A Shining Light Extinguished

By Clint Morgan

Recently, my colleague Don Matchett and I attended the memorial service of pioneer Free Will Baptist missionary Carlisle Hanna. From beginning to end, the service honored God. It also properly recognized a life well-lived in God’s service.

Over the last few years, much has been written about Brother Carlisle and his 70 years of missionary service with Free Will Baptist International Missions (IM). The memorial service offered some new and interesting insights into his life.

Family members offered a glimpse of this man by those who knew him best. Affectionately known to them as father, father-in-law, grandfather, great grandfather, uncle, and faithful missionary to India, they joyfully, and sometimes tearfully, shared life lessons they learned from this godly man. One got the feeling they could have shared much more than they did.

The service lasted a bit over two hours. Even then, it was as if we had barely begun to properly review Brother Carlisle’s life and work in India.

His children clearly expressed appreciation for each one who prayed for and supported the Hanna family throughout their years in India. One of the boys indicated the impossibility of giving proper thanks for the life of Brother Carlisle without thanking supporters. They mentioned an example of a person who had prayed for the Hanna family every day for 50 years. Bro. Carlisle’s daughter Brenda Kay Roach succinctly stated, “Someone had to send those beautiful feet to India, and you did it.”

We also learned a little background of the Hanna family. Carlisle Hanna’s dad was a shining standard of a gentle, loving, and kind father. Don Hanna said, “It is not hard to see why God chose this family to bring a child into this world who would grow up to love the people of India and take light into that very dark land.” Growing up in a home with such a loving father made it easy for Brother Carlisle to speak to lost people about his loving Heavenly Father.

Carlisle and his wife Marie (who passed away in 1998) were truly a missionary couple. They completed each other in life and ministry. When Brother Carlisle spoke of the death of his daughter Sheila during their first term, and later of Mrs. Marie’s death, he said, “It is only human to ask why. But I was not at peace until I told the Lord I didn’t need to know why now or in eternity. I told the Lord I was His, and was His servant, and would live for Him.”

He certainly kept his word.

Two characteristics of Brother Carlisle shaped the thinking of his family and others to whom he ministered: he was both a leader and a follower. He led his family to love God, love God’s Word, and love others. He modeled it in his life. He studied the Bible every day. He read it through over 80 times and followed it to the best of his understanding.

A grandchild described later visits with Brother Carlisle, “We wanted to help him walk and not feel the pain, but we couldn’t. Now he knows profound bliss in seeing the face of his Savior and his wife.”

Dr. Don Hanna, the oldest son, gave the closing message. Speaking for his siblings, he affirmed, “As his children, we have been blessed beyond measure.” His closing remarks were a poem about his dad entitled, “He Walked With God.” The poem took us on a short journey through his dad’s childhood, his calling, his service in India, and his passing. He closed with the words, “Now, he walks with God.”

I believe the following quote appropriately reflects the life of Carlisle Hanna: “I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.”

Carlisle Hanna absolutely let his light shine in a land filled with darkness. Now his light has been extinguished, but the candles he lit will burn until Christ returns.

This denomination will forever honor the faithful service of Carlisle Hanna. Generations to come will remember and point to his example of faithfulness. May God bless the Hanna family, the works in India, and those who follow Carlisle Hanna’s example of faithfulness to the end.

Also Read His Legacy Continues by Kristi Johnson.

About the Author: Former missionary to Ivory Coast and France, Clint Morgan has been director of IM since 2011. Learn more: iminc.org.