CurtHarlow.com

We got the news at about 9:00 a.m. our time that Joe Zickafoose, our good friend and Campus Missionary to Scotland had passed away from cancer this morning. br /br /During our time in Springfield, before they went to Scotland, Joe, Jayne, John and Andy were an almost daily part of our lives. Our boys, Jesse and John were elementary school best friends and had the same teachers from 2nd through 5th grades.br /br /Having shared combined birthday parties for our boys and their friends, multiple rides from school and more than a few carafes of French press while our kids all worked the Game Cube in the other room, Kelly and I built a lasting friendship with Jayne and Joe.br /br /You did not have to know him for long to learn that Joe was a man with a rare level of serious intellectual depth. What was surprising was that he was equally skilled at absurd comedy. He made me both think and laugh harder than almost anyone I know. br /br /He was a very caring and careful father and husband. Where other fathers panicked he stayed calm. Where other men would have become distracted by job obligations or professional reputation he remained faithful to his family. br /br /He gave students ownership. Of all the great gifts he had as a campus missionary, for me this was his greatest. He did not tell them how to think. He taught them how to think Biblically. br /br /He never spoke down to those he taught but often challenged them up to a level they did not expect they could attain. He preached and taught the truth, even when the truth was hard. br /br /He knew when to confront, when to pray for and when to laugh with those he mentored. br /br /He loved good music, both listening to and making.br /br /He did not waste his time worrying about reputation or reward but simply followed Christ wherever Christ led him.br /br /He was that extraordinary leader who had incredible talent but very little ego. He was often the smartest, most experienced and most creative person in the room but he never needed to point this out to others. br /br /Although I am very emotional, I am not giving into sentimentality in writing about Joe in these ways. It is not grief that makes me praise him now. The loss is only the occasion of my praise. The way he lived his life is the cause for these words and it is that life well lived will have all of us missing him for a very long time.