By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – There are plenty of plans ahead for Pastor Larry McEwen as he heads into retirement at the age of 64.
Besides being gifted as a preacher, McEwen has displayed other gifts during his life as a singer, songwriter, musician and a writer, and now plans to spend more time on music, as well as writing when he retires, particularly focusing on two different book projects he plans to take on.
One of them is to create a movie script for a book his father-in-law, Howard Goode, wrote that is called, “The Devil’s Due.” It is a story about a Vietnam pilot who returns from the war and can’t get a job flying since so many others left the service with the same skill. That leads the man to take a job flying for a private company to Mexico, which he later finds out is to move drugs across the border to the U.S.
The story takes a different turn, and the pilot finds himself on the run from both the authorities and the drug cartel.
“This is a great book about a man who eventually finds redemption in a most unusual way. I believe it would make a great movie, so I want to try and do something with it, and my father-in-law gave me the OK to try it,” he said.
McEwen’s other book project is just as interesting and comes from experiences he has had during his years as a pastor. The book he wants to write is to be called, “The Neglected Mission Field.”
McEwen said that during his years as a pastor he began to get calls from funeral homes to preach funerals for individuals who didn’t have any church affiliation.
“Some pastors won’t do funerals if the person is not a church member,” he said. “But I accepted as often as I could since funerals are an incredible opportunity to minister the love of Jesus to hurting people. It’s a forgotten mission field that many pastors simply and sadly neglect.”
McEwen said that when he was called to do a funeral for someone he didn’t know, he would spend time with family or friends and learn as much as he could about the individual. Then he used that to personalize the funeral service.
“It broke my heart when I first realized that some pastors would not preach at a funeral if the person didn’t attend their church,” he said. “Too many pastors are only concerned with their own church members who die, but they are missing an opportunity to reach other people at funerals.”
McEwen said he also has been blessed to have a continued ministry to many of these families long after the funeral. “That’s why I want to write a book about it so more pastors will see what a great opportunity they have to bring the hope of God to people in their most difficult times,” he added.