Linda Siler ’67 tried to avoid going to Grace Christian University. Twice. She grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from Grandville High School in 1964. As a student in the youth group at Berean Bible Church (now Rush Creek), where the youth leaders were students...
Sandi Cooper ’24 paces the floor with a Xanax® in her hand, talking herself out of the worst panic attack she’s ever had. And she’s too drunk to fall asleep.
She gets no help from her boyfriend, who is too drunk to wake up. Her brother, barely helpful, suggests a pill that might be dangerous with alcohol. After six hours of panic, desperate and exhausted, Sandi kneels.
“I’ve heard that you’re out there,” she prays. “I don’t know how any of this works, but I can’t live like this anymore.”
It’s not unusual to see Dr. Samuel R. Vinton, Jr. ’55 jogging across campus—even in the middle of a cold Grand Rapids winter—or talking to students in the Commons and eating lunch with them in the cafeteria. Dr. Sam celebrates his 90th birthday this year, and while...
Rasheed Terry ‘22 says he wasn’t anti-God. “But I was a potty mouth. I listened to whatever I wanted to. I didn’t respect anybody. I just had no respect; I rejected Him in that way.” And he had no plans to change any of that. Around the World and Back Rasheed...
In 2003, Ken '85 and Kathy Kemper '84 were happily serving as missionaries in Tanzania, Africa. “We viewed mission work as our life’s calling. It was very fulfilling,” President Kemper says. “We raised our kids in Africa, and my youngest daughter is still in...
YOUNG ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR Kyle Vegh Assistant Professor Kyle Vegh ’15 says he loves his role as a “small piece of that growth mechanism which is Grace Christian University.” But in addition to seeing students grow, Kyle sees immense growth in himself...
Rebekah Shyne dreamed about an innovative walk-in center for mental health care, serving middle school students. A few years ago, she thought her proposal was going nowhere, but then came COVID-19 and a new awareness of student needs. A friend contacted Rebekah and...
I didn't see myself becoming a nurse," Gretchen Johnson ’01 says, explaining how she graduated with a Human Services degree. “And I thought my trajectory was into social work.” But her job at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services drew her into “the healing...
"They told me to ask if it was an open fist or a closed fist, and ‘Was it his left hand or his right hand?’” Merly Velasquez-Ortiz ’23 says. “I would have never thought to ask those questions.” At work, Merly sits behind bulletproof glass, wearing a shirt and a tie...
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