Jeff was a Friend

As a young man I was a classic loner and introvert. I didn't have very many friends nor did I make any particular effort to do so. At the time God had brought me into a ministry that sprouted during the "Jesus People" era, former hippies who came to Christ during the late 60's and early 70's. Jeff and I were very different. He was twelve years older, a lot smarter, and had once done all the entries for the letter P for a major dictionary. So he ended up on a reforestation crew with me as a foreman. We had a trio of young bucks that charged out to the front of the line in the early morning and then cruised the rest of the day. Jeff was at the end of the twelve man crew. One day I went up to him, explained the situation and said I wanted him to make these guys break a sweat. He agreed, because of our friendship, and yelled out, "I'm going to catch you guys!" Everybody laughed until he began to pass each man, one by one. No one wanted to have Jeff, the slowest guy, pass them. But he did. Finally he got right behind the leaders. There was no way that he was going to pass them- it would be like me trying to play in the NBA, but he made them work.
Later we were praying and fasting with a lot of people up in Washington. Jeff came by to tell me he was going to leave the ministry. I tried to come up with some good reasons why he should stay but couldn't. Finally I asked him not to leave because of our friendship. He came by a day or two later and said he had decided to remain for that reason.
Jefferson Duke departed this life March 25, age 70, into the arms of Jesus. "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Cor. 5:8) "The Lord will...bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (2 Timothy 4:18 ESV)