Bob Harp, longtime missionary to American Samoa, dies at 84
PHOTO BY GARY SWATZEL
Bob Harp served as associate minister for the Maui Church of Christ.
Bob Harp served as associate minister for the Maui Church of Christ.
MAUI, HAWAII - A woman named Tolua Tavai once asked Bob Harp to “come back to Samoa with your family. You make Jesus’ church in my home.”
He did.
Harp, who dedicated nearly 50 years of ministry to the people of South Pacific, died Sept. 10 in Maui, Hawaii, after a long illness. He was 84.
Born in Floydada, Texas, Harp served in Japan with the U.S. military from 1946-47. For the next 15 years, he served churches in New York, Texas, California and Maine.
While serving as a minister for the Culver Palms Church of Christ in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, Harp traveled to Wellington, New Zealand, for a gospel campaign. He toured the region and took the invitation to move his family to American Samoa, a U.S. territory.
He and his wife, Jackie, and their three young children, Scott, Eric and Vicki, moved to the town of Lauli’i in 1964.
Under difficult physical circumstances, they remained there for six and a half years, during which they launched the first Church of Christ among the islanders in Lauli’i.
Three years later they helped build the first church building for the Church of Christ in the village of Nu’uuli.
In recent years Harp had served as associate minister for the Maui Church of Christ.
He did.
Harp, who dedicated nearly 50 years of ministry to the people of South Pacific, died Sept. 10 in Maui, Hawaii, after a long illness. He was 84.
Born in Floydada, Texas, Harp served in Japan with the U.S. military from 1946-47. For the next 15 years, he served churches in New York, Texas, California and Maine.
While serving as a minister for the Culver Palms Church of Christ in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, Harp traveled to Wellington, New Zealand, for a gospel campaign. He toured the region and took the invitation to move his family to American Samoa, a U.S. territory.
He and his wife, Jackie, and their three young children, Scott, Eric and Vicki, moved to the town of Lauli’i in 1964.
Under difficult physical circumstances, they remained there for six and a half years, during which they launched the first Church of Christ among the islanders in Lauli’i.
Three years later they helped build the first church building for the Church of Christ in the village of Nu’uuli.
In recent years Harp had served as associate minister for the Maui Church of Christ.
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It is with sadness that I just read that Bob passed last year. My husband and I were married by Bob in 1993 in Maui. He was a kind man and left fond memories of our island wedding. Rest in peace. Aloha.
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Daryll Lambert not applicable Halifax, Nova Scotia - Canada May 8, 2013 |
feedback that promotes thoughtful and respectful discussion. Letters and comments should be 750 characters or less and may be edited for length or clarity. Comments to the print or online edition are considered to be letters to the editor and may be published.
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