Bert Lemkes, representing the Double Harvest board and Genesis Farms attended the memorial service in Winterthur, Switzerland.  Here is a summary of his remarks made during the Memorial service on Wednesday April 7th, 2010.

Dear Marie Louise, Zahai and the other members of the Roschli family, and all other family and friends.

It was only in January this year that a group of Double Harvest visited with David in Awassa. It was another visit, so typical for all the previous ones, where it amazed all of us how David was keeping up the pace. Every time you could see on his gentle smile, that he had another idea that was being developed.

His concern was the health of his wife Marie-Louise. Little did we know what would happen?

Over the years, it must have been 1991, that I first met David and Marie Louise at Selam in Addis. I was visiting with the founder of Double Harvest, Aart van Wingerden. David and Aart had developed a special relationship, and over the years the other members of Double Harvest and Genesis Farms were blessed to be able to continue to build on this relationship.

When you would visit David at Selam Addis and later also in Awassa, you would meet a very special man, with an unbelievable drive to help Ethiopia. What attracted us so much was his very practical approach in all the projects he started. One visit David would tell you about the idea, the next visit you would see the “machine in motion”. Over the years we were able to work together on different agriculture projects, including the drip irrigation and the bucket system. We were looking forward to start another project in Awassa with David and the Awassa Business Group, and now will have to build this new activity on his legacy and example. The beauty of David was also that he believed in training, and we are excited and encouraged about the team in place in Awassa.

Here we are now, with sadness because of our loss, and joy as we are celebrating the home going of David. It is a great encouragement that the Bible gives us some verses that speak to our heart during these difficult times. We can be sad, but with the hope of the resurrection of Jesus, which we just celebrated this past Easter Sunday, it is a different sadness. Knowing that David is now in Heaven can be a comfort to all.

We will miss him, but also know that his desire would be for us to continue to help with the work in Ethiopia. May the Lord give you His strength in the days to come.