Thanks to those of you who are leaving comments about Ernest (seen above as a teenager). Please keep them coming.
Here are four new ones:
I was a very young believer when introduced to Ernest 12 years ago in Belfast.
It was Valerie Shaw who introduced us and thanks to her initiative and efforts we became good friends. It was her also who informed me of Ernest’s death.
Soon after getting to know Ernest, I started to draw from him much inspiration in my Christian walk. His great love for Christ and life-long service, humility, meekness and a good sense of humour, were the main attributes which have always stood out in my memory. Being constantly captivated by Christ was the secret of whom he was and what made him so special. Mike Moore’s biography of Ernest conveys it much better than I can here in few words.
Ernest was a very faithful friend – I could always be assured of his interest and prayers. There was never any wavering in his warmth and friendship, even when my replies to his letters were much delayed. He often laughed when I was telling him that, paraphrasing, he shifted all paradigms when it comes to retirement. It was indeed a high privilege to be his friend.
His love for Christ was infectious; when listening to him one was captivated by something real and passionate in the way he spoke about the Lord. While speaking to Ernest one had no doubts that he was a spiritual giant.
I hoped to come to Ulster for a short spell to see him before he would pass away.
Though I feel sad for losing such a friend I am truly happy for him – he is finally in the presence of His beloved Saviour whom he served so passionately and faithfully his entire life. As Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain”.
Thank God for His grace in Ernest’s life and for the example that he was to us.
Andrew Machauf
My brother who lives in England today sent me an e-mail to inform me of Ernest Lloyd's passing. I knew Mr Lloyd from the age of nine or ten through his visits to Cape Town where he usually stayed with our family during visits. Those were a particular pleasure for me because Mr Lloyd was full of fun and good humour, and prepared to put up with the distractions I created, almost certainly because I recognized the fun that he represented. Not particularly angelic as a child, my father and I clashed bitterly for years, but Ernest Lloyd saw through the harshness that existed and those few weeks around our home left special memories and a great impression regarding what a truly great Christian is all about. We managed to keep in touch over the many years and I can truly say that I have lost a friend. What a lovely Christian he was with that ever ready humour and no-nonsense approach.
Rob Porter
Mississauga, Canada.
I will be so grateful to G-d for bringing Ernest to the truth in Mashiach. The members of BMJA and other Messianic ministries have been heartfelt dearest of friends to me, bringing encouragement amidst the most terrible of storms. Over many, many years I have been able know and share such love and compassion with others because Ernest chose to follow the pathway Mashiach showed him.
Ernest will be mourned by many across the world. Many will wish they were there to say prayers at his graveside. So many more will write, far more eloquently than I, about the giant of a man – a true mensch – who spoke truth – emet – with such conviction.
His care for the following generations, his encouragement to all who came along his path, will have lasting effect. We are the poorer for his passing, the richer for his presence in our lives.
It is a tradition that at a burial in Judaism, the tzitzit [fringes] are cut from the deceased’s tallit [prayer shawl]. The people they are given to will look on them and remember the life of prayer lived by the one they once belonged to. Ernest was indeed a man of prayer and we can all look on the threefold cord that binds us all to Mashiach and to Ernest.
May HaShem grant Him the joy of eternal life.
Gerry Cohen
Heaven is peopled today by many noteworthy characters but, if one is allowed one’s imagination to picture things “humanly graphically”, dear Ernest’s entry may well have been noticed!! After such a full life, he certainly may have his well deserved rest, but his works will follow him, at least in the memory of so many friends, family and colleagues. May the Lord bring forth much fruit from his endeavours and hard labour, which the Lord promised would never be in vain.
It is sad not to have the prospect any more to hear his loud enthusiastic laughter, or the splendid jokes which produced it but, above all, how thankful I am to have known him and to have been encouraged so often and cheered by his good common sense, and Spirit filled advice!
I thank the Lord for lending to this world such a servant as Ernest; also for the privilege to have spent times of precious fellowship with him in Haifa when he was visiting, or on deputation tours in Scotland.
May God bless his family and close friends with comfort and care, and renew the strength of those who will continue to witness in his steps.
Francine
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