by Pastor Joe Palmer
Fellowship Baptist Church
From the small town of Kearny on April 28th, at noon, Carmen Bustamante entered into heaven. She had been expecting this trip, and she looked forward to it with great joy. At 51, she had still had plans, and her daughters still needed her, but to be with Christ, she knew, would be so much better.
For seventeen years Carmen (a.k.a. Ms. B) had been battling with cancer. The battle with cancer, and the heartaches of life would have made an average person buckle with despondency, but Ms. B was not average. She had been an athlete, and to this day holds Ray High School's girl's 100 meter hurdles record. She was a single mother raising two beautiful girls well. She was a teacher of third graders, and 500+ men, women, and children (no doubt) look back on their third grade year with happy memories of a vibrant woman who could be fun and firm and always friendly and caring. These facts, however, do not explain the perpetual smile on her face. The thing which kept Carmen going was her relationship with Christ.
Ms. B had put her trust in Jesus while in college. When she came home and wanted to go to the Baptist church, it did not set well with some. It never did, but she kept going because her relationship with God through Christ changed everything. She could not deny Him, because He had become everything important to her. She knew what it could be like to die with cancer after having seen her mother die in a most terrible way. She knew the effects of sin on people's lives. She knew that she could not live without Christ, and she certainly knew she could not die without Him either. Carmen clung to her Savior, and in the process became much like Him.
So it was right and proper that on May 2 the Ray Unified School District took half a day off and opened up the high school auditorium to honor her with a memorial service. She had loved a lot of people in 30 years of teaching. She had inspired and encouraged countless people. She was a woman of courage and compassion; she reflected Her Savior beautifully.
And when it came time for me to speak, she had wanted me to simply make the Gospel clear. So I walked out before 600 people with a twelve foot high picture of Ms. B projected on a screen behind me and told that crowd of people what she wanted me to tell them.
The microphone worked perfectly and carried my words audibly to every ear. My presentation was simple and to the point and apparently comprehensible, but the amplification of the importance and truth of the Gospel did not come through my words and a good microphone but rather through a life lived with Christ and for Christ in an especially exemplary manner.
Scott Reavely, our keynote speaker at our "Revitalize" Leadership Retreat reminded us that a Gospel-shaped life and a Gospel-shaped ministry is all about bringing glory to Jesus Christ. Whether we are pastors or lay-servants; whether we are ministering in the church or in the public arena, everything we say and do is to reflect and magnify Jesus. It's not about me; it's all about Him. 
