My friend Mike Yankey lived “sent”. There are some people who after meeting Jesus just never feel at home in this world.   Mike was one of those people. After he met Jesus Mike held the things of this world in an open hand, often giving away things of value to others. The most important thing Mike gave was himself. I don’t know if I have ever met a man who loved people more than Mike Yankey.. He had a way of disarming people and there was a gentleness in him that made you trust him.  For Mike there were no strangers, just friends he hadn’t met. I have seen him strike up conversations with total strangers and within 10 minutes that person would be telling Mike the most intimate details of this life.   He was a master at turning conversations to the gospel. He loved to talk about Jesus. 

 

Perhaps the greatest conversation I’ve ever seen Mike engaged in happened after his death last week. Friday night over 50 people were jammed into a room that comfortably seated 20. Most of them were men who had worked with Mike at the Oregon Department of Transportation. These are the kind of men that make UFC fighters seem like girl scouts. Most of their lives are lived in the empty pursuit of substances and relationships. These are the kind of guys that have language bad enough to make a sailor blush.   Many of these men treated Mike harshly because of his commitment to Christ. They cursed him and tried other things to get him to compromise in his walk with Christ.   Mike just continued loving them.

 

Mike sat at his kitchen table and prayed for each of these men every morning at 4:30. Mike wrapped flesh and blood around the love of Jesus for these men. Mike didn’t push them into cleaning up their act or conforming to some false sense morality. No Mike was one of them but different. He had a peace and a joy that they did not have.

 

Many of those men spoke of Mike’s servant heart and the joy that he had. After his co-workers shared from their heart, Mike’s oldest son Aaron gave a beautiful presentation of the gospel. Many listened with tears in their eyes as Aaron explained that Jesus was the reason that Mike had loved them. Mike’s life served as a testimony to the reality of what Jesus can do in the life of a man.