A Tribute to a Faithful Man

Missionary Cody Groover

1959-2016

When I first met Bro. Cody Groover he was just a teenager. I remember well when the Lord was pleased to save him, and when the Lord called him to the work to which he devoted his life, leaving a good job, selling his goods, and moving his wife and young children to Merida, Mexico. When I got word this morning (November 17, 2016) that the Lord had suddenly called him home, I was shocked, and immediately thought, “a great man is fallen this day in Israel” (2 Samuel 3:38); and he will be missed. And I thought of my friend as Paul did of his friend, Tychicus. — Bro. Cody Groover was truly “a beloved brother, and a faithful minister, and fellowservant in the Lord” (Colossians 4:7).

Beloved Brother. Cody is, to me and to many around the world, “a beloved brother.” It has been more than forty years since the Lord made Cody, his parents, and his brother and sisters a part of my life. What a blessed part of my life they have been! Laboring together, laughing together, and weeping together, we rejoiced in one another’s joys and bore one another’s burdens. I was often in his home and with his family, and he was often in my home and with my family. In all those years, a cross word never passed between us, or even sense of discomfort or regret.

Faithful Minister. Bro. Groover was “a faithful minister” to God’s elect, and “a faithful minister of the Lord.” He was Christ’s servant, and servant to his people. He was used of God to minister to pastors and churches in Mexico, primarily in the Yucatan and in Chiapas. Raised in Merida, the son of Missionary Walter Groover and his wife, Betty, Cody and his family returned to serve with his parents 22 years ago. Since then, the Lord has used him to raise up new gospel churches. He also took on the responsibilities of overseeing The Preachers’ School in Merida.

On my annual visits with the Groovers and the churches in the Yucatan, I always spent a day at The Preachers’ School. Every visit with men in the school, some I have known for forty years and others just beginning to preach, gave me great joy. The preachers have been well taught, have a clear understanding of Holy Scripture, and demonstrate great love and esteem for Bros. Walter and Cody Groover, expressing great gratitude to our God for sending them to Mexico to bring the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ to them.