This has been on my mind all morning, but I didn’t have the words to say anything about it. Thankfully, Mr. Meredith has come through:
Another mighty oak has fallen. Our beloved friend and brother, Evangelist Dibar Krikor Apartian, has gone to a well-earned rest. Mr. Apartian lived to 94 years of age—24 years beyond King David who died “old and full of days” at age 70. The Eternal God used Mr. Apartian to raise up the Work of God in the French language and to oversee and guide that Work for many decades. Through his ministry in the French language, through his sermons and articles in English, and through his well-known personal love and graciousness, Mr. Apartian had a wonderful impact on the lives of many thousands of people around the world.
—Roderick C. Meredith
I will note here that I think Mr. Apartian’s age is a “best guess” based on available family records since the definitive records were affected by the Armenian Genocide.
I am reminded of Mr. Apartian’s address during the 2010 Ministerial Conference, in which he said that, at his age, you understand that each such address may be your last, so he did not hold back. His key phrase at that time? “If God says it, do it.”
He told all of us there at the conference, “You have come to the Church of God for a mission. You are not doing it–God is doing it…” Yet, concerning those who don’t seem to grasp the magnitude of the work we’ve been called to do, he felt a sadness: “When I see the attitudes of some of the people, it breaks my heart…” He admonished us, as well, to keep in mind the many, many out there crying out in their need, and that we can provide help in a way that no one else can. And he told us to pray–to be thankful for all we have, instead of complaining like most Americans, and to ask God to help us devote ourselves completely to His work, in the midst of a nation, and a world, that so desperately needs it.
“If God says it, do it.”
Knowing we will see our loved ones again in the resurrection, we do not grieve in the same manner as do those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13), yet we do grieve, knowing that on this side of the veil we will not see them again. Yet, we rejoice, as well, recognizing that one of us has finished his race, as Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 4:7. If anyone has finished his race fighting the good fight and keeping the faith, it is Mr. Dibar Apartian.
