Pastor Michael James Chodan (November, 12 1958 to April 28, 2012)

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Pastor Michael James Chodan, 53, of Christiana is enjoying the presence of his Savior. He was the beloved husband of Barbara Chodan, with whom he shared 23 years of marriage.  



An area resident for the past 18 years, Pastor Mike was born in Ladysmith, WI to Betty Chodan and the late Robert Chodan.



He was a 1976 graduate of Flambeau High School, a 1980 graduate of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and a 1985 graduate of Calvary Baptist Seminary's Master of Divinity Program.   



Pastor Mike was the Senior Pastor at Highland Baptist Church of Parkesburg, where he faithfully served the Lord by teaching and preaching the Word of God for the past 18 years.



He is survived, in addition to his beloved wife, by his five children: Mike Jr. of Denver, Co., Timothy and his wife Nikki of Dunbar, WI, Benjamin of Philadelphia, Daniel of Christiana and Elisa of Christiana; his siblings, LuAnn Fleming of Worcester, Pa., Jeanette Hill of Loveland, Co., Cindy Meckes of Kunkletown, Pa, Alice Gerke of Monroe, Wa. and Brenda Byrd of Tulare, CA.



The viewing will be held on both Wednesday evening, May 2nd from 6 until 8 PM at the Highland Baptist Church, 1 East Highland Road, Parkesburg and on Thursday, May 3rd from 9:30 until 11 AM at the Calvary Monument Bible Church, 1660 Mine Road, Paradise, PA  17562.  The Funeral Service will take place at Calvary Monument Bible Church on Thursday at 11 AM, followed by interment in the Glen Run Cemetery of Atglen.



Because of his heart for the Gospel, donations may be made in lieu of flowers to the "Highland Baptist Church" marked “Ukraine Mission Project” in the memo and sent to 1 East Highland Road, Parkesburg, Pa 19365.



The arrangements have been entrusted to the Wilde Funeral Home of Parkesburg.  Online condolences can be respectfully posted at www.wildefuneralhome.com   

Condolences

On behalf of Windsor Chapel family we would like to express our deepest sorry for your loss. Mike and I went to seminary together and ministered for worked together in Parkesburg for eight years. I appreciated his dedication and commitment to the Lord and his willingness to share the gospel. He will be greatly missed.

Pastor Andrew Straubel
Windsor Chapel
Princeton Junction, NJ

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Just saw this. A huge loss. His reach in life was wider than it's length. God bless!

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Our hearts are torn and bowed in prayer that God will continue to be with each of you in your loss. We will always be grateful to have known of Pastor Mike's loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and and his passion for the gospel as well as his many years of faithful obedience in pursuit of pleasing the Lord, loving and leading his family, and serving the body of Christ. We will be remembering each of you in the family before the throne of grace in the days ahead.

Pastor Bill Phillips and Faith Baptist Church
Pembine, Wisconsin

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I will miss you my dear Brother.
You are in Gods arms now.
May God be with your family.
with all our love,
Your sister, Jeanette, John , Sarah and Victor Hill

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"Blessed in the eyes of the LORD are the death of His saints." Ps.116:15
May the God of all Comfort provide His peace and strength to Mike's precious family. With love and prayers, Bob and Joyce Templeton

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Iglesia Betania is praying for the Chodan family and the Highland family. Mike was a blessing to my life and an example of faithful hard work for the Gospel. We are deeply concerned for all of you and will pray accordingly. May our Heavenly Father's loving arms hold you all close during this incredibly difficult time.

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On behalf of our church family here at Calvary Baptist Church in Lancaster I want to express our heartfelt condolences for your loss and assure you that we are praying for your family. May God's grace uphold you and may His peace be a comfort to you during this most difficult time.

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We will miss you dearly. You were a great influence in our lives. Thank you. We have an awesome God.

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On behalf of Great Hope Baptist Church, we would like to express our heartfelt loss to you at this difficult time. Mike was a good friend to me and to our church. He went out of his way to encourage us in the Lord. Time and again he contacted us and let us know of his prayers in our behalf. We are grateful for his friendship and love. We will miss him.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. May God’s strength and comfort be yours.

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On behalf of Bible Baptist Church of Upper Darby we extend our deepest heartfelt sympathy to the Chodan family and the brethren at Highland Baptist Church. Pastor Chodan was a previous brother to us. We enjoyed many times of fellowship together and will miss him dearly. We are praying for you dear family!

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Our Prayers are with the Chodan family and Highland Baptist Church. Praying you find God’s grace and comfort at this time. Pastor Mike was a great friend and a great example of what it was to be a servant in the church. He not only preached the word but led by example. He will be truly missed.

Travis and Chris Diehl

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I will remember Michael Chodan as an honest, sincere and dedicated spirital leader. I'm praying for Barbara, his children and Highland Baptist Church - that the faith of all will be strengthened in the midst of temporal grief.

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We will meet again in Heaven. May The Lord give the family wisdom and understanding in there time of need. Know that Pastor will be in the hearts of MANY for a very long time! No more pain, no more heart ache ...

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Prayers to Mike and his family. We will miss Mike's smiling face as he mowed his lawn and shouted hello over the fence to us. He has been a wonderful neighbor and will be missed greatly.
Rest in Peace, Mike

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We want to send our heartfelt condolences to you Barb, and to your family. We have been, and will continue to, pray that the Holy Spirit will give you the comfort that only He can give (John 14:16-17). Dave and Lucy Burggraff

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Barb and Family

Our prayers and love are with you and the family.
May Gods love give yous comfort and strenght.

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We pray that The Comforter will be ever near during this time of departing. On behalf of Wyebrook Baptist Church we extend our sympathy.

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We are weeping with you. Much love and prayers,now and for the days ahead. We claim the promise of Romans 8:28 Irene OBrien (Imre's sister)

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When we moved our daughter, Lori (Krueger) Sekol, out to Calvary Christian School in East Stroudsburg to begin her new teaching position, we met Pastor Mike and found his friendship very warm. We knew our daughter was in good hands. We lost track of Pastor Mike after he sang at our daughter's wedding in northern PA, July 13, 1990. We now know how the Lord has blessed his ministry. Our hearts go out to the family because of his loss. We lost our son, Lee, to bone cancer at age 25. May the Lord give you the strength to carry on.

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We want to express our sympathies and prayers to Pastor Chodan's family. He was a good friend and a great encouragement to us. He will be sorely missed. We pray that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will give to all of you the peace that passes all understanding.

All our thoughts and prayers,
Pastor Bob and Mrs Dunn and the family of Grace Community Church, Parkesburg.

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Beverly and I wish to convey our heartfelt sadness to Barbara, the family, and all at Highland Baptist Church. Although we didn't get to know Mike very well, he and Barbara's hospitality to us while in their home and at the church on visits, was unsurpassed. Mike's love for Jesus and zeal for those who do not yet know Christ was a great encouragement and model for all. I look forward to getting to know Mike in heaven. To Barbara and the kids, may God bless you and comfort you, dear ones in Christ. Someday you will be with Mike again gazing upon the One who has given us all life.

Deepest love from Taiwan,

John and Beverly Tolbert, ABWE

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So sad and sorry to hear this news but do want to express my sympathy to each of you. Pastor Mike visited our church in Sheldon, WI when he visited his grandparents there and we were so encouraged and blessed by him as a young husband and father of several children. What a great love for the Lord he always expressed and lived! He is rejoicing with his Saviour and loved ones gone on before. May God comfort you all and give you His strength and direction in the days ahead. In Jesus...

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I love you Uncle Mike, I will never forget your smile. One of the things I always remember about was your big smile! : ) you showed me what it means to be a God loving person. You always stood out of the crowd, so it was easy to find my uncle Mike, you are a truly one of a kind of person. Thank for being a great uncle !!! I will miss you. John 3:16

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I love you Uncle Mike, I will never forget your smile. One of the things I always remember about was your big smile! : ) you showed me what it means to be a God loving person. You always stood out of the crowd, so it was easy to find my uncle Mike, you are a truly one of a kind of person. Thank for being a great uncle !!! I will miss you. John 3:16

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My Shepherd
I had the privilege of meeting my Pastor 15 years ago. My family and I were relocated to Parkesburg by my company. We prayer long and hard about the move, and the Lord honored our request, by leading us to Highland. I would like to write able how m shepherd, my friend and brother touch my life.
First, as a shepherd he loved me. Once, my shepherd heard that my son and I were in an accident. He spent a great part of the day calling hospitals (several) to find his lost sheep. I am reminded of the scriptures where a shepherd secures the herd, when searches for the lost one. I am not sure where I was for those dark hours that he experienced, but he finally got a hold of me. The relief of his voice comforted me, knowing that my shepherd came looking for me.
My Friend
My friend and I played several sports together, mostly as opponents. My friend only had one goal, to win. On several occasions in basketball and football, he fouled me or knotted me down. His son, Mike would always say” Dad you are fouling him or you are hitting too late.” I would say “YEAH” but the next play I was on the ground, but this time he would help me up, smiling “I’m getting closer.” It broke my heart when we moved away, but God was working in other parts of my life and family.
My Brother
While at Highland, I was able to meet with Pastor in several arenas. Many come to mind like fishing trips, where we would talk about our family. Pastor Chodan’s oldest boys are the same age as my boys, and most of our conversations were about goals for children. Other places were at men’s treats where we would just talk about duties of men, husbands and fathers. I am sad that my brother is gone, but I do not wish him back. All the things we spoke about for years, well he is living it. I praise God for meeting him and his family. My brother is speaking to God himself. I am reminded of a song he love to sing “He alone is my only desire” to serve Him. Praise God, he is doing that as we say good-bye to him!

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My heartfelt prayers to the family & friends of this man of God.

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Last night at church (Victory Baptist in Chester Springs, PA) we learned of Pastor Chodan's passing. I honestly don't know that I ever met him or heard him preach, but I wanted to send my condolences to his family & church family, and especially to his children. I experienced the same sort of thing almost 5 years ago when my dad went to heaven, and while it was the most difficult time in my life it was also a time I was closer to the Lord than ever. I'm praying that you sense His presence & comfort like never before, and just trust Him, even when it hurts and probably doesn't make any human sense. He will give you peace.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD." Isaiah 55:8

"As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." Psalm 18:30

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You will be greatly missed. Praying for the Chodan family and our Church. God is good.

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Im so sorry for your loss. Pastor Chodan was a great pastor, a wonderful, loving and fun guy. The last time I believed I saw him was 3 years ago at my mothers funeral. He is no longer suffering. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

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