The Gomar Family

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,


A week ago Friday, Brother Francis Gomar, a member of Antioch Bible Baptist Church - Pastored by Steve Pawley went home to be with Jesus as a result of a car accident. Brother Francis leaves behind a wife (Lisa) and three children that range from 9yrs old to 7 months.


Ps. 116:15 says Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. We know that Paul said that to be with Christ is far greater than to be on this earth and that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We do want to rejoice that this brother is far better off in the presence of Jesus Christ but of course our hearts immediately and overwhelmingly go out to a wife without her husband and three children without their daddy. Brother Francis would have just turned 30 this past week. I know that I held my family a little tighter last night as we continued praying for God's matchless and abundant grace to be poured out on this family.


It is for this reason that I write. I would like to share with you briefly the wonderful salvation testimony of brother Francis. In May of 2003 my wife and I went to our first family camp weekend at Camp Li-Lo-Li that is hosted by Pastor Vince Giardino of Gospel Light Baptist Church. While there we had prayer meetings each morning where Pastor Steve Pawley shared with us his burden for this man Francis who needed Christ. Francis' native tongue is Spanish and as the weekend progressed, God orchestrated something special. Andy Hinds drove from family camp back to Rochester to be with his Home Bible Study on Friday night and when he came back, he brought Don and Kathy Hinds (missionaries to Guatemala) back to family camp with him. This was an answer to prayer as Pastor Steve wanted Missionary Don to talk to Francis. If I recall correctly, they had an initial conversation on Saturday and then during the Sunday morning service God used Don Hinds to deal with him after the message and lead him to Christ! I remember tears in the his eyes after He became a new creature in Jesus Christ that morning and how many of us rejoiced by being blessed to see this miraculous work of God! That event taught me alot in that I was somewhat critical of Andy leaving his family that night to go all the way to Rochester for a Bible study he wasnt teaching at that evening. Then his parents returned with him and the pieces came together, I was humbled and rebuked. God's ways and thoughts are much different than our reasoning of a situation but as you can see from this example, God always has a reason and a plan that is far greater than we could ever think of! Praise the Lord for what He orchestrated that weekend to bring Brother Francis to Him! Pastor Pawley's testimony regarding Francis is that he remained on fire these past four years, ministering to people, spreading tracts and being a godly husband and father. May we all have that testimony when we depart this pilgrimage and go stand before our Saviour!

The other reason that I post this is that I have been in contact with Pastor Pawley and he has expressed that they intend to support Sister Lisa and her family financially so that she can continue to stay home and raise the family according to God's word. As we know, it is the church that God put in place to minister to people in their time of need and certainly a commission of God to His people through time has been to defend, support and honour the widow and fatherless. The body of Christ that assembles weekly at Antioch could use some help in ministering to this family. If you would like to assist this family financially through a one time gift or regular gifts of support, they can be sent to

Antioch Bible Baptist Church

3984 Lockport Olcott Rd

Lockport, New York 14094

with a designation to Lisa Gomar

Lets all keep them in prayer and communicate to others regarding the opportunity to be an encouragement and help to this dear family. The testimonies that I have read already (click here for a blog post with comments well worth reading) indicate that God is being gracious and faithful in this painful time to the Gomar family. Our God will comfort and strengthen.