Mourning

We received word at 9 p.m.our time on Saturday that Dr. Kelly Hamby, the stateside mission superintendent for Namwianga, had suffered a heart attack. We gathered Zambian leaders and friends in our living room to pray. Later that night Ray Ferguson and Cleddy Varner from Abilene notified us that Kelly had taken a turn for the worse and was on artificial life support until his children could arrive. We continued our prayer vigil late into the night.

Early this morning the Zambians began arriving again at our house as we waited for news. Just after 7:15 Ray Ferguson called to let us know that Kelly had passed away. All of us at Namwianga are in shock and deep grief. Kelly had been the leader of this mission in one capacity or another for 25 years. His influence is beyond description.

David and I feel a deep personal loss. We first met Kelly in 1977 when David was in one of Kelly’s classes at ACU. David would come home and tell me what an excellent teacher Dr. Hamby was, and that he wanted me to meet him. Then Kelly invited David to help him with a teacher training workshop. In a few months we were attending the Hillcrest church and became involved with Children’s Bible Hour under the leadership of Kelly and Ellie. For the next two years we spent time together in ministry learning from Kelly and being shaped by him. David considered Kelly to be his first mentor.

We moved to Grand Prairie in full-time ministry in 1979. The following summer Kelly and Ellie made their first summer trip to Zambia. While they were in Africa our infant son became very ill, and we spent our summer in and out of Parkland Children’s Hospital in Dallas. Kelly and Ellie arrived home from Africa on the Saturday our son died. They found out at church on Sunday about his death and immediately traveled from Abilene to Grand Prairie to be with us at the funeral. We will never forget how much that meant to us. It means even more now that we have had first-hand experience with jet lag.

Through the years we heard about their work in Zambia and saw the Hambys in Abilene occasionally. It was at their urging that we first participated in the 1999 Zambia Medical Mission. We brought our children on what we thought would be a once in a lifetime trip to Africa. But Zambia and Namwianga Mission captured our hearts, and we kept coming back. Then in 2002 Kelly told us that our skills could be used in full-time work here. He and Ellie had long talks with us that following year and helped us make the decision to follow God’s call to Zambia.

This summer we were privileged to spend most of June, July, and August with Kelly and Ellie in the work here. We admired again and again the patience, the leadership, and the servant attitude that characterized Kelly’s ministry to the Zambians. All of us here at Namwianga are wondering how we will go on without him. Yet we know that Kelly’s example of following Christ will be our model for the days ahead.

We covet your prayers for the Hamby family, for us, and for the work at Namwianga.