A Friend Meets Jesus Face To Face

A good friend met Jesus face-to-face yesterday morning. He had bone cancer and finally lost the mortal battle, but won the eternal one. Ralph Matsen was a hard-headed, loving, generous, opinionated, and complex friend who help Kathy and I get off to a good start in the ministry.

In 1974 I moved from San Jose, California to Eureka, in northern California to become the first youth pastor Bethel Church ever had. Since the church could not pay me enough to live in my own place, I moved in with Ralph and Christine. We started having student meetings in the church, but the environment wasn't right. The room we were assigned was too dark, hard to find and did not lend itself well to junior and senior high students. After a few weeks I asked Ralph and Christine if we could use their family room for student meetings. Our attendance took off and we never looked back. When Kathy and I got married, my salary increased enough so that we were able to rent a small house. About that time, in a conversation with Ralph about how much our group had grown, and we were out of room in their family room, he suggested that we look for a facility that would really help us expand. Ralph was the first out-of-the-box thinker I ever met. We drove around Eureka and looked at all kinds of buildings. We finally settled on a swim and racquet club that had been built for a subdivision and had gone out of business because of a large lawsuit. For a rookie youth pastor, the thought of having this kind of facility was beyond dreaming. We cleaned, painted, landscaped and bought equipment and furniture for the Gathering Inn. At the time, I did not know of another student group anywhere that had their own facility like this. From the pool, to a racquetball court, tennis courts, sauna, large meeting room with a kitchen and room for pool tables and ping pong tables, it was incredible. While a team of students and Kathy and I make the final result a reality, it was Ralph's vision and financial support that made it all happen.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Ralph and Christine for their support, love and help as Kathy and I got started. They believed in us and invested their lives, time and money into ideas that were untested and probably not well planned out. But God blessed our efforts and many, many young people found the Lord in our student meetings. Lives were transformed and several students are in full time ministry today because what happened during that time. So, Ralph, thank you so much for your influence in my life. So long for now, my friend, we'll get the chance to catch up with each other again.