Bloom Where You are Planted.

A Life of Faith, Service, Compassion, and Lasting Legacy

Naomi Koerwitz Dassow was a woman of deep Christian faith, quiet courage, practical compassion, and lasting influence. She lived her life as a servant of Christ, using her gifts as a nurse, wife, mother, friend, church servant, volunteer, chaplain, encourager, advocate for life, and woman of prayer.

Naomi’s life was not marked by self-promotion. It was marked by faithful presence. She showed up where there was need. She opened her home. She welcomed people. She cared for the vulnerable. She listened. She prayed. She encouraged. She served quietly and consistently. She trusted God’s providence.

Her life included Lutheran roots, rural nursing in the hills of Kentucky, infertility and adoption, caring for children from other countries after surgery, involvement in pro-life ministry, mission connections in Baja, years of church service, Red Cross volunteer work, Salvation Army chaplaincy, prayer ministry, women’s jail ministry, and a long journey of faith through illness and dialysis.

Her life planted many seeds—some she saw grow, and many others she may only now see from heaven.

Early Life and Christian Foundation

Naomi H. Koerwitz was born on February 5, 1949, in Niles, Michigan, to Norman and Helen Koerwitz. She grew up with strong family roots, a love for learning, and a Christian foundation that shaped the direction of her life.

Naomi attended Lutheran schools as she grew up, including Milwaukee Lutheran High School. She credited those Lutheran school years as an important beginning point in her faith journey. The Scriptures, worship, Christian teaching, and the influence of faithful teachers and Christian community helped form a foundation that stayed with her throughout her life.

Naomi later attended the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, where she earned her nursing degree in 1971. A high school and college friend, Lauri, later remembered their graduation day with these words:

“In June of 1971 on our sunny windy graduation day, we stood together joyously on the campus lawn. As our parents snapped pictures of us, we both knew we were taking something ‘out into the world’ with us that was far better than an education!”

That statement beautifully describes Naomi’s life. She did not merely take knowledge into the world. She took faith, compassion, courage, and a servant’s heart.

During those formative years, Naomi’s faith deepened. She hosted Bible studies, attended the Urbana Missions Conference, and began asking where God might use her nursing gifts. She was interested in mission work and in the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky. Although that specific path did not unfold exactly as she first imagined, God was already directing her steps.

One of Naomi’s own writings from about 50 years ago reveals her heart. Writing under the name “Ann,” she wondered whether she might serve in an even more remote place where nurses were needed. She reflected on Psalm 119:133:

“Direct my footsteps according to your word.”

That prayer became part of the direction of her life.

A Calling to Nursing and Service

Naomi’s work as a nurse was more than a career. It was a calling.

After graduation, she taught nursing for a time and served in public health near Augusta, Wisconsin. But her heart was drawn toward places where the needs were greater and resources were fewer. She wanted to use her training where it could make a real difference.

That desire eventually led her to Buckhorn, Kentucky, near Hazard, in the rugged Appalachian region. From about 1975 to 1977, Naomi worked as an RN in a small rural health clinic alongside Lucille LeBeau, a midwife who became an important friend, mentor, and ministry partner.

Lucille was about 15 years older than Naomi. She was more experienced, deeply committed to the Lord, and a strong Christian believer. Richard later came to believe that much of Lucille’s faith, courage, and servant spirit rubbed off on Naomi during that foundational season.

Naomi drove her Jeep through the hollers of Kentucky to visit mothers, babies, and families who had limited access to medical care. These were not ordinary home visits. They were acts of courage, mercy, and faith. She crossed difficult terrain, traveled narrow roads, carried supplies, and entered homes where healthcare was desperately needed.

Her work brought more than medical help. It brought reassurance. It brought dignity. It brought the love of Christ in practical form.

Buckhorn, Kentucky: Seeds Planted in Faith

Naomi’s time in Buckhorn became one of the defining chapters of her life. She was a young single nurse, around 27 years old, serving in a remote and challenging area. She was not there for comfort, recognition, or advancement. She was there because she believed God had opened a door.

The people of Buckhorn and Hazard lived in a rugged region where access to healthcare could be difficult. Naomi and Lucille served through a small clinic, making mother and baby visits, providing public health nursing, and offering support to families who needed both medical care and personal encouragement.

Naomi later remembered the people, the stories, and the challenges of that season. She told of winter roads, difficult drives, and even a time when her Jeep went off the road and a logging truck helped pull her back. She also carried supplies across the Kentucky River for visits. These images capture Naomi’s determination: a nurse with a servant’s heart, going wherever care was needed.

The clinic eventually closed. It was not because the need had disappeared. The hospitals and government systems wanted patients to come to the hospitals, and rural clinics like the one in Buckhorn were closed. For Naomi, leaving was difficult. She loved the people and the work. Yet even in that disappointment, God’s providence was unfolding.

Her return to Milwaukee would lead to the next chapter of her life.

The seeds Naomi planted in Buckhorn did not end when she left. Her care, prayers, visits, and witness continued to bear fruit in ways she may never have fully known on earth.

Lucille LeBeau: Mentor, Midwife, and Spiritual Influence

Lucille LeBeau deserves special mention in Naomi’s life story.

Lucille was a midwife, a nurse, a strong Christian believer, and a woman of courage and service. She and Naomi worked together in Buckhorn and shared life during those years. Lucille was older, more experienced, and had already lived a remarkable life of service. Her influence on Naomi was significant.

After Buckhorn, Lucille continued in Christian service. Among other things, she helped smuggle Bibles into China. Later in life, she served as a prayer warrior with a Christian ministry called Advancing Native Missions.

Lucille is still alive at age 92, and Richard hopes to visit her soon to thank her for the important part she played in Naomi’s life.

Sometimes God places people in our lives for a season, but their influence lasts a lifetime. Lucille was one of those people for Naomi.

Meeting Richard and Building a Life Together

After returning to Milwaukee, Naomi met Richard Dassow. Their meeting later in life was not random; Richard has often reflected on it as part of God’s providence. Naomi was 30, and Richard was 39 when they married on April 21, 1979, at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Their marriage became a partnership of faith, family, service, and care. They were different in some ways, but united in Christ and in a shared desire to serve others. Over 45 years of marriage, they built a life shaped by commitment, adoption, ministry, hospitality, prayer, and perseverance.

Richard and Naomi were not only husband and wife. They were teammates.

Looking back, Richard has come to realize that in many ways Naomi was the real leader. She had many of the qualities that made ministry fruitful: compassion, steadiness, hospitality, patience, discernment, nursing wisdom, and a quiet servant’s heart. Richard was there to learn, support, encourage, and walk beside her in the work God gave them to do.

Everything they did as volunteers, they did as a team.

Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church and the Seventy Niners

For the first 20 years of their marriage, Richard and Naomi were members of Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church, the church where they were married.

Only a few months after their wedding, Naomi took the initiative to invite newly married couples to their home for a home fellowship Bible study. That was in 1979. Over time, the group became known as the “Seventy Niners.”

What began as Naomi’s simple invitation grew into a close Christian fellowship that lasted for about 15 years. Richard and Naomi led the group in the beginning. Later, recognizing the value of pastoral leadership, they encouraged Pastor Bruce and his wife to lead the group. Bruce was also a teacher at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, where Naomi had attended.

The Seventy Niners became much more than a Bible study. It became a community. Many of the couples had children. Families went camping together. Children grew up together. Friendships deepened. Faith was shared, encouraged, and lived out in ordinary family life.

All of that began because Naomi took the initiative and asked young couples to come to their home for Bible study.

It was another example of Naomi planting seeds.

Infertility, Resolve, and the Miracle of Adoption

Another important part of Naomi’s life was her involvement with Resolve, the infertility self-help group.

Naomi knew personally the heartache, questions, and longing that can come with infertility. Rather than allowing that pain to turn inward, she used it as a way to help others.

Naomi became a member of Resolve and also served on the board. Through that role, she became a resource and encouragement for families who were considering adoption. She helped people think through the process, ask good questions, and take steps forward with hope.

Very shortly after Naomi’s involvement with Resolve, Richard and Naomi began training so they could adopt children themselves. What followed became one of the great miracles of their lives.

God opened the door for them to adopt two blood brothers from Korea, both 100% Korean. Then, within a short time, Richard and Naomi were asked to become the parents of an unborn child. That story, too, became part of God’s providence.

Their family did not come together in an ordinary way. It came together through prayer, waiting, training, faith, and a series of open doors that Richard and Naomi could only describe as miracles from the Lord.

Naomi’s heart for adoption was not theoretical. She lived it. She helped others walk toward it. And then she and Richard became adoptive parents themselves.

Motherhood and Family

Together, Richard and Naomi adopted three children: Michael, Peter, and Ami. Motherhood was another important part of Naomi’s calling.

Naomi loved her children deeply. She understood that family was not merely biological. Family was a gift, a calling, and a stewardship from God. The adoption of their children was not a second-best plan. It was part of God’s providence and grace in their lives.

Like many families, their journey included joys, challenges, prayers, burdens, and hopes carried over many years. Naomi’s love for her family was steady, faithful, and prayerful.

She had a heart for children before she became a mother, and that heart continued through adoption, family life, volunteering, and ministry.

Heal the Children: Caring for Children After Surgery

Naomi was also involved with Heal the Children, a national organization that brought young children to the United States for medical operations they could not receive in their home countries.

Richard and Naomi became temporary “parents” to children who came for surgery. After their operations, these children needed a safe and caring home while they recovered before returning to their families and countries.

Richard and Naomi cared for two children through this ministry. One was a young Korean girl who had heart surgery. Another was a young boy from Guatemala who came two different times, totaling about a year of care.

This ministry was possible because Naomi was a nurse and, at the time, worked part time—every other weekend. Her medical background, steady compassion, and willingness to open her home made it possible for Richard and Naomi to serve these children together.

Again, they served as a team.

Naomi brought the nursing knowledge, the motherly care, and the quiet confidence needed for such a ministry. Richard came alongside her. Together, they opened their home to children who needed healing, safety, and love.

A Heart for Life: Care Net and Pro-Life Ministry

Naomi also volunteered with Care Net, serving as a phone person who took calls from young women who were considering abortion or facing crisis pregnancies. This was another expression of Naomi’s heart for life, compassion, and practical help.

She was not simply interested in a cause. She cared about people. She listened. She responded with gentleness. She wanted women in difficult situations to know that they were not alone and that there were people willing to help.

Richard and Naomi were also involved together in other pro-life activities. As in so many areas of their lives, this was not just something Naomi believed; it was something she acted on.

Her faith moved her toward service.

Baja, Gretchen, and Foundation for His Ministry

Another important adventure in Naomi’s life involved her sister Gretchen, who was a cancer nurse at Children’s Hospital.

Naomi and Gretchen once flew to San Diego, rented a van, and drove a baby back to her home in Baja after cancer surgery. It was a six-hour trip through unfamiliar territory—an adventure for two courageous women who were willing to serve where needed.

That trip became Naomi’s first connection with Baja.

In time, that experience helped lead Richard and Naomi into deeper involvement with Foundation for His Ministry in Baja. Charla, the founder of the mission, once said, “You will never be the same” after being at the mission.

For Richard and Naomi, that proved true.

They returned to Baja several times as a family. Those trips became another foundational part of Naomi and Richard’s life together. Like Buckhorn, Baja helped shape their understanding of service, mission, family, and God’s providence.

Naomi’s life had a pattern: she went where there was need, and when God opened a door, she walked through it.

Eastbrook Church: A Multicultural Season of Service

After their years at Divine Shepherd, Richard and Naomi gradually migrated to Eastbrook Church in Milwaukee, a multicultural and multigenerational church. Eastbrook became an important part of the next 20 years of their church life.

During that season, Richard was asked to join the staff after losing his job. He served for five years as administrative assistant to the senior pastor, Dr. Marc Erickson. Richard later resigned at age 65—not retired, but resigned—in order to spend more productive time as a volunteer in ministry outside the church. In my bio for a presentation I did at ECHO in Florida, it said I was “Refired”.

That detail belongs in the timeline, but the heart of this chapter remains Naomi’s faithful service.

Eastbrook was where Naomi became especially active in ministry. She served through the Food Pantry and at the Welcome and Information Desk, offering kindness, hospitality, and practical help to people from many backgrounds. Eastbrook’s multicultural ministry reflected something Naomi and Richard both valued: a glimpse of the diversity of the kingdom of God.

Naomi was not interested in recognition. She simply served. She welcomed people. She helped people. She cared about people.

She lived out her faith in practical ways.

The River: Prayer Ministry for Young People

At Eastbrook Church, Richard and Naomi were also involved in a ministry called The River. This was not a counseling ministry, but a prayer ministry for young people up to about age 22.

The River provided a place where young people could be prayed for, encouraged, and spiritually supported. Catherine Morrill was connected with this ministry, and it became another way Richard and Naomi could come alongside younger people with compassion and prayer.

This ministry fit Naomi’s heart. She was not forceful or intrusive. She knew how to listen, care, and pray. Whether serving mothers and babies in Kentucky, welcoming people at church, or praying with young people at Eastbrook, Naomi’s pattern was the same: she brought a quiet, faithful presence into places where people needed encouragement.

Sunday Morning Prayer Ministry

Naomi and Richard were also involved in Sunday morning prayer ministry at Eastbrook Church. Once or twice a month, at various services, they served as part of the prayer team after the worship service.

People were invited to come forward for prayer about any concern, burden, decision, illness, family situation, or spiritual need in their lives. Naomi and Richard prayed with people together, again serving as a team.

Naomi had a special ability to relate to women. She listened with compassion, gentleness, and spiritual sensitivity. Women could sense that she cared and that she was not simply offering words, but bringing them before the Lord in prayer.

This ministry reflected another important part of Naomi’s life: she believed prayer mattered. She believed God cared about the details of people’s lives. Whether in a home Bible study, a rural clinic, a jail ministry, a welcome desk, a young adult prayer ministry, or after a Sunday worship service, Naomi was willing to meet people where they were and help carry their burdens to the Lord.

Helping People Discover Their Gifts

At Eastbrook Church, Naomi’s ministry was not limited to the Food Pantry, Welcome Desk, The River, and Sunday morning prayer ministry. She also served as part of a small group that interviewed new members and others who wanted to discover their gifts and become involved in ministry.

This was a ministry that fit Naomi well. She could listen carefully, ask thoughtful questions, and help people recognize how God had shaped them through their passions, spiritual gifts, abilities, and life experiences.

Richard was part of that ministry too, but Naomi was especially gifted at it. She had the ability to draw people out and help them see that their lives mattered and that God had prepared them for service.

This ministry reflected one of the larger themes of Naomi’s life: helping people find where they belonged and where they could serve.

Women’s Jail Ministry at Ozaukee County Jail

Naomi was also involved in a women’s jail ministry at the Ozaukee County Jail. This was a weekly Saturday group Bible study with about 12 women in jail. Naomi served alongside two other women who helped lead the study.

This ministry reflected Naomi’s compassion for women who were in difficult and vulnerable circumstances. She believed the Word of God could bring hope, truth, dignity, and new beginnings. Her presence in that jail ministry was another expression of her quiet willingness to go where people needed encouragement.

Naomi did not serve only in comfortable places. She served in homes, clinics, churches, hospitals, mission settings, crisis ministries, and even a county jail. Wherever God opened a door, Naomi seemed willing to walk through it.

Red Cross Volunteer Service and Salvation Army Chaplaincy

Before becoming Salvation Army chaplains, Richard and Naomi served as volunteers with the Red Cross. They were involved in many different kinds of Red Cross service and training. Much of what the Red Cross did, they found some way to be part of.

Later, from 2015 to 2021, Richard and Naomi served together as volunteer chaplains with The Salvation Army in Milwaukee. This was separate from their Red Cross service. Their chaplaincy work through The Salvation Army allowed them to use their spiritual gifts, life experience, compassion, and training to comfort people in times of crisis.

They served in a diverse group of Christian chaplains representing many churches and denominations. Richard and Naomi saw this as a small picture of heaven—believers from many backgrounds serving together in Christ’s name.

Though they had once trained for disaster response through the Billy Graham Rapid Response Chaplain ministry, God used that preparation in a different way—right in Milwaukee, with people facing personal crises, grief, trauma, and need.

Once again, Naomi’s life showed the pattern of providence: training, preparation, closed doors, open doors, and faithful service wherever God placed her.

Alliance Bible Church: Faithful Service Close to Home

When COVID began, Richard and Naomi changed churches again for health reasons. They began attending Alliance Bible Church, which was closer to their home.

At Alliance, Naomi became a faithful participant in the women’s Bible studies. She valued the fellowship, the teaching, and the opportunity to continue growing in the Lord with other women.

Richard and Naomi also volunteered in the Acacia Academics ministry as helpers. Others did the mentoring, but Richard and Naomi came alongside the ministry in supportive roles. They also began serving as greeters at the church entrance, welcoming people as they arrived.

This completed the broad pattern of their church life together: Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church, Eastbrook Church, and Alliance Bible Church. Each season was different. Each season had its own purpose. In each place, Naomi found ways to serve.

Illness, Dialysis, and Faithful Endurance

Naomi lived with the effects of polycystic kidney disease, a condition that affected her extended family. Over time, PKD,kidney disease and dialysis became a major part of her life and Richard’s life with her.

Richard became her care partner. Together they learned home dialysis. Later, Naomi went to in-center dialysis three times a week, often very early in the morning. Her treatments began around 4:30 a.m.

During those hours, Richard often walked along the shore of Lake Michigan at Concordia University in Mequon. Many times, while Naomi was receiving dialysis, he walked near the lake and took pictures of the sun rising behind a cross along the bank of the walkway.

Those early morning walks became part of Richard’s spiritual journey as Naomi endured dialysis. The sunrise, the lake, and the cross became reminders of God’s presence, Naomi’s faith, and the hope of resurrection.

Those years were not easy, but they became another chapter of love, sacrifice, and faithfulness.

Naomi’s illness did not erase her faith. It revealed it.

Even as her body weakened, her trust in Christ remained. She spoke with hope about eternity. She wondered aloud, “Why am I having so much fun dying?”

That statement captures something profound about Naomi. She did not deny suffering, but she also did not see death as the end. She believed she was going home to Jesus.

Her advance directive reflected her faith and her desire for others to know Christ. She wanted her family and loved ones to open their hearts to Jesus so she could see them again in glory.

Naomi’s Homegoing

Naomi passed away on November 8, 2024, at the age of 75.

For Richard, her final breath was surrounded by a peace that surpassed understanding. Though the sorrow of separation was real, there was also assurance. Naomi belonged to Christ. Her suffering was over. Her faith had become sight.

Richard has often reflected on Naomi’s first experience in heaven: seeing Jesus face to face, being welcomed into His presence, reunited with loved ones, and entering the fellowship of the saints.

While we cannot know every detail of heaven, Christian hope assures us that for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Naomi’s earthly journey ended, but her life did not end. She is more alive now than she ever was!

She is with Christ, awaiting the resurrection and the new heaven and new earth promised by God.

Naomi’s Legacy

Naomi’s legacy can be described in one word: seeds.

She planted seeds of faith.
Seeds of compassion.
Seeds of courage.
Seeds of hospitality.
Seeds of service.
Seeds of hope.
Seeds of life.
Seeds of mission.
Seeds of prayer.

She planted them as a young woman formed by Lutheran schools and Christian teaching.

She planted them in Buckhorn, Kentucky, as a nurse driving her Jeep through the hollers.

She planted them through Resolve, helping families who were facing infertility and considering adoption.

She planted them in her own family, as she and Richard adopted their children through what they came to see as miracles from the Lord.

She planted seeds through Heal the Children, caring for children from other countries after surgery.

She planted them through Care Net and other pro-life ministries, listening to women in difficult situations and offering compassion and help.

She planted them in Baja, through Foundation for His Ministry, after that first adventurous trip with her sister Gretchen opened a door to a larger mission connection.

She planted them in Milwaukee through nursing, home fellowship, church ministry, Red Cross service, Salvation Army chaplaincy, friendship, and family life.

She planted them at Eastbrook Church through the Food Pantry, the Welcome Desk, The River, Sunday morning prayer ministry, and helping people discover their gifts and find a place to serve.

She planted them through the women’s jail ministry at Ozaukee County Jail, helping lead a weekly Bible study for women who needed hope, truth, dignity, and the reminder that God had not forgotten them.

She planted them at Alliance Bible Church through women’s Bible study, Acacia Academics, and greeting people as they came to worship.

She planted them in her marriage to Richard.

She planted them in her children.

She planted them in the lives of people she welcomed, cared for, prayed with, listened to, and encouraged.

Many of those seeds were quiet. Some may have seemed small. Some may have gone unnoticed. But the kingdom of God often grows through small acts of faithfulness.

A Bible study in a home became the Seventy Niners.
A rural clinic became a lifelong foundation for service.
Infertility became a doorway to adoption and helping other families.
A nursing background became a way to care for children from other countries.
A phone ministry became a way to care for women in crisis.
A trip to Baja became a family mission connection.
A welcome desk became a ministry of kindness.
A prayer ministry for young people became a place of encouragement and hope.
A Sunday morning prayer team became a place where burdens were carried before the Lord.
A gift-discovery ministry helped others find their place in service.
A jail Bible study became a way to bring God’s Word to women in difficult circumstances.
A Red Cross volunteer role became preparation for wider service.
A Salvation Army chaplaincy became a way to comfort the hurting.
A dialysis journey became a witness of faith.
A marriage became a team of service.

Naomi may not have seen the full harvest in this life.

But heaven keeps perfect records.

A Short Bio Version

Naomi H. Koerwitz Dassow was born on February 5, 1949, in Niles, Michigan, and passed into the presence of the Lord on November 8, 2024. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire School of Nursing, Naomi devoted her life to serving others through nursing, family, church ministry, volunteer work, adoption support, missions, pro-life ministry, prayer ministry, jail ministry, and chaplaincy.

Raised with a strong Lutheran foundation, Naomi attended Lutheran schools, including Milwaukee Lutheran High School, and credited those years as an important beginning of her faith. In the 1970s, she served as a rural health nurse in Buckhorn, Kentucky, near Hazard, where she worked with midwife Lucille LeBeau in a small clinic. Driving her Jeep through the hollers of Appalachia, she visited mothers, babies, and families with limited access to medical care. Her work there reflected her deep Christian faith and became a defining chapter of her life.

After returning to Milwaukee, Naomi married Richard Dassow in 1979 at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church. Soon after marriage, Naomi invited other newly married couples into their home for Bible study. That group became known as the Seventy Niners and continued for about 15 years, becoming a close fellowship of couples and families.

Naomi was involved with Resolve, an infertility self-help group, and served on its board. Through that ministry, she became a resource for families considering adoption. Soon afterward, Richard and Naomi took adoption training and adopted two brothers from Korea. Later, they were asked to become the parents of an unborn child, another providential part of their family story.

Naomi also served through Heal the Children, caring for children from other countries who came to the United States for surgeries they could not receive at home. She volunteered with Care Net, taking phone calls from young women facing crisis pregnancies, and was involved in other pro-life activities. Her nursing background, faith, and compassion helped make these ministries possible.

Naomi and Richard were also shaped by mission involvement in Baja through Foundation for His Ministry. Naomi’s first connection with Baja came through an adventurous trip with her sister Gretchen, when they helped return a child home after surgery. Later, Richard and Naomi returned to Baja with their family several times, and that ministry became another foundational part of their life.

Over their 45 years of marriage, Naomi and Richard raised three adopted children and served together in many volunteer ministries. They were active at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church, Eastbrook Church, and later Alliance Bible Church. Naomi served through Bible studies, home fellowship, food pantry ministry, welcome ministry, The River prayer ministry for young people, Sunday morning prayer ministry, helping people discover their gifts, women’s jail ministry at Ozaukee County Jail, Acacia Academics, greeting, Red Cross volunteer work, and Salvation Army chaplaincy.

Naomi lived with courage through kidney disease and dialysis, trusting Christ through suffering and facing eternity with peace and hope. Her life was marked by humility, compassion, perseverance, hospitality, prayer, and a deep love for Jesus. She leaves a legacy of seeds planted in faith—seeds that continue to grow in the lives of those she touched.

A Closing Reflection

Naomi’s life reminds us that faithfulness does not have to be loud to be powerful.

A young woman shaped by Christian faith.
A nurse driving a Jeep through the hills of Kentucky.
A wife standing beside her husband.
A mother formed through the miracle of adoption.
A woman helping other families consider adoption.
A temporary caregiver for children recovering from surgery far from home.
A listener on the phone with women facing life-changing decisions.
A sister willing to drive through Baja to bring a child home.
A woman inviting young couples into her home for Bible study.
A church volunteer welcoming strangers.
A guide helping others discover their gifts.
A prayer servant for young people.
A Sunday morning prayer partner carrying burdens before the Lord.
A women’s jail ministry volunteer bringing Scripture and hope.
A Red Cross volunteer ready to serve.
A Salvation Army chaplain comforting the hurting.
A woman facing illness with hope in Christ.

That was Naomi.

She lived her faith in practical ways. She served where God placed her. She planted seeds she may never have seen fully grow.

And now, by faith, we believe Naomi is with the Savior she loved, seeing clearly what we still see only in part.

Her journey continues in the presence of Christ, and her legacy continues here in the lives she touched.

A Closing Thought

If Naomi’s life says anything to us, it may be this:

Do not underestimate the seeds God asks you to plant.

A phone call can matter.

An invitation can mater.

A home Bible study can matter.

A visit to a family in need can matter.

A word of encouragement can matter.

A quiet act of service can matter.

We may not always see the harvest. Naomi did not see all of hers.

But God sees.

And in His time, He grows what was planted in faith.

“Let us praise the LORD together, and exalt His name.” — Psalm 34:3

And in closing, My life was shaped by the woman Jesus brought into my life. Naomi

Naomi on the left and Lucile on the right.

Naomi and Richard: Volunteer Salvation Army Chaplains.

Stone on the right side was given to us on our wedding day by Dorie Bahr, Pastor Bahr's wife.

Picture a few months before Naomi's homecoming. Volunteering at TSU, The Student Union as helpers for Acacia (a mentoring ministry of Alliance Bible Church)