IN LOVING MEMORY
Ellen Alexander
Lay leader, Bible teacher, and an investment in people’s lives • Went to be with her Lord, October 2015
A tribute by Stuthi Abhishek • Former Member, RTMC
Ellen Alexander was outspoken, hospitable, and reflective — one of those people you could love or strongly disagree with, but never ignore. I was one of those who unknowingly fell in love with this brave woman.
I can still see her sitting upright in the large armchair in her living room — her expression resolute, a smile playing on her lips, her eyes bright as she explained the mysteries of Scripture in ways that made everything suddenly clear. Her favourite phrase, the one that still rings in my ears, was:
“We hold these truths in tandem.”
“What if healing meant being with her beloved Lord rather than being healed in her earthly body?”
— Ellen Alexander, weeks before her death
Her faith was not theoretical. Weeks before she died — through swollen legs, constant nausea, and unbearable pain — she spoke with quiet conviction about what healing might really mean. It was only later that I understood what I had witnessed: not merely courage, but a faith that had been tested through suffering and doubt, and had emerged genuine and strong.
When many people instinctively withdraw from someone who is dying, afraid of seeing vulnerability up close, Ellen made the opposite happen. She threw open the doors of her home.
We gathered around her bed — sitting on it, sometimes — praying, singing, laughing. She wept without embarrassment, spoke honestly about the hard road, celebrated small victories like a night without fever, and remained deeply interested in the lives of everyone in the room.
That was a profound lesson in how to live, delivered by someone who was leaving.
Ellen was not perfect, and she would have been the first to say so. Her marriage to Vijay was honest and unpretentious — real enough to give everyone around them permission to be themselves. There were rough edges and human frailties, but what shone through consistently was the work of Christ in her life.
The same applied to her hospitality. A meal at Ellen’s was fit for royalty in its care and beauty, and yet entirely without ceremony. Feeling at home meant that you also cleared the dishes and put away the leftovers.
Unashamed, practical, and gracious all at once.
My husband Abhishek had walked into her life as a young man, ready to learn. Vijay and Ellen gave him a second home across many years. It was Ellen who helped him build roots in his faith — teaching him to study the Word of God diligently and to love the experience of it.
I carry a piece of that legacy with me now.
She challenged everyone around her to actually live — not in a mediocre, half-hearted way, but with full attention to the ordinary things.
Every task done carefully. Every person seen as valuable. Every situation as an opportunity to love and serve.
With Christ in the picture, she believed, nothing goes to waste.
✞
Ellen Alexander
Lay leader, Bible teacher, and an investment in people’s lives • October 2015
