We received the sad news that our great friend, Ronney Wheeler, passed away while we were in South America. The world has lost a wonderful, loving, inspiring, joyful, passionate and godly presence. We'll miss you Ronney!

We lived with Ron & Slyvia for almost three months at one stage of our ministry. The Wheelers always provide the greatest examples of servant-leadership and Christ-centered living. Silvia passed along this message that I thought you'd enjoy (even those of you who didn't know Ronney):

Tribute to The Wheeler Dealer
by Tao Baker (from his Facebook page)

July 28 at 10:37pm
Ronney Wheeler never knew a stranger. He had an infectious smile and his charismatic attitude sucked you in. You couldn’t help but smile back at him. You just couldn’t. 

I first met Ronney when my wife (at the time girlfriend) started attending Northwest Church of Christ. She was at a crossroads in her life and Ronney was right there to make her feel welcome.

She told me about this Preacher at her new Church, and I had to see it for myself. 

He was born for televangeling!! In his fancy suits and his slick style, Ronney used to do a thing I fondly called Ronney-robics. He would get to the edge of the stage and he would raise up on his tip toes and he would preach. Not just your run of the mill Sunday sermon. Ronney made sure that it was an impossibility for you to sleep during his lesson. His voice would raise in volume and he would yell out. There were many a time my name was used in a sermon…and he always gave me a look so I knew that it was coming. 

Ronney was the only person that made religion make sense.

Growing up, Christianity wasn’t something that my family talked about. I tried a couple of Churches but no one answered my questions. Ronney broke it down to its simplest form for me. Jesus Christ went to the Cross and surrendered His life because He looked 2000 years in the future and saw that I needed Him. Ronney walked me up to the Lord’s house, stood up on His front porch with me, rang the doorbell and then jumped into the bushes. Jesus opened the door and said, “come on in” . If Ronney hadn’t walked with me down the path I would have continued to walk past the Lord’s house.



When LeAnn and I decided we wanted Ronney to perform our Wedding ceremony, LeAnn warned me about the “equally yoked” speech I was inevitably going to get. I had thought about Baptism. Ronney and I talked about it a lot. When I decided to make the decision, I wanted to do it quietly without a lot of Hoopla. Ronney would have nothing to do with that. ” It was a celebration “, he said “we need to share it with your church family”. So that Sunday night, there I was up in the Baptismal with Ronney in his waders ready to dunk me for the Lord. He whispered to me to take a deep breath and let him do the rest. Now for those of you who didn’t know me back then, I tipped the scales at about 370 lbs. With me holding my breath to say I was buoyant, was an understatement. Ronney decided I wasn’t immersed enough and he pushed me in the rest of the way. I panicked and grabbed for the first thing I could to pull myself up…that was Ronney. We both got baptized that night. No matter where I went if Ronney and I were in the same room and there were other people there --- they heard that story.



Ronney performed our ceremony and it was perfect…well…almost. Ronney called me Taho. I don’t know why, but he did… 11 times. Now when ever anyone watches our wedding video everyone gets a big laugh. Ronney asked me before he pronounced us Man and Wife if I had brushed my teeth. It was a strange thing to say and I laughed so hard at that. That was Ronney. He made you feel comfortable in whatever surroundings you were in. 

Ronney was a man on fire. He was passionate about everything in his life. From his Wife Sylvia, to his family, to his Church but most importantly he was passionate for the Lord. He made it possible for a sinner like me to know that I had everlasting life by believing that Jesus Christ died for my sins. Ronney was my spiritual adviser and my friend. I cherished him and I only hope that he knew how much he meant to me and my family. There will never be another man like Ronney Wheeler. I know that he’s up there right now telling the story about how he almost drowned Taho Baker and he’s smiling that infectious smile …