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Lapp, Glen D. (1969-2010)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2010 Aug 16 p. 1, 7
Birth date: 1969 Sep 14
text of obituary:
By Celeste Kennel-Shank
Mennonite Weekly Review
A Mennonite Central committee worker in Afghanistan was shot to death Aug. 5.
Glen D. Lapp, 40, of Lancaster, Pa., was traveling in northeastern Afghanistan with a medical team focusing on eye care. Local police found the bodies of two afghans, six Americans, one Briton and one German from the team, Aug. 6.
The tam worked with MCC partner organization International Assistance Mission, a Christian nonprofit organization working in health care and economic development in Afghanistan.
"Glen served with commitment and grace as well as with a love of the people there," said Arli Klassen, MCC executive director, in a statement. "We are grateful for his service to God, to the church and with the Afghan people. He will be missed, and he will be remembered."
This is the fourth conflict-related death of a worker during service in MCC's 90 years.
The Taliban and an affiliated group have said they are responsible, accusing the dead of trying to convert Afghans to Christianity, the New York Times reported. MCC has heard conflicting reports about the incident and is not sure who killed the team members or why.
Dirk Frans, IAM executive director, said in a statement the group was not distributing Bibles or trying to convert people.
"Our faith motivates and inspires us — but we do not proselytize," Frans said. "IAM would not be invited back to villages if we were using aid as a cover for preaching."
Lapp was to complete his two-year MCC term in October, and had already written his end-of-term report from Afghanistan.
"Where I was, the main thing that expats can do is to be a presence in the country," he wrote, "treating people with respect and with love and trying to be a little bit of Christ in this part of the world."
The Eye Camp team had finished a 100-mile trek through the Hindu Kush mountains to treat people in remote, poor communities when its members died, according to the IAM website.
"IAM is a longtime and trusted partner of MCC," said Ron Flaming, MCC director of international programs.
IAM does not use weapons for security, MCC reported.
Lapp worked for IAM as executive assistant and as manager of the provincial eye care program, serving on several eye care teams.
"Glen really enjoyed this work; he told us that often," Flaming said. "Eye disease is a significant problem in Afghanistan, particularly in the remote areas in the north."
Serving in Afghanistan fit Lapp's passions to help the less fortunate, to enjoy adventure and to seek knowledge, his family wrote in an Aug. 10 statement.
Lapp was "a dearly loved son, uncle and brother," they wrote. "Before Glen went to Afghanistan, we discussed the possibility of his death. We all were at peace with his decision to serve there. Although his absence is painful, we would not for one moment deny him the great fulfillment that his work there brought him."
'Spirit of courage'
MCC's partners in Afghanistan work in education, advocacy, food security and disaster relief. MCC's one other worker in the country is safe; MCC has not made any decisions about future work.
'MCC is very much involved in peacebuilding in Afghanistan, and my hope is that MCC can continue along that vein and continue to help this country work towards peace on many different social, ethnic and economic levels," Lapp wrote in his report.
Lapp had served with MCC responding to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He also worked as a nurse in Lancaster, New york and Supai, Ariz. He was a graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.
Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster, where Lapp was a member, heard of his death during its Aug. 8 service.
Afghanistan's decades of conflict and hardship are more present now for those who knew Lapp, said Chad Martin, pastor, in his sermon that morning, available online.
"I'm grateful for Glen's life, because it is written in our hearts," Martin said. "May the same spirit that guided him in the work he did and the way he lived, that spirit of courage and compassion and hope and care, may that spirit be our guide as well."
Contributing: Cheryl Zehr Walker of MCC.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2010 Aug 23 p. 1
text of obituary:
Service celebrates life of Glen Lapp, who served with grace, confidence
By Jane Holahan
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
LANCASTER, Pa. — Glen Lapp led an abundant life, his friends and family all agreed during a memorial service Aug. 15.
He had a kind heart, they said, a seriousness of purpose, a deep desire to do good and help those the world had forgotten.
But he also new how to enjoy life, laugh, play bluegrass music with friends and ride his bike across the country with his cousin.
"We ate peanut butter sandwiches with brown sugar and lived like kings; it was glorious," Joe Lapp recalled as he spoke about that 2002 bike trip. "And we laughed a lot. Laughter with Glen came so easily."
That abundant life was cut short Aug. 5 when Lapp, 40, a Mennonite Central Committee volunteer, and nine other aid workers were killed in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have said they are responsible for the killings.
About 900 people filled the church on a rainy afternoon. They were led by Lapp's parents, Marvin and Mary Lapp, his brothers, Ernie and Jerry, and his two nieces and nephew.
While there was plenty of grief and tears during the service, held in the large sanctuary of Bright Side Baptist Church, the family wanted to celebrate Glen Lapp's life.
"Glen packed more into 40 years than most people pack into a lifetime," his sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Francescani, said in an interview before the service.
"People said over and over to us — and I can't emphasize it strongly enough — that he had a heart that was so extensive and kind. He touched so many lives. He left such a legacy."
Her brother-in-law was incapable of being superficial, she said.
"He didn't have it in him," she said. "His eye contact never faltered when he talked to you."
The service included plenty of music. Lapp loved to play guitar and sing, especially bluegrass.
The Singing Cousins, a group of friends and relatives that often performs at Lapp family gatherings, sang "Amazing Grace," and his bluegrass friends played a number of tunes, including "I'll Fly Away."
'Holy ground'
MCC had placed Lapp, a registered nurse, with a longtime partner in Afghanistan, International Assistance Mission, which works in health care and economic development.
At the time of his death, Lapp was part of an eye care team that had traveled to a remote area in northeastern Afghanistan.
John Williamson, a fellow MCC worker, had visited Lapp in Afghanistan in July. He spoke during the service.
"Glen had a very peaceful nature, living in very tense surroundings," he said.
"Being around Glen, I felt I was on holy ground. It's hard to put a finger on why. He didn't seem concerned for his own safety. Glen was a part of the body of Christ. I don't doubt he loved even those who killed him."
Joe Manickam, director for Asia programs for MCC, noted that nine other communities are also in mourning.
"We must focus on the legacy of their lives, lives lived in the fullness of Christ's love," he said. "We must carry the torch of the legacy of those 10, which Glen was a part of."
Francescani also spoke about Lapp during the service.
"He had a quiet confidence to him, a trait I always admired in him" she said. "Glen was aligned with grace. His purpose was clear. He had no fear."
Jerry Lapp, Lapp's older brother, also addressed the gathering.
"If there is a little peace to come from his death,it's knowing he was there doing what he loved,' he said.
Jerry Lapp said during the earlier interview that different pieces of Lapp's life were coming together.
"People knew him from so many different angles," Jerry Lapp said. "We were very close, but we missed a lot since we were all leading busy lives. It's been nice to hear about him, to fill in the gaps."
Francescani, who is married to Jerry Lapp, added her thoughts about the service for Lapp.
'He's being remembered just the way he would want to be," she said. "People are learning about his work."
Lapp couldn't tell them much about what he was doing in Afghanistan for safety reasons. But he was able to use Skype, an Internet-based phone service, with his parents and, about a month ago, he sent e-mails and a lot of pictures.
Many of those photographs from Afghanistan were shown on two large video screens in front of the church before and after the service. Others showed Lapp with his family, including many with his nieces and nephews.
"In some ways, I feel for them the most," Jerry Lapp said of his three children. "We had 40 years. they only had a few years with their Uncle Glen."
Pedal harder
Lapp was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on Sept. 14, 1969. He returned to Honduras 20 years alter to serve with Youth Evangelism Service. He spent time in several other countries as well.
During his eulogy, Joe Lapp said of his cousins that "just because Glen was caring didn't mean he was soft."
He joked that Lapp's remedy for everything was to "pedal harder," recalling their bike trip.
"If you're hot, pedal harder, it will cool you off. If you're cold, pedal harder, it will warm you up. If you're tired, pedal harder, you'll be done sooner," he said with a laugh. "That combination of caring and toughness allowed him to thrive in Afghanistan.
"Glen was working to bring peace to a country devastated by war. He did not spend his life working in vain. . . . He gave assistance to people the rest of the world had forgotten."
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2010 Aug 23 p. 2
"Agency, Afghans investigate murders" by Celeste Kennel-Shank is about the International Assistance Mission's investigation of these deaths.