2009 Winners

Rev. A. C. Rhymes was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant, TX. He accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior when he was twelve years old. His father really motivated him to read the Word of God, taking time to show him how to use Bible references.

Rev. Rhymes feels blessed to have had two godly parents who loved him and taught him about Jesus. After both of Rev. Rhymes’ parents died while he was in his teens, he had to look to the Lord for guidance and comfort. He worked his way through school, earning undergraduate degrees from both Prairie A & M College and Moody Bible Institute as well as a Master’s degree in Guidance Counseling from Illinois State University.

Rev. Rhymes has never been married and has no children of his own, but he has spent a lifetime building into the lives of children. The bulk of his career was spent teaching in New Mexico, Chicago and Peoria. At the age of 77, he is now retired, but has spent the last several years working in a “friendship ministry” at Manual High School.

Working in partnership with Youth for Christ, Rev. Rhymes spends a great deal of his time sharing with young people the love, joy and peace that Jesus has given him. He leads a before-school chapel on Tuesday mornings. On Tuesdays and Fridays he spends lunch hours at the school talking with the students and passing out mints, gum, encouraging letters, hugs and smiles. He also is involved with YFC’s Monday night ministry. He feels that God has given him insight into the fact that children and young people are hurting because they lack fatherly and motherly love and guidance. As a result of his investment of time and loving attention, several students at Manual now look to him as their father/grandfather figure. Some have come to know Jesus Christ. Others have found a listening ear in times of crisis. Last August, due to Rev. Rhymes’ encouragement and help with fund-raising, nineteen Manual students were able to attend Youth for Christ’s summer camp.

Rev. Rhymes says that he has found “that the secret of joy and happiness is serving others.” He sums it up this way in one of his weekly letters to the students, “I find a real joy and satisfaction in sharing what God has given me with you and others—my love, my time, my education, my smiles, my hugs and my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Love Now Student Ministry at Manual High School * Youth for Christ * Sunday School Teacher * Chapel Leader: Tyng Elementary School

Family: Never been married * Currently: Retired from teaching * Church: Rising Sun Christian / New Jerusalem Baptist

Life Verses: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct Thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

Marlene credits the early upbringing she received from her parents with instilling in her how important it is for every follower of Christ to serve wherever needed. She accepted Christ as her personal Savior when she was a young child. Her parents (who planted the small church in Maryville, IL where she was nurtured in faith) were definitely her greatest influence as she watched them give themselves wholeheartedly in service to God and others. It comes as no surprise when Marlene says, “I consider it my responsibility and count it my joy to serve the children of His Body as I was so impacted by the nurturing of those He brought into my life as a child. My passion (which is a gift from Him) is for teaching children, encouraging them to commit their lives to His service at an early age and to be intentional about serving.”

Marlene’s passion for serving her Lord has affected not only those whom she serves but also those who work by her side. Some of the comments from her fellow laborers follow. “I have known Marlene for twenty-eight years and have never known a time when she did not stop everything in order to help someone in need. She has been... a source of inspiration to me throughout all of these many years.” “Marlene has been a leader in the most evident way—by example. She invites us to join her in the Lord’s work and helps us to see how to live in this world, but not be of this world.” “My family would not be involved in the serving that we do today if it wasn’t for Marlene. She helped us to know... to use the gifts and talents that God blessed you with to serve others around you.”

Marlene has spent a lifetime faithfully doing what the Lord has shown her to do and preparing to take the next step wherever He leads, knowing that He will always provide. She has said, “I am so blessed to be living out my heart’s desires. Because He continues to open new doors of service in which I feel ill-equipped, I am forced to lean on him for every need! May it ever be so!”

Foster Parent * Camp Good News Volunteer Staff * Grace Presbyterian Church: 1st Grade Sunday School Teacher / 3rd-4th Grade Children’s Church Teacher / Primary Choir Accompanist and Director / Pioneer Girl Leader / Watchman Prayer Ministry / Vacation Bible School Volunteer and Department Superintendent / Glen Oak School Good News Club Volunteer * Community Bible Study Children’s Teacher and Director of Children’s Ministry * Comeback Kids Camp Counselor and Director of Recruiting * Several Mission Trips * Many other gifts of service

Family: Married 28 years to Gary List, four children, one daughter-in-law, one son-in-law and five grandchildren * Currently: Busy serving others *

Church: Grace Presbyterian Church

Life Verse: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal. 2:20 NIV

Tom began his relationship with Christ partly as a result of his teenage passion for anything on wheels. He overheard two friends from Limestone High School discussing going go-carting and invited himself to go along without realizing that it was a church youth activity. That night he heard the gospel for the first time and made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. His new-found faith in Christ definitely made an impact on his life as, a few years later, he decided to attend Tennessee Temple University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and a Bachelor of Science degree in Religious Education. He subsequently received a Masters of Religious Education degree from Temple Baptist Theological Seminary and did some Doctoral studies at Temple Seminary. Tom came home to serve as School Principal of El Vista Baptist Academy, additionally teaching various grades as a full-time teacher. During the same period (1981-1995), he also served as Youth Pastor and then Assistant Pastor for El Vista Baptist Church. He began his ministry at Peoria Christian School in 1995, where he has taught Bible in both the Jr. and Sr. High, been Spiritual Life Director and served as High School Principal, the position he currently holds.

Tom believes that schools are central to our communities. He further believes that the great amount of time that Christian educators have with students gives them an “unmatched opportunity for spiritual formation in the lives of our students.” He continues, “These students will have opportunity to go places I will never go, to minister to people I will never know, in a time that I will never be.” Tom’s commitment to students is not just a career choice. Several former students and their parents have given testimony to the personal commitment to mentoring that Tom and his wife, Sarah, have demonstrated through the years. Tom, however, tends to focus on what he has received from his students rather than what he has given to them. Along with his wife, whom he considers to be his greatest spiritual influence, he lists his students. “I also have been challenged and renewed in my walk because of my contact with students at Peoria Christian. I see zeal for Christ in our students, and I am energized. I see the desire in their hearts to serve God, and I am challenged to make a difference. My contact with students has helped me to never be satisfied with status quo in my walk with God.”

El Vista Baptist Academy: Teacher and Principal * El Vista Baptist Church: Youth Pastor and Assistant Pastor * Peoria Christian School: Bible Teacher, Spiritual Life Director and High School Principal * Sunday School Teacher * Mentor

Family: Married 32 years to Sarah Schlich, four daughters, three sons-in-law and five grandchildren * Currently: High School Principal-PCS * Church: Bethany Baptist Church

Life Verse: ...yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. I Cor. 8:6

Laura accepted Christ as her Savior at Camp Beulah the summer before she entered 7th grade. Since then many things have influenced her relationship with God. One of the most recent and most defining was an accident. Last year, while participating in the triple jump at a track meet, she tore her ACL. During her subsequent surgery and six months of therapy, she learned to lean on God as she embraced Him and trusted Him to bring her through. Laura has learned from experience that our journey here isn’t always easy, so she really values the opportunity to be active in Bible studies where she and others can help each other along the way. She feels that service has definitely humbled her and made her realize how blessed she is.

Laura’s twin sister, Michelle, understood that God wanted to have an intimate relationship with her when she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior at twelve years old. She feels that she has been greatly influenced in her life by both of her parents as well as a former youth pastor. She has been encouraged to have a servant’s heart by watching them serve God and others. She has learned that giving of yourself opens your eyes to the needs of others and gets your focus off yourself. Her goal is to let the love that she has received overflow into others. After participating in a missions camp last summer, she has been led to reach out to foreign exchange students in the area. She feels that God has brought the world to her and is doing whatever she can to show these students from Germany, Japan, Poland and France how much God loves them.

FUMC Loaves and Fish Ministry * VBS leaders * FUMC Youth Leadership Committee * Liberian Mission Project – Youth Fund-raising Committee * Founders – Bible studies at Mark Bills Middle School and Richwoods High School * Student Life Mission Camp * World Changers Mission Camp * RHS Track Team * RHS Volleyball Team *RHS Cross Country Team (Michelle) * See You at the Pole * Operation Snowball * Compassion International Child Sponsor (Michelle)

Parents: Joel and Barb Carter * Age 18 * Currently: Richwoods High School * Future Plan: ICC * Church: First United Methodist Church (FUMC)

Life Verses: God – You’re my God! I can’t get enough of You! I’ve worked up such a hunger and thirst for God, traveling across dry and weary deserts. So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in your strength and glory. In Your generous love I am living at last. My lips brim praises like fountains; I bless You every time I take a breath; my arms wave like banners of praise to You! Psalm 63:1-4 The Message (Laura)

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31:8-9 NLT (Michelle)

Kelsey became a Christian when she was just seven years old, but feels that she didn’t really understand what that meant until she was fourteen. Although she was raised in a Christian home and had a steadfast faith, Kelsey’s trust in God was challenged when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She found herself questioning God and His place in her life. Now, however, Kelsey has a different perspective. She says, “Through this trial my faith in Him has been strengthened 100%. Now, I see Him working in every aspect of my life: school, friends, sports. And through all this, He has made me the person I am today.”

Kelsey has put her renewed faith in God to work serving others. She has noticed that all the leaders she admires are servants to others and, especially, to God. Their devotion to service has inspired her to have the desire to serve and to do it in a manner pleasing to God. She firmly believes “that actions are stronger than words” and would love her actions to make a difference in someone’s life.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes: Student Leader * Eureka High School See You at the Pole: Coordinator * Student Council * Jr. Class Officer * Volleyball Team Co-captain

Parents: Steve and Mary Holman * Age: 16 * Currently: Eureka High School * Future Plan: Undecided * Church: New Castle Bible Church

Life Verses: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NIV And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Col. 3:17 NIV

Brooke became a Christian in August of 2007 and has found that God has changed her desires and activities from those that were self-centered to those that serve others and further God’s kingdom. She credits her parents and her older sister, Brittany, with showing her how to live a Christ-like life and helping her to see the joyfulness and fulfillment that comes from serving God. Brooke participates in many different areas of service, but feels that her mission trips to Jamaica and Mexico have changed her most. She puts it this way, “Working with the children in the orphanage in Mexico has taught me the importance of contentment; the children have so little compared to me, but are so grateful and happy with what they have. The Jamaicans in the Deaf Village taught me the importance of having a passion for praising God; they have ‘deaf ears but hearing hearts,’ and their commitment to Christ through their hardships inspired me to a more active faith and zeal to serve God.”

Brooke’s love for children has led her to be involved with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program at Brimfield High School. She believes strongly in building relationships with others, whether it is with children who need a role model or peers in her youth group who encourage her to have a closer walk with Christ or the senior citizens who benefit from her visits at the nursing home. This is how she summarizes her motivation, “My service has made me realize how much God has blessed my life, and has taught me the importance of showing my thankfulness to Him by serving those around me. I want to use what He has given me to help others.”

Big Brothers/Big Sisters * Methodist Medical Center Volunteer * World Relief Volunteer * Church Choir * Church Youth Group * HOPE Volunteer * National Honor Society Officer * Brimfield High School Yearbook Editor * Skylines Nursing Home Volunteer * Mission Trips to Mexico and Jamaica * Sandbagging Crew for Iowa Flood Relief * Tutor * Teacher: Piano and Violin Lessons

Parents: David and Crystal Streitmatter * Age: 18 * Currently: Brimfield High School * Future Plan: ICC * Church: Apostolic Christian Church of Princeville

Life Verse: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. Gal. 2:20 KJV

As Faith puts it, “God chose me before the foundations of the world, and opened my eyes to this when I was eight years old.” She has been “consistently and passionately walking with the Lord” since she was in Jr. High. As she has learned more about Him in her studies at Moody Bible Institute, she feels that God is revealing Himself more and more in her life. Faith views serving God not as an option, but as a scriptural command. Her obedience to that command has changed her for the better as she has seen what a difference God can make in her and through her.

Faith has also seen how God has directed her steps and focused her interests through service. Several of her activities have involved working with children. Her most recent service opportunity involves tutoring Muslim immigrant children. Because of this experience, she now feels that God is leading her to be involved with ministering to Muslims full-time after she graduates. She concludes, “In the future, I am eagerly looking forward to serving God by working among Muslim people wherever He wants me to go.”

Peoria Christian School - Student Outreach and Coordinator for See You at the Pole * Camp of Champions USA: Counselor and Site Director * South Side Mission Thanksgiving Volunteer * Mission Trips to Ecuador, Mexico City and Korea * Child Evangelism Fellowship Leader * South Asian Friendship Center Tutor

Parents: Patrick and Eymarde Lawler * Age: 20 * Currently: Moody Bible Institute * Future Plan: Full-time Ministry with Muslim People * Church: Oak Grove Bible Church

Life Verses: Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phil. 2:3-4 ESV