President Arend Lubbers presented the Award of Merit to Revs. John DeBoer and Tim Custer in a recent ceremony honoring the two men for their longstanding commitment to GVSU's Campus Ministry.
My heart is overflowing right now with thanksgiving for the Campus Ministry at Grand Valley State University, Lubbers said at the ceremony. This is really a day for us to celebrate.
Between them, DeBoer and Custer ¿ known to students simply as John and Tim ¿ have spent one-third of a century ministering to the spiritual needs of young adults ¿ and it's been a pleasure, they say.
They're a great group to work with. I can't say enough good things about students, said DeBoer, whose definition of GVSU is God Values Students Unconditionally.
Custer, who left the Campus Ministry last year, said that he's glad to see it continue to grow and thrive around faith, hope and love. The energy and joy and faith of the students is a very special thing, he said.
Both men thanked their wives, Sherry DeBoer and Karen Custer, for their enthusiastic support, including sometimes playing host to more than 100 students for mini-retreats at their homes.
DeBoer, of Muskegon, has been a member of the GVSU Campus Ministry since 1979. He graduated from Calvin Seminary and was ordained as a Christian Reformed minister in 1972. He has since earned a master's in Social Work at GVSU.
Custer was a campus minister at Grand Valley from 1989-2000. A graduate of Hope College, he received his master's in Divinity in 1986 from Western Theological Seminary in Holland. He is now pastor of Faith Reformed Church in Zeeland.
In honoring the two ministers, the ceremony also celebrates the success of Campus Ministry at GVSU. Custer remembers that when he came to Grand Valley, less than 50 students attended the Sunday worship service. Now, 250-450 students attend the two interdenominational services held every Sunday, and upwards of 500 participate in a high-energy, two-hour monthly Campus Praise Rally. There's also a well-attended large-group Bible study group every Wednesday night.
I think this university is special in its Campus Ministry, Lubbers said. I don't think you can go to many campuses and find such an effective, pervasive and far-reaching ministry as we have here at our university.
The Campus Ministry operates as a separate entity from the university, funded through area churches and private donations. Any monies left over are used to help fund student programs such as Spring Break mission trips.
The ministry's role is not to proselytize, said DeBoer, but to water those religious roots that students bring with them, and to foster a caring campus community in which students feel they can worship, explore their faith or just talk and make friends. It's not a ministry for the students, it's a ministry with the students, he said.
At the ceremony, students performed some musical numbers, saying thank you to the ministers.
As I've said many times before, life sure is good. God is good, DeBoer said. I'm just here to say dreams do come true.
