frontiers recognized her passion for fueling vision for the frontiers of mission. "My hope and dream would be that she, as a grain of wheat falling to the ground, would raise up many sprouts of light within the African-American community--of vision to reach the unreached peoples," Wood says.

Clearly, her loss has been felt most immediately by her family and her classroom, where her tough love was evident. It was said that students loved and hated her, because she pushed them. One student wrote, "She taught us so much and she knew we were all smart enough to succeed. She was the best teacher and my favorite teacher this year. She will be greatly missed."

Marilyn never made it to Baltimore for a visit with her sister. Instead, in the words written on her funeral obituary, she "was suddenly called home to her Father."

But those who knew Marilyn don't think she would want anyone to be crippled by grief. Her heart didn't seem given to soft sentimentalism or excuses. Her principal recounted a conversation she had with one of Marilyn's co-workers at the high school after Marilyn's death: "You know, Brown, Lewis would expect you to step up to the plate. Because she knows that you know what to do." The teacher responded: "Yeh, I can hear her telling me now, 'Brown you know what to do, so let's do it.'"

Maybe Marilyn's words to the African-American church and their role in cross-cultural mission service would be something quite similar.

Recent efforts within the African- American community have made it clear what needs to be done. Pocock said Marilyn was "concerned because the pattern shows that there was even greater African-American involvement prior to this century." Now it's a matter of stepping up to the plate and doing it.