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2010-08-02 issue:

Mourners gather for Lapp's memorial service


Slain MCC worker remembered at service

by Jane Holahan, Lancaster Newspaper staff writer

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Glen Lapp led an abundant life, his friends and family all agreed during a memorial service on Aug. 15.

He had a kind heart, they said, a seriousness of purpose, a deep desire to do good and help those the world had forgotten.


But he also knew how to enjoy life, laugh, play bluegrass music with friends or ride his bike across the country with his cousin.


"We ate peanut butter sandwiches with brown sugar and lived like kings. It was glorious," Joe Lapp recalled as he spoke about that 2002 bike trip. "And we laughed a lot. Laughter with Glen came so easily."


That abundant life was cut short Aug. 5, when Lapp, 40, and nine other aid workers were killed in Badakhshan province in Afghanistan.


The Taliban have taken credit for the killings.


About 900 people filled the church on a rainy afternoon. They were led by Lapp's parents, Marvin and Mary Lapp, his brothers, Ernie and Jerry, and his three nieces and nephews.


While there was plenty of grief and tears during the service, held in the large sanctuary of Bright Side Baptist Church, the family wanted everyone to celebrate Glen Lapp's life.


"Glen packed more into 40 years than most people pack into a lifetime," his sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Francescani, said during an interview before the service.
 "People said over and over to us—and I can't emphasize it strongly enough—that he had a heart that was so extensive and kind. He touched so many lives. He left such a legacy."


Her brother-in-law, she said, was incapable of being superficial.


"He didn't have it in him,” she said. "His eye contact never faltered when he talked to you."

The service included plenty of music. Lapp loved to play guitar and sing, especially bluegrass.


The "Singing Cousins," a group of friends and relatives which often performs at Lapp family gatherings, sang "Amazing Grace," and his bluegrass friends played a number of tunes, including "I'll Fly Away."

Lapp, who was a registered nurse, was a volunteer with Mennonite Central Committee. The organization placed him with International Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.


Much of the work he did with them was of a medical nature.


John Williamson, a fellow MCC worker, had visited Lapp in Afghanistan in July. He spoke during the service.

"Glen had a very peaceful nature, living in very tense surroundings," he said.


"Being around Glen, I felt I was on holy ground. It's hard to put a finger on why. He didn’t seem concerned for his own safety. Glen was a part of the body of Christ. I don't doubt he loved even those who killed him."


Joe Manickam, director for Asia Programs for MCC, noted that nine other communities are in mourning.

"We must focus on the legacy of their lives, lives lived in the fullness of Christ's love," he said. "We must carry the torch of the legacy of those 10, which Glen was a part of."

"He had a quiet confidence to him, a trait I always admired in him," Francescani told the gathering. “Glen was aligned with grace. His purpose was clear. He had no fear.”

"If there is a little peace to come from his death, it's knowing he was there doing what he loved," his older brother, Jerry Lapp, said during the service.


He and Francescani, his wife, said during the earlier interview that different pieces of Lapp's life were coming together.

"People knew him from so many different angles," Jerry Lapp said. "We were very close, but we missed a lot since we were all leading busy lives. It’s been nice to hear about him, to fill in the gaps."

"He's being remembered just the way he would want to be," Francescani said. "People are learning about his work."


Lapp couldn't tell them much about what he was doing in Afghanistan for safety reasons. But he was able to Skype with his parents and, about a month ago, he sent e-mails and a lot of pictures.

"It's been a real blessing," Jerry Lapp said.


Many of those photographs from Afghanistan were shown on two large video screens in front of the church before and after the service. Others showed Lapp with his family, including many with his nieces and nephews.

"In some ways, I feel for them the most," Jerry Lapp said of his three children. "We had 40 years. They only had a few years with their Uncle Glen."


During his eulogy, Joe Lapp noted that "just because Glen was caring didn't mean he was soft."

He joked that Lapp's remedy for everything was to "pedal harder."

"If you're hot, pedal harder, it will cool you off. If you're cold, pedal harder, it will warm you up. If you're tired, pedal harder, you'll be done sooner,” he said with a laugh. "That combination of caring and toughness allowed him to thrive in Afghanistan.

"Glen was working to bring peace to a country devastated by war. He did not spend his life working in vain," his cousin said. "He gave assistance to people the rest of the world had forgotten."

Francescani talked about her feelings of anger upon hearing about her brother-in-law’s death.


She heard about his death while she was in Nepal.


Anger came, she said, but only briefly.


"It's a waste,” she said to the large crowd. "It's the last thing Glen would have wanted. It does not serve God, it does not serve the Lapp family. It doesn't unify or serve the community. Let Glen live in our daily lives. Take that living piece of him and live it out loud."


Reprinted with permission from Lancaster Newspapers Inc.

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