Silent Servants
and make a big difference in people's lives
This article is part three of a three-part series featuring Biola's new vision document. The last issue explored the vision's second core value, transformation. This issue focuses on testimony, the vision's third core value. For this issue, Biola Connections talked to five silent servants who are making an immeasurable difference in people's lives.
Matt Biggs (’87, Business) pours his life into homeless kids
When Matt Biggs began visiting an Ontario, Calif., hotel where homeless families lived, he was shocked. More than once did he walk into a room where there was drug abuse or sexual activity occurring right before the eyes of a young child. This broke Matt's heart. These "hotel kids" were fatherless and, unless someone intervened, they would end up in jail or on the streets, just like their parents. So he decided to do something about it. "
I felt the Lord saying, 'You're saving these kids from being murderers and gangsters. That's where these guys are headed if you give up on them,'" Matt said.
That was three years ago. Along the way, something happened that would change his life. After serving a year with a hotel ministry, Matt decided to branch out on his own when, one day, a boy named David said he wanted to go to church with him. So Matt took David and, the next week, he took David's siblings. In a couple of months, almost all of the kids in the hotel were going to church with Matt.
After church, Matt would take the kids to lunch or a movie. He threw Christmas parties for them and visited and prayed with those kids from the hotel who were now on the streets. Matt's church, Granite Creek Community Church in Claremont, Calif., bought him a bus and gave him some money to support his ministry. He soon had 30 to 35 kids attending church each week.
Then he lost his job as a college basketball coach. His school decided to discontinue its basketball program.
For the next two summers, Matt took the kids to his parents' home in Grass Valley, Calif., to experience the outdoors and do community service. He also took them to visit elderly people and do yard work for church members.
"The kids have come to see me as a father-figure," said Matt, who is single and has no children of his own. As a result of his dedication, many of the kids have come to know their Heavenly Father and some have even been baptized.
Matt hasn't sought another job. Instead, he sensed that God was telling him to serve others full time. So, for the past two years, Matt has taken an unusual path, serving people in his church and community - wherever he sees a need - and trusting God to provide financially.
"Everywhere I go," Matt said, "I see more hotels and think, 'If we were just able to get a bus here, we could fill it up with kids.'"
Heather Kooiman (’95, English, ’00 Intercultural Studies) broadens horizons of inner-city teens
Coming from a long line of missionaries, Heather Kooiman had always planned on going overseas. But, while a student at Biola, a chapel speaker said something that caused Heather to consider the mission field in her own backyard.
He said, "If you feel the call to missions, but aren't led to a specific country, then look around and see where there's a need."
Heather couldn't think of a greater need than the inner city schools. As part of her teacher credential program at Biola, she had visited an inner-city school in Los Angeles, Calif. So, after graduation, she became a high school English teacher at Jordan High School in Watts, where the drop-out rate is 78 percent. She's been there nine years.
It's "horrible, but wonderful," Heather said of being an inner-city teacher.
She said it's horrible because of the condition of the inner-city schools.
"Our test scores are some of the lowest in Los Angeles, and the desks are falling apart," Heather said. "The school looks like a prison, and we have lockdowns about twice a month because somebody is running around with a gun."
But Heather said her job is wonderful because it's rewarding. She teaches advanced English in a special program where she has the same students for three years. So she really gets to know them and their families.
Since many of the students have never been outside the six-block area of Watts, she takes them on about 12 field trips a year. She's had the privilege of showing kids the ocean for the first time, even though they live only 10 miles away. She also takes them on camping trips with a club called "California Explorers." For the past two years, Heather's taken her students to Europe, where they've experienced the culture and history of Greece, Italy, France and Austria.
"They're so closed in and depressed by their whole situation. Getting them outside in the world opens up their whole worldview," Heather said.
But the thing Heather loves most is sharing her passion for the arts with them. She takes them to Shakespeare plays, art museums and -- her favorite -- the opera. She's even established a relationship with the L.A. Opera. Each May, professional singers come to her classroom and help the students put on a real opera.
"Besides Jesus Christ, who I'm offering them all the time, education is their way out of poverty and violence," Heather said. Many of her students now attend top colleges. This past New Year's Day, one of her former students, a boy who is now attending UC Berkeley, called to thank her for investing in him. Last year, a female student wrote her a note saying, "This class is like a breath of fresh air."
Heather also supervises the student teachers at Biola and encourages them to consider teaching in the inner city. "I hope more qualified teachers will take it upon themselves to reach those kids because they are so easily reached if there is a caring person who loves God and loves them," Heather said.
Jean Lash (’87, Business) gives hope to children with autism
Jean Lash's first son, Peter, was 3 1/2 years-old when he was diagnosed with autism in 1996. The doctors told Jean and her husband, Dale, that Peter would never live on his own, get married, or lead a normal life.
The Lashes were devastated. "Once you go to several doctors and realize they don't have anything to offer you, it was like 'What do we do now?'" Jean said.
Feeling helpless and alone, Jean and her husband prayed to God for a miracle. Jean was especially distraught as she and her husband had just welcomed the birth of their daughter only months before. How was she to care for a new baby and a 3 1/2 year-old son with autism? So Jean did what any good mother would. She went on a campaign to save her child.
Jean started sending away for any information she could find on autism. But God already had an answer. The Lashes received some information that claimed this disease could be caused by things doctors didn't usually look for, like allergies or yeast growing inside the stomach. Following this advice, one of the Lash's first steps was to take Peter off dairy and gluten (an ingredient found in wheat, oat, barley and rye).
By the third day, Peter began to talk for the first time.
"All of a sudden he was there," Jean said. "He started to become engaged and give us eye contact. I saw a normal kid for a second."
That began his road to recovery. Although Peter was 3 1/ 2, he had the mental development of an 11-month-old baby. He didn't even know what anything was called. But -- with the help of speech and occupational therapy -- he was learning at lightning speed. The Lashes set a goal to get him caught up within two years.
Through constant prayer and dedication, they reached that goal. By the time Peter was 5 1/ 2, he was ready to enter school with other kids his age.
The Lashes received a letter from their neurologist saying, "It's amazing. This is the same boy I said would never be normal, and he is." Today, at 11 years old, Peter is a completely healthy boy, working at grade level and playing sports.
"When someone sees my son week after week, and says, 'I would have never known,' that makes me feel really good," Jean said.
After his recovery, Jean wanted to help other families of children with autism. With four children of her own, now, and a fifth on the way, it wasn't easy. She wrote a booklet and offered it for free on the Internet. When the expense started becoming too much, someone suggested she write a book.
She completed her book last year and sells it on her Web site (www.recoveryfrompdd.com). When contacted by people who can't afford the book, she gives them free advice through e-mail. Her kitchen wall is covered with letters and photos from families whose children have fully recovered -- or are recovering -- from autism. But her desire is to reach even more families with this information.
"There are a lot of children right now in institutions all over the country who don't have to be there," Jean said. "A lot of parents lie awake at night after they get their diagnosis, like we did, thinking, 'What do I do?' So they get on the Internet, and that's how I've reached a lot of people."
Brenda Wyma (’83, Liberal Studies) faithfully serves her church
When people think of effective church ministry, they often think of mega-churches like Willow Creek and Saddleback, with their large facilities and multi-million dollar budgets. But most churches in America are small, like South Hill Christian in Puyallup, Wash. They don't have large buildings or big budgets. But what they lack in size, they make up for in big hearts, like the one in children's ministries director Brenda Wyma.
Anyone who has experienced children's ministry knows it's not glamorous work. Often it can be a frustrating job, trying to recruit adult volunteers and build continuity in a program when children's attendance is hit-or-miss. But, for the past eight and a half years, Brenda has faithfully served as the children's ministries director at South Hill. And, for all her work, she has only one goal in mind.
"I want the children to have a strong foundation in God's Word," Brenda said.
Brenda is one of those behind-the-scenes people who provide the engine to today's church. A stay-at-home mom, Brenda decided to take on this part-time position when her church needed someone to bring structure to the children's program, which serves children from infants to age 12. Brenda jumped in with both feet and now recruits and trains childcare volunteers and teachers for 75 students.
"I want the teachers to be quality people who have a rich spiritual life and dynamic faith to share with the kids," she said. "That's more important than following the curriculum to a tee."
Despite having to take a reduced salary and hours, due to a church budget crisis, Brenda is dedicated to the children and sees them as her mission field. She's even starting an after school program for unchurched children from the elementary school across the street.
"We hope to give them something to do that is meaningful, introduce them to the gospel and make them feel that people at the church care about them," Brenda said.
Hubert Sylvester (’47, Bible) and Katharine (Rogalsky) Sylvester (’46, Nursing) open their hearts and their home to those in need
Hubert and Katharine Sylvester met at Biola in 1944 during a prayer meeting for students interested in becoming missionaries to India. From there, things seemed to fall into place. They fell in love, married after graduation, and started a family. Their calling was to be missionaries to India. Or so they thought.
God has a way of telling people no. All the doors to India seemed to close for Hubert and Katharine. So Hubert attended seminary, and Katharine studied nursing. After finishing their studies, they worked as missionaries among Navajo Indians in New Mexico. But six months later, the doors to missionary work closed again. Out of necessity, Hubert took a job as an appliance salesman for Sears, and Katharine went to work as a nurse. But they never gave up on their calling to be missionaries.
For 35 years, while raising three children and continuing their careers, the Sylvesters have held weekly Bible studies in their home. Although it was a far cry from India, they found small groups to be one of the best means of reaching into people's lives.
"People can hide in a church, but they can't hide in a small group," Hubert said. "When they're in a small group, they really come alive."
Even when they relocated several times within California and, eventually, to Washington, Hubert and Katharine faithfully opened their home to visitors. Sometimes they played cards and board games with new friends. Other times they counseled couples with troubled marriages. They were even visited by the sister of the Dali Lama, who was staying with a missionary friend. No matter who it is, their door is always open.
"Anyone can come in at anytime," Katharine said. "I never worry about dust because I don't want to think, 'Oh my house isn't clean. I can't have them come in.' It's a safe place for people to share their walk with the Lord, their defeats and pray together."
Although they don't have stories of far away places and mass conversions, they do have a story of how two people, for decades, have created a ministry that has helped hundreds of people heal their marriages, restore their faith and accept the Lord.
Hubert is now 77, Katharine is 78, and they've been married 54 years. And they're still going strong. Currently, Hubert is leading approximately 10 adults in a study of The Purpose-Driven Life through their church, Northview Bible Church of Spokane. They also attend Bible conferences and read Christian books so they will be better prepared to minister to other people and so they can -- in Katharine's words -- "keep our own lives up to snuff."
Biola University's vision is to be an exemplary Christian university characterized as a community of grace that promotes and inspires personal life transformation in Christ, which illuminates the world with His light and truth. Further, as a global center for Christian thought and an influential evangelical voice that addresses crucial cultural issues, Biola University aspires to lead, with confidence and compassion, an intellectual and spiritual renewal that advances the purpose of Christ.
© Biola University 2005