Saturday night, Rachel Hamilton went into the presence of the Lord. This twenty-seven-year-old mom lost her battle with cancer and leaves two young children and her husband. Rachel is one of the fine young minds in the kingdom, in my opinion. I asked her to come and speak at our national staff meeting two years ago. She understood the next generation of young missionaries called Millennials. She understood what it meant to live her life in a way that allowed people to see the life of Jesus in what she did, what she thought, and how she influenced other people.

Rachel was a magnet for people to come to be discipled by her. Her leadership at the Center for Student Missions’ Los Angeles center was so exemplary that it was highly sought-after to be on her staff. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why God would take such a great young mind.

Recently, I’ve been preaching through the book of Ecclesiastes, and there’s a section that says the day of death is better than the day of birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As hard as that seems, being with the Lord is far greater than anything we can experience here on earth. But in the meantime, I will miss a great young mind, Rachel Hamilton.