Eldon Dennis Kropf passed away at the age of 73 on the 12th of July, 2021 after a short illness. He is survived by his wife, Lois, and their children: David, Daniel, Jeremy, Audrey and Justin, as well as, David's wife, Anita, and their two children Rebekah and Stephen; Daniel's wife, Kasia; Jeremy's wife, Kim and their two children, Andrew and Emily; Audrey's husband, Benjamin; and Justin's wife, Sarah.
Eldon was born in Oregon on the 30th of May 1948. He left his home there to study for the ministry and completed his study at Elim Bible Institute in Lima, NY. That is also where he met Lois, whom he married in 1970. After his marriage, he lived in a number of states, working several different jobs and ministering in churches in various capacities. At the time he started pastoring, Eldon and Lois had been blessed by the birth of several of their children. Eldon pastored a church in Ulysses, PA for 2 years and it was at this time that he felt a requickening of a call he had felt for Africa.
After a time of preparation, he and his family arrived in Africa in January 1987, having been sent out by Hebron Fellowship (now called Zion Fellowship International). He worked at Botswana Bible Training Institute in Tlokweng for 3 years, before becoming the principal of Hebron Ministries and All Africa School of Theology in South Africa. He held that position until 1999, when he moved to Malawi to pioneer a bible school and other ministries there called Zion Ministries Malawi.
For nearly 20 years he labored in that field and was involved in teaching in the Bible School, as well as directing many humanitarian activities involving orphans, widows, and other needs in the community. It was his desire to see a strong, vibrant African church of Jesus Christ with godly trained leaders, who would be entirely on fire for God and grounded in the Scripture. He followed this goal from Malawi to Tanzania when he and Lois relocated 2018, joining their daughter, Audrey, and her husband, Benjamin, in Mbeya. It was here In Tanzania that Eldon that finished his race and has now entered into his reward and eternal rest. Eldon loved Jesus, his family, people in general, and Africa, and will now lie in his beloved Africa until the day of Christ's appearing and his resurrection.