The following article gives highlights of the tributes and sermon during the Funeral service of the late Ray Munsaka. The service was held on 15th April 2014 at Central Baptist Church in Chingola.
Ray was born on 20th July 1968 in Choma according to the life history read out in church by a close relative. He did his Bachelors Engineering degree at UNZA from 1989 to 1993 and his Masters Degree in Augsburg in Germany. A number of tributes were made at the funeral.
The first tribute was by Melvin Munsaka, brother to Ray who was also my lecturer at UNZA. The tribute was read by Thomaidah, a niece to Ray. In his tribute, Melvin mentioned of how close he was to Ray and how Ray was there for his family. He expressed his anger at those entrusted with keeping our roads safe and our health care system for not giving them the priority they deserve. He described Ray as the shining star of the family. He expressed eternal gratitude to God for sending Ray to their family.
The second tribute was by the son Munanga who spoke of Ray's love, hard work, discipline and knowledge of God's word. Thereafter the church choir sang the hymn: "When I have gone the last mile of the way", which the late Ray taught them tge other week. The third tribute was by Martha, the wife of the late Ray. Some of the memories she shared were Ray being a loving husband who wanted things done together and made her laugh with his jokes. She mentioned that next week on 22nd April they would have celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary.
The fourth tribute read by Joseph Phiri was by Isaac Makashinyi. He mentioned of the friendship that had blossomed between them in the past 17 years. He also mentioned of the friendship between their wives. He spoke of Ray's intellect, innovation and resourcefulness. Ray was a good cook. He was a humble and saintly Christian. He cared about people. Ray shared about his sense of call to the pastoral ministry. He commended Martha and the sons to the Sovereign God. He ended by quoting frim what Ray said on a post on Facebook on 9th February, 2014.
"If a one dies in his prime, we tend to say,
"He died before he achieved his purpose,
Death cut him before reached high"
But for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, nay,
It was by death He achieved His purpose
For He was born so He could die
The manger was there for the cross
And Golgotha can never be a loss
By dying He cleansed our dross
So sin should not be our boss" (Ray Munsaka)
"He died before he achieved his purpose,
Death cut him before reached high"
But for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, nay,
It was by death He achieved His purpose
For He was born so He could die
The manger was there for the cross
And Golgotha can never be a loss
By dying He cleansed our dross
So sin should not be our boss" (Ray Munsaka)
In earlier tributes, Johnson Malipenga of Central Baptist Church in Choma, mentioned how he got close to Ray especially from 2009, and although Ray was younger, he treasured his friendship. He shared how Ray had shared with him his sense of call to the Ministry.
Mrs. Maureen Chishimba of Faith Baptist Church, Kitwe, also gave a tribute of Ray as a workmate whom she reported to. She spoke of his humility and his care.
The preaching of God's word was by Choolwe Mwetwa, pastor of Central Baptist Church. He read from Romans 11:33-36. He started by asking: Why would God take away such a beautiful flower? Isaiah says: God's ways are not our ways. Ray was due to preach an Easter message but in God's plans this was not to be so as God had better plans. Pastor Mwetwa mentioned that most people were in denial when they received the news of Ray's accident and subsquent death. The question "Why does God take away such a beautiful flower" was posed again". He suggested that God did this to introduce to a foretaste of God's goodness. God does it to make us not to take His gifts for granted. Another reason is for us to be taught how to die. Dying well. Dying in the Lord. Death comes to remind us of the brevity of our lives. What will be the impact of the people around you when you die. Death happens to draw us near to God. Pastor Mwetwa urged the mourners to believe in the Saviour so as not to have double tragedy, death in this life and eternal death.
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