The Funeral Service for
The Late Joan Louise Wesley
APRIL 7, 1997

We are here today to pay respect to the memory of the late Joan Louise Wesley and to thank God for her life.

Heavenly Father, before we all pray to you, in the hearing of all those gathered here I wish to confess to you. As we gather here today, I am mindful that my role in this service will bring back images, experiences, and memories of horrible and wrong things that have been done to some here by others who came to them in your Holy and Precious name. They abandoned your message and truths and adopted the methods of lies and racism. Some have had relatives and ancestors who were lied to, mistreated, and abused in numerous ways by those who founded the culture from which I come.

Before you, O God, I am ashamed of all these things and confess them to all gathered here and, above all, to You, the Creator and Judge of all men. There is no man or woman, no country or nation that owns you or that you owe. You love all men impartially and are not a respecter of race, gender, or social status. And so, Father, as you look upon me today, please remove what has been and make a straight path for what you want to be.

We, we are before you today, in the name of Jesus, asking you to comfort us in this time of great grief and loss. We thank you so much for the wonderful person you gave us in Joan Wesley. We feel a huge emptiness in her passing. We need your healing touch and words of peace to soothe the raw parts that have been caused by her passing. We thank you that she did not suffer in her passing. However, we acknowledge that its suddenness, after such a long time of waiting in hope for a liver transplant, has left us shocked and dazed.

Sovereign Creator of all things, please answer the questions that we can understand and draw us to trust you where we are not be able to grasp your ways which are so much higher than ours. Always remind us that Joan may be dead to this world but you have made her alive with you. We ask all of these things in the name of Jesus, amen.

We have gathered with a heavy sense of loss and sadness but it is for this precise time that God has promised to comfort and help us. He is the one that David spoke of when he wrote:

John, in his gospel, recorded these words of Jesus:

1. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
1. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
1. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
1. You know the way to the place where I am going."
1. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
1. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Sung By Lee Lucas

I really believe that little chorus brought comfort to Joan. And as I think of Joan in her last moments in the hospital, I think that if she had the energy and strength to tell you what she was feeling, probably this is what she would have said:

My name is Joan Knott and, like most of you in the room, Joan Wesley was brought into my life as a very, very, special blessing.

I first met Joan about 17 years ago, we were neighbours on Shelbourne Street. She lived with her sister, Mary-Ann, and her brother-in-law Bob - and dogs.

It was evident from that very first time I met Joan, that we would be friends for a lifetime.

Our boys at that time were ages one, three, and seven, and they always had an open arm kind of reception next door. Joan would welcome them in, and Mary-Ann and Bob. They were allowed to visit any time. And when they came in they were welcomed with love and were allowed to play with the animals and always guaranteed home made cookies and juice.

One of the things I admired most about Joan was her very gentle spirit and encouraging words. Many, many, times over our seventeen years of knowing each other we would meet for coffee or lunch or dinner, and I'd come into the meeting overwhelmed with boy stuff, and the kids doing this, and just being overwhelmed with things. Joan would look at me and she'd assure me that I was doing a good job. She always had a kind, kind, word and she would affirm me as a friend and as a mother and as a wife. I always went away from those meetings on the drive home thinking, "I really am an O.K. person, I'm an O.K. mom, and an O.K. friend." That's just how she was in my life.

Joan loved to travel and I always looked forward to her meetings after she'd come home from a trip. She would share with me stories and I just admired here desire to travel and see the world and share with people, like me, who didn't really get to see the world like she.

Joan always put her family first and I think that was the utmost in our relationship. She cared for her mom and her dad, her brothers and her sisters and nieces and nephews. It just meant so much to me - she was an inspiration.

These are just some of the reasons why I loved Joan and I thank God for her. She will always be my friend and I'm thankful I'll always carry those memories in my heart.

I am here today because I want to participate in the celebration of the life of my friend, Joan Wesley.

She was close to me because we worked together in the same unit of the hospital for 12 years. I always admired her dedication to her work. I find Joan to be a loving and loyal friend. She was always there when I needed her. It gives me great peace that we both shared a deep faith in God and that we were aware of His care and guidance in many areas of our life.

Joan was very close to her family and their love and care was very evident in the last years of her life. Her spirit will remain with me forever.

- 1Corinthians 2:9

My name is Edna Auld and, like Roisin, I worked with Joan.

Joan and I go way back to the opening of Victoria General Hospital in 1983. She was our unit clerk, on 3b, and made working there such a pleasure. What happy times we had there under Marjorie. Joan was so efficient, and the unit ran so smoothly with her calmness at the main desk. She was missed when she went to Fairfield.

I find myself remembering long walks we took by the ocean. Joan would pick up pine cones and quite a few of us have pine cone wreaths which she made. We will treasure them. I recall fun nights with Debbie and Roisin when we played games and laughed so much. Recently I watched one of our videos which included a trip to Vancouver to see Phantom of the Opera. We picnicked in Stanley park. It was a perfect day and one of my treasured memories.

I came across this poem which I think describes Joan so well.

I will miss Joan very much and I'm thankful for the memories she has left. She was a very special person, which reflects back to her wonderful parents, and close family. She had such love of her family and will be sadly missed. It was an honour to know her and we will treasure her memory always.

This poem, by Henry Van Dyke, describes the feelings we have about our friendship with Joan.

Joan, I love you.

My name is Ian Hinksman and I am Joanie's Uncle, and I have know Joanie all her life. This is probably one of the most difficult things I have done in my life. First off, I would like to thank the family for the honour of doing the eulogy for Joanie.

Joanie's Indian Name was pronounced "Philopia" after her father's grandmother. And although I've know Joanie all her life, I've found this very difficult because throughout her adult life, Joanie was a very private person.

Joanie's life to me seemed to be lived in 2 segments - her childhood, growing up in Cedar, and her adult life which was spent in Victoria. I feel privileged because I have known Joanie in both her lives - both in Victoria and in Cedar -because I have lived in both places more or less the same time as Joanie.

Joanie grew up with her parents in Cedar, attending school in Cedar, and High school in Nanaimo. While growing up, she was an easy, outgoing person. Joan was fondly known to her school friends as Joanne, although, she was always, to me, Joanie. Joanie was always very close to her grandmother next door, and to her Tet in Duncan.

Over the past few days many of her family members have shared many fond memories of Joanie in her growing up years. I personally remember Joanie and the many things she did, and the many times her and I talked about one thing or the other. To me Joanie was a very, very, special person.

After graduating from high school, Joanie moved to Victoria, and stayed with her sister Annie. It was years later that Joanie and her sister Annie were joined by her sister Debbie. All three sisters lived in Victoria and I had the privilege of knowing all three as well as Bob, Mary-Ann's husband.

Joanie and Debbie, however, had a very special relationship. Many, many times they came to the house to visit and we had supper and we talked. And many times also Mary-Ann. The two of them, Joanie and Debbie traveled all over the world on their holidays. I remember, not too long ago, they come back from Hawaii. I remember talking to them after they came back - I was somewhat envious I might add.

Joanie also took her role as an Auntie very seriously. and treasured all of here nieces and nephews dearly. She affectionately referred to her nephews as darling.

Over the past 20 years or so, Joanie worked in the Victoria hospital system. She enjoyed working in the health care system. Over the years, my wife Sue, enjoyed many visits with Joan. Joanie, in her own way, will affect all our lives in her passing. She had a way of affecting people's lives and everybody she touched. And I know myself, personally, I shall miss her greatly.

I guess I could stand her for a long time and talk about the things I know about Joanie and the things we shared over the years. But those are things between Joanie and her family and I, and we won't go into them at this point in time.

However, there is something, a poem I read some time ago, and I would like to dedicate this to the family both close and extended. It's called Footprints.

Extended family

Friends

It has definitely been a hard week for all of us who have lost Joan. As I look back to last Monday, what a comfort God was as we began to truly fear for Joan's life. And then, as her serious condition became clearer to us, God held all who waited in the palm of His hand until He took Joan out of her suffering body and into eternity with Him. God truly has been with the family and watched over them since them to this time.

As we pause today I want us all to see another great way that God has blessed us in how he has cared for Joan.

We live in a time where many are interested and talk about spiritual things and beings and powers. If you look at a television listing for any given week, one can find shows about angels, UFOs, demons, psychic phenomena, witchcraft, spells, potions, and the like. Unfortunately, due to carelessness, most around us are merely interested in these things for entertainment and are not concerned with their own well being. It seems that there are only a few who realize that the world that exists beyond the sight of our physical eyes, is full of serious danger and grave consequences for those who do not take the necessary steps to protect themselves.

We can be comforted, today, by the fact that Joan took the spiritual realm seriously and hid the safety of her soul in the only One who could keep it safe. That safe Person is revealed in the 19^th chapter of the book of Acts where, in verses 11-20, we read:

These verses from the Bible, have a lot to teach us about the very real spiritual realm. They hold in them a number of truths that Joan understood about that world we are a part of and yet cannot see.

The first thing that we see, is that we are not safe trusting in ourselves in regard to the spiritual realm. The seven sons of Sceva took it upon themselves to go about in a ministry of deliverance from evil spirits. It would even seem that in some circumstances they may have had some successes.

However, in the case of the events before us, the seven sons of Sceva learned the hard way that they were no match for the powers of the unseen world. The seven of them were beat up and stripped naked by just one lone man - a man possessed by only one evil spirit. If seven men could not overpower a single demon, what hope does anyone have to stand alone against a whole host or army of such spirits? Joan new she could not trust in herself when it came to the well being of her soul, and so she did not trust in her self.

Another thing we see in these verses is that there is no protection from evil spirits by trusting in other spiritual leaders or in the speaking of names or mystical phrases. The seven sons of Sceva thought they had two tricks up their sleeves. The first one was the name of Jesus. They thought that because others had cast demons out of people in the name of Jesus, they two could use his name like some sort of magic formula. In fact, just to be safe, they also threw in Paul's name - just to be safe.

Now Paul was the apostle Paul; one of the main leaders of the early church. While traveling on a trip to arrest and persecute Christians, Paul was confronted by Jesus Christ who was risen from the dead. Paul turned from his wicked ways and became a follower of Jesus Christ. Because of his faith in Jesus, God used him very powerfully to tell others about God. Verses 11 and 12 tell us of some of the mighty things God was doing through Paul. It was because of these things that the 7 sons of Sceva threw in a mention of Paul's name, just in case. However, it did them no good because an empty secondary "faith", the mouthing of great names, or the following of meaningless formulae or rituals - none of these things can protect us from evil in the spiritual realm.

Joan new she could not trust any of these when it came to the well being of her soul, and so she did not trust in them. Instead, Joan trusted in what Paul trusted in and that was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Paul was casting out demons because he had a secret formula. Paul trusted and knew Jesus. Paul was not healing the sick because he was a great and powerful man. Paul trusted and knew Jesus. Listen to some of what Paul wrote about how to know God:

Romans 10:9-13

Ephesians 2:4-9

Ephesians 3:7-12

Paul knew that it was only by exercising personal faith in Jesus that you could be delivered from evil spirits. In fact, he realized it was only through Jesus that you could have peace with God.

A whole bunch of people who heard about what happened to the seven sons of Sceva realized that they were in great danger in the spiritual realm. They realized this so much that they burned up all their spiritual books and materials, abandoned their flawed trusts in how they could take advantage or control the spiritual realm, and turned completely and whole heartedly and put their faith in Jesus.

We have this comfort today regarding Joan. She too put her whole trust in Jesus for the safety of her soul in 1984 and from the day she did that she was safe in Him. It no longer mattered how healthy or how sick she was - Jesus cared for her because she believed in Him. It didn't matter if she was in this life or the next, conscious or unconscious, Joan was safe from evil because she was hidden in Jesus because she knew and trusted Him for the forgiveness of her sins. And today, I know that she would want me to invite you to trust Him in the same way to.

Romans 8:31-39

OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

THY KINGDOM COME

THY WILL BE DONE

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES

AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM

THE POWER AND THE GLORY

FOR EVER AND EVER

AMEN.

Let us rise for the benediction.

Jude 1:24+25

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

REV 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

". . . I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."

In that it has pleased God to take from us the soul of Joan Wesley we commit her body to the ground and her life to our memories, remembering that the same God, who was and is so faithful to her, longs to have us place our faith fully in Him.

Ashes to ashes ... dust to dust.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

1. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
1. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-
1. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
1. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
1. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
1. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.