Helen Reid, a True Servant

Over the years it has been my privilege to have known some strong, Godly, women.   Helen Reid was one of these ladies.

Not long after we began attending Goshen Baptist Church I met Helen.  She introduced herself and began to share with me who she was and her role at the Church.  I was amazed at the wide variety of things that she had done and was involved in.  The more I got to know her the more amazed I was at her energy level and how far she would go to help someone in need.

I was very pleased to find out that Helen would be my granddaughters Sunday School teacher.  As most of you know Helen was a faithful, and gifted, teacher.  She loved her students and had the ability to share with them who God was and how much He loved them.  Helen had accepted this role for year after year, and I met so many who had had the privilege of calling her teacher.

It wasn’t just the young ones that were blessed by Helen.  College students, teachers, community people, and those with needs found her to be a willing, and able helper.  She drove many miles, opened her home, and offered physical help to any who talked with her.  Indeed she had a servant’s heart.   I would call Helen about an issue and she would find a way to fit it into her already busy schedule.

Helen also challenged me to be a better person and not to allow a temporary set-back to affect my work.  Her compassion, her commitment, her love for God and others, and her never tiring life were an inspiration not only to me but to many others.  I thank God for the privilege of knowing Helen and for the ministry she had.

Jim Flye

It is hard to really know when we first met Helen.  It seems as though she has always been an important part of the Goshen family!

I think we had been at Goshen a few years when she arrived and quickly volunteered for any job that was needed.  Our grown daughters, Jen and Katie, both had her as Sunday School teachers.  You see she has taught the 2 -3 year old class for many years and practically owns room 109!  Although she had no children of her own, she loved on ours.

She has always been very “others oriented” and puts other people’s needs above her own.  She had a particular heart for international students and since she was a professor at West Chester University and lived a block away from campus, she would frequently have international students live with her.  Helen was always looking out for the needs of others and would invest her own time, money and energy in ministering to them.  She exemplified Philippians 2:3,4 “….in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.”  Many times, Helen would talk to us at church and very sweetly mention the needs of a friend or a special ministry.  Before we knew it, we were recruited!

Helen rarely complained or shared about her own needs.  She just didn’t have the time for that, she was too focused on others.  She has been involved in missions for as long as we can remember.  Helen was on the missions committee, involved in the Salvation Army, and in earlier years went on missions trips.

We have been so blessed by knowing Helen and will miss her greatly!”

Terry and Dee Stick