Heart attack
claims pastor

Members of Morning Star Christian Church are mourning the death of their senior pastor, the Rev. Ernest Mall.
Mall died suddenly July 14 of a massive heart attack at home.
A viewing was held for him on Friday, with a funeral service and burial on Saturday, which would have been his 55th birthday.
In 1995, Mall founded Morning Star, a nondenominational Christian church that initially met at his home in Olney. The church moved to a site in Oak Lane before settling at 7114 Oxford Ave. in Burholme on October 2004.
Morning Star purchased the grounds from Bethel Fellowship Church, which relocated to Franklin Mills mall.
In a June 2005 profile of the church in the Times, Mall proudly noted that Morning Star was the first Pakistani church bought with its own money in the western hemisphere. He said God had challenged him to build a permanent church.
The pastor credited members and supporters for financing the $710,000 purchase. He took out an equity loan on his home as part of the process.
The church spent more money to make various improvements to the property, with members volunteering their time to perform the chores.
Mall was born in Pakistan and moved in 1975 to the United States, a country he grew to love. He became a minister in 1987.
He remained proud of the small, but strong and thriving Christian community in his native land and often traveled there to spread God’s message.
His last service was on July 13.
He appeared healthy, having lost some weight by following a good diet.
He did experience some chest pain, as a recent stress test detected blockages in his heart.
He had, at least temporarily, put off having bypass surgery, as medication was making him feel well. ••