In Loving Memory Of
Rev. Yuttasak Sirikul (Nok/Enoch)
13 July 1957 - 29 April 2016
Our family will forever grateful for your love, heartfelt condolences, words of comforting, caring actions, financial aids and all kind of supports during our time of great sorrow. We're deeply touched.
Laya and Noel
(We will add more tributes and contents in coming future. )
Posted by Suthee Thumasathit, MD on May 2, 2016
We were so sorry to hear of Pi Nok's passing. All Thai Christians have lost a wonderful leader and a man of great inspiration. We will miss his winsome character, his smile, and his jokes. Nok has left behind a rich spiritual legacy, as he led multitudes of students to Christ. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and Noel during your time of grief. Nok will be greatly missed!
Posted by Dr. Ramesh Richard, the founder and president of RReach, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and a covener of GPro Commission on May 5, 2016
In his life and death, my very dear friend fit the Bible character whose name he chose. Genesis 5:24 reads, “Enoch walked faithfully with God and then he was no more, because God took him away” (NIV).
First, he walked faithfully with God in every dimension of his life—as husband, father, pastor, and leader. He faithfully walked with God, in "close relationship" as God’s companion. He pleased God (cf. Hebrews 11:5f) in the journey of his life.
Like his Bible character, our brother participated in the building of a city (Gen. 4:17) named after him. A part of the eternal city will be named after our brother, since people from Thailand, Asia, and the world will populate the eternal city because of his “building” into hundreds of leaders. His heart for his homeland brought him back to Bangkok. His vision and action at each National Congress was unmatched in faith, vision, and sacrifice. He did not live randomly, but walked intentionally for God's purposes.
Finally, like his Bible character, Rev. Enoch died at a younger age as compared to peers. He was "suddenly no more, because God took him away.” Old Testament Enoch’s story of God’s snatching him from the earth confirmed to the righteous that indeed there was eternal life and that they could have hope (Ps. 49:15; 73:24).
Moving the GProCongress venue to Bangkok, Thailand, would not have been possible without the immediate and lavish support of my dear friend and faithful servant of God. As chair of the Executive Board of Thailand Evangelism and Church Growth Committee, as well as that of Thailand Campus Crusade for Christ, he sent word for us to "bring it to Bangkok."
This man of deep faith, who led a national movement linking churches, agencies and missions, made measurable impact on his great nation of Thailand. He brought his national vision and personal connections to build the momentum of the GProCongress. A respected leader in government, business and nonprofit circles in the ASEAN region, Rev. Enoch Sirikul graciously took time to sow his life in the upcoming GProCongress. It was he who rallied around the Campus Crusade and the global Cru team for Congress preparations. Mysteriously, God had other plans for my friend Enoch. We grieve with you, Laya and Noel, and with the Thai Campus Crusade family.
"Now to our Lord Jesus Christ, who did and will do immeasurably and infinitely more than what Rev. Enoch Sirikul could ask or imagine, by His mighty power at work in his visionary and sacrificial life . . . to Him be glory in the church through all generations and through all of time." (cf. Eph. 3:20-21)
While I will not be able to understand the timing of his death, we know why: God wanted His friend with him and took him away. So I shall trust God’s judgment in the middle of my mourning. I will grieve with hope and work with purpose towards providing hope and eternal life to many.
Thank you Enoch, my brother, friend, and co-laborer, for walking with God, and showing me how to serve our Lord Jesus, His people and the world.
Your brother in the Lord Jesus,
ramesh
Posted by Bryce Johnson on April 13, 2020
What a blessing to have all of you uniquely in our lives... A "normal" trip to LA from Dallas in October of 2003 brought Nook and I together, that would change our lives forever.
Sitting in 12A, with 12B open next to me on an early Monday morning American flight to LA from Dallas, they were just about to close the door when Nook stepped on the flight and made his way back to his seat. I was thinking that I was going to have 3 hours with an empty seat next to me, but what I didn't know was that God had a divine appointment set up for us! Within minutes we were making a connection, as I asked him if he had seen Billy Graham over the weekend. It was Rev Graham's last trip around the country and a person just ahead of us was reading the paper with a big picture and story of his visit. Nook said no, he was in town meeting with his supporters and the local church that had been sponsoring him. To my surprise, this was the door opener to an even bigger surprise to come.
Tracy and Blake and I had been out of town for the weekend and didn't attend church that Sunday, so in a brief moment, I wondered if I should ask what church he had visited, knowing that there were hundreds that he could have mentioned! I asked anyway... "what church were you speaking at yesterday?" He said, "Benttree Bible Fellowship"... and that's when God smiled, touch me and I reached out and took Enoch's hand and said "there is much more going on here than we know brother, we are members of Benttree but were out this weekend, so we missed seeing you." Well that brought out the power of God and Holy Spirit even more, as HE had the two of us engaged like we were brothers that hadn't seen each other in years.
Even those sitting around us were catching a bit of our conversation and recognizing that there was something special happening in row 12 of the flight!! For the next three hours God spoke through us and loved us as HE was right there sitting with us! Nook shared the 10 year plan for the Country and all that God had planned for the different provinces and regions throughout, jotted down on a napkin. What a blessing to be a small part of HIS work in each one of us, even thousands of miles away...
Even now I can't control the tears, fully appreciating this unique friendship that was just beginning. When we arrived in LA we walked to the rental car desk together, as I was going my way and Nook was making good use of a 12 hour layover before flying home to Bangkok. We hugged like brothers and agreed that we would be seeing each other soon and "your family will be with my family in Bangkok someday soon!" Several years later his words became true, as we experienced the love of the Thai people, his ministry and one of the most precious memories that we have of God's love and His unique and powerful ability to connect us when we're ready, willing and available! We are blessed...
I am so happy and so pleased to be able to share this here, as we celebrate the life of Enoch and all that God has done and CONTINUES to do through His life! We love you Laya and Noel and can't wait to see you again... Love of Christ through us to each of you from Texas...
Posted by Dr. Guy Saffold, Executive Director ACTS Seminaries, Emeritus on September 23, 2021
“The Servant Who Wears a Crown”
Tribute for memorial service on May 7, 2016 for Enoch Yuttasak Sirikul given by Dr. Guy Saffold, Executive Director ACTS Seminaries
Ten years ago Nok began inviting me to Thailand. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. We taught and preached together from north to south.
It has been said this week that Nok finished well. How did he do that? What was it that enabled him to finish well?
The answer became clear to me on the morning of March 11, 2016, the last time I preached together with him. In a single four-hour sweep we walked staff at Thai Campus Crusade through the entire book of 2 Timothy.
When you work with a translator you say something and the translator responds. This process went smoothly, until suddenly Nok stopped translating. I looked over to him. There were tears in his eyes. He was having trouble speaking. When his voice returned he told me why had been unable to continue.
What he told me that morning was, I believe, the secret to how he lived and finished so well. I want to share that secret with you.
We have heard that Nok was a man of great vision. Very true! Some leaders struggle to find a vision, but not Nok. His vision was:
• Clear: The gospel of salvation through Christ.
• Simple: It’s our job to proclaim it.
• Large: To everyone.
Nok wanted every person in Thailand to experience the love of Jesus and have eternal life. He never made the vision larger because it included everyone. He never made it smaller because he would not leave anyone out.
Some leaders have a big vision but no plan to achieve it. They are just talk. Not Nok! He had plans, big plans. Now, the most important thing about a plan is that people believe in it, so in his very special way Nok inspired hope. “With Him we can,” he would say. “If we work together . . . if we have faith . . . if we trust in God’s power . . . . then we can get it done.” His conviction was contagious. People believed his call to action. Things would happen!
Yes, if there was ever a man with vision, it was Nok. But vision is the DIRECTION he brought to the work. It is not what he shared with me that day about finishing well.
We have heard from numerous friends that Nok had a large and generous heart. I believe Nok had the spiritual gift of friendship. Much of it is the gift called “helps.” Nok was one of the best helpers you could ever know. If you wanted to serve the Great Commission, you would have Nok’s help. You had to be serious about it because he was not a man to waste time. But if you were, you’d find him digging in with you. Or, more likely, you’d find that he had wrapped you into one of his own projects!
He encouraged us, inspired us, made us better than we were. But this was the PASSION that Nok brought to the work. It is not what he shared with me that morning about finishing well.
We have heard how Nok was a personal example of leadership. Absolutely true! It is a deep principle that if a general wants his soldiers to be brave, it matters that he is personally courageous. In Scripture there is an expression: “Do the work.” Nok did the work personally. He led the way by doing the work himself. As others followed he would call back to them. “Run a bit faster . . . . Keep going. . . . Don’t give up. . . . let’s do it together. . . . With Him we can.”
But the courage of personal example is the DILIGENCE Nok brought to the work. It is not what Nok shared with me that morning about how he was able to finish well.
On that last morning as we preached through 2 Timothy we came to 2 Timothy 4:7. Knowing that death was very near Paul say, “My life is already being poured out like an offering to God. The time of my departure has come.”
I read out the verse. Silence! No translation from Nok. I looked over and saw the tears in his eyes. “What’s wrong, Nok?” I said. With a choked whisper he said to me, “I feel so bad for the Apostle Paul. He was so faithful. I want to be faithful too.”
That is the answer to how Nok was able to live and finish well. He had a deep passion to be faithful.
• Faithful to Jesus who saved him.
• Faithful to the family God gave him.
• Faithful to the staff entrusted to him.
• Faithful to the Great Commission to which God had called him.
Nok wanted to found faithful. And so he was!
Our lives are like a book. Every day we write one page. One day we write the last page. Only then when the full story is known can others apply a title to our book. Nok has written his last page. It's is time to add a title. I suggest that it be “The Servant Who Wears a Crown.”
Nok was a servant of Jesus. He ran the race, kept the faith. He was faithful. The crown of righteous was his reward from the Lord Jesus.
Nok is gone now. But he has left behind his book. He urges us to study it carefully, to absorb its clear, simple and powerful message. Through it he calls back to us. “Be faithful. . . . Keep going. . . . Don’t give up. . . . Believe in God. . . .Trust in Him. . . . You can do it too. . . . With Him we can!"