“A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need” (Prov. 17:17).

I befriended Nick Truscott soon after joining the pastoral team of Maadi Community Church, Cairo, in 2000. Although Nick and I had a ‘not so close’ working association at the church, we shared a keen interest in the development of small groups… that’s what brought us together.

Looking back, I clearly see the confidence I lacked when I commenced service at the church. My heart was right with God to do a mighty work, but my mind and belief was lacking. I doubted that God could do a special work through me.

As God is all-knowing, He commissioned Nick long before we met, to come alongside me to be a conduit of God’s encouragement. This enabled me to rise from the unbelief I had of my abilities and, which in turn, allowed God to accomplish a mighty work through me.

Without hesitation, Nick would serve me with well-deserved “don’t be daft” rebukes whenever he sensed I was making excuses for not exercising the ability he saw in me. Nick invested himself in me like no other person had ever done. His belief in me, and his constant coaching, saved me from certain defeat and positioned me for astonishing, difficult to believe, unprecedented success.

Several years later, Nick fell into serious strife. It was now my turn to stand with him, to be an encouraging strength, as he had been to me. It appears that God had also commissioned me, long before I had met Nick, for this time.

Friends, if you truly love someone, you do not count the personal cost of love that is needed to aid them. I loved Nick enough to share in his burden… to do whatever was needed for him to rise.  I was Nick’s positive weight of the objective truth of God, which balanced his subjective, negative thoughts and emotions. God’s truth, indeed, is the only thing that can set us free! (Jn. 8:32.)

Situated at Road 9, Maadi, Café Greco was our coffee-fellowship venue. It was our oasis for brainstorming and envisioning greater ministry pursuits for God. Our experiences had forged an ‘iron-sharpening-iron’ brotherly relationship! Often, Nick urged me to write blogs of the experiences the Lord had led me through. As I did not see myself as a writer, I was reticent to embrace his suggestion. It was not long after, that my wife and I concluded our time at MCC and returned to our homeland in Australia.

Three years after our return, Nick and I rendezvoused at Dubai Airport where he had travelled from his home in Bulgaria. We boarded an aircraft bound for Nigeria. I had invited Nick to join me on my fourth mission trip to Assurance Pentecostal Church International at Lagos (Pastor Elijah Samuel’s church). This was the first time Nick and I had partnered together on a field assignment… IT WAS GREAT!

For reasons unknown to me, Nick and I quietly drifted from each other for several years. I missed my brother, Nick. However, his years of influence inspired me to take the biggest step in my faith journey ever. I committed myself to God to write 400 blogs within a span of eight years (one per week). My daughter-in-law, Grace, helped me to take this step by engineering a website to host the articles I would write. While this was a great starting point in fulfilling my commitment, something greater would later happen.

Nick resurfaced on my radar in January this year! While my spirit danced with joy at our reunion, my heart was quickly saddened to learn that Nick had undergone brain surgery for the removal of a tumour and had been given a life expectancy of a few months.

Even though Nick was left battling with failing memory and several troubling side-affects, he gave himself fully to leading the development of the Dancing-on-Water.com website to where it is today.

Two months ago, a medical examination revealed an immediate threat to Nick’s life. He opted for surgery in place of months of radiation therapy. The brain surgery appeared to be successful, but infection kept Nick from returning home.

Yesterday morning, I read the following telephone message from Nick’s wife, Jane… 

Hi Bill. It’s Jane. I wanted to share with you personally that Nick passed away yesterday evening. According to the doctor it was peaceful. He died of acute respiratory and cardiac failure. Despite their best efforts they could not revive him. He is now at peace in our Lords loving embrace. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him, especially his family. He will be taken from the hospital tomorrow morning to Plodiv to be cremated. This was always his wish and this way we can share his remains with Ben, Toby, and Ash. Love to you and Beryl. God Bless for all you have done to make his heart lighter and his path home easier. Jane.

Friends, through Nick’s genuine brotherly love, I am today a greater threat to the works of the enemy, and a pleasing fragrance to the Lord in my sacrificial service to Him.

 “Thank You,” my dear brother, Nick, for helping me to rise in my Christ-like potential.

Bill