Thoughts of Alex Wilson
Having been asked to write a few lines about our dear departed brother, Alex Wilson, I gladly respond without reluctance, considering him a “Brother Beloved”. Around 1935, invited by some of the Portage brethren, I attended a gospel meeting, not willingly, but feeling obligated. Alex Wilson was speaking on Deuteronomy 32:29. Strange as it may seem, unable to understand the outlook of the people there, the text stayed in my memory. This was the first time I saw or heard him, and little realized how the intervening grace of God would guide our paths together in the years that lay ahead, both at portage and then in British Columbia. We always enjoyed his visits and have had many of our questions answered over the years.
He was a man with a message and believed in delivering it with great clarity and not losing the point in a multitude of words. Quietness and consistency was the tenor of his life, and many will be the ransomed of the Lord swelling the praises of the Lamb because of his labors, one at least serving the Lord, full-time. In George Harris’s Memoirs, on page 50, I quote, “Alex Wilson held tent meetings in Ashfield in 1937, 1938 and 1939 and about thirty were saved.”
In his last days in the assembly here in Abbotsford, he was no longer able to read and minister the word, but it was a joy to hear him in prayer, and on Lord’s day morning, rising, taking things from his basket, and presenting those things which his soul had been enjoying and delighting in regarding his well-beloved Lord and sometimes quoting a line or two from a hymn so aptly expressing his thoughts. Only on one Lord’s day do I recall him not taking part and, we felt the loss keenly. “The memory of the just is blessed” (Prov. 10:7).
Our beloved brother, Alex Wilson was highly esteemed by all of us who shared with him in the work of the Lord. His knowledge of Scripture and his ability in Bible readings was of the highest caliber. His gracious, gentle, cooperative spirit made it a joy to work with him. We will sorely miss him.
Norman Crawford
