I was thinking of John last Sunday. I usher in the balcony at Second Baptist where John would sit, and I so enjoyed our conversations before service. Whether we talked about his family, his youth in S Africa, his videos or his love of motorcycles, we always had something to talk about. He was a genuine believing Christian and I miss him dearly.

    John was my oldest brother. Due to the nature of our situation growing up in South Africa, I really didn’t get to know him well during those years. Even when we all moved back to the USA, we really didn’t see each other that often, perhaps here and there at Christmas time.
    However, in the mid-90s, he became involved with our ministry on an ever-increasing basis. He eventually produced 18 videos for us!  During these last 25 years, he had become much more than just a brother. He had become a good friend, and a partner in our ministry.  The message of God‘s creation went deeply into his heart, and he became passionate about sharing that message. He referred to his involvement with us as “warfare through media“. His creative touches and his conscientious attention to detail are evident in all of the work he did.
    During the many episodes of filming, we spent a lot of time laughing, talking, reminiscing, and learning. He shared many of his deepest thoughts with me, and also many of the experiences he has had in his life that molded him to the person he was.
    He loved the Lord and had a stubborn but simple faith. We will all miss him. My wife, Carrie, never had a brother in her family, but she looked to John as her own brother.  We both have a deep hole in our lives now that he is gone, but we look forward to being reunited one day because of Jesus!

On Earth, John was one of the best examples of a Christian brother and servant. He was selfless and provided many hours serving God. I’ll never forget his help filming me while I attempted to explain Texas Hill Country geology in light of Creation and the Flood. May his soul Rest In Peace in Paradise where I hope to see him when I am gone too! 

John and I rented rooms in a boarding house while students at Wheaton College. John, a communications major, and I, an English major, enjoyed some overlap in our interests. More than that, we overlapped in our enjoyment of one another. When Andre Crouch, the renowned Gospel composer and musician, was slated to perform at Wheaton, John and I were “all in.” No such performance had ever appeared at Wheaton in the 1970’s.

The concert exceeded our expectations. After the concert, John confided in me. “Andre Crouch changed me,” he admitted. The concert had been spiritually riveting. The effect in John, I believe, was of eternal consequence, demonstrating his characteristic responsiveness to God’s call on his life. John did not falter. He attached himself to that which lasted beyond this mortal life.

When I married in 1975, John wanted to be there. John responded to an invitation to a wedding, yes, and also to the calling toward what God was doing there at that time. “Being there,” meant somehow getting from Chicago to the lowest reaches of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a journey of 1,000 miles.

John hopped onto his white BMW motorcycle and headed south to the Gulf Coast. We would razz him about picking the monstrous Southern mosquitoes out of his teeth. Yes, John arrived for my wedding, and more importantly, in response to what he believed to be the summoning of the Lord.

John, always an “aw, shucks” sort of friend, was never proud about his conviction to always, unapologetically, try to do the right thing. What other people thought made little difference to him. He was ever on an un-compromised mission. His was a journey of responsiveness to God’s bidding, which John did so well. God prompted; John responded on his BMW.

John responded to God’s call with determined conviction. There’s no doubt that, had his earthly road been longer, John would have needed a brand new BMW, and a giant box of toothpicks to clean the bugs off his teeth.

John was one of the very first cinematographers I worked with.  Even way back then (in the early 1980s and so early in his career) he was extremely professional and always delight to have on the set.  I am very saddened by his loss and wish to send my very best to his entire family.

Robert A. Nowotny

John and I studied together at Wheaton and worked together at WETN, the college radio station. I was always interested to hear tales of his childhood adventures in South Africa and he was the only person on campus, to my knowledge, to be able to validate the required foreign language credits by demonstrating his competency in Afrikaans! I remember well when he invested in his first 16mm camera, a Beaulieu, and from there on out making films was both his artistic passion and his chosen vehicle for sharing his faith in Christ. We lost touch after college, since I moved to Latin America for 40+ years of mission service, but we were able to connect once at a Texas airport when I was passing through. I give thanks to God for his life and witness.

I was so sad to learn that John lost his battle with cancer. I had the pleasure of working with John on a number of Mars Hill Productions here in Houston. We had many great laughs! It was an honor to know him and to work with him. To his family, I hope you are comforted that the separation is not forever, but we will see him again in Heaven!

I know John is happy to be with Jesus.  When my customers used film to tell their story I always used John to film the event.  He never forgot that Jesus was with him every day.  I am looking for a photo of John working in New Orleans and will post when I find it.


For the last 5 years, I ushered at Second Baptist on the second level balcony where John had a permanent seat. John was regular as clockwork and he and I had many conversations about his video work, his BMW motorcycle, his younger years, his grandson and in theology in general. He would show up early and we would have time to talk before folks started arriving. He was a Bible believing Christian and a gentle soul whose thoughts have made permanent impact on my life. He gave me a couple of videos he edited about Young Earth which are very precious to me.  God Bless you John, you are already missed.

OBITUARY

John R. Snavely

October 20, 1950 – May 9, 2022

Brookside Funeral Home-Cypress Creek

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