Miss Eva Goes to Heaven
October 7, 2010
With Miss Eva in 2007.
1945 was a long time ago.
In the big scheme of things, that’s when World War II finally came to an end. In another corner of the world, that’s when a young woman named Eva Lodgaard began the adventure that became her life’s work. Recently graduated from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, she had been attending a small congregation in nearby Oak Park, Madison Street Bible Church (later to become Calvary Memorial Church). Feeling the call of God to do mission work in Kentucky, she set out with her entire support pledged by a Sunday School class from the church. With the promise of $20 a month in support and armed with nothing but her exuberant faith in God, Miss Eva (the name by which she would be known throughout her missionary career) began the journey from Chicago to the remote mountain region of southeastern Kentucky to serve with the Scripture Memory Mountain Mission. There she began the work that would encompass the rest of her life.
Over the years she taught Sunday School, taught Bible classes in the public schools, visited homes everywhere, and worked at Camp Nathanael in Emmalena, which is not far from Hazard and also not far from Topmost, the little community where she lived for so many years.
I met her soon after we moved to Oak Park in 1989. By then she had already been on the field for 44 years. She must have been in her early 70s, I suppose, and she and I hit it off from the very beginning. To me she was one of the finest missionaries I’ve ever known. Along with her deep dedication to the Lord, she had a quick wit and a great sense of humor. She loved people and loved to tell them about Jesus.
If you use the Keep Believing search engine and type in “Eva” or “Lodgaard,” you’ll see that I mentioned her at least 26 times over the years. The picture was taken in 2007, the last time we saw her, when I spoke at Camp Nathanael. By then she was in a nursing home but could get around a bit. That day Marlene and I picked her up and took her to the church she helped found, Rock Fork Bible Church. Miss Eva was over 90, most of her colleagues had already died (including her co-worker Miss Alma), and she told me that she was praying to go home to heaven and asked me to pray the same prayer for her.
She lingered on for three more years, getting progressively weaker, until finally the Lord answered her prayer this morning. I’m happy that she is finally at home with the Lord, reunited with her friends, and in a state of perfect peace. I count it one of life’s great privileges that I knew such a great servant of the Lord.
In 1945 Miss Eva went to Kentucky. She never left. Today she went to heaven. I have no doubt the Lord Jesus said to her, “Well done, good and faithful servant.»
Rest well, Miss Eva. We look forward to the day when we will see you again.