In Memory of Jon Karner

Our beloved friend, Jon Frederick Karner, died on Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2007, at the age of 62 in Princeton, Minnesota from stomach cancer. Jon was born in Hiiumaa, Estonia on February 13, 1945 to Frederick and Marie as Jaanus Frederick Kärner. An accomplished mechanical engineer by education, his Christian convictions ran him afoul of the communist authorities who obstructed his academic and professional pursuits, prevented him from completing his master’s degree and assigned him menial jobs. Jon turned these circumstances meant to demean Christians into opportunities to hone his considerable skills and to become a highly effective national leader of the Christian underground in the former Soviet Union.

Jon’s accomplishments are legion. He was an active preacher and teacher as well as leader of youth and music in The Tallinn Methodist Church. He was ordained a deacon in The United Methodist Church in Estonia in 1979. In 1968 he founded Sela, the first Estonian gospel music group to use electronic instruments. Jon and the members of Sela formed a close working relationship over many years with the international Gospel music missions ministry Living Sound. Sela is still active today. Jon was repressed because of this work; some involved were even imprisoned by the Soviet state secret police, the KGB. He also assisted many international Christian ministries with their missions in the Soviet Union. Much of this story has yet to be told. He also became the main liaison between many international Christian ministries and their missions in the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Jon assisted numerous Christian ministries to establish their fledgling efforts in Russia and the Baltic States – and all this in addition to his Estonian Living Bible translation work, study at Fuller Theological Seminary and his involvement with Vineyard Missions. In 2006 Jon was named Estonian Gospel Music's "Man of the Year" for his lifetime of achievements.

Jon is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, his sons David of Huntington Beach, California and Steven of Redondo Beach, California, and stepson, Bret Ittel of St. Francis, Minnesota. Jon is also survived by his sisters Wilma and Maimo of Tallinn, Estonia. He is preceded in death by his father, Frederick, his mother, Marie, his sisters Eve, Ellen, Silia, Mari and his first wife, Anne.

A viewing and special memorial service will be held on Friday, June 1, 2007 from 5:00-8:00PM at the Jubilee Worship Center, Pastor Mark Johnson, 3125 County Road 74, St. Cloud, Minnesota 56301, (320) 202-0540. Friends and loved ones will be invited to share their memories of Jon from 7:00-8:00 PM at the Friday service. The Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at 12:00 NOON also at Jubilee Worship Center. The church will open on Saturday starting at 11:00 AM to pay final respects and for remembrance and prayer. A luncheon will be served at the church followed by a burial service in Milaca, Minnesota.

Donations for the family's expenses can be sent to: The Jon Karner Memorial Fund, c/o Glenn Martell, Esq., gm112@yahoo.com, P.O. Box 120703, St. Paul, MN 55112-0022, (612) 235-4617. Elizabeth Karner's email address is ebkarner@leader.com. David Karner's email address is davidkarner@gmail.com and Steven Karner's email address is stevekarner@aol.com. You are invited to share your reflections about Jon’s life, ministry and witness online at http://www.leaderdialog.com/blogs/jonkarner. Now that Jon is no longer with us on this side of the “great cloud of witnesses”, let us whom he loved, and who loved him, memorialize his life’s story of courage, faith and humility for the benefit of future generations.

"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26)

Click here for a PDF version of Jon's obituary.

Jon was intending to get more involved with new communications technologies that we will use to broadcast both the Friday evening (7-8PM CST) and the Saturday Memorial Service (11:45AM-1:30PM) CST. It will be possible for up to 60 people to dial in to this number in the USA: (419) 739-6005, then enter this 9-digit PIN#: 011 811 933 and listen to the service from your phone. Click here for further instructions. There is no charge other than whatever your normal charges are to call this number in the USA. We suggest for friends and family in Estonia that you "Skype-out" to this telephone number. If you get a busy signal, that means the bridge connection is full. Not to worry, we will also endeavor to record the services and post them on this site afterwards. As we all know, Jon relished using modern technologies to share Christ's message. He was thinking about how he could promote these capabilities. Little did any of us know that his funeral service would be the beginning. But then again, that is somehow fitting for this Renaissance Man.

This website is being established in honor of Jon, whom we knew as Jaanus when we worked with him in Estonia. We hope that this blog will help Jon fulfill a goal that life's cares prevented him from completing, and that is memorializing his life story - a life of faith lived in the face of tyranny, a life of love and compassion and courage.

All who knew Jon knew that he was a man on a mission. He somehow felt it his duty to tell his story for the benefit of future generations, a story that we all wanted to hear, especially those of us who were honored to have played a part in it.

Alas, it falls upon us, Jon's friends near and far, to tell that story. And perhaps it is fitting that this story should be told by those whom he knew and loved. His life and ministry in the former Soviet Union was many-faceted. It was not safe for him to tell us everything when he lived in Estonia before the fall of the Soviet Union. This blog will be an attempt to connect the dots, the people, and the circumstances that made Jon's life so unique.

Please tell your stories here. Make them as long as you like, and please include specifics like dates and locations if you can remember them. If you have a video, picture or document, just email the file to me, Mike McKibben -- mmckibben@leader.com, or to my wife, Nancy -- nmckibben@leader.com and we will add it to your post. You can relate anecdotes, share memories, and describe situations. For those of you who don't know Nancy and me, we worked closely with Jon during the late 1970's and early 80's on various ministry projects as a part of the Gospel Music missions organization, Living Sound.

It is curious to think that our children know about the struggle in Eastern Europe only through their history books. We are certainly happy that tensions have eased, but we think that it is important to remember brave men like Jon who risked their careers, their reputations, and their lives in the service of Jesus Christ. Please help us write Jon's history.