It is with both deep sadness and profound gratitude that I share our dear friend, Dr. Don Sisk, went Home to be with the Lord today.
It is impossible to put into words what Dr. Sisk has meant to me. For thirty-five years, he has been one of my dearest friends, most trusted mentors, and greatest examples of Christian faithfulness I have ever known. For the past twenty-three years, it has been my privilege to be his pastor. Today, he is rejoicing in the presence of the Savior he loved, served, and proclaimed for a lifetime. And after nine years apart, he has been reunited with his beloved Virginia, following their sixty-five years of marriage.
I first met Dr. Sisk in 1991 at a pastors’ meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. It was not an especially enjoyable conference. The atmosphere had become centered on issues and controversies rather than on Christ, and before long I found myself sitting alone on the back row, wondering why I had even come. A few minutes later, a white-haired man with a warm smile sat down beside me, introduced himself as Don Sisk, and handed me a copy of his little book, Joyful Giving.
Over the years, Dr. Sisk and I often laughed about that meeting. Neither of us particularly enjoyed the conference, but we both eventually realized God had brought us there for one simple reason—to introduce us to one another. What began with a conversation on the back row grew into one of the greatest friendships of my life.
As I reflect on Dr. Sisk’s life, four qualities immediately come to mind.
Passion for the Lost
Everything about Dr. Sisk was bent toward reaching the lost with the gospel. From sharing the gospel through personal soulwinning to preaching in missions conferences, his great passion was for those who were without Christ, and especially those who had never heard the gospel.
As a pastor in Kentucky and Illinois, missionary in Japan, director of Baptist International Missions, Inc., and head of the missions department at West Coast Baptist College, his life was poured out as an offering to the Lord for the sake of the gospel. God used him to plant churches in Japan, challenge churches across America, encourage missionaries around the world, and inspire countless Christians to give and go. For many years, our students at West Coast Baptist College had the privilege of learning missions from someone who had not merely studied it but had lived it. His burden for souls was contagious. Today there are graduates from West Coast Baptist College serving in over fifty countries around the world, all of whom were taught and influenced under Don Sisk.
Even after moving to a care home in Ohio, he would often tell me about the people he was witnessing to there. Several months ago, Terrie and I visited him, and as we walked in, I saw him handing a gospel tract to another resident.
Only eternity will reveal how many people have come to Christ through his witness or his passionate preaching, urging others to both send and carry the gospel to the lost.
Genuine Love for People
Dr. Sisk never viewed people as projects or statistics. He loved them. And they knew it.
One of my favorite photos of Dr. Sisk is from Spiritual Leadership Conference 2023 in Manila (center in the collage above). He had just preached to 10,000 people, challenging us to carry the gospel of Christ willingly. After the service, he was surrounded by pastors and Christian workers eager to greet him. The smile on his face says everything. He wasn’t simply greeting people; he was loving them.
Wherever he went, people gathered around him. They knew he cared about them. He listened, encouraged, prayed with them, and rejoiced in what God was doing in their lives. His love crossed every cultural barrier because it was rooted in the love of Christ.
People never felt as though they were interrupting Dr. Sisk. Whether he was speaking to a veteran missionary or a first-time conference attendee, he had a way of making each person feel seen, valued, and loved.
Investment in Younger Servants of God
Few men have been as generous with their time, wisdom, and encouragement as Dr. Sisk. I was one of many who benefited from his counsel. Throughout the years, I sought his advice on ministry decisions, missions, leadership, and life. He always listened carefully, pointed me to Scripture, and encouraged me to trust the Lord.
Thousands of pastors and missionaries around the world could tell similar stories. Whether it was a discouraged missionary serving on a distant field, a West Coast Baptist College student seeking direction for the future, or a pastor carrying the burdens of ministry, Dr. Sisk always made time to encourage, counsel, and strengthen others. His influence was never confined to the pulpit. It was multiplied through personal investment in people.
Though he faithfully served the Lord into his nineties, Dr. Sisk never lost the ability to connect with younger generations. Bible college students sought him out. Young pastors welcomed his counsel. Missionaries valued his friendship. His love for people kept him approachable, and the love of Christ in him made his influence timeless.
Fullness of the Holy Spirit
It is impossible to remember Dr. Sisk without remembering his joy. He was a genuinely happy man, and his joy was contagious. It wasn’t a put-on or a personality trait. It was the fruit of a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
Just a few days ago, I enjoyed sharing with Dr. Sisk on the phone from a book I am reading about the deeper experiences with God from the lives of great Christians in the past. Immediately he said, “I remember that experience in my life as if it were yesterday. I heard Dr. John R. Rice preach on the fullness of the Holy Spirit.” Though his memory was fading, he remembered that touch from God like it was yesterday. In this restless age, with all its new terminology and methodology, there is no greater need for a Christian than to be wholly yielded to the Spirit of God. I saw that yieldedness in Dr. Sisk to the very end.
Over the years, I watched him respond to criticism with kindness, to personal trials with joy, and to opportunities for recognition with humility. Those qualities do not develop overnight. They are the fruit of a lifetime spent walking with the Lord and yielding to His Spirit. Even in these later years of his life, there was no trace of cynicism or self-promotion—only a spirit that was joyful, gracious, and full of faith.
Well Done
Each year at our Spiritual Leadership Conference, we have the privilege of recognizing faithful servants of God, and through the years Dr. Sisk received several of those recognitions. I remember one year when our team was discussing who to honor, and my son Larry spoke up: “Dad, you want to give Dr. Sisk one every year.” Larry wasn’t wrong—and I’m glad we did.
But no certificate, plaque, or expression of gratitude we could offer compares to the rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. I can only imagine the crowns he will receive there to cast at Christ’s feet in grateful worship.
Today, Dr. Sisk is in the presence of the Savior he loved and served so faithfully. And I have no doubt that he heard the words of Matthew 25:21 as he entered Heaven: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
Please join me in praying for the Sisk family in the days ahead—for his daughter and son-in-law, Renee and Tom Border, and for his son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Donna Sisk, and for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Please also pray for the thousands of West Coast Baptist College graduates and the missionaries of the BIMI family around the world who were shaped by his life and ministry.
I will update with details of Dr. Sisk’s memorial service as they are available.
