Fa i t hFa i t hFa i t h ofofof

A u t u m n 2 0 1 2

Experience God’s Word Express God’s Love Equip God’s People

P e o p lP e o p lP e o p l eee

Thanks to Brad Miedema for “Beyond the Bend”, his painting of Salt Creek in October, 2011.

The Newsletter of Faith Christian Reformed Church

Sitting in the Stands or Playing on the Field? It’s fall as the beautiful piece of art on this page shows us. A new church season is well underway! On a recent Sunday evening after worship, a man and his son were standing near the door. A couple of different people came up to me: “he wants to talk to the pastor.” I said “ok” and worked on finishing my conversation. A minute later a couple more people said, “that man over there wants to talk to the pastor.” I said again “ok” and tried to wrap up my conversation. I didn’t rush over immediately because 1) it would be rude to the people I was talking with and 2) I was curious: would the people of Faith need a pastor to talk to the man or would someone step up and reach out? Sure enough, as I expected (hoped!), someone soon reached out. This is how it should be in the church. Ephesians 4:11, 12 says “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” (ESV) Here’s what that means in the church: Everybody is a player. Everybody is on the field. That would be chaos in football, but it’s the exact picture of a beautifully healthy church. Church is NOT like a big football game with just the pastors, staff, elders, and deacons on the field. It shouldn’t be that the rest of the people watch while they get dirty, run plays, score touchdowns, make tackles.

Throughout America there are churches where people come to worship on Sundays and watch from their pew. Where people heckle from the stands occasionally because they don’t like a particular player on the field. Where people try another stadium because they like color of the uniforms there better. But that’s not the church as the Bible describes it. The church = the people, as we talked about recently. The church is you! That means each one of us is a player. Faith CRC couldn’t have edifying times of worship twice a Sunday, vibrant ministries, and new guests attending, if everyone was sitting in the stands. Praise God, we have hundreds of players on the field giving it their all by attending worship with expectation, filling needs when they are made known, starting new ministries, keeping existing ministries fresh, praying fervently, faithfully giving to support the work of the church. Keep playing hard, people of Faith! The game—the work of Christ’s church—continues until Jesus returns. And if you’re in the stands, get down on the field. Do whatever God has gifted you to be able to do. With God’s help, our church will achieve great things, with everyone down on the field. I want to thank all the players on the field at Faith CRC because without you, the church doesn’t work. It can’t work. That’s how God designed it. The church = people. The church is you! You’re a player at Faith CRC. Pastor Greg Schuringa

Programs and Opportunities Page 2 & 3 Members Page 3 Fundraising, Deacons’ Corner Page 4

Reports: Philadelphia Trip Page 4 Synod 2012 Page 5 Tapestries of Life Page 5 Stories: Our Veterans Page 6

This Newsletter provides the Faith CRC congregation information about our ministry, events, and people, while honoring our Lord Jesus Christ. People of Faith is published 6x/yr. by Faith CRC, 1070 S. Prospect Ave., Elmhurst IL 60126. (ed.- kjgreenfield@sbcglobal.net) Sr. Pastor – Dr. Gregory D. Schuringa – 630/279-1779 Church Office – 630/279-1776 Fax – 630/834-5748 www.faithelmhurst.org

A New Ministry for Young Moms at Faith

Mom2Mom, a new ministry started at Faith CRC this fall, is designed

for mothers with very young children. The goal is to provide fellowship,

encouragement, and nurturing for young moms. A vital part of this

ministry is the fantastic group of Mentor Moms who encourage, pray for,

teach, and support the younger women. The first Mom2Mom meeting,

held in the fellowship hall from 9 to 11, Thursday, September 6,

surpassed all of our expectations. The theme was Make One, Take One,

with Jan De Boer speaking about hospitality. All of the moms made a

meal to take home to their families and one to share. There was plenty of

time to enjoy good food and conversation around tables creatively deco-

rated by Charis Engel. We ended with small group prayer, led by the

Mentor Moms. We started off our year with 17 young moms and 10

Mentor Moms, and we welcome new moms to join at any time through-

out the year. Excellent childcare is provided in our nurseries.

Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll be doing at Mom2Mom this year:

September 6 Make One - Take One

Jan DeBoer, director of Apples of Gold at Faith, will teach on the topic of

hospitality. We’ll meet in the kitchen to make a meal to take home, and

one to share.

October 18 Mom Talk

We’ll share the joys and challenges of adjusting to life as a new mom,

and discuss parenting questions and issues with a seasoned panel of our

Mentor Moms.

November 8 Tis The Season

Design on a Dime with Jodi DeMaster. We’ll make a handmade gift to

give away.

December 20 What’s For Dinner?

Meal planning and grocery shopping tips with creative and organized

mom and teacher, Joy Hoving.

February 7 To Love, Honor & Cherish

We’ll talk about loving our husbands and watch a DVD by Dr. Gary

Chapman, best-selling author of The 5 Love Languages.

March 7 Sustainable Systems

Home Organization Q & A with professional organizer, Amber Cussen.

April 4 What R U Reading?

We’ll share our favorite children’s books, devotionals, novels and book

club ideas.

May 2 How Does Your Garden Grow?

Container Gardening with Master Gardener, Judy de Vries.

–Sarah Schuringa

The Fellowship

This year we are exploring new territory for young adult ministries in our

church. The goal is to have a two-sided approach. The first side is small

groups. These are groups where we can get to know other Faith CRC

young adults on a deeper level as well as dig into ideas about faith, God,

and living the Christian life. The second side of our approach is going to

be “The Fellowship” nights. The vision for these nights is to have a few

times throughout the year that any young adult can attend (whether they

are in a small group or not) and enjoy the company of other young adults.

Whether someone would come to every fellowship night or are only able

to come to one, by having these nights we are working to

engage more people who may simply be too busy to take part in small

groups. It is also a chance to get the various small groups together in one

space as we work to build community through the whole group of people

in this age range. –Bryce Vander Stelt

GEMS Under New Leadership

After 30 years, 28 as head counselor, Karen Folkerts has

retired from her position as head counselor of our GEMS

Girls Club at Faith CRC. After much thought and prayer,

and with a few tears, Karen announced her decision at our

end-of-the-year GEMS leader’s wrap-up dinner. Our team

of counselors has been talking about this for several years,

wondering what in the world we’d do when Karen decided

she was done. Karen has been the heart and soul of this

ministry for so long; she has a wonderful mix of creative

and organizational gifts, plus love and patience for the

girls and counselors. Who could ever be

organized yet laid back enough to fill Karen’s shoes? She

assured us she felt our club was in a solid place with great

leaders; she was confident we would be fine without her.

She agreed to be available to help as much as needed with

the transition . We knew this day was coming, but it’s al-

ways hard to say goodbye. Thankfully, we did not have to

flounder for very long, as Diana De Boer felt led to take up

this new leadership position along with Flory Hoving as co

-coordinator. The new GEMS year is up and running

smoothly under our new leadership, and we are thankful

for God’s provision of our new head counselors. And to

Karen Folkerts, we say, “Thank you for giving of your

time, talents, heart and soul, to the GEMS ministry at Faith

CRC. Hundreds of girls and women have been blessed

under your leadership!”

–Sarah Schuringa

Small Groups

It's that time of year again! Small groups are being formed

and will be off and running quite soon! This year we have

two new groups: Visionary Parenting small group and a

Sermon-Based small group. The Visionary Parenting

small group will meet for 8 weeks and watch a DVD to

discuss afterwards. There is no study or prep work, and

it's a great opportunity to meet other parents who also want

to raise God-fearing children. A description of this new

small group has been placed in parent’s mailboxes. The

Sermon-based small group will meet to dive deeper into

the sermons preached at Faith. The only prep work is to

make sure to hear the sermon either at church on

Sunday or on-line. It's a great group for anyone, and you

can join (or take a break from) the group at the beginning

(or end) of any new sermon series. We also have small

groups that have been meeting in the past that have room

for growth, so if you are interested in the new small groups

being formed, or questions about current groups, please

feel free to contact Jen David (630.530.1625) or Greg

Lanenga (708.562.6697).

–Jen David

Programs and Opportunities

Page 2

Library News

The Library Committee would like to thank everyone

who stopped at the Faith Library table during the Faith

Ministry Fair and dropped off their survey. We are re-

viewing the information that we have received. If any-

one wants to complete a survey, there are surveys at the

information table in the narthex. Please drop them off

in the library.

We are in the process of selecting new books for the

library. If anyone has a book, DVD or CD suggestion,

please let the library committee know. When we re-

ceive new books, we plan to showcase several with

reviews here in the People of Faith Newsletter. Plans

are also in place to have new books showcased in a

special area in the library. We also want to mention

that a member of the congregation has donated the

entire Bible on CD. Over the next few weeks CDs will

be made available for the congregation to check out of

the library.

The library has many good reads for all ages. Come

by and browse around.

Chuck Slinkman for The Library Committee

Adeline Frank, daughter of Dylan

and Emily Frank, was born April 8,

2012. She was baptized on July 22,

2012. Her grandparents are Robert

and Sandy Frank and John and

Cindy Tazelaar. Her great-parents

are Marian Boersema, Earl and

Maureen Frank and Ray and Gert

Tazelaar. Dylan, Emily and Adeline

currently reside in Bolingbrook and

enjoy long walks in the park with their dog Hamilton on crisp fall days.

Dylan and Emily say “We are extremely grateful to have Adeline in our

lives and look forward to raising her according to the Bible and watching

her grow in life and in faith.”

Spencer Anderson publicly professed his

faith and was welcomed to Faith CRC

membership on July 29. He is married to

Rebecca Vander Naald; the couple lives at

260 Sunset Ave., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137.

Spencer is currently in his last semester at

Wheaton College and will graduate in

December. Rebecca is currently working

for Sterling Kilgore, which is a PR firm in

Downers Grove. Spencer and Rebecca met

while attending Timothy Christian High School and started dating as

Juniors.

Spencer says “What made me want to profess my faith publicly is my

conviction that I needed to become part of a church community, that

there was no better place to do this than at Faith CRC. Regularly attend-

ing Faith for the past several years, I have seen how the people interact

with each other inside and outside of church to promote Christ’s King-

dom. To continue my growth with the Lord, I needed to experience

God’s word on a weekly basis not only by myself, but with a community

of believers. By doing this I would be able to express God’s love to oth-

ers; thus equipping myself to serve God, to better promote Christ and His

Kingdom.”

On September 2, Jonathan and April

Kieft were welcomed with their children,

Ryker and Kiley, to membership in Faith

Christian Reformed Church. Jon and April

publicly professed their faith, and April,

Ryker and Kiley were baptized. Ryker was

born August 30, 2009, and Kiley August

26, 2011. Jonathan’s parents are John and

Barb Kieft of Bethany, IL. April is from

Colorado and came to Illinois in 1999. The

couple previously attended Harvest Bible

Chapel in Illinois.

Jonathan works at American Precision Casting & ABC Hammers;

April loves being a stay-at-home mom, formerly worked as a hair stylist.

The family lives at 1014 Portsmouth Ave., Westchester, IL.

They say, “We have so many family and friends at Faith, every time we

attend it feels like a family affair; we know this is where God want us to

grow our faith and family.

Boot Camp News

This fitness class for men and women began meeting

on Monday, September 10. Leader Rachel Baron,

a certified boot camp instructor with 5-years of

experience at the YMCA, reports on the camp:

We currently have about 26 participants ranging in

age from 22 – 60. We work out in the parking lot

behind church from 5:30 – 6:30 AM (on Mondays

and Thursdays). We do a variety of exercises and no

workout is the same. I like to keep people guessing

and challenge them to do exercises they might not

have thought they were able to. We have a wide

range of abilities, but with modifications everyone

can enjoy a similar workout. It’s great to be a part of

a group because it can be more motivating to get up

in the morning and get moving if you know others

are there expecting you. We have participants from

other churches as well, and we welcome any addi-

tions. The bootcamp is an eight week session ending

November 1st, and we will gauge interest in further

sessions after that.

Programs and Opportunities,

continued

Member News

Page 3

Deacons’ Corner--Beginning the School Year with an Education Focus After saying goodbye to summer and welcoming autumn, a new school year begins for students around the country. At the same time, the deacons begin work on a new year of funding educational commitments for the church and our community. The offering committee has scheduled a number of offerings for local Christian schools. Additionally, we have promised $80,603 for the 2012/2013 Timothy Assistance Fund (TAF) and an additional $11,350 via the Faith Education fund. The Education fund supports both additional Timothy needs (where financial situations require higher assistance) and financial needs at other Christian schools. Having already held our first fund raiser for the TAF, we thank God for what turned out to be a beautiful day of golf at Maple Meadows, following a brisk beginning. We appreciate the participants, the sponsors, and the planning from Len Turnbull and Ryan VanderNaald, as the event raised over $6,000 (after costs). We covet your support of these funds and ask for a focus of your available tithe, after meeting your budgetary commit-ment, for these causes. We look forward to beginning the effort of touch-ing base with folks in our districts, in order to say hello, to make ourselves available to answer questions, and to assist with any needs. In Christ --Justin Hoogendoorn for the Deacons

Wednesday we went to Simple Cycle, a bicycle shop in the neighborhood. The campers are taught how to fix bikes, and if they train enough hours, they get a free bicycle. In the afternoon, we rode 3 miles to a museum on Simple Cycle bikes with the

kids. We learned a lot about fixing our own bikes!

Thursday morning, we went to the movie Smurfs at a local theater for free. There were hundreds of kids there; it was one of the loudest movies ever! The kids loved it. In the afternoon we went to St. John’s Homeless shelter to deliver snacks with the boys. Seeing the facility was really meaningful. It was a great week of service and getting to know church mem-bers who served us meals and the boys attending the summer camp. Our group grew very close with each other, and we learned so much about appreciating God’s work from the kids. We all had a great time! Kendall Evenhouse, Bonnie Van Dyk, Kaitlyn Tobin, Meagan Evenhouse, Anna Burch, and Megan Nicodem were the serve team members and collaborated on this article.

This summer we had the opportunity to serve Grace and Peace Fellowship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During the month of July the church puts on a summer camp for middle

school students (this summer there were 14―all boys). Each

week a different church comes to help Grace and Peace run the programs. Our group was able to help the last week of camp. Each day had different activities. The first full day there was a Sunday. We joined the church in worship that morning, and then a church member gave a tour of downtown Philadelphia. One of the biggest highlights was

seeing the Liberty Bell. On Monday we tutored the kids in English and math. As we were talking with them about perimeter, it was fun to try and explain the equations that they needed to get the answer. By the end of class some of our students said it was the first time they understood how to do some of these things– it was neat to

help them understand a new skill. Tuesday we went to Lake Side school--a very nice school with both a private outdoor pool and a very nice basketball court. The school allows the church to use these facilities for free through-out the summer. Clearly the kids loved using this space–more private and spacious than the city park.

Report: Philadelphia Serve Trip

Would you like to help the church to pay its obligation to Timo-

thy or help children or grandchildren (current or future) to pay

their tuition? You can, with very little work on your part.

Timothy has a program that enables you to buy gift cards to use

in your everyday purchases with a percentage of the gift card’s

value going to reduce the cost of tuition for whichever account

you choose. TRIP (Tuition Reduction Incentive Program) buys

gift cards in bulk, at a discount, sells them at face value and ap-

plies the discount to personal tuition accounts or church ac-

counts. The program runs bi-weekly and includes walk-ins

where you can stop at Timothy and pick up whatever cards you

need for that week’s shopping.

There is a wide selection of cards including Jewel, Dominick’s,

Ultra, Shell, Exxon, Speedway, Olive Garden, Outback, Wendy’s,

Applebee’s, Dunkin Donut’s, Penney’s, Carson’s, Old Navy, Ace

Hardware, Target, Walmart and many others. It’s simple to regis-

ter and use the program and is an easy way to help with our

church’s obligation to Timothy. The program can be used by indi-

vidual families or church committees. If you are interested in the

program, and would like more information or to register, I would

love to talk to you about it. Please contact Linda Van Dyk by

phone (630-279-3321) or e-mail Linda.vandyk@comcast.net

The 2012 Faith Golf Outing was again a great success.

The outing, held on Saturday, September 22 at Maple

Meadows Golf Club in Wood Dale, benefited Faith's

Timothy Tuition Assistance Fund. Morning clouds and

rain gave way to a beautiful, crisp and breezy fall after-

noon for over 50 golfers, with a low score of 12 under

par. Awards went to Brent Van Dyke for Closest to the

Pin, Matt Loerop for Longest Drive, Flo Tazelaar for

Shortest Drive and Gary Vander Naald for Longest Putt.

A post-round meal of pastas, chicken and burgers was

enjoyed and the event culminated in a talk by Brad

Mitchell, Timothy's new High School Principal, thank-

ing us for our support and sharing his vision for Timothy

and its role in our community. A big THANK YOU! to

all the sponsors who graciously donated time, money

and prizes. Thanks to all who attended the outing this

year; we hope to see you all again in 2013!

–Ryan Vander Naald

TRIP: Tuit ion Reduction Incentive Program

Fundraising

Page 4

The footings have been poured, the first course of block is being put down, the plumbing is all in underground, and the floor is being poured in October! The dorm itself is already being fitted with beds and needs only a small amount of work to be finished as well. We are about $1 million away from the day we have been praying for! Why don’t we open now and finish up over time? Because once we move over 300 children into this building and hire a staff to care for them, feed them, and educate them, we will need all our resources just to support the children! Meanwhile, we will continue providing jobs and hope for a starving community and building a home for the fatherless, as God has instructed us to do. We are thankful and proud that Faith CRC has not run away from the calling to this ministry. We are thankful to God for giving us the ability and protection to press on to the final goal of providing a home tor the fatherless! --Greg Lanenga

There is always great work being done at Tapestries of Life Ministries in Mexico. Hard times and dangerous conditions have definitely slowed down the completion of the orphanage project but lives are constantly being claimed for God in Cassetta and Guadeloupe, Mexico–little border towns that have been a battle ground for the drug dealers over the last 4-5 years. Those of us seeing the changes over the years can testify that the towns have been reduced to about 10% of the population and about 10% of the businesses of 5 years ago. People have left, been murdered, or have just run away from the “war zone” of the drug cartels. Those remaining are mostly without work and in a very hopeless situation. The towns are a jumble of homes that are mostly empty, abandoned or burned to the ground. Needless to say, the number of groups bringing funding and labor to the building project has dwindled from about 30-40 groups a year to about 5-10. Nevertheless, there is a handful of faithful groups still working, funding, and bringing hope to this community, doing it all to the Glory of God. In spite of the oppression, Tapestries of Life Ministries still employs many local people and slowly continues to complete the orphanage. At this

time, the building project that at normal cost would be worth about $7.5 million, is 90% finished after 15 years of volunteer work, a minimum amount of professional work, and about $2.2 million of donated money and supplies. Sounds like good stewardship to me! Along with that, the ministry of mercy is always supplying medical care, financial assistance, housing upkeep, and thousands of meals a year to a community desperate for peace and hope. Quinn and Lisa Seaman are full time missionaries for this ministry along with Pastor Steve Brewer and his staff. Quinn and Lisa sold their home in northern Wisconsin, sold Quinn’s construction business, and moved to a small apartment above the property Tapestries of Life owns in Fabens, Texas. They are committed to stay until the orphanage opens. Now in the final stages of construction, the cafeteria is the last

building needed before opening the orphanage!

September, 2012: Update on the Mission work at “Tapestries of Life Ministries” in Guadaloupe Mexico

Cafeteria footings

Dorm room with a Noah’s Ark Theme

Synod 2012 met in early June in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada.

I had the opportunity to attend Synod along with my daughter

Kyla Smits who is now a sophomore at Colorado School of

Mines in Golden, CO. Kyla was one of 7 youth delegates

chosen from a pool of about 40 applicants from all over the

United States and Canada.

There were several contentious items on the agenda including

the Belhar Confession and the Statement on Global Warming.

When I first received my packet of information, I was a little

overwhelmed at the volume of information that I needed to

read through prior to Synod (over 600 pages, including a large

number of Overtures to Synod on the Belhar Confession).

The Belhar Confession came out of the Reformed Churches

in South Africa as they wrestled with the consequences of

several hundred years of apartheid and racism. The Belhar was

written to address the need for racial reconciliation and unity

within the church. During discussions at Synod, a significant

concern was that the Belhar as written does not meet the same

standards as the CRC’s current confessions. Discussions were

often intense and it was not likely that a yes or no vote would

be well received. Ultimately Synod created a new category for

the Belhar– “Ecumenical Faith Declaration– but did not award

it the status of a confession.

The other controversial item on the agenda was the issue of

global warming. Kyla was interested in this because of her

focus on science and geology at college. Two questions raised

regarding the proposed statement were: “Is human activity truly

having a significant impact on global warming?” and “Is it the

church’s place to issue an official statement on a politically

charged issue such as this?

Not surprisingly, as a first time delegate with my job experi-

ence, I was assigned to serve on the financial committee. Our

committee was responsible for reviewing the budgets of all of

the CRC organizations and Calvin College and establishing the

level of ministry shares for the denomination.

Kyla served on the education committee, charged with

reviewing the pastoral candidates, the new president of Calvin

College, and a new professor at Calvin Theological Seminary.

We both enjoyed the trip and the experience. We were able to

take a quick side trip to Niagara Falls on Sunday afternoon for

Kyla to see this wonderful part of God’s creation. (I may have

seen it 50 times as a kid growing up in Western New York;

when friends or relatives visited, that was the number one attrac-

tion.) Kyla and I both would like to attend Synod again if we

have the opportunity. --Scott Smits

S y n o d 2 0 1 2

Page 5

Bernie Lindemulder joined the navy when he was 17. He signed up with George Decker and served from 1944 to 1946. After boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Base, he got on the US Augusta a cou-ple of days after D-day. The Augusta was the flag ship of the At-lantic Fleet and transported the President and other important offi-cials (like Air Force 1 does today). It was the command center for the invasion of Normandy and also participated in the invasion of Italy and other campaigns around the Mediterranean.

President Truman liked to walk the deck for exercise and greet the sailors. Bernie got to shake his hand. On a Sunday while the men were on duty painting, President Truman interrupted his morn-ing walk to ask Bernie why he was working on Sunday. Bernie said they work every day. Truman said " We don't work on Sunday!" He walked away and a couple minutes later Bernie was relieved of duty and they never worked another Sunday while Truman was on the ship. Bernie also met General Patton and had a close-up view of Winston Churchill through a porthole. One day at lunch President Truman announced to the crew that the atom bomb had been dropped and the war would soon be over–they were the first to hear this news, and they all wondered “what kind of a bomb this could be”. When the war ended they were transporting troops home and went through a fierce hurricane. The ship almost rolled over, broke its rudders off,and had to go back to England for 6 months.

In April 1942, three months after he married Jeanette Vlistra, Elmer Wettour was drafted into the Army. He picked up his gear at Camp Grant near Rockford, IL, went through basic training at Ft. Bragg, N.C. and jungle warfare training in San Francisco, CA. His wife was able to be with him part of the time. Next he was sent to Hawaii where he joined others to board Troop Transports headed for the Marshall Islands. At this time the United States was conquering Japanese-held islands one at a time. Elmer was sent to the Island of Angar where he received training in Field

Meteorology. His specialty was figuring out the air speed and wind direction to ensure accuracy when the “big guns” were fired. After the stint on Angar, his troop was sent to the Philippine Islands,

where they stayed until the end of the war.

During Guard Duty in the Philippines, the men made six holes, large enough to accommodate five or six men. While in their holes, they communicated with each other at night by phone. As a Corporal, Elmer was in charge. Once one of his men suddenly fired a rifle because he thought he saw something crawling. It happened to be a wild pig. When he shot it, the Japanese all around them were so startled, thinking they were surrounded, that they quickly retreated. About a week after this the war was over and the Japanese returned to their homeland. The Americans had to accumulate points before they could go home. Elmer had collected his 185 points but still had to wait four months for space on a transport ship. On January 5, 1946 he finally arrived home where his wife and 2 ½ year old daughter, Evelyn Jean whom he’d not seen, were waiting for him. After the war Elmer found employment as a printer for Rand McNally. Later he and Jeanette were blessed with a son, Kenneth. The Lord called Jeanette home in May of 1989. In 1992, Elmer married Evelyn Decker Blauw (whose hus-

band, John, had been deceased for many years). --Reported by Evelyn Wettour and Written by Kathy De Vries

On August 22, 2012, Bernie participated in the Honor Flight. He left at 4AM for Midway Airport. He was assigned an escort who stayed with him all day, took pictures and recorded the day’s

events. They went to Washington DC and visited Arlington cemetery, and the war monuments (WW II, Korean, Viet Nam, Iwo Jima), and the Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln Monuments. They also went to the Smithsonian Air museum where they saw the Enola Gay and the space shuttle. On their arrival home at 9:30 PM there were hundreds of people greeting the flight of 96 soldiers at the airport. Friends and family lined a parade route cheering their return. Bernie shook many hands and received “at least a hundred letters” of appreciation. –reported by Jim Lindemulder

Bernie Lindemulder

Bernie Wiersum graduated from Chicago Christian High School in June of 1944, and in August, when he turned 18, he received his draft notice. He was sent to camps in Illinois and South Carolina, and was trained in the M-1 rifle, mortars, and bazookas. He took a Liberty ship on an 8-day trip across the Atlantic, feeling “queasy and uneasy”. The seasickness was combined with the fear of German submarines. While most of the soldiers on the ship played cards, Bernie read the Bible to a Texan who had never learned to read. After arriving in France as part of the 1st Division, or “Big Red One”, Bernie sat on the floor of a leaky train boxcar as he was transported to Munich, Germany. He took note of all the dam-age done across Germany by Allied bombers. Once he arrived in Munich, Bernie was told “tomorrow we’ll go to the front, so strip down to combat equipment.”

As he prepared to go into combat for the first time, he heard a loudspeaker announce “Surrender is imminent”. Hitler had killed himself, and Bernie saw a blessing of the Lord–he missed fighting by one day. That wasn’t the end of Bernie’s military experience, however. He spent the next 16 months in the Army of Occupation, much of the time guarding wine cellars. He was able to travel around Germany and Switzerland, and visited a German cavalry camp, where he rode horses to explore medieval castles. Bernie was eventually shipped home–he was only 20 years old. Bernie worked at a variety of jobs, but found one he loved in the mail service, where he spent 58 years. Bernie says, “The Lord led me all the way. He took care of yesterday, so I know he’ll take care of tomorrow.”

--Scott Roelofs

Bernie Wiersum’s World War II Experience

Stories of our Veterans: Elmer Wettour–World War II–1942-1946

Page 6