Tribute – John Harkin
13 Mar 2019
John Harkin passed into the presence of his Lord and Saviour on 1st March 2019.
John was the very supportive husband of Pr Nancye Harkin, a CRC Minister, who passed into the presence of her Lord and Saviour on 5th January 2019.
John was born on 19th May 1926 and grew up in Queensland. He joined the air force at the end of the second World War and served in the occupational forces in Japan. He married Nancye in Melbourne in 1958. They recently celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary.
After the air force, John retrained to be a builder and supervised many sizeable projects as well as remodeling their home several times.
John and Nancye came into the Frankston CRC Church about 1970 after Nancye was miraculously healed by the power of God when death seemed the only possibility for her. In time Nancye developed into a very effective healing evangelist. Countless miracles and people born again were experienced under her ministry.
John had firm opinions himself about many things in life and ministry and was never afraid of making them clearly known. However, he was always very supportive of Nancye’s ministry. This was apparent in the Miracle Meetings in Frankston in the late 1970’s and then when they moved to SECC in 1981. John was always very helpful in the practical aspects of supporting Nancye’s ministry. Nancye was recognized as a Pastor in 1981, being one of the first women credentialed in the CRC. John was very proud of her and her ministry.
John would normally be at Conferences with Nancye and was well connected with many people in the CRC Movement.
As well as being involved in commercial building, John was very involved in various church building projects including Northside Christian Centre, Bundoora (AOG), Frankston CRC, and South Eastern Christian Centre, Endeavour Hills. At SECC John was on site virtually every day for over a year. He coordinated volunteers and worked alongside the sub-contractors. He mobilised unemployed young men in the church to work on the building site – developing skills and work ethics, then lost them because they were then employable for good paying jobs.
When Nancye led the development of Cranbourne Christian Centre (now TurningPoint Church) from 1990-1993 John was a great helper in a multitude of practical ways.
In his later years as Nancye’s dementia progressed, John was an incredibly loving and affectionate husband to her. He focused all his attention on caring for her. We honour him greatly for this.
After Nancye left this world in January 2019 John no longer had a reason for staying here and with his own failing health he soon followed Nancye to the heavenly home.
We share our deep condolences to the Harkin family Marianne, Christopher and Elizabeth, and grandson Sam.
Pr Mike Cronin
CRC Australian Missions Director
