One day in 1969 on the island of Panay in the Philippines, one of the local lFilipino preachers arrived at the home of Charlie and Jenet Garner, accompanied by two men. The men were poorly clothed and were horribly disfigured. They had traveled several hours from the north of Panay to find Bro. Garner. They had heard through family and friends of some missionaries on the island who were preaching a new message. This Gospel they were preaching was different from the Catholic dogma they had heard for so many years and was solely based upon God's word. They were intrigued, but they had heard of missionaries before. Usually when they had contacted them and the missionaries found out that they were lepers and wanted someone to come to a leper colony to preach, the missionaries were too busy to come. Their reception was different with Bro. Charlie.
Immediately, plans were made for Bro. Garner and Bro. Leroy Sedgwick to travel to the north to preach at the leper colony. Their trip was made and at the first hearing of the Gospel of Christ several put on their Lord in baptism. In subsequent trips many more obeyed the Gospel.
This is just one of the many inspiring stories which could be told from the life of Charlie Garner, whose preaching lasted almost fifty years, from his youth until just shortly before his death this past June 23rd. He went wherever and whenever a Gospel preacher was needed and to whoever wanted to hear God's word faithfully proclaimed. In his lifetime Bro. Garner has served congregations in Michigan, West Virginia, California, Oregon, Texas and his home state of Florida. He has preached in almost every one of the fifty states. Overseas he has served congregations in Zamboanga City and Iloilo in the Philippine islands and two missions lasting about five years. While in the Philippines, Bro. Garner preached in almost every one of the major islands in the archipelago. He has preached seminars or for short periods of time in Japan, Haiti and the Middle East.
In short, to recount the life of Charlie Garner is to tell the story of a man of God whose heart was set upon the faithful acceptance of his Lord Jesus Christ's great commission ... to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel."
To be sure, he was both a faithful, loving husband to his wife of forty-seven years, Jenet, and a loving and tender father to his children. He was a scholar and an exceptional public speaker whose talents were often in demand. He was a poet. His collected poems number more than 1500 and cover subjects as diverse as humor, life experience, love and the Divine. His greatest legacy, however, is the host of thousands of faithful children of God who obeyed the Gospel at his preaching, or, at the preaching of the hundreds of Gospel preachers who were converted or taught by Bro. Garner.
The title of this tribute comes from Nehemian 8:9, one of Bro. Charlie's favorite books of the Bible. In the passage the people of God were grief stricken because at the reading of God's word they realized what they had lost for so many years during their idolatry and exile. God's courageous servant, Nehemiah, told the people, "Mourn not, nor weep....this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
Our loss is great, as well. Bro. Garner is sorely missed by his family and friends all over the world. Though we cannot bring him back, we can in the words of King David, "...go to be with him." Bro. Charlie's life dwelling has now changed to that of God's and he rests in the "joy of the Lord." So, "mourn not, nor weep."
(To this tribute, let me add that I, personally, have lost a very dear friend. I have known Charlie for many years, and counted him among my very best friends. I shall miss him and the very excellent writings that he has produced over the years. As you can tell, by the number of articles from his pen that I have included on this page, I have considered him among the very best writers of biblical articles. There were so many more -- perhaps even better ones than I have included -- that I could have included over the years, that I will sorely miss these things. God bless the memory of my dear friend, and co-worker, Charlie T. Garner, Jr. --Leroy Sedgwick.)