Hundreds of people attended the "Celebration of Life" service for Lois Evans at the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas on Monday. She was 70 when she died on Dec. 30 surrounded by friends and family after her fight against a rare form of cancer.
Evans was the wife of Pastor Tony Evans and co-founder of the Urban Alternative. Lois is credited with helping to organize, develop and expand the outreach of the ministry. The Christian Post reports the four-hour service was filled with music, celebration, and touching tributes about her work with the Pastors' Wives Ministry, an organization that she founded.
Pastor Bobby Gibson, the associate pastor of the Fellowship Ministry at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, reminded the audience that Lois Evans didn't want a "dull service -- so we come to celebrate."
Christian music artist Kirk Franklin started the service with a musical tribute to Evans. In an Instagram post made on his way to "Mama Lo's homegoing service," Franklin described Tony Evans as his "spiritual father" and said the Evans were like "parents" to him for more than 22 years.
Members of the Evans family spoke throughout the service, including her grandchildren who fondly remembered their "Nonny" and her dedication to her husband, her family and her ministry. They vowed to carry on her legacy.
Bible teacher and Christian actress Priscilla Shirer, who is Tony and Lois Evans' daughter said her mother wanted her children to develop a relationship with the Lord.
"If there is one thing you can do in honor of my mother, it's do not let your hearts be troubled," Shirer said. "It's to believe that the God of Ephesians 3:20 and 21 is still who He said He is. 'Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond anything you can ask or think, to Him be the glory both now and forevermore in Jesus' name, amen."
Shirer also posted a photo to her Instagram account on Monday of her mother and her locked in an embrace. She wrote: "Me: Hey Mom, let's make funny faces." The image has been liked almost 80,000 times.
In an earlier Instagram post, Shirer reminded her followers to honor Lois by sending flowers to your pastor's wife.
"In honor of Lois, send flowers this week to your Pastor's wife. Lois loved receiving flowers but she also loved giving them. Because her passion was ministering to pastors' wives and making sure they felt loved and cared for, your gift of flowers in her memory would be a gift to us as well.
Thank you for loving us, the Evans family, and thank you for your ongoing prayers."
CBN News reporter Charlene Aaron was a recipient of Lois Evans' ministry to pastor's wives, and she wrote about how much it helped her.
Finally, Evans' son Jonathan gave his own summary of his mother's life.
"My mom was a great player on His team," he continued. "My mom's life summary was, 'Lois served the purposes of God. She was an imprint to her generation and then she fell asleep.'"
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