I distinctly remember the first time I saw David 40 years ago. I was a teenager, and a group of us had piled into a car to drive from Billings, Montana, to Canadian Bible College in Regina, Saskatchewan. We were rear-ended before we even got out of town. Yet, young and determined, we continued our trek north.
Although most of the details of this road trip remain sketchy in my mind, I can still see with great clarity Dr. Rambo standing before us as tall as a pillar. The fact that we were seated on the floor certainly added to the impressiveness of his stature. The leanness of his frame was matched by the cleanness of his words. I can’t recall the content of his message, but I remember the moment, which testifies to its impact upon me. Yes, I was impressed that the college president would address us, but more significant was my impression of the manner in which he spoke.
A decade later, I was pastor of a church nestled among the fertile corn and soybean fields of southern Minnesota. David was the newly elected president of our respected denomination, The Christian and Missionary Alliance. In time, he accepted the invitation to speak at our District Conference. Again, I was struck by the manner of this man’s words.
Schooled as I had been in rather traditional forms of communication with stiff outlines and forced illustrations, I marveled that our new president happily seemed determined to break the homiletic mold squeezed about me. With winsomeness he wove stories of his childhood in “Punkin’ Ridge” together with Scriptural truth, all leading to a profound application. I didn’t know if it was even legal to preach like that, and here our president did it with style, grace, and anointing. I’ve forgotten a dozen District Conferences since, but I haven’t forgotten that one.
About the same time, a new technology was becoming popular, and our president seized the opportunity. A VHS tape from the National Office arrived in my mailbox. With curiosity, I took the tape downstairs to our children’s ministry area to access the only VCR the church owned. Alone on a weekday in the church basement, I watched. David was communicating again, using every method at his disposal. While other leaders were neglecting this new medium (or worse, using it poorly), David used it with creative excellence. His vision was compelling, and he delivered it with great clarity into the hands of the local pastor. His enthusiasm was unforgettable as he spoke of the newly opened door to Russia. “Russia,” he said with guttural emphasis. I was moved.
The legacy of David’s leadership is evident. Initiatives such as our ministry in Russia have yielded substantial fruit—national churches, higher education, leadership development, evangelism, discipleship. The list is long; I won’t try to recount all of it. Such tallying of one’s life impact is heaven’s work. The “well dones” for David have just begun.
One tributary of his long-flowing legacy carries on in my life. I know that my leadership and communication styles have been influenced by his example. The monthly video blogs we release—viewed by thousands—find their origin in that first VHS message from his office to mine. The mantle I carry in the President’s Office still carries his scent.
And so, I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was that—even before my election as president—David began communicating to me with simple, hand-written notes. Acknowledging his deep depression following the loss of his beloved, Ruth, he still found the wit and wisdom to call me to rise to whatever level of leadership God would grant. Just days before the election he wrote with tenderness, “So, dear, dear brother, silently expect to put your best foot forward, equally content with ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
I’ll miss David’s words of counsel and encouragement, yet I seek to walk in the wisdom he left with me. May we all do the same, putting our best foot forward, equally content with the “yeses” and “nos” of heaven.
David has heard heaven’s final “yes.”
Until we receive ours,
John Stumbo
12th President, U.S. C&MA
View more tributes to Dr. David Rambo.