Residents and staff at Village Woods, our retirement community in Crete, Illinois, are spending this week learning about the war. Not the war in Iran or Afghanistan, but the spiritual war raging here in the United States as well as in Colombia, Africa, Indonesia, and elsewhere.
You see, Marvin Peterson, one of the residents, used to be a missions conference organizer for Cedar Lake Bible Church and other area churches. When he moved to Village Woods, he brought his organizational skills and his passion for missions with him. Working with Chaplain Archie Bazuin and Community Manager Laura Veldhuizen, he put together a week-long International Missions Conference at Village Woods.
The Missions Conference began yesterday at the Sunday vespers service. Speakers from the Bible League made presentations along with Rev. Steve Bale, a missionary to Africa who happens to be a long-time friend of Chaplain Bazuin. More than 100 residents attended the event.
Later today (Monday, April 27), a speaker from Kids Alive International will speak about the plight of orphans and abandoned children around the world. Marv Peterson's son is involved with Kids Alive, so that ministry was another natural connection for the Village Woods Missions Conference.
The scheduled Tuesday speaker is Lee De Young from Words of Hope, a broadcasting ministry of the Reformed Church in America. Other speakers throughout the week include:
-Brandon Markette, a Chaplain in the United States Air Force
-Brad Harry of Campus Crusade
-Ed and Jan Kotynski, working with Wycliffe Bible Translators
-Igor and Vita Swiderski of Chosen People Ministries
All of these ministries have some local connection to Village Woods, says Veldhuizen.
But perhaps the most local speaker will be Grace Anderson. Grace was a missionary in Colombia for almost 30 years before returning to the States. After her husband died, she moved to Village Woods nine years ago. She still makes occasional trips to Colombia to visit the church leaders she and her husband helped train. Grace is scheduled to speak on Friday, May 1, at 2:00pm, about her career on the front lines of the spiritual battle in Colombia.
The week-long conference will end at the 6:00pm vesper service on Sunday, May 3, with the Swiderski's presentation about Chosen People Ministries.
“It’s really exciting to have these missionaries here," Laura Veldhuizen told me. "They are all 'heroes of faith' and dynamic speakers. And they are all connected to us in one way or another. It's a nice combination of local talent and international missions.”
