A lawyer and a preacher. Sounds like the beginning of a joke maybe. Perhaps the old one about burying two men in the same grave. But even though those two words aptly describe the professional life of a friend, Earl Mullins, Jr, who went to heaven this month, my biggest memory of Earl is the way he ended every conversation. It mattered not what the subject of the chat had been. He never just said goodbye- he always asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Honestly, I do not know if everyone got that same treatment or not. But I did. And I began to, on occasion, start to mimic my friend. He taught me. Like the ripple of a small pebble thrown into a pond, his question, repeated by me on occasion, resulted in people he never met being helped by a friend. Or at least being offered a hand of sympathy.

Earl and I shared two huge memories which always became the subject of conversation. First, a full week together in Moscow, Russia, probably in 1996. His pastor father had started some ministry things in northern Russia, so Earl Jr had been there before. He made a good travelling companion. I was excited when he said that he knew someone with a ‘flat’ in Moscow where we could stay for free. Sounded great until we arrived and the ‘flat’ was on the 8th floor of an old Soviet apartment building with no elevators and the smell of drunken men’s urine all up and down the stairs. It was September and the cold was already moving into Moscow. The heating system in that building had gone out long ago. It was just one piece of evidence that communism had not been working too well.

Russia was just one of 67 countries I visited during those CBMC days (1996-2003). When people now ask me about those trips, they often ask ‘Where was the toughest place you visited’? I usually say, “Russia”. The spiritual darkness was real. The cold war was real. The overcrowded underground subway rail system, with stares from former ‘enemies’ travelling with me, was real.

But my friend Earl was a smiling companion through it all. We were mainly visiting Alexander Zaichenko, a former economist in Gorbachev’s world who had met Jesus while reading a smuggled New Testament. His testimony included being baptized by himself in a bathtub, and saying that when he first read Matthew 5 (the Sermon on the Mount), he felt like he was meeting God for the first time. Something like that. Wow. We also visited the beginnings of Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary, and spent some time with Sasha Tsutserov, who would later be the president of the seminary. I vaguely recall attending and even speaking in two churches, one that was still underground and another where Billy Graham had once preached. I was still a Kentucky state Senator at the time, and so, some authorities were tracking us to make sure we were not spies. Or at least that is how it felt.

Earl was there with me every step of the way.

And so, after our Russia experience, it made sense for Earl to accept my second invitation to go to an even crazier place, North Korea. Click here to read the full story.

2002 in North Korea meeting with government official.

Wow. Looking back, I still wonder if it really happened. I had met a ‘missionary’ to North Korea, a young man from Canada who was operating a goat farm in the northern regions of North Korea, not far from the Chinese and Russian borders. I met him at a conference for Tentmakers (missionaries who have real jobs or businesses in their mission field). They move to the ends of the earth to live as business people, or professors, or some occupation that gives them a real ‘cover’ for their true intention of sharing the Light of the world in dark places. And what could be darker than Communist North Korea. The goat farm was being operated by a small group of these ‘missionaries’- one from Switzerland, one from Australia, and my friend from Canada. No one from the USA or South Korea was welcome, so I honestly am not sure how we got Visas for the trip, but in May of 2002, Earl Mullins and I had Visas to travel to North Korea. Our friend told us where to come and he would meet us at the border. We trusted his advice, so off we went.

Earl and I flew to Beijing, China, stayed there for a short time, then flew to a city near the NK border where a short drive took us to a crossing spot covered in barbwire. Our arrival at the border created quite a stir. Apparently the Visa for Earl was confusing for the NK authorities because they expected a female. With his curly red beard, Earl was clearly not a female. It took an hour or so to sort out the confusion, and soon we were in a van with a couple of NK officers, one of whom had been assigned to stay with us every second of every day that we were in the country.

The road from the border to our destination, about fifty miles away, was literally a dirt road. The country was so poor that this primary road from China to a city of perhaps 250,000 people was all dirt until we got near the city. Most buildings had pictures of the original dictator, Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong- Il, who was now in charge. This was long before the days of Kim Jong-Un, the current grandson dictator.

Most everyone had a button on their clothes with the picture of Kim Il-Sung, who was apparently worshipped as a God. This was long before the internet opened the world to a new brand of truth which was at least possible for citizens inside NK to the reality that the world outside NK might be better than what they were being told.

Our arrival at the hotel was interesting. Our friend warned us that our rooms would be bugged, probably, so be careful what we say. He informed us quietly that he had arranged a meeting with NK economic officials to discuss what ‘business’ we could perhaps bring to to NK. These missionaries had established very real positive connections with these local officials, and they were apparently hopeful that Earl and I would bring some sort of economic benefit to the region.

Our meeting went as anticipated. I had been instructed to just be cordial and go along. We started with the Earl Mullins Jr line--- “Is there anything we can do for you?”. The answer was simple. They needed equipment to process potatoes. Growing potatoes was easy in the region. But processing them was apparently a problem. I pretended like I could possibly help.

SO, I now imagine my friend Earl in Heaven. He heard the famous Voice say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Or something like that. Surely even better than we imagine.

And Earl’s response to Jesus would be the same as always. “Thank you, Jesus. Is there anything I can do for you?” In my imagination, I envision Jesus hugging Earl and saying, “Now that you ask, yes, there is something you can still do for me…………….” I don’t have any idea what it might be, but Earl is now part of the army of God in the heavenly realm which fights the battle for the souls of men and women every day.

So, as some of you who know me can attest, I have given up on being “like Jesus”….. but for me, I just want to be more like Earl.

So, here we go. Is there anything I can do for you today?