Celebrating Lynn Cazier

When Lynn Cazier was in university, he made a commitment to God that he would go anywhere and do anything that God called him to do.

Twenty years later, the company that Lynn was working at was sold, he was out of a job, and in his words: “We knew God was doing something different.”

This intimation that God was calling them to something different led Lynn and his wife Dori to begin thinking and praying about full-time ministry. Lynn felt like God was specifically asking of him, “what are you doing to make an eternal difference?” Then, one Sunday, the Cazier’s home church invited a missionary couple serving in Kenya to come speak. Lynn and Dori talked at length with this couple, and soon knew that they too were being called to serve among the Maasai in Kenya. In 2002, Lynn and Dori moved to Kenya with their three young daughters.

In Kenya, the Caziers partnered with Community Christian Church (CCC), a church that is the result of CMF’s partnering and church-planting work in the region since 1977. Lynn worked alongside CCC leadership in various roles over the years, including finance training, leadership training and project management; he also served as team asset manager for CMF mission property. Lynn and Dori described their role with CCC over the years as changing from involvement with a lot of people to focusing in on training and empowering the leaders of CCC to develop partnerships of their own beyond CMF. When Lynn and Dori first arrived, there were 80-90 CCC churches in the Maasai and Turkana regions; now there are more than 300 throughout those regions and beyond in other parts of Kenya.

The Caziers have also served as a bridge between various stakeholders in helping grow Community Health Partners, an organization birthed by CMF over 20 years ago, that provides education on health and hygiene practices as well as quality healthcare in rural areas.

Lynn Cazier passed away on Monday, January 3, 2022, in a hospital in Decatur, Illinois, while he and Dori were on furlough stateside before returning to Kenya to continue serving. At that point, he and Dori had faithfully served as CMF missionaries in Kenya for 20 years.

Lynn, who is described by many as “larger than life,” was dedicated to living life with passion and purpose, paving the way for many to know the love and transformation of Christ. While he is missed by countless, his years of intentionality in work and in relationship have left an irreplaceable and lasting impact on his family, fellow missionaries and colleagues, and friends from all around the world.

Watch Lynn Cazier’s Celebration of Life video below.