Peter Dyck Gets "Home Before Dark"

Herald Press Author's Prayer Granted

"Lord, let me get home before dark."

That was the prayer of Peter Dyck, asking God to let him die before age robbed him of his ability to be kind, trusting, loving and generous.

"Grouchy old men and women make life difficult for others and themselves," he wrote in his book of mediations for people of all ages, titled Getting Home Before Dark.

"Once they were young and strong, kind and loving, but something happened. Their generous spirits shriveled, their minds became suspicious, and they became something we thought existed only in horror stories, not in reality . . . O Lord, please, don't let that happen to me. Let me get home before a darkness like that overtakes me."

Dyck, who passed away January 4 at the age of 95, had his prayer answered—he got home before dark.

"Peter continued to be a supportive presence at church," says Donna Mast, co-pastor of Scottdale Mennonite Church. "Even though he was living with pain, he continued to be positive and encouraging, and his mind was clear.

"He got home before dark."

Dyck's son-in-law, Jack Scott, echoed that sentiment.

"There were some difficult days, but he didn't succumb to darkness," he says. "He sometimes struggled with memory, but he was able to recognize family and friends. He was gracious right to the end. He had a peaceful passing."

In addition to Getting Home Before Dark, Dyck was a long-time writer of devotionals for Rejoice! and also wrote children's books for Herald Press. But he is best known for Up From The Rubble , which he co-authored with his wife, Elfrieda, who died in 2004. That book, which sold over 18,000 copies, detailed their experiences of helping Mennonite refugees to escape from war-torn Europe to find new homes in South America and Canada.

"He was an outstanding and influential Christian Mennonite," says former Herald Press editorial director Levi Miller. "He had a deeply committed and authentic Christian faith. The staff at Mennonite Publishing Network loved him for his stories, and also for his active personal selling of his books when he was out speaking."

In Getting Home Before Dark, Dyck wrote: "I'm not afraid of death. I have peace with God. I can say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7)."

Read Getting Home Before Dark, a chapter from Peter's book of the same name.

Read Peter’s obituary and a tribute from Mennonite Central Committee