On the morning of Sunday, April 2, Michigan pastor and missionary Dean Elliott was killed while on his way to preach at Manistee Assembly of God after his vehicle was struck by a driver who was going the wrong way on US-131 in metro Grand Rapids.
The 63-year-old Elliott had worked with several local churches and had a passion for ministering to pastors in India alongside his wife Brenda through their ministry called Abounding Hope. The couple started the ministry in 2003 after serving over 28 years in pastoral and evangelistic ministry.
Manistee Assembly of God’s former pastor, Patrick Pointer, who had to step down in January due to medical issues, said that his “heart weighs in a heavy broken state.”
“My heart is broken at the losses involved,” Pointer continued. “Yesterday, marked the ‘Triumphal Entry’ of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem during this Easter season…Dean celebrated his own triumphal entry into Heaven and the arms of Jesus!”
State police believe that alcohol may partly explain why the 30-year-old driver, who was critically injured, was going the wrong way.
Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) released a statement explaining how they have implemented measures to prevent drivers from entering the roadways going the wrong direction.
“We’ve installed additional wrong way signage, adjusted the height of wrong way signs, added reflective delineators, and installed wrong-way detection systems,” the statement said. “All interchanges are peppered with large red and white signs that say WRONG WAY DO NOT ENTER. The only common factor with these types of crashes is that the driver has been impaired in some way.”
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Numerous Facebook posts remembering Elliott have shared how the pastor was “a world changer” for Christ.
Elliott was described as a “generous man and a sincere person” by his friend, missionary and Massachusetts pastor David Stewart Jr.
Fennville Assembly of God Church, where Elliott once pastored, posted on Facebook, “Our hearts are grieving the sudden loss of our former Pastor Dean Elliott, who was killed in a car accident this morning while on his way to a preaching assignment. Please pray for his wife Brenda and their children, Nathan and Lauren. We are grateful for your commitment to Jesus and spreading the Good News.”
Elliott leaves behind a wife and two adult children.
