Hazle and Ralph Erickson

Over the last 25 years at camp, I have made some wonderful friends; I get to mingle with the families from over a 100 different Free churches; yesterday, I attended the funeral of a dear friend: Hazle Erickson.

If one has been around the Free church for a number of years, you knew Hazle's husband Ralph better than Hazle. Ralph spent most of his ministry years in the Covenant Church; 20 years in the Des Moines Covenant Church. Ralph was larger than life; a big man with a loud voice; when he came into a room or a meeting, he was engaged. Seldom did you not hear Ralph's opinions or vision. Hazle was just the opposite; quiet, supportive, and calm encourager to those around her.

Slowly we are loosing a generation of faithful servants; they are now with Jesus. Years and years of service in the local church as pastor and wives; for many, it meant poor pay, poor housing, and lousy hours! They endured for the sake of a higher calling. They ministered in spite of their conditions. They were tough and they were called. They stuck to it even when things didn't look comfortable or positive.

I like being around people like Ralph and Hazle. They understand the big picture of ministry life; they both understood that they were in the people business and not the church business. Their passion was to see people come to a saving knowledge of Christ and then to grow and develop into solid, stable church leaders. I never sensed from either of them that they were about building the biggest and brightest church in town; they stuck with the knitting and worked with one person at a time.

I find this to be a wonderful model; the Ralph and Hazle way of building ministries; one person at a time. Caring, teaching, training, instructing, developing, pushing souls into kingdom service. I am not against large scale programs that have been copied from another successful ministry; but in reality, ministry can be simple (it can messy and complicated too), but simple when you stay focused on people and not projects or buildings.

Trust me, I need to be reminded of this quite often; attending Hazle's funeral and hearing about her faithfulness is just what I needed as I look ahead this year. Stick with building Biblical truths into individuals lives, and the ministry will blossom and be blessed.

Thanks Ralph and Hazle for your faithfulness to Hidden Acres and to the many churches that you were a part of during your 50+ years of ministry. We look at your lives with gratitude and thankfulness; may we be just as diligent in our service as you were.