Farewell Nigel Lee

My good friend Nigel Lee lost his battle with cancer on Thursday.

We first met through OM when I was18. Over the last 25 years he did a huge amount to encourage me in faith and ministry. He was “my boss for 7 years” creating a job which he felt would develop my gifts and passions and tasking me to be a catalyst for change at his side. His influence in my life has been enormous.

There will be no monuments marking his passing, he has left little of obvious substance in written form but his legacy is substantial in the lives of those he taught, mentored, influenced and inspired.

Nigel was often a rogue, sometimes a chancer, usually a laugh; he had a simple reality about him, a connection to the land and to people, a delight in the details of life, a keen interest in a wide range of people and causes, an enthusiasm which was infectious and a servant heart .

Through the rich tapestry of his life some very clear threads marked the colours of the whole. He had a love for God and his word, a desire to understand and teach every book of the bible in his lifetime. He had a love for the lost, a commitment to doing the work of an evangelist wherever in the world God gave opportunity. He had a love for his family, for Tricia and Ali, Sheona and Jonny.

He loved life and lived well.
He lived life and loved well.

He had been in New Zealand on a number of occasions. In the office in Wellington I have already discovered 20 tapes, one report, three photographs and two letters from his visits in the 80s. He was keen to come back to support and contribute to this latest challenge. He would have loved the view from our house.

I am sure he is enjoying a much better view than that, but I will miss him.

The world seems smaller without him.

Lindsay Brown wrote to me today. He finished talking about Nigel.

He has been a wonderful model, a servant of God and friend. We will miss him, but the best we can do now is to follow his example and serve the Lord as wholeheartedly as he did.

I guess those of us who knew him will continue to talk about him as we rise to that challenge.